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Friday, May 23, 2008
NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - May 23 2008
Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
23-MAY-2008,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,BUY,7445046,35.25,-
23-MAY-2008,KIRIDYES,Kiri Dyes and Chemicals L,ELARA INDIA OPPORTUNITIES FUND LIMITED,BUY,381140,165.44,-
23-MAY-2008,SELMCL,SEL Manufacturing Company,DKG SECURITIES PVT LTD.,BUY,179799,474.95,-
23-MAY-2008,SELMCL,SEL Manufacturing Company,DKG SECURITIES PVT. LTD.,BUY,95274,476.18,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,AMBIT SECURITIES BROKING PVT. LTD.,BUY,260304,49.59,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,DIPAK RAMANBHAI RATHOD,BUY,163009,47.56,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,GOPAL TRADERS,BUY,115500,47.63,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,BUY,157921,49.26,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,UDDHAO RASHMI SANDEEP,BUY,120510,49.52,-
23-MAY-2008,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,SELL,7623861,35.36,-
23-MAY-2008,JYOTHYLAB,Jyothy Laboratories Limit,TEMPLETON MUTUAL FUND A/C FLEXI CAP FUND,SELL,135678,535.00,-
23-MAY-2008,SELMCL,SEL Manufacturing Company,DKG SECURITIES PVT LTD.,SELL,134677,480.38,-
23-MAY-2008,SELMCL,SEL Manufacturing Company,DKG SECURITIES PVT. LTD.,SELL,95274,481.80,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,AMBIT SECURITIES BROKING PVT. LTD.,SELL,260298,49.54,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,DIPAK RAMANBHAI RATHOD,SELL,163009,50.27,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,GOPAL TRADERS,SELL,11880,47.15,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,SELL,157951,49.34,-
23-MAY-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,UDDHAO RASHMI SANDEEP,SELL,120510,49.59,-
BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - May 23 2008
Deal Date Scrip Code Scrip Name Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE MATRIX EQUITRADE PVT LTD B 65612 101.04
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE SANJAY KUMAR YADAV B 64475 101.07
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE S. M. NISSAR B 307357 101.82
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE PREM MOHANLAL PARIKH B 100000 101.00
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE N D NISSAR B 90374 101.50
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE SMITA VILAS MARATHE B 331275 100.91
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE MANISH V SARVAIYA B 116864 101.80
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE MATRIX EQUITRADE PVT LTD S 65612 100.97
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE SANJAY KUMAR YADAV S 64475 101.64
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE S. M. NISSAR S 307357 102.01
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE N D NISSAR S 90374 101.64
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE SMITA VILAS MARATHE S 331275 101.35
23/5/2008 532975 AISHWARYA TE MANISH V SARVAIYA S 116864 101.74
23/5/2008 531223 ANJANI SYNTH NILESH RASIKLAL PANDYA B 128017 46.87
23/5/2008 523489 CMM HOSPITAL. SHILPA S MORAKHIA S 41864 20.98
23/5/2008 507833 COMPUTER POI ANOOP NOPANY S 66000 5.10
23/5/2008 531067 CONTIL I LTD SAURBH MOHAN B 21890 11.09
23/5/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF S V ENTERPRISES B 1852143 6.49
23/5/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF S V ENTERPRISES S 2770109 6.44
23/5/2008 517973 DMC INTER HITECH COMPUTECH PRIVATE LTD B 21100 13.00
23/5/2008 517973 DMC INTER J A FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS PVT LTD B 25000 13.05
23/5/2008 517973 DMC INTER HITECH COMPUTECH PRIVATE LTD S 35000 13.05
23/5/2008 531863 GEEKAY FINAN CRESTA FUND LTD B 150000 69.45
23/5/2008 531863 GEEKAY FINAN SUYASH SINGHAL S 30000 69.08
23/5/2008 531137 GEMSTONE INV MALA H SHETH B 20000 22.55
23/5/2008 531137 GEMSTONE INV BHAVESH PRAKASH PABARI S 25000 22.56
23/5/2008 511116 HFCL INFOTEL MANOHAR MANAK ALLOYS PVT.LTD B 260562 19.81
23/5/2008 511116 HFCL INFOTEL NIRMALA ASHOK SETH S 260562 19.81
23/5/2008 531602 KOFF BR PICT LAXMI CAP BROKING PVT LTD B 64884 24.19
23/5/2008 531602 KOFF BR PICT LAXMI CAP BROKING PVT LTD S 50895 23.67
23/5/2008 524404 MARKSANS SHRADHA TRADELINKS PVT LTD B 1800000 21.15
