Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit…..
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.- Rabindranath Tagore.
It’s sixty years since India achieved Independence. But our markets can’t dream of freedom from FIIs and global markets. After last week's turbulence, the bulls seemed much more in control on Monday amid positive cues coming from global markets. However, the undertone remains sluggish as the rally came on sharply lower volume albeit a positive breadth. The reversal in FII inflows is a worry. Unless the foreign funds resume their shopping spree, the key indices may remain range bound with a weaker bias.
Today, we expect a cautious to positive start and a dull day of trading ahead of tomorrow's holiday and owing to the uncertainty surrounding global markets.
Shares of Omnitech InfoSolutions will get listed today on the bourses. The issue was subscribed 61 times. The IPO price band was Rs90-105 and the stock has been priced at the upper end of the price band @ Rs105/share. Expect an opening above Rs160.
European fashion major Benetton is likely to enter into a distribution partnership with Trent for its premium brand Sisley. Tata Motors and M&M have reportedly been invited to meet with the managements of Jaguar and Rover. M&M is reportedly planning to set up a utility assembly plant in Manuas, North Brazil, with local partner Barmont.
ICI India to separate paint and chemical businesses and Dutch firm Akzo Nobel will make an open offer for a 20% stake in ICI India. LML has re-entered the domestic market with after 14 months with the launch of two Vespa brand of geared scooters. Engineers India has reportedly won a contract to manage the construction of a $5bn petrochemical complex in Abu Dhabi.
US stocks erased all gains to end nearly unchanged on Monday. The sell-off was led by financial and energy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped for a third day, paced by Exxon Mobil and American Express.
The S&P 500 index finished flat at 1452.92. The Dow lost 3 points to shut shop at 13,236.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.65 points to 2542.24.
US stocks rose earlier in the day, led by technology companies, and swayed on both sides of the break-even line in the afternoon, before losing steam near the close. Investors turned the focus to economic and earnings news due later in the week.
The European Central Bank (ECB) added another $65bn to the monetary system, building on last week's series of cash infusions. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) also added $5bn, building on last week's moves. The Fed too injected an additional $2bn in reserves to the nation's banking system after pumping $38bn on Friday.
Goldman Sachs will invest about $2bn to shore up its Global Equity Opportunities Fund after a 28% decline this month. Goldman Sachs also said that one of its troubled hedge funds is getting a $3bn cash infusion from a clutch of investors.
July retail sales beat expectations. Sales rose 0.3% in the month, above forecasts for a rise of 0.2%. Sales excluding autos rose 0.4%, meeting expectations. A separate report showed June business inventories rose 0.4%, as expected.
Blackstone jumped after the private equity firm reported that it more than tripled its quarterly profit and revenue in the second quarter.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the benchmark 10-year note yield to 4.76% from 4.80% late on Friday. In currency trading, the dollar rose versus the euro and slipped versus the yen.
US light crude oil for September delivery rose 15 cents to settle at $71.62 a barrel in New York, giving up bigger morning gains. The front-month contract was trading 3 cents lower at $71.59 a barrel in extended trading in Asia.
European shares posted their best gain in a year after central banks added more cash to banks to ease a credit crunch, as investors took heart from central banks' moves to calm money markets.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index jumped 2.3% to 371.14. The UK's FTSE 100 posted its biggest one-day gain in more than four years. It closed up 3%, or 180.70 points, at 6,219.00. The French CAC-40 advanced 2.2% to 5,569.28 and the German DAX 30 surged 1.8% to 7,474.33.
In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil shed 0.4% at 52,434 while the IPC index in Mexico gained 0.6% at 29,607. The RTS index in Russia jumped 1.6% to 1927 while the ISE National 30 index in Turkey climbed 2.4% to 62,667.
Asian markets were trading mixed this morning. The Nikkei in Tokyo was flat at 16,797 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 27 points to 21,918. The Kospi in Seoul dropped 11 points to 1837 while the Straits Times in Singapore lost 7 points at 3372.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index was little changed at 149.23 at 11:02 a.m. in Tokyo. An index of financial companies dropped 0.9%, the second-biggest drag on the broader benchmark.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.7%, leading declines in markets open for trading.
Markets ended with strong gains as positive cues from the Asian and the European markets aided the benchmark Sensex to close above the 15k mark. Volumes declined sharply as turnover in NSE cash segment dropped by 26% and in F&O segment declined 35%.
RIL, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever were the top leading movers in Sensex. Market breath was also strong as 27 scrip’s rose and 3 scrip’s lost ground. On the other hand TCS, Satyam Computer, Infosys and Wipro were the top lagging movers. Finally the BSE 30-share Sensex closed at 15017, up by 148 points. NSE Nifty added 40 points to close at 4373.
