Asia: Indian Investors Shrug Off Inflation

Stocks in India rose Friday as investors shook off government data that showed inflation hit a three-and-a-half year high. India's wholesale price index jumped to 7.83% for the week ending May 3, vs. 7.61% for the previous week, due to sharp increases in the price of foods and manufactured goods. Traders said inflation could go even higher, which sent the rupee falling to multi-year lows against the dollar.

The market "had anticipated a rise in inflation and discounted it," said Hitesh Agarwal, research head at Angel Broking. "There's consensus that government measures will bring it down to 6% in a few weeks."

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex Index added 81.40, or 0.5%, to 17,434.94. ...