23/5/2008 532692 RADHA MADHAV INDIASTAR MAURITIUS LIMITED S 143861 59.62
23/5/2008 532961 SITA SHREE N D NISSAR B 204093 49.89
23/5/2008 532961 SITA SHREE N D NISSAR S 204093 49.80
23/5/2008 513530 STELCO STRIP SPJSTOCK B 55258 46.23
23/5/2008 513530 STELCO STRIP SPJSTOCK S 55258 46.53
23/5/2008 506687 TRANSPEK IND RUCHIT B PATEL B 43000 82.00
23/5/2008 531703 TRIBHVAN HSG CRESTA FUND LTD B 52000 80.92
23/5/2008 531703 TRIBHVAN HSG UNIVERSAL CREDIT S 40000 80.90
23/5/2008 531088 TULIP STAR H MANISH MEHTA B 42865 230.54
23/5/2008 531249 WELL PACK PA DEVENDRA SURESH GUPTA B 60000 67.89
23/5/2008 531249 WELL PACK PA N C JAIN B 90516 67.61
23/5/2008 531249 WELL PACK PA N C JAIN S 90516 66.81
Market takes a beating
The market witnessed a full-fledged correction, as weak Asian markets and flat US and European indices in yesterday's close dampened the sentiment. After easing sharply in the last few sessions of the week, profit taking was round the corner, as the Sensex had rallied sharply last week. Although the Sensex resumed on a positive note at 16,959, the market soon lost ground and slipped below 16,800 in early trades. The market steadily kept losing momentum as trading progressed and lost significantly in afternoon trades as selling in heavyweights, realty, FMCG, oil & gas and metal stocks dragged the index to the day's low of 1,626. The Sensex finally ended the session with losses of 257 points at 16,650, while the Nifty shed 77 points to close at 4,949.
The market breadth was extremely weak. Of the 2,790 stocks traded on the BSE 1,901 stocks declined, 816 stocks advanced and 73 stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices ended in red except BSE HC index. BSE Realty index was the major loser and shed 2.38% at 7,510 followed by BSE FMCG index (down 2.15% at 2,387), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 2.15% at 10,975) and BSE Metal index (down 2.08% at 16,796).
Among the major losers ITC shed 4.24% at Rs213.60, Tata Motors declined 3.57% at Rs638, Jaiprakash Associates fell by 3.43% at Rs237.65, Larsen & Toubro slipped by 2.47% at Rs2,844.75, Reliance Energy dipped 2.42% at Rs1,291, ONGC lost 2.41% at Rs902.05 and Tata Consultancy Services slumped 2.40% at Rs933.70. While Hindalco, Reliance Communications, SBI, Ambuja Cement, ICICI Bank, ACC, Infosys, DLF, Maruti, Wipro, Satyam Computer and Tata Steel lost above 1-2% each. Bharti Airtel, however, gained 2.35% at Rs836.80 while HDFC, HUL, HDFC Bank and Cipla ended with steady gains.
Over 3.56 crore Ispat Industries shares changed hands on the BSE followed by IFCI (1.67 crore shares), Aishwarya Telecom (1.11 crore shares), Idea Cellular (0.92 crore shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (0.81 crore shares).
Global cues, futures & options expiry to dictate trend
The market is likely to dance to global tunes in absence of any near term major domestic trigger with Q4 March 2008 results almost over. Expiry of May 2008 futures & options series on Thursday, 29 May 2008 will keep the market volatile. As per reports, rollover of Nifty positions from May 2008 series to June 2008 series stood at 27.50%, as on 23 May 2008.
Aggregate results of 1886 companies showed 18.70% rise in net profit on 22.60% rise in net sales in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007, so far. There was 28.10% rise in net profit on 22% rise in net sales in the year ended March 2008 over year ended March 2007.
Forthcoming inflation data will be closely watched as it remains as a major worry and hindrance for the domestic growth. High inflation may compel the government to take more fiscal measures to rein in prices in addition to slew of measures taken recently.
Inflation based on the whole price index rose 7.82% in the year through 10 May 2008, marginally lower than 7.83% rise in the previous week, government data released on 23 May 2008, showed. Meanwhile, inflation for the year through 15 March 2008 was revised upwards to 8.02% compared to provisional figure of 6.68%.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 673.40 crore in this month, till 21 May 2008. They sold shares worth Rs 11,031.40 crore in calendar year 2008, till 21 May 2008. Domestic funds sold shares worth Rs 639.80 this month, till 14 May 2008. Mutual funds were net sellers of shares worth Rs 578.30 crore in this month, till 20 May 2008.
