Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- India's Sensitive Index rose to the second straight record after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting eased concern the world's largest economy will contract. Infosys Technologies Ltd. led advances.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 percent and also posted a second consecutive record.

``We are mirroring gains in other regional markets,'' said Mahesh Patil, who helps manage $6.9 billion in assets at Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. ``Money is flowing into our markets and big money will always chase bigger stocks.''

Overseas investors bought a net 34.2 billion rupees ($838 million) of Indian stocks on Oct. 8, according to the latest figures from the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Web site. They have bought a net $5.9 billion worth of Indian equities since the Federal Reserve cut rates on Sept. 18. That's more than a third of the purchases made so far this year.

Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd., the nation's largest sugar producer, led makers of the sweetener higher after the government made the sale of ethanol-blended gasoline compulsory to help mills cope with a slump in sugar prices.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 378.01 points, or 2.1 percent, to 18,658.25, the biggest fluctuation among markets included in global benchmarks for the second day. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange gained 114.20, or 2.1 percent, to 5,441.45. Nifty futures for October delivery added 2.3 percent, to 5,457.

U.S. Stocks Rally

U.S. stock indexes rallied to records yesterday for the second time this month after minutes showed Fed members avoided language that may have suggested the U.S. economy will contract. Policy makers all backed a decision to cut the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point at the Sept. 18 meeting and said a decline in inflation will probably be sustained.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the country's largest software services exporter, gained 28.55 rupees, or 2.6 percent, to 1,124.95. Infosys, the second-largest, added 76.55 rupees, or 3.7 percent, to 2,124.55. Wipro Ltd., India's third-biggest, climbed 13.85 rupees, or 2.8 percent, to 503.15. Satyam Computer Services Ltd., the fourth largest, rose 13.7 rupees, or 2.9 percent, to 484.25. The U.S. accounts for more than half of their sales.

Infosys will report earnings tomorrow. It will probably say profit in the three months ended Sept. 30 rose 18 percent to 11 billion rupees, according to the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Sugar Stocks Surge

Bajaj Hindusthan jumped 13.15 rupees, or 8.4 percent, to 170.15. Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd., India's second-biggest sugar producer, climbed 3.85 rupees, or 5.4 percent, to 75.3. Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd., the third-largest, surged 86.25 rupees, or 11.8 percent, to 814.75. Praj Industries Ltd., a biofuels technology supplier, gained 12.4 rupees, or 5.9 percent, to 223.25.

India made the sale of ethanol-blended gasoline compulsory, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi yesterday. Oil refiners will sell gasoline with 5 percent ethanol starting this month. The government also extended by one year export incentives of as much as 1,450 rupees ($37) a ton to sugar exporters.

The mandatory blending of ethanol will create an assured market for the sugar makers and help them boost earnings at a time when record harvests lower prices of the sweetener in the world's biggest sugar-consuming nation.

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

Cement Makers: Cement sales rose 10 percent in the first half of the financial year ending March 31, the Financial Express reported, without saying where it got the information. Shipments reached 81 million metric tons in the period ended Sept. 30, driven by demand in the western and southern parts of the country, the newspaper said.

ACC Ltd. (ACC IN): India's biggest maker of the building material, gained 41.5 rupees, or 3.5 percent, to 1,218.15. UltraTech Cement Ltd. (UTCEM IN), the second-biggest, added 31.5 rupees, or 3 percent, to 1,088.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL IN) rose 93.9 rupees, or 4.2 percent, to 2,330.65. India's biggest power-equipment maker gained on a report it may win a 15 billion rupee order and after Citigroup Inc. raised its price target.

Bharat Heavy may win the order from NTPC Ltd. (NATP IN), CNBC-TV18 television channel said today, without citing anyone. V.K. Kalra, a spokesman for the New Delhi-based company, declined to comment on the report.

Separately, Citigroup raised the 12-month price target for Bharat Heavy by 32 percent to 2,542 rupees a share.

Igate Global Solutions Ltd. (IGS IN) rose 22.4 rupees, or 7.1 percent, to 339.5. The Indian computer-services provider, whose biggest customer is General Electric Co., gained on its parent's proposal to buy back shares in its Indian unit. Igate Corp.'s board approved a proposal to increase its holding in the unit to more than 90 percent from the current 81 percent, according to a statement distributed by the Pittsburgh-based company through PR Newswire yesterday. Under Indian rules, companies can de-list from domestic exchanges when their ownership exceeds 90 percent.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT IN) surged 208.8 rupees, or 6.6 percent, to 3,372. The country's largest engineering company won an order worth about $60 million from Methanol Chemical Co. in Saudi Arabia.

Reliance Energy Ltd. (RELE IN) gained 52.2 rupees, or 3.4 percent, to 1,585.85. India's second-largest power producer and two other companies jointly won a real-estate project worth 64 billion rupees in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, the Business Standard reported today, citing unidentified people.

Reliance Energy will hold a 66 percent stake in the project's equity, construction company Sobha Developers Ltd. (SOBHA IN) will own 23 percent and the rest will be held by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp., according to the newspaper.

Sobha climbed 90.25 rupees, or 10 percent, to 983.55.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pooja Thakur in Mumbai at pthakur@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 10, 2007 07:28 EDT