Indian shares slightly higher

India's main indexes posted slight gains on Tuesday as consumer good stocks such as Hindustan Unilever benefited from a switch to defensive stocks, though oil and gas shares dropped after a government directive to cut gas tariffs in New Delhi. Traders were cautious ahead of key risk events, including industrial output and inflation data towards the end of the week, Infosys' earnings on Friday, and the Reserve Bank of India's policy meeting on April 17.
The BSE's consumer goods sub-index rose 2 percent, after earlier hitting a record high, continuing a rally that saw it gain 7.8 percent in March compared to a near 2 percent fall in the broader BSE index. "Fast moving consumer goods, Pharma and IT stocks seem defensive at this point due to less government intervention unlike oil and gas," said Vivek Mahajan, head of research at Aditya Birla Money. Hindustan Unilever rose 2.6 percent, but Indraprastha Gas (IGL) dropped 34 percent.
The country's main 30-share BSE index closed up 0.13 percent at 17,243.84 points and the 50-share NSE index rose 0.18 percent at 5,243.60. The mild gains were in contrast to the MSCI index for Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, which was trading 0.6 percent down, after Chinese trade data showed demand from the world's second largest economy may be slackening as imports growth slowed sharply. Among decliners, gas utility stocks dropped after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board directed Indraprastha Gas (IGL) to cut tariffs for certain types of gas in New Delhi in a bid to reduce prices for consumers.
IGL dropped as much as 46 percent to 187.70 rupees, the lowest since December 2009. Among other gas utilities, GAIL India fell 2 percent, Gujarat Gas lost 15 percent, Petronet LNG declined 3 percent, and Gujarat State Petronet dropped 7.5 percent. Shares in Infosys fell just under 2 percent on worries it would disappoint when it posts fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Friday, with the outlook also constrained by worries about the US economy after last week's disappointing jobs data.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) fell 2.3 percent to 255.85 rupees after brokerage Kotak Institutional Equities re-initiated coverage on the company with a "Sell" rating, saying earnings would be hit due to "a potential lull" in order wins and rising competition.