Techs lift Indian shares as rupee slides; Bharti up

By Hiral Vora

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares climbed 1.35 percent on Wednesday to their highest close in five days, propelled by export-focused software services that rallied as the rupee fell a 13-month low.

Bharti Airtel Ltd rose 3.5 percent to 850 rupees after the top mobile operator said it was still in exploratory talks with South Africa's MTN Group and there was no requirement to make a bid.

The stock had fallen sharply when the talks were first announced last week on worries it would be caught in a bidding war and may cost dearly. It is still down 5 percent from before the announcement.

Shares in software-services providers, which get more than half their revenue from the United States, were boosted by the depreciating rupee that fell to 42.67 per dollar, its weakest since April 13, 2007.

The rupee has lost more than 7 percent in 2008 against the dollar as soaring oil prices widen India's trade deficit. India imports 70 percent of its oil consumption. In 2007, the rupee had gained more than 12 percent.

"If the rupee continues to slide like this, there will be a direct gain of 6-7 percent on the software firms' bottomline," said Raj Bhandari, a director with Networth Stock Broking Ltd.

Tata Consultancy Services, India's No. 2 software firm, jumped 7.1 percent to 969.95 rupees, while rival Infosys Technologies gained 4.5 percent to 1,826.30 rupees.

The sector index rose 3.8 percent.