BSE Sensex to open up; Tata Motors watched

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex should open higher on Monday, tracking firmer Asian markets, with Tata Motors in focus on a report its unit Jaguar Land Rover has got funding for working capital.

The UK-based premier brand is expected to announce on Monday it has secured a 170-million-pound working capital facility from GE Capital, the Financial Times newspaper said.

The Indian economy could expand between 6 and 7 percent in the year to March 2010 despite a bad monsoon, the finance minister said on Saturday as data showed accelerating inflation.

Annual wholesale inflation accelerated in October from a month earlier on costlier minerals and fuels, and analysts expect monetary tightening from next year as the economy picks up.

The wholesale price index was up 1.34 percent in October from a year earlier, compared with 0.5 percent in September and 11.06 percent a year ago.

The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 1.1 percent by 0318 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.1 percent.

The Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were trading 0.8 percent higher, indicating a firm open in the domestic market.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE index closed up 0.92 percent at 16,848.83, taking gains so far this month to 6 percent.