Indian shares gain for 5th day; Cipla surges to record high

* BSE ends up 0.29 pct; NSE adds 0.35 pct
* Caution ahead of U.S. election, Greek vote
* Property shares gain on festival booking hopes

By Abhishek Vishnoi
MUMBAI, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose for a fifth
consecutive session on Tuesday, with drugmaker Cipla jumping
after reporting a surge in quarterly earnings while State Bank
of India rose on hopes of rising demand for loans in the holiday
season.
However, the recent gains have come amid largely cautious
sentiment as investors wait for the U.S. election results, and
as uncertainty prevails over Greece's next aid payment.

Quarterly results from blue chips such as Tata Motors
and State Bank of India, which are due this
week, will be key for near-term direction, but analysts say a
clear roadmap on reforms and actual groundwork is more important
for medium-term view.
"Markets will make an attempt to go up further, and is
optimistic that government will come out with next round of
reforms which should kick start the investment cycle," said
Mehraboon Irani, principal and head of private client group at
Nirmal Bang Securities.
The investment cycle would be stoked by action on issues
such as National Investment Bill, land acquisition and clear
coal linkages, Irani added.
India's BSE index rose 0.29 percent, or 54.51
points, to end at 18,817.38, bringing its gains to 2.1 percent
over the past five sessions.
The 50-share NSE index rose 0.35 percent, or 20.20
points, to 5,724.40, gaining over 2.26 percent over the previous
five sessions.
Shares in Cipla gained 4.38 percent to 396.85,
having earlier hit a record high of 398.90 rupees, after the
drugmaker reported a bigger-than-expected 62 percent surge in
July-September net profit.
Despite the surge in share prices, Citigroup said on Tuesday
it remains cautious on Cipla, adding that the earnings surprise
was mainly driven by the generic version of anti-depressant drug
Lexapro, whose exclusivity would tail off in the second half of
the fiscal year.
State Bank of India rose 1.3 percent ahead of its September
quarter results on Friday.
Property firms gained, with Housing Development &
Infrastructure Ltd up 5.85 percent and DLF up
1.9 percent on hopes for a pickup in demand tied to the Diwali
festival season in mid-November, a time considered auspicious in
the country.
Indian cement makers extended a recent winning streak on
continued hopes that cement prices will rise on the back of
stronger seasonal demand.
ACC gained 2.6 percent, up for a fifth consecutive
session and Ambuja Cements gained 2.57 percent, up for
a fourth session.
Shares in Amara Raja Batteries jumped 16 percent a
day after the company reported a bigger-than-expected 35.2
percent gain in July-September net profit.
Angel Broking said the battery maker posted "extremely
strong results," adding that earnings growth was driven by the
automotive battery replacement segment, as well as by momentum
in the tubular and home uninterruptible power supply (UPS)
segment.
Ashok Leyland rose 0.6 percent after Morgan
Stanley upgraded it to 'overweight' from 'underweight', calling
the bus- and truck-maker "a good proxy to play the eventual
industrial recovery."
However, among stocks that fell, Tata Motors ended
1.06 percent lower ahead of earnings on Wednesday, even as
Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'equal
weight', citing more stability in the China market, among other
factors.
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FACTORS TO WATCH
* Euro hurt by Greek worries; safe-haven bid boosts dollar
* Crude holds over $107 as U.S. votes
* Shares steady before U.S. vote
* Foreign institutional investor flows
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs

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(Additional reporting by Manoj Dharra; Editing by Jijo Jacob)