Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- India's Sensitive Index fell. Reliance Industries Ltd., the nation's most valuable company, declined on concern that losses tied to U.S. subprime investments will spread, damping growth in the world's largest economy.

``Markets will remain weak until more clarity emerges on the extent of the subprime crisis,'' said R.K. Gupta, who manages the equivalent of $86 million of stocks at Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi.

Hindalco Industries Ltd., the country's largest non-ferrous metals producer, gained after prices of commodities climbed.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex fell 23.68, or 0.2 percent to 14,993.53 as of 2:22 p.m. local time. It earlier rose as much as 0.4 percent. Seventeen stocks declined while 13 advanced in the index. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange declined 7.70, or 0.2 percent, to 4,365.95.

Reliance, which runs the world's third biggest refinery, slid 4.9 rupees, or 0.3 percent, to 1,824. Housing Development Finance Corp., India's second-biggest mortgage lender, fell 29.85 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 1,953.75.

Aegis Mortgage Corp., a Houston-based subprime lender, filed for bankruptcy yesterday, saying it owed more than $100 million to creditors, including investment banks that financed loans to subprime borrowers.

American International Group Inc. may have larger losses from financial instruments linked to subprime mortgages than it had revealed, the Wall Street Journal said.

Metal Stocks Advance

A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange gained 1.1 percent yesterday, its first advance this month. Copper added 1.4 percent, nickel rose 3 percent, and zinc increased 0.8 percent.

Hindalco added 2.25 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 154.75. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the nation's largest copper producer, rose 0.6 rupee, or 0.1 percent, to 609.05.

``Metal prices have firmed up; that's boosting commodity stocks,'' said Gupta at Credit Capital Asset Management.

Overseas investors sold a net 4.08 billion rupees ($101 million) of Indian equities on Aug. 10, according to the latest figures obtained from the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Web site.

The following shares rose or fell. Stock symbols are in brackets after company names.

Advanta India Ltd. (ADV IN) The Indian producer of agriculture seeds jumped 116.8 rupees, or 15 percent, to 906.95 after the nation's central bank allowed overseas investors to buy up to 49 percent of the company's equity.

HCL Technologies Ltd. (HCLT IN) gained 5.45 rupees, or 1.7 percent, to 322.8. The nation's fifth-biggest computer-services provider said fourth-quarter profit doubled on foreign-exchange gains. Net income in the three months ended June 30 increased to 4.87 billion rupees the company said. Revenue climbed 29 percent to 16.1 billion rupees. The company had a foreign-exchange gain of 2.5 billion rupees in the fourth quarter.

Omnitech Infosolutions Ltd. (OMIS IN) rose 61.9 rupees, or 59 percent from its initial public offering price, to 166.9. The Indian software company that raised 350 million rupees selling shares at 105 rupees each started trading today.

Petron Engineering Construction Ltd. (PTEC IN) gained 18.85 rupees, or 9.9 percent, to 209. The Indian builder of oil refineries and chemical plants rose after it said it won an order worth 1.27 billion rupees to supply heaters to Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd.

Solar Explosives Ltd. (SOXP IN) rose 14.7 rupees, or 7.6 percent, to 207.95. The Indian maker of detonators and explosives said it received an order worth 1.12 billion rupees from Coal India Ltd. to supply explosives.

Sterlite Optical Technologies Ltd. (SOTL IN) climbed 7.95 rupees, or 3.7 percent, to 226. India's biggest maker of fiber- optic cables won a contract worth 380 million rupees to supply fiber-optic cables to state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

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Last Updated: August 14, 2007 04:55 EDT