Sensex rises for 5th week; Bharti Airtel extends gains

Reliance expects to produce up to 3.5 million standard cubic metres a day of gas by the second half of 2014 from two coal-bed-methane blocks in central India, the company said in a newspaper advertisement published on Friday.

Bharti Airtel rose 0.5 percent to 387.60 rupees, extending its gains of nearly 7 percent in the previous session, as analysts expect the top mobile operator to benefit from the Supreme Court ruling on Thursday to revoke 122 licences.

The Supreme Court ordered telecoms licences issued under a scandal-tainted 2008 sale be revoked.

Citigroup said in a note that the development was positive for players like Bharti as it would lower competition and give better pricing power. It maintained its "buy" rating on Bharti.

The main 30-share BSE index closed up 0.99 percent, or 173.11 points, at 17,604.96, with 24 of its components in the positive territory. It fell as much as 0.3 percent during the day in a choppy trade. The index gained 2.2 percent this week.

"The perception about the Indian markets is getting better and we think that the growth would be better in the next fiscal year," said Sam Mahtani, a London-based fund manager for F&C Asset Management, which owns Indian shares worth $300 million.

Foreign investors bought shares worth about $2 billion last month, helping the benchmark post its best January rise in 18 years, but analysts were uncertain about the sustainability of the rally.

"The rally has been pretty steep in a short span of time and I would be a bit worried about some mid and small-cap companies that have seen a sharp uptrend," said Mahtani, adding he likes sectors like telecoms, pharmaceuticals and banking.

The index declined nearly 25 percent in 2011, as surging inflation and interest rates dimmed the growth outlook for Asia's third-largest economy and company earnings. The global economic uncertainty also triggered a flight from risky assets.

Analysts said investors were lured by attractive valuations of select stocks on hopes of rate cuts by the central bank and some positive economic data, though concerns remain about the health of the global economy.

The services sector grew at its fastest pace in six months during January as new business swelled, extending the previous couple of months' positive trend into the new calendar year, a survey showed on Friday.

Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS) rose nearly 1 percent to 2,783.25 rupees. India's second-largest software services provider is swapping the heads of its manufacturing and finance business units.

Other software exporters such as Tata Consultancy Services rose 2.1 percent to 1,171.55 rupees, fuelled by hopes of strong U.S. jobs data report later on Friday. The data would offer more clues on the strength of the world's top economy.

India's $76 billion software services sector gets more than half of its revenue from the United States.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd gained 2.4 percent to 1,670.75 rupees, after it beat expectations in its quarterly net profit, mainly helped by surge in sales of generics in the United States, its top market.

The broader 50-share NSE index added 1.06 percent to end at 5,325.85 points. In the broader market, there were 1.6 gainers for every loser on a relatively strong volume of more than 813 million shares.

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STOCKS THAT MOVED

Zuari Industries Ltd, which manufactures and sells nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers, fell 1 percent to 453.25 rupees. The company on Friday reported a 14.2 percent drop in its October-December net profit.

UltraTech Cement, India's largest cement maker, rose nearly 1 percent to 1,275.80 rupees, after its shipments in January rose an annual 11.2 percent.

Hotel chain operator EIH Ltd gained 0.8 percent to 90.60 rupees after it reported a 59 percent rise in quarterly net profit.

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Unitech Ltd on 38 million shares

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Reliance Communications Ltd on 22 million shares

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd on 21.7 million shares