Indian Hotels surged by over 2.5% to Rs139 after the company announced that they would give 1 share for every 5 shares held at Rs70 per share. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs155 and a low of Rs137 and recorded volumes of over 25,00,000 shares on NSE.
Sobha Developers slipped by 2% to Rs796. The company announced its Q1 result with net profit at Rs408mn (up 141%) and revenue at Rs2.68bn (up 30.7%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs839 and a low of Rs792 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.
BOC surged by over 3.5% to Rs132 after the manufacturer of industrial gases announce that it signed a contract with GKN Sinter Metals Ltd. for the supply of nitrogen, and also received a letter of intent from Elecrosteel Castings Ltd. for delivering 35 tons a day of oxygen. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs134 and a low of Rs131 and recorded volumes of over 24,000 shares on NSE.
Geometric Software gained by 2% to Rs102 after the software maker announced that it bought the remaining 18% of U.S.-based TekSoft Inc. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs103 and a low of Rs100 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.
PFC advanced by 3.7% to Rs182 after the state-run Indian lender to electricity utilities plans to raise $1bn from overseas investors to lend to electricity projects in India. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs183 and a low of Rs178 and recorded volumes of over 27,00,000 shares on NSE.
IFCI advanced by 1.2% to Rs66 after the troubled state-run term lender has invited preliminary bids for selling up to a 26% stake. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs68 and a low of Rs65 and has recorded volumes of over 75,00,000 shares on NSE.
Realty stocks were a mixed bag. Unitech lost 2.5% to Rs500; Sobha was down by 2% to Rs769. In the other hand, DLF gained by 2.6% to Rs596 and Akruti added 5.6% to Rs521.
Metal stocks recorded smart gains. Tata Steel advanced by 1.3% to Rs642, Hindalco was up by 0.8% to Rs152, Sterlite Industries gained by 2.3% to Rs607 and National Aluminum added 1.2% to Rs256.
Lower crude oil prices lifted the Auto stocks higher. M&M surged by 2.6% to Rs689, Tata Motors gained by 3.4% to Rs692, Maruti was up by 2.8% to Rs832 and TVS Motors added 0.8% to Rs56.
Banking stocks also were in momentum led by gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank advanced by 1.2% to Rs873, HDFC Bank was up by 0.5% to Rs1135 and SBI added 0.4% to Rs1613.
Fund Activity:
FIIs were net sellers of Rs5.6bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Monday and the local institutions pumped in Rs1.38bn. In the F&O segment, FIIs were net sellers at Rs11.2mn. On Friday, foreign funds pulled out Rs4.08bn from the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net sellers at Rs1.7bn on the same day.
Major Bulk Deals:
Goldman Sachs has bought Mangalam Cement; Morgan Stanley has sold Shah Alloy; Bear Stearns has sold Sujana Metal.
Insider Trades:
Reliance Capital Limited: 1) Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited a/c Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Mauritius Co. Ltd. 2) Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited A/C Morgan Stanley Investment Mauritius Ltd has purchased from open market 50000 equity shares of the company on 9th August, 2007.
Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd: Deepak S Parekh, Chairman has sold in open market 30000 equity shares of the company on 6trh and 8th August, 2007.
Lower Circuit:
IID Forgings, Anant Raj Industries, and BF Utilities
Upper Circuit:
Swan Mills, Balasore Alloys, TCI Finance, Jindal Hotel, ETC Network, Atlanta, Zuari Industries, Jai Corp, Kothari Products, Bilcare, IOB Exchange, Era Construction, Adhunik Metaliks and Nirlon.
Delivery Delight (Rising Price & Rising Delivery):
CESC, Cummins India, Dr. Reddy's, ICICI Bank, IDFC, Nagarjuna Construction and Tata Motors.
Abnormal Delivery:
JK Cement, UB, Bharat Electronics, GSK Pharma, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, IVRCL Infrastructures, CESC, Essar Oil and Geometric Software.
Major News & Announcements:
IFCI invites preliminary bids for selling up to a 26% stake
L&T gets order of Rs2.03bn from Delhi Metro
HCC secures contract worth Rs4.15bn
Sobha Developers Q1 profit at Rs408mn (up 141%); revenue at Rs2.68bn (up 30.7%)
Govt to delay four Power Plants as States deny land
Indian Hotels announces Rights Issue of equity shares and convertible debentures
HCL Tech Q4 net profit at Rs4.87bn (up 47%) and revenues at Rs16.12bn (up 2.2%).