Earnings downgrade amid rising input and interest costs, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market.
With parliamentary elections scheduled next year (May 2009), the government may leave no stone unturned in its attempt to tame inflation. This is bad news for commodity shares from cement and steel sector.
Meanwhile, as per a recent study by CLSA, large amount of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issued by Indian companies are coming up for redemption in the next 18-24 months. After recent stock market volatility many FCCBs are at risk of not converting i.e. if the stock market remains subdued, it will stop the bond holders from opting for an equity conversion as it will be easier for them to buy the stock from the open market instead of paying the agreed premium.
When the FCCBs come for redemption, some of these companies may have to take on more debt to redeem the FCCB, thereby raising interest outgo. In the event FCCBs don't get converted, companies have the option to lower the conversion price in line with the market, leading to higher equity dilution. If companies decide to issue fresh FCCBs to finance redemption of FCCBs, it will be at lower premium than earlier.
With the rupee tumbling against the dollar in the last few days, the government may ease restrictions on overseas corporate borrowing when it, together with the RBI, reviews the external commercial borrowing (ECB) policy later this month, reports suggest. Last year, the government had imposed restrictions on ECBs in a bid to check in surge in rupee against the dollar. There are many Indian corporates who will eagerly seek cheap overseas funds if the RBI re-opens the ECB tap, analysts reckon.
The structural growth drivers of the Indian economy remain intact – India’s economy is expected to witness a decent-to-strong growth for a long period of time due to favourable demographics. Acceleration in infrastructure creation will be another driver of strong growth in India’s economy. A CLSA report says India’s infrastructure development is set to accelerate, backed by greater private sector participation and improved finances of government and public sector enterprises. Rating agency Crisil in its outlook for Indian economy for the year through March 2009 has stated that the overall growth scenario is expected to remain strong with investment as the main driver.
Given the continued inflow to unit linked insurance plans (Ulips) and equity linked savings schemes (ELSS) of mutual funds, stock-specific buying will continue depending on fundamentals of individual stocks. Insurance firms are now a major player in the Indian stock market given the huge mop up in Ulips in recent years. It was buying support from domestic funds which had aided the recent recovery on the bourses.
Meanwhile, as per recent reports, ELSS which offer tax benefit are catching the fancy of small savers. ELSS funds saw their collective assets jump more than nine times to about Rs 16000 crore in three years ending March 2008. In 2005 the investment limit eligible for income tax breaks was raised ten times to Rs 1,00,000 rupees for ELSS funds. Systematic investment plan (SIP) are said to be driving inflows into ELSS funds.
The key benchmark indices suffered losses in the week ended Friday, 3 May 2008 following concerns that soaring global crude oil prices which struck record high of over $135 barrel and spiraling inflation will impact growth.
The BSE Sensex slumped 785.30 points or 4.50% to 16,649.64 in the week ended Friday, 23 May 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty declined 211.15 points or 4.09% to 4,946.55in the week.
S&P CNX Nifty settles below 5,000 mark
Relentless selling in realty, oil & gas and metal stocks spooked sell-off in late trade, erasing early gains. Weak Asian and European markets also played the spoilsport. The S&P CNX Nifty settled below the physcological 5,000 mark, after closing above that level for six consecutive sessions. The market breadth was weak on BSE.
The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 257.47 points or 1.52% lower at 16,649.64 after registering 147.23 point gain at day’s high of 17,054.34 and 281 point loss at day’s low of 16,626.11. The day's high and low were hit during early and late trade respectively.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 78.9 points or 1.57% at 4,946.55. Nifty May 2008 futures were at 4945.20, a marginal discount of 1.35 points as compared to spot closing. Nifty May 2008 futures are set for expiry on Thursday, 29 May 2008.
The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover slipped to Rs 41,317.97 crore, as compared to Rs 45076.17 crore on Thursday, 22 May 2008.
The BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.59% to 6,937.11 and BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.69% to 8,517.43. Both these indices underperformed Sensex.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,358 crore today as compared to Rs 6,106.27 crore on 22 May 2008.
Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi)'s plan to keep in abeyance the imposition of upfront margins for institutional trades in the cash market. Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had earlier asked institutional investors to pay upfront margins from 16 June 2008. In the light of difficulties expressed by the market participants regarding implementation of upfront margining of institutional trades in the cash market, it has been decided to keep the same in abeyance, Sebi said in a circular issued to stock exchanges.
Inflation based on the whole price index rose 7.82% in the year through 10 May 2008, marginally lower than 7.83% rise in the previous week, government data released today, 23 May 2008, showed. Meanwhile, inflation for the year through 15 March 2008 was revised upwards to 8.02% compared to provisional figure of 6.68%.
The market breadth, which was strong during first half of the day, settled weak. On BSE, 795 shares advanced as compared to 1,924 that declined and 71 remained unchanged.
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 25 declined while the rest advanced.
Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Realty index (down 2.38% at 7,510.14), BSE FMCG index (down 2.15% at 2,387.47), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 2.15% to 10,975.26), BSE Metal index (down 2.08% to 16,795.80), BSE IT index (down 1.75% to 4,340.98), BSE Bankex (down 1.72% at 8,232.16), BSE PSU index (down 1.69% to 7,524.44) underperformed Sensex.
While the BSE Auto index (down 1.39% at 4,619.90), BSE Capital Goods index (down 1.12% at 13,192.42), BSE Consumer Durables index (down 1.04% to 4,584.46), BSE TecK index (down 0.98% to 3,454.97), BSE Power (down 0.93% to 3,202.79), BSE Health Care index (up 0.02% at 4,229.03) outperformed Sensex.
Interest rate sensitive realty stocks declined, while banking shares were mixed. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 4.3% to Rs 490.45), DLF (down 1.76% to Rs 609.75) and Unitech (down 2.04% to Rs 268.25) edged lower from real estate pack.
Banking stocks fell after inflation data. India’s largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank (down 1.89% to Rs 863.75) and State Bank of India (down 2.1% to Rs 1,573.25) edged lower. However HDFC Bank rose 0.25% to Rs 1,383.35.
Oil & Gas stocks declined on profit booking after steady rally in past few days. Cairn India (down 4.05% to Rs 306.45), ONGC (down 2.41% to Rs 902.05) and Reliance Industries (down 2.39% to Rs 2,554.80) edged lower.
Metal stocks were weak. Sterlite Industries (down 4.96% to Rs 903.20), Hindalco Industries (down 2.38% to Rs 192.95), Tata Steel (down 1.32% to Rs 896.50) and Steel Authority of India (down 1.57% to Rs 172.95) , National Aluminium Company (down 0.45% to Rs 528) edged lower.
FMCG stocks fell. ITC declined 4.48% to Rs 213.05. The company posted 13.05% rise in net profit to Rs 735.64 crore on 17.95% rise in total income to Rs 4,098.07 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007. Tata Tea (down 1.91% to Rs 899.95), Dabur India (down 1.61% to Rs 94.75) edged lower.
Bharti Airtel (up 2.35% to Rs 836.80), HDFC (up 1.96% to Rs 2,678.30), Cipla (up 0.2% to Rs 203.50), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.32% to Rs 235.75) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Tata Motors (down 3.57% to Rs 637.85), Jaiprakash Associates (down 3.43% to Rs 237.65), Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.42% to Rs 1,291), Reliance Communicatios (down 2.11% to Rs 572.30), edged lower from Sensex pack.
India’s largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined 2.4% to Rs 933.70. It has reportedly won a contract, estimated to be worth more than Rs 1000 crore, for processing Indian passport applications.
India’s largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra was down 0.07% to Rs 651.90. Private equity ICICI Venture is reportedly partnering Mahindra & Mahindra in its bid to acquire Belgian gear maker VCST Industrial Products in a deal valued around 250 million euros.
Ispat Industries clocked the highest volume of 3.57 crore shares on BSE. IFCI (1.67 crore shares), Aishwarya Telecom (1.11 crore shares), Idea Cellular (92.15 lakh shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (81.43 lakh shares) were other volume toppers in that order.
Reliance Capital clocked the highest turnover of Rs 283.43 crore on BSE. Cairn India (Rs 175.73 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 151.06 crore), Reliance Power (Rs 138.29 crore) and Ispat Industries (Rs 126.68 crore) were other turnover toppers in that order.
European markets were weak. Key benchmark indices from France, Germany and UK were down between 0.48% to 1.05%.
Most of the Asian markets were in red. Key benchmark indices in Japan, rose by 0.24%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan China and South Korea were down by between 0.36% to 1.92%.
