Bargain hunting lifts Indian shares by 4.5%

Bangalore: Indian shares rose 4.5 per cent on Tuesday, taking gains this week to 7.1 per cent, as battered stocks were snapped up by investors boosted by a central bank rate cut and emerging hopes of an easing in the credit crisis.

But caution remained on the near-term outlook on lingering worries about the impact of a global downturn on earnings and selling by foreign investors.

Reliance Industries, financials such as ICICI Bank and outsourcers such as Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services powered the gains.

"We need to see if this rally will last long," said K.K. Mital, head of portfolio management at Globe Capital. "The problems are not over yet, though it may seem that the severity of the problem is lower."

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed up 460.30 points at 10,683.39, posting its biggest percentage rise since October 13, with all but two components rising. The index is still down more than 47 per cent this year.

In the broader market, 1,618 gainers outpaced 977 losers on volume of 261 million shares. The 50-share NSE index rose 3.59 per cent to 3,234.90.

Currency: Rupee breaches 49

The Indian rupee weakened on Tuesday on dollar demand from importers, with market volume thinned as state banks stayed out of the market on account of a strike by central bank staff.

The partially convertible rupee closed at 49.04/06 per dollar, 0.1 per cent weaker compared to its previous close of 48.97/98 on Monday. During trade it fell as low as 49.15, close to the record low of 49.30 touched earlier this month.

- Reuters