April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Indian stocks rose, with the benchmark index climbing to near a five-month high, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies are showing "traction" amid widening stimulus efforts.
Reliance Industries Ltd., the nation's most valuable company, added 5.1 percent. Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the second- largest company, jumped 8.3 percent. Both rose to their highest in almost six months. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the nation's biggest software exporter, advanced 6.3 percent. Wipro Ltd., the third-largest, climbed 7 percent. India's software exporters derive more than half their sales in the U.S.
"The economic data coming from the western world has improved and that's given some momentum to markets," said Jitendra Sriram, who oversees about $537 million in stocks at HSBC Asset Management (India) Pvt. in Mumbai. "There is a view that the worst may be over."
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 4.5 percent to 10,348.83, its highest since Nov. 10. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange advanced 4.9 percent to 3,211.05. The BSE 200 Index gained 4.4 percent to 1,210.89. Nifty futures for April delivery added 5.6 percent to 3,232.
Reliance rose 5.1 percent to 1,661.35 rupees. Oil & Natural Gas gained 8.3 percent to 871.35 rupees. Tata Consultancy climbed 6.3 percent to 578.75 rupees. Wipro added 7 percent to 270.10 rupees.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.3 percent in trading today. The gauge advanced 1.7 percent yesterday as the Institute for Supply Management said its factory index increased to 36.3 last month, a third consecutive advance. U.S. pending home resales rose 2.1 percent in February, exceeding economists' forecasts.
"You're seeing encouraging signs of improvement in our markets," Geithner said yesterday in a Bloomberg Television interview in London, where he is attending the G-20 meeting.
Overseas investors sold a net 5.31 billion rupees ($105 million) of Indian stocks on March 31, according to the nation's market regulator.
The following shares were among the most active on the exchange:
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL IN) added 4.5 percent to 1,535.95 rupees. India's biggest power-equipment maker posted a 13 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit on orders for turbines and generators. Net income rose to 12.5 billion rupees in the quarter ended March 31. The figures were derived by deducting nine-month numbers from preliminary annual earnings reported today by the New Delhi-based company.
Grasim Industries Ltd. (GRASIM IN) rose 3.5 percent to 1,602.35 rupees. Aditya Birla Group, which includes India's second-and third-biggest cement makers, said sales last month rose 11.2 percent from a year earlier to 3.37 million metric tons. UltraTech Cement Ltd. (UTCEM IN) rose 2.6 percent to 549.15 rupees.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT IN) jumped 6.7 percent to 717.75 rupees. India's biggest engineering company won two orders worth 11.4 billion rupees from Tata Steel Ltd. to aid an expansion at the nation's biggest steelmaker.
Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL IN) added 9.3 percent to 50.90 rupees. The nation's biggest maker of wind-turbine generators signed an order with North Carolina-based Duke Energy to provide 20 wind turbines, totaling 42 megawatts, to be delivered in July, the company said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Tata Motors Ltd. (TTMT IN) jumped 13 percent to 203.65 rupees. India's largest maker of commercial vehicles surged the most in almost four months after reporting higher sales in March. Sales gained 24 percent from February to 54,485 units.
To contact the reporter on this story: Pooja Thakur in Mumbai at pthakur@bloomberg.net
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