Indian shares rise to near 1-mth high

Foreign fund buying nears $15bn in 2009, MUMBAI: Indian shares climbed more than a per cent on Monday to their highest close in nearly a month, with energy giant Reliance Industries and banks such as State Bank of India and ICICI Bank powering the rise on optimism about the economy.

Asia's third-largest economy could expand between 6 and 7 per cent in the year to March 2010 despite a bad monsoon, the finance minister said on Saturday.
State Bank, the country's largest lender, rose 2 per cent to 2,344.65 rupees while rival ICICI gained 1 per cent to 918.85 rupees.

The benchmark rose above 17,000 for the first time since Oct. 23 and is up more than 7 per cent this month, after shedding 7.2 per cent in October in its worst monthly performance in a year.

Metals producer Sterlite Industries added 3.6 per cent to 867 rupees after a US federal judge issued a ruling supporting a bid by rival Group Mexico for Asarco LLC.
Top vehicle maker Tata Motors climbed 2.3 per cent to 633.90 rupees after the Financial Times said Jaguar Land Rover was expected to announce it secured a 170 million pound working capital facility from GE Capital.

Leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki firmed 5.5 per cent to 1,560.40 rupees on robust volume outlook.

In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers in a ratio of 1.8:1 on relatively lower volume of 342 million shares. The 50-share NSE index closed 1.2 per cent higher at 5,058.05.