BSE Sensex up 4th week in five; U.S. jobs in focus

A broker looks at computer screens at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai May 10, 2010.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex logged its fourth weekly gain in five weeks, but edged 0.1 percent lower on Friday, as investors were nervous ahead of key U.S. jobs data due later in the day.

Jobs data due at 1230 GMT was expected to show the U.S. labour market shed 100,000 jobs in August as the jobless rate crept higher to 9.6 percent, according to a Reuters forecast.

Conglomerate Reliance Industries weighed on the index, falling 1.2 percent amid ongoing concern about its diversification from its core energy business.

The stock, which has the heaviest weighting in the main index, has underperformed the benchmark in 2010 with a 15 percent decline.

The 30 share BSE Sensex closed 0.09 percent or 16.88 points lower at 18,221.43 points, with 17 of its components in the red. It added 1.2 percent this week.

"The mood is very cautious before the U.S. employment data. A lot depends on how the numbers turn out," said Vaibhav Sanghavi, director of Ambit Capital.

"It is a stock pickers' market right now. There is more action in specific stocks, linked to related news flow."

Sanghavi expects trade to be range bound next week.

Foreign funds have pumped $13 billion into Indian equities this year, including primary market offerings, driving the benchmark index 4.3 percent higher. Last year's record $17.5 billion in inflows drove an 81 percent gain in the benchmark.

For the year to date, India's benchmark has outperformed broader indexes such as MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan, which has dropped 0.5 percent, and emerging markets index which has gained 1.2 percent.

Mahindra Satyam (SATY.BO) rose 10.7 percent -- the most in 10 months after it said late on Thursday it won a multi-million dollar technology services deal from a large health insurer.

Other export-oriented software firms were mixed ahead of U.S. jobs data. Top outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services and rival Wipro fell 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Infosys Technologies climbed 0.8 percent.

Lenders ended mixed on a tussle between a hawkish interest rate outlook as food and fuel inflation accelerated, and rising loan demand in the world's second-fastest growing major economy.

Top lender SBI and private lender HDFC Bank firmed 0.6 percent each while ICICI Bank dropped 0.3 percent. Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp shed 0.2 percent.

In the broader market, advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by 1.3:1 on relatively light volume of 411 million shares.

The 50-share NSE index shed 0.1 percent to 5,479.40.

Elsewhere, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.4 percent at 1036 GMT, while MSCI's measure of Asian markets ex-Japan gained 0.5 percent.

STOCKS THAT MOVED

* Trent, controlled by the diversified Tata Group, rose 5.5 percent to 1,131.05 rupees. The retailer said Reliance Capital Asset Management, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, had acquired 8.68 percent in the company.

* Steel Strips Wheels gained 5.5 percent to 256.35 rupees after the automobile wheel rims maker said it won new export orders from Europe.

MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME

* Suzlon Energy on 13.7 million shares

* Mahindra Satyam on 12.8 million shares

* Prakash Steelage on 8.8 million shares

(Editing by Tony Munroe)

(For more business news visit Reuters India)