The market made some headway amid a mixed trend in pivotals. Volatility reared its head in the run up to the expiry of January 2007 derivatives contracts on the forthcoming Thursday (25 January 2007).
Firm global bourses offered support to domestic ones. The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 26.53 points (0.19%), to 14,209.24, while the S&P CNX Nifty gained 12.30 points (0.3%), to settle at 4,102.45.
After an initial 76.36 points surge, to 14,259.07, the Sensex soon lost steam. The weakness accentuated by early-afternoon, when the BSE benchmark index lost as many as 70.96 points, to 14,111.75, at 12:22 IST.
The market-breadth was positive. Against 1,381 shares rising on BSE, 1,283 declined. Just 52 shares were unchanged. Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 1.07:1. The breadth weakened in the latter part of trading. It was stronger in mid-morning trade, at 1.5:1.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3681 crore, lower than Friday’s Rs 4145 crore.
The Q3 results announced so far have been strong. Results from IT, cement firms and pharma pivotals, Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy’s Lab, were robust. The activity on the bourses will be stock-specific till the end of the results season.
Rising inflation has fuelled speculation of an interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its monetary policy review meeting on 31 January 2007. The wholesale price index rose 6.12% in the 12 months to 6 January. It was the highest inflation rate since 25 December 2004.
In today’s trade, Maruti Udyog edged up amid post-results' volatility. The stock rose nearly 3% to Rs 938, after dipping to a low of Rs 893.90, by 13:12 IST, soon after Q3 results hit the market. A strong 3.5 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. MUL reported 11% growth in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 376.40 crore (Rs 339.10 crore).
The company's profit-before-tax in December 2006 quarter, was arrived at after deducting losses of the erstwhile wholly-owned subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki Automobiles India (MSAIL), for April - December 2006 period, amounting to Rs 54.61. MSAIL was merged into MUL.
Other auto shares, too, recovered taking cue from the upmove in MUL. Bajaj Auto rose 2% to Rs 2785, and Tata Motors gained 1.9% to Rs 968.80. Tata Motors said on Sunday it had initiated construction of the small car project at Singur, West Bengal.
Bhel gained 2.3% to Rs 2322, amid expectations of strong-December 2006 quarter results. The company unveils numbers on 25 January 2007.
Software bellwether Infosys rose 2% to Rs 2248.50, and IT major TCS advanced1.1% to Rs 1312.
Cigarette major ITC rose 2.5% to Rs 180.
Reliance Industries (RIL) lost 0.5% to Rs 1372.35. RIL on Monday said it had no plans to either agree a strategic partner for developing its Krishna Godavari basin deepwater block, or hive off the block into a separate company. A newspaper had reported that RIL may spin off its oil and gas fields off the east coast into a separate unit, and offer a strategic stake to a foreign partner such as Chevron Corporation.
Satyam Computer shed 3% to Rs 473. At the time of announcing Q3 results on Friday, Satyam cut FY 2007 revenue guidance. It slightly raised upward the FY 2007 EPS guidance, to Rs 20.90, from an earlier guidance of Rs 20.73 - 20.81.
Bharti Airtel (BAL) lost 1% to Rs 675.25 in volatile trade. The company is seen reporting a surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter on the back of strong growth in subscriptions. Four brokerages expect 87.6 - 99.2% growth in BAL’s consolidated net profit as per US GAAP, between Rs 1022.80 crore and Rs 1086.30 crore, from Rs 545.30 core in Q3 December 2005. All four expect 59.5 - 66.1% growth in BAL’s consolidated US GAAP revenue, between Rs 4824.60 crore and Rs 5026.60 crore, from Rs 3025.60 crore in Q3 December 2005. Bharti unveils December 2006 quarter results tomorrow.
Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 1.6% to Rs 407.50. At the time of announcing Q3 results last Thursday, Ranbaxy had forecast 15% topline growth and 16% EBIDTA margins for the year-2007 on a consolidated basis.
ICICI Bank lost 1% to Rs 975, despite stronger-than-expected Q3 results on Saturday. ICICI Bank reported 42% surge in net profit in the December 2006 quarter, to Rs 910 crore (Rs 640 crore). Its net interest income (NII) rose 32% to Rs 1709 crore, from Rs 1296 crore in Q3 December 2005.
Cadila Healthcare rose 3% to Rs 360. It reported 22% growth in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 52.50 crore (Rs 42.90 crore).
JSW Steel lost nearly 1% to Rs 419. The company reported a surge in profit-after-tax in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 362.15 crore, from Rs 139.20 crore in December 2005 quarter.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises was up 2% to Rs 301. The company posted a surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 95.80 crore (Rs 33.60 crore). Total income went up to Rs 417.70 crore, from Rs 377.70 crore.
India Cements dropped 2.3% to Rs 242. The company posted a surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 79.78 crore (Rs 7.22 crore).
Orchid Chemicals gained 4% to Rs 216.60, after the company said its betalactam bulk drug making unit in Maharashtra had received UK regulatory approval. The approval for this plant, from UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, will help Orchid market its betalactam product, Piperacillin-Tazobactam in the European market..
ING Vysya Bank rose 15.2% to Rs 196.80, as its net profit rose 195% in the December 2006 quarter to Rs 14.33 crore.
Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals fell 10.5% to Rs 15.48, after its December 2006 quarter net profit fell 53%
Jewellery maker Flawless Diamond rose to its daily maximum limit of 5% to Rs 87.20, after its October-December net profit more than doubled to Rs 2.86 crore.
Power cables maker Torrent Cables was up by its maximum daily limit of 20% to Rs 157.90 after it reported 65% surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 7.02 crore.
Jet Airways rose 7% to Rs 774.20, after the largest domestic carrier began earning profits from the third quarter ended Dec 2006 after two successive loss making quarters. Jet Air posted a net profit of Rs 40.04 crore in December 2006 quarter, a fall of 34% on y-o-y basis.
European markets were in the green in early trade today. Key benchmark indices in London and France were up 0.1 - 0.4%. Asian stocks edged higher on Monday, following a recovery in oil and metal prices. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up between 0.03 - 2.3%.
FIIs have resumed buying after their heavy outflows earlier this month. Their net inflow was Rs 111.90 crore on Thursday (18 January). FIIs were net buyers in five out of six trading sessions, from 11 January to 18 January. As per provisional data, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 125 crore on Friday (19 January).
FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 553 crore in index-based futures on 19 January. They were net sellers to the tune of Rs 91 crore in individual stock futures that day.