Indian stocks rose to the highest in more than a week, led by ICICI Bank Ltd. and other lenders after the central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said the country has room to adjust interest rates further to spur the economy. ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest lender, rose 2.6 percent. HDFC Bank Ltd., the No. 3, added 1.1 percent. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, rose 102.59, or 1.1 percent, to 9,403.45 as of 10:21 a.m. local time, the highest since Jan. 30. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange advanced 0.4 percent to 2,854.35. The BSE 200 Index gained 0.9 percent to 1,100.54. S&P CNX Nifty Index futures for February delivery rose 0.1 percent to 2,834.75. ICICI gained 2.6 percent to 417.55 rupees, its highest since Jan. 16. HDFC Bank added 1.1 percent to 908.65 rupees. “We do have room for interest rate adjustments and we will make all adjustments as deemed appropriate,” Subbarao said at an event organized by the Malaysian central bank. He didn’t elaborate further. The economy will have a “more difficult year” in the 12 months ending March 2010, compared with expected growth of 7 percent in the current period, Subbarao told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The central bank left borrowing costs unchanged at its Jan. 27 meeting after lowering them to a record in early January to shield the economy from a global slump. Overseas investors bought a net 512 million rupees ($10.5 million) of Indian stocks Feb. 5, according to the nation’s market regulator.

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