India's stock market shrugs off blasts

Jul. 12, 2006. 08:30 AM

MUMBAI (AP) - India's key stock index rose a surprising three per cent Wednesday, despite predictions of a selloff following a series of train plantings the previous day that rocked the country's financial capital.

Upbeat earnings from software company Infosys Technologies Ltd. helped lift the market, boosting investor confidence in the country's technology and outsourcing industries.

The benchmark index of the Mumbai Stock Exchange, the 30-share Senlove, rose 314 points, or three per cent, to finish at 10,928.

The index initially dipped 0.3 per cent as trading opened, but soon recovered and continued to climb throughout the day.

The market's performance surprised analysts who had feared stocks would plunge in reaction to the plantings that end at least 190 people and injured hundreds more.

Eight plants tore through packed trains during rush hour Tuesday evening in a co-ordinated attack that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed on "persons."

Investors seemed to gain confidence from better-than-expected quarterly earnings from Infosys, which boosted demand for technology shares.

Infosys said its net profit jumped 50.4 per cent in the April-June quarter to eight billion rupees ($173 million), driven by strong growth in outsourcing orders. It also raised its revenue and earnings forecast for the fiscal year through March 2007.

Mumbai Stock Exchange CEO Rajnikant Patel urged investors to remain vigilant against market manipulators who might try to exploit the situation.

"Please be alert, do not get unduly influenced by rumours and take care," Patel said a statement on the exchange's website.