 "Sensex pares 3rd weekly drop before inflation report")
ICICI Bank Ltd jumped the most in a month, helping a sectoral gauge rebound from a seven-month low. Tata Power Co, the biggest non-state generator, had the steepest gain in 15 weeks, while Bharat Heavy Electricals, a power equipment producer, rose from a one-month low. Reliance Industries, owner of the world's largest refining complex, rallied from a two-week low after Chairman Mukesh Ambani said the company's telecom venture would begin operations around December.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.2 per cent to 26,425.3 at the close. The gauge lost 1.3 per cent this week after the central bank cut rates on June 2 and said further easing would depend on the monsoon rains. A gauge of 30-day volatility climbed to the highest level since October 2013 on Thursday, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
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"The market is likely be choppy in the next three to four months, as there are no big triggers," Vaibhav Sanghavi, managing director of Mumbai-based Ambit Investment Advisors, which oversees about $150 million, said by e-mail. "It's a good time to buy stocks with an 18 to 24-month view" as the recent decline has made valuations attractive, he said.
The Sensex has retreated 3.9 per cent this year, Asia's worst-performing market after Indonesia. The gauge is valued at 14.6 times the projected 12-month profits, down from April's peak of 16 times.
Official data due on Friday will probably show consumer prices in May rose five per cent from a year earlier, compared with 4.87 per cent the previous month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Factory output growth for April is projected at 1.5 per cent, versus 2.1 per cent in March, according to a separate survey.
India's current account deficit missed estimates as falling oil prices failed to offset a decline in exports. The January-March shortfall in the broadest measure of trade narrowed to $1.3 billion, the Reserve Bank of India stated. That compared with the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey for a $1.8 billion surplus. Even so, the gap was the smallest since March 2014.