Stocks Gain on Speculation RBI Will Halt Rate Increases; Jaiprakash Rises

Indian stocks rose to the highest level in four weeks amid speculation slowing growth may prompt the central bank to halt its record series of interest-rate increases and as Asian equities rebounded from a three-day drop.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. (JPA), a builder of dams, surged 7.2 percent after a report said it is looking for a partner for its cement business and is open to selling as much as a 26 percent stake in the unit. Tata Power Co., India’s largest non-state generator, climbed 4.3 percent, the most since March 2010.

The BSE India Sensitive Index advanced 187.10, or 1.1 percent, to 17,049.91, according to preliminary closing prices at 3:30 p.m. in Mumbai, the highest level since Aug. 11. The gauge fell 8.4 percent last month, the worst August in at least 10 years. The S&P CNX Nifty Index climbed 1.2 percent to 5,124.65. The BSE-200 Index rose 1.3 percent to 2,114.69.

Foreign funds bought a net 2.12 billion rupees ($46 million) of stocks on Sept. 5, taking their total investment in equities this year to 19.4 billion rupees. They withdrew a net $2.1 billion in August, the most since October 2008, data from the market regulator show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Santanu Chakraborty in Mumbai at schakrabor11@bloomberg.net; Shikhar Balwani in Mumbai at sbalwani@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net