Indian Stocks Climb to Highest in a Month; ICICI, Infosys Gain

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks rose, with the benchmark index set to climb to its highest in more than a month, on optimism U.S. stimulus measures will help ease the credit crisis and revive global economic growth.

ICICI Bank Ltd., the nation's second-largest lender, rose 2.3 percent. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., India's largest software developer, gained 2.8 percent to its highest in more than a month before a U.S. Treasury announcement today of plans to rid banks of toxic assets.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 173.39, or 1.9 percent, to 9,140.07 as of 10:10 a.m. local time, set for its highest since Feb. 16. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange gained 55.80, or 2 percent, to 2,862.85. The BSE 200 Index added 1.8 percent to 1,071.94. S&P CNX Nifty futures for March delivery added 2.2 percent to 2,863.90.

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 1.4 percent. The U.S. will this week outline regulatory changes aimed at avoiding a repeat of the financial crisis, an administration official said. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote in a Wall Street Journal article the U.S. will establish an investment program that may provide financing of as much as $1 trillion to purchase real estate-related assets from banks and securities "from the broader market."

ICICI added 2.3 percent to 330.55 rupees. Tata Consultancy Services advanced 2.8 percent to 524 rupees, its highest since Feb. 10. Infosys Technologies Ltd., the No. 2 software developer, added 1.4 percent to 1,314.15 rupees. India's software exporters derive more than half their revenue from the U.S.

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