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By Ami Shah
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex erased early losses and rose 0.2 percent on Wednesday, with export-focused outsourcers leading the way on expectation a recovering world economy will boost demand for their services.
Bellwether Infosys Technologies, which gets more than half its revenue from exports, leapt to an all-time high of 2,549 rupees, before closing up 1.5 percent at 2,544.80. The stock was the top gainer in the main index.
A senior Infosys official told Reuters on Tuesday the company expects revenue growth in the fiscal year starting in April to be better than 2009/10 as a recovery in the global economy spurs investments by its clients.
Smaller rival Wipro ended up nearly 2 percent at 671.90 rupees after hitting 674.90, its highest level since 2000. Leader Tata Consultancy rose 1.8 percent to 713.45.
"IT stocks are gaining on hope the global economy is recovering," said Daljeet Kohli, head of private client group research at Emkay Global Financial.
The 30-share BSE index closed up 0.21 percent, or 35.61 points, at 16,912.77 after falling 0.6 percent in early deals. Fourteen of its components advanced.
The benchmark is up more than 75 percent so far in 2009, on track to post its best gains since 1991, fuelled by strong foreign portfolio investment.
"People will be looking for growth assets and I don't think there are too many interesting opportunities like India," said Rakesh Rawal, head of private wealth management at Anand Rathi Financial Services.
"There is ample liquidity here in India as well as globally."
Top mobile operator Bharti Airtel closed 2.8 percent higher at 325.75 rupees, after the Bangladeshi telecom regulator said the company may be looking to buy Warid Telecom.
However, banks extended losses on fears the central bank may tighten policy sooner than expected given concerns about rising inflation.
The Reserve Bank of India might tighten monetary policy in December as inflation could rise to near 7 percent in March, the prime minister's economic adviser, C. Rangarajan, was quoted as saying in a report.
Top lender State Bank of India fell 1.3 percent, while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank shed 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
Tata Steel climbed 2.1 percent to 557.55 rupees after its European unit Corus said it had got 350 million euro contract to supply rail tracks to French operator SNCF.
In the broader market, losers almost equalled the number gainers on low volume of 313 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index closed 0.2 percent higher at 5,042.05.
STOCKS THAT MOVED
* Largest consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever dropped 0.7 percent to 264.05 rupees, after the company said it would pay royalty of 1 percent of net sales on some brands to its parent Unilever.
* Orchid Chemicals rose as much as 8.5 percent to 239.40 rupees, its highest since September 2008, but then tumbled to close down 10.4 percent at 197.85. On Tuesday, U.S.-based Hospira said it would buy the Indian drug maker's generic
injectable drug business.
* Drug maker Ipca Laboratories climbed 2.7 percent to 999.15 rupees. The company said its anti-malarial combination drug, artemether and lumefantrine, had been pre-qualified by the World Health Organization.
MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* Suzlon Energy on 11.1 million shares
* IFCI on 11.1 million shares
* Orchid Chemicals on 9.5 million shares
(For more news on Reuters Money visit www.reutersmoney.in)
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