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Mumbai, Aug 25: Standard&Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced the launch of the S&P India Select Index of the 60 Indian companies having float-adjusted market capitalization above USD 500 million and a three-month average daily trading value above USD two million.

The index will be fully float-adjusted and stock weights are determined by what is legally and practically available to foreign investors, a S&P release said. S&P's South and Southeast Asia Managing Director and Head R Ravimohan said the new index was developed in response to growing investor demand for access to the leading companies in India.

Sectors represented in the index include telecommunications, consumer staples, utilities, financials, energy, materials, industrials, information technology and health care.

The top ten holdings by percentage of index weight are Infosys Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Reliance Communications, Housing Development Finance, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Lever, Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Larsen&Toubro Ltd, S&P stated.

Each eligible stock must be trading on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India. Stocks that have reached the maximum percentage holding for Foreign Institutional Investors are excluded from the index to reflect the lack of access of those stocks to foreign investors, it added.

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