US stocks rose modestly on Thursday, 22 May 2008, after two days of steep declines as energy prices pulled back from record highs and a proposed acquisition in the utilities sector buoyed optimism. The Dow rose 24.43 points, or 0.19% to close at 12,625.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 3.64 points, or 0.26%, to 1,394.35, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 16.31 points, or 0.67%, at 2,464.58.
Earnings downgrade amid rising input and interest costs, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market. In a bid to rein in inflation, the Reserve Bank of India, on Tuesday, 29 April 2008, raised cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25%, to suck out excess liquidity in the banking system, in its annual monetary policy review.
With parliamentary elections scheduled next year (May 2009), the government may leave no stone unturned in its attempt to tame inflation. This is bad news for commodity scrips such as cement and steel. Cement maker ACC said earlier this months that its margins will be hurt by a decision to hold its prices for 2 to 3 months that was taken after the government asked cement firms to help contain price pressures. The government recently imposed export tax on basmati rice and some steel products, and cut import duties on key inputs like ferro alloys and metallurgical coke. The government had earlier banned export of cement and non-basmati rice. On 7 May 2008, the government ordered suspension in futures trading in channa, refined soyoil, potato and rubber for four months.
Meanwhile, as per a recent study by CLSA, large amount of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issued by Indian companies are coming up for redemption in the next 18-24 months. After recent stock market volatility many FCCBs are at risk of not converting i.e. if the stock market remains subdued, it will stop the bond holders from opting for an equity conversion as it will be easier for them to buy the stock from the open market instead of paying the agreed premium.
When the FCCBs come for redemption, some of these companies may have to take on more debt to redeem the FCCB, thereby raising interest outgo. In the event FCCBs don't get converted, companies have the option to lower the conversion price in line with the market, leading to higher equity dilution. If companies decide to issue fresh FCCBs to finance redemption of FCCBs, it will be at lower premium than earlier.
With the rupee tumbling against the dollar in the last few days, the government may ease restrictions on overseas corporate borrowing when it, together with the RBI, reviews the external commercial borrowing (ECB) policy later this month, reports suggest. Last year, the government had imposed restrictions on ECBs in a bid to check in surge in rupee against the dollar. There are many Indian corporates who will eagerly seek cheap overseas funds if the RBI re-opens the ECB tap, analysts reckon.
The structural growth drivers of the Indian economy remain intact – India’s economy is expected to witness a decent-to-strong growth for a long period of time due to favourable demographics. Acceleration in infrastructure creation will be another driver of strong growth in India’s economy. A CLSA report says India’s infrastructure development is set to accelerate, backed by greater private sector participation and improved finances of government and public sector enterprises. Rating agency Crisil in its outlook for Indian economy for the year through March 2009 has stated that the overall growth scenario is expected to remain strong with investment as the main driver.
Given the continued inflow to unit linked insurance plans (Ulips) and equity linked savings schemes (ELSS) of mutual funds, stock-specific buying will continue depending on fundamentals of individual stocks. Insurance firms are now a major player in the Indian stock market given the huge mop up in Ulips in recent years. It was buying support from domestic funds which had aided the recent recovery on the bourses.
Meanwhile, as per recent reports, ELSS which offer tax benefit are catching the fancy of small savers. ELSS funds saw their collective assets jump more than nine times to about Rs 16000 crore in three years ending March 2008. In 2005 the investment limit eligible for income tax breaks was raised ten times to Rs 1,00,000 rupees for ELSS funds. Systematic investment plan (SIP) are said to be driving inflows into ELSS funds.
Soaring crude oil, high inflation pull market lower
The key benchmark indices suffered losses in the week ended Friday, 3 May 2008 following concerns that soaring global crude oil prices which struck record high of over $135 barrel and spiraling inflation will impact growth.
The BSE Sensex slumped 785.30 points or 4.50% to 16,649.64 in the week ended Friday, 23 May 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty declined 211.15 points or 4.09% to 4,946.55in the week.
The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 192.59 points or 2.77% at 6,937.11 in the week. The BSE Small-Cap index rose shed 102.83 points or 1.19% at 8,517.43. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 673.40 crore in this month, till 21 May 2008. They sold shares worth Rs 11,031.40 crore in calendar year 2008, till 21 May 2008. Domestic funds sold shares worth Rs 639.80 this month, till 14 May 2008. Mutual funds were net sellers of shares worth Rs 578.30 crore in this month, till 20 May 2008.
