MARKET EYE-India's Maruti Suzuki rallies on sales hopes

* Shares in Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra
gain on hopes for rising sales this month as part of
the festival season.
* Indian brokerage Sharekhan said both Maruti and Mahindra &
Mahindra will outperform the sector in the near-term, citing a
"strong" order backlog, according to an email to clients.
* Six models from the two companies, including the Maruti Dzire
and the Mahindra XUV 500, have pending orders of about 170,000
units, or as much as 75 percent of the average monthly passenger
vehicle sales recorded in the broader sector, as per Sharekhan
calculations.
* A weakening Japanese yen is also helping Maruti Suzuki
shares given expectations it will reduce the cost of royalty
payments to Suzuki Motor.
* Maruti shares gain 4.2 percent, while Mahindra & Mahindra
shares gain 1.5 percent.

(manoj.dharra@thomsonreuters.com)