The Indian stock market remained closed on Monday, 19 May 2008, on account of Buddha Pournima.
Concerns about monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India following high inflation rate pulled the market lower on Tuesday, 20 May 2008. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 204.76 points or 1.17% at 17,230.18 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 52.75 points or 1.02% at 5,104.95, on that day.
However the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 12.98 points or 0.08% at 17,243.16 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty gained 12.7 points or 0.25% at 5,117.65, on Wednesday, 21 May 2008, due to short covering at lower levels.
Sharp fall in US stocks overnight and record breaking crude oil prices above $135 a barrel triggered a broad based decline in blue chips on Thursday, 22 May 2008. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 336.05 points or 1.95% at 16,907.11 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 92.2 points or 1.8% at 5,025.45 on that day.
On Friday, 23 May 2008, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 257.47 points or 1.52% lower at 16,649.64 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty declined 78.9 points or 1.57% at 4,946.55 as relentless selling in realty, oil & gas and metal stocks spooked sell-off in late trade, erasing early gains.
India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries declined 3.05% to Rs 2,554.80 in the week. It has reportedly formed a $1 billion joint venture with New York-based Vornado Realty Trust to set up a real estate fund.
India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India slumped 7.67% to Rs 1,573.20 in the week. It has reportedly decided to stop giving loans for the purchase of tractors and other farm equipment. Due to mounting non-performing assets in the farm equipment loan segment, the bank has decided to temporarily put on hold all future advances for farm equipment like tractors, power tillers and combined harvesters, the reports suggested.
India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.56% to Rs 651.90 in the week. It is reportedly eyeing Italian motorcycle marque brands - Cagiva and MV Agusta. The Castiglioni family, which owns flagship MV Agusta and Cagiva motorcycle brands, has been facing financial troubles for some time and has been on the look out for a potential acquirer, the reports added.
India's largest state-run oil exploration firm in terms of revenue Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) shed 5.14% to Rs 902.05 in the week. It is reportedly planning to sell 30% to 40% each in two blocks in Vietnam to share the risks and drilling costs. ONGC owns 100% in the two deepwater exploration blocks. The buyer has not yet been finalised, the reports added.
India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India was down 3.52% to Rs 790.15 in the week. It has reportedly increased prices of cars by up to Rs 18,000 because of higher raw material costs.
India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro declined 5.06% to Rs 2,844.75 in the week. The company received electrical project orders worth Rs 640 crore in the Gulf region.
HDFC Bank, India's second largest private sector bank in terms of net profit, declined 7.92% to Rs 1,383.35 in the week. The Reserve Bank of India has approved the scheme of amalgamation of Centurion Bank of Punjab with HDFC Bank. The scheme of amalgamation will come into effect from 23 May 2008.
India's largest telecom services provider by market share Bharti Airtel lost 1.71% to Rs 836.80 in the week. As per reports Bharti Airtel has forged an exclusive alliance with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) that will enable the telco to access 18,000 retail outlets and 5,500 Indane cooking gas distributors of the oil giant.
India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shed 4.35% to Rs 933.70 in the week. It has reportedly won a contract, estimated to be worth more than Rs 1000 crore, for processing Indian passport applications.
Inflation based on the whole price index rose 7.82% in the year through 10 May 2008, marginally lower than 7.83% rise in the previous week, government data released on 23 May 2008, showed. Meanwhile, inflation for the year through 15 March 2008 was revised upwards to 8.02% compared to provisional figure of 6.68%.
Meanwhile the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to keep in abeyance the imposition of upfront margins for institutional trades in the cash market. Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had earlier asked institutional investors to pay upfront margins from 16 June 2008. In the light of difficulties expressed by the market participants regarding implementation of upfront margining of institutional trades in the cash market, it has been decided to keep the same in abeyance, Sebi said in a circular issued to stock exchanges.
On Wednesday, 21 May 2008, the US Federal Reserve cut its 2008 US economic growth forecast and signaled that mounting concerns over inflation would make further interest rate cuts unlikely, driving the three major US indexes down over 1.5%. Oil prices surged to a record high above $135 per barrel on Thursday, 22 May 2008, stoking fears of global inflation.
Range-bound moves likely
The market showed resilience in yesterday's trades and is likely to move in a range with select bouts of buying and selling activities today. On the downside, the Nifty has a likely support at the 4980-4930 range and could test higher levels of 5066 and 5118 while the Sensex has a support at 16736 and resistance at 17136.
US indices came off their early highs and ended with slim gains on Thursday. While the Dow Jones added 24 points to 12626, the Nasdaq was up 16 points at 2465.
Indian ADR gainers outnumbered losers on the US bourses. Dr Reddy's flared up 3.59% and HDFC Bank moved up 2.15% while Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, VSNL, Rediff and Patni Computer ended with steady gains. Among losers, MTNL tanked 1.21% while Tata Motors and ICICI Bank also ended at lower levels.
Crude oil prices in the international market declined on Thursday, with the Nymex US light crude oil for June delivery dipping $2.36 to close at $130.81 a barrel. In the commodity space, the Comex gold lost $10.30 to settle at $918.30 an ounce.
Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities
On May 21, 2008 FIIs were net sellers of stocks to the tune of Rs611.40 crore (purchases worth Rs2,830.30 crore and sales of Rs3,441.70 crore) while domestic mutual funds were net buyers of stocks to the tune of Rs13.10 crore (purchases worth Rs622.60 crore and sales of Rs609.50 crore).
Today's Pick - Bharat Forge
We recommend a sell in Bharat Forge from a short-term perspective. The stock had been on a medium-term uptrend between mid March and early May, from the trough at Rs 245. However, the stock encountered resistance at Rs 310 during early May and reversed direction.
On May 13, the stock tumbled penetrating the medium-term up trendline. Following a pullback rally till the up trendline, the stock once again began to decline resuming the downtrend.
The stock fell more than 3 per cent on May 22. The relative strength index is featuring at around 40 levels and is on the verge of entering the bearish zone. We notice a crossover in the daily moving average convergence and divergence and it is declining in line with the stock price, indicating bearishness.
We are bearish on the stock in the short-term. We expect the stock’s down move to continue until it hits our price target of Rs 260 in the upcoming trading sessions. Traders with short-term perspective can sell the stock while keeping the stop-loss at Rs 294.
via BL
Pre Market Watch - May 23 2008
The Indian Market is likely to open positive on the back of favorable global cues as the US market closed in green and the Asian markets are trading mixed. On Thursday, the Indian market closed in deep red on the back of heavy selling pressure across key sectors. The investors’ sentiment was week as the international oil prices reached a new high of above $135 per barrel and rising inflation fear was making whole scenario more panic. The market opened on the weak note tracking the negative global cues and hovering in the negative territory till the end of trading. IT shares gained after Indian rupee reached to the level of 43 but were not able to sustain the momentum till the end of trading. Capital goods and metal were not in favour as they witnessed heavy selling pressure. The BSE Sensex closed lower by 336.05 points at 16,907.11 and NSE Nifty fell by 92.2 points to close at 5,025.45. We expect that the volatility may grip the market, as the inflation figure is due today.
On Thursday, the US market closed in green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed higher by 24.43 points at 12,625.62 along with NASDAQ up by 16.31 points to close at 2,464.58 and S&P 500 advanced by 3.64 points to close at 1,390.71.
Indian ADRS ended mixed. In technology sector Wipro ended up by (1.77%) along with Satyam by (1.09%), Infosys by (0.66%) and Patni Computers by (0.39%). In banking sector, HDFC bank advanced by (2.15%) while ICICI bank slipped by (0.22%). In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication went up by (0.02%) and MTNL decreased by (0.06%). Sterlite industries declined by (0.81%).
Today the major stock markets in Asia are trading mixed. Japan’s Nikkei is trading higher by 102.50 points at 14,080.96 along with Hang Seng index trading up by 73 points at 24,970.12 while Taiwan Weighted trading at 8,956.56 down by 51.47 points. Asian markets are trading mixed after yesterday’s fall due to unexpected reduction in the weekly unemployment figure of US to the lowest level in a month and dollar value which becomes stronger against yen.
The FIIs Thursday stood as net seller in equity. The gross equity purchased was Rs2,830.30 Crore and the gross debt purchased was Rs0.00 Crore while the gross equity sold stood at Rs3,441.70 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs0.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity reported was (Rs611.40) Crore and net debt was Rs0.00 Crore.
Today, Nifty has support at 4,936 and resistance at 5,105 and BSE Sensex has support at 16,625 and resistance at 17,278.
Market may edge higher on Sebi reprieve on margins for institutional investors
The market may edge higher after the market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday, 22 May 2008, said it has kept in abeyance a decision to impose upfront margins for institutional trades in the cash market. Sebi had earlier said that institutional investors will be required to pay upfront margins from 16 June 2008. In the light of difficulties expressed by the market participants regarding implementation of upfront margining of institutional trades in the cash market, it has been decided to keep the same in abeyance, Sebi said in a circular issued to stock exchanges.
US stocks rose modestly on Thursday, 22 May 2008, after two days of steep declines as energy prices pulled back from record highs and a proposed acquisition in the utilities sector buoyed optimism. The Dow rose 24.43 points, or 0.19% to close at 12,625.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 3.64 points, or 0.26%, to 1,394.35, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 16.31 points, or 0.67%, at 2,464.58.
Data on India’s inflation for the year through 10 May 2008 will be released by the government at 12:00 IST today. Inflation had surged 7.83% in the year through 3 May 2008, its highest level more than three years. Analysts will also be watching the revision of the provisional inflation rate of 6.68% for the year through 15 March 2008, after sharp upward revisions to previous provisional readings. The upward revision in inflation rate for the week ended 8 March 2008, to 7.78% from the provisional 5.92%, had come as a rude shock to marketmen.
According to retail brokerage Sharekhan, the steep upward revision in inflation rate is a cause for concern, as prices of many commodities have not been updated for varied periods. Moreover, a sharp fall in the rupee against the dollar in the past few days has heightened concerns about inflation. This is because the fall in rupee will raise cost of imports which in turn will result in further rise in inflation
A rise in retail fuel price, if any, will also raise the inflation rate further. RBI often says pass-through of high global oil prices is incomplete in India, complicating policy making. The government has not allowed oil firms to raise retail fuel prices despite a surge in crude oil prices in the past few weeks. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, 22 May 2008, denied reports that the government planned to raise retail fuel prices in the wake of a surge in global crude oil prices. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of India said inflation was unacceptable and pointed out that official data underestimated actual rate of inflation.
Earnings downgrade amid rising input and interest costs, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market. In a bid to rein in inflation, the Reserve Bank of India, on Tuesday, 29 April 2008, raised cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25%, to suck out excess liquidity in the banking system, in its annual monetary policy review.
With parliamentary elections scheduled next year (May 2009), the government may leave no stone unturned in its attempt to tame inflation. This is bad news for commodity scrips such as cement and steel. Cement maker ACC said earlier this months that its margins will be hurt by a decision to hold its prices for 2 to 3 months that was taken after the government asked cement firms to help contain price pressures. The government recently imposed export tax on basmati rice and some steel products, and cut import duties on key inputs like ferro alloys and metallurgical coke. The government had earlier banned export of cement and non-basmati rice. On 7 May 2008, the government ordered suspension in futures trading in channa, refined soyoil, potato and rubber for four months.
Meanwhile, as per a recent study by CLSA, large amount of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) issued by Indian companies are coming up for redemption in the next 18-24 months. After recent stock market volatility many FCCBs are at risk of not converting i.e. if the stock market remains subdued, it will stop the bond holders from opting for an equity conversion as it will be easier for them to buy the stock from the open market instead of paying the agreed premium.
When the FCCBs come for redemption, some of these companies may have to take on more debt to redeem the FCCB, thereby raising interest outgo. In the event FCCBs don't get converted, companies have the option to lower the conversion price in line with the market, leading to higher equity dilution. If companies decide to issue fresh FCCBs to finance redemption of FCCBs, it will be at lower premium than earlier.
With the rupee tumbling against the dollar in the last few days, the government may ease restrictions on overseas corporate borrowing when it, together with the RBI, reviews the external commercial borrowing (ECB) policy later this month, reports suggest. Last year, the government had imposed restrictions on ECBs in a bid to check in surge in rupee against the dollar. There are many Indian corporates who will eagerly seek cheap overseas funds if the RBI re-opens the ECB tap, analysts reckon.
The structural growth drivers of the Indian economy remain intact – India’s economy is expected to witness a decent-to-strong growth for a long period of time due to favourable demographics. Acceleration in infrastructure creation will be another driver of strong growth in India’s economy. A CLSA report says India’s infrastructure development is set to accelerate, backed by greater private sector participation and improved finances of government and public sector enterprises. Rating agency Crisil in its outlook for Indian economy for the year through March 2009 has stated that the overall growth scenario is expected to remain strong with investment as the main driver.
Given the continued inflow to unit linked insurance plans (Ulips) and equity linked savings schemes (ELSS) of mutual funds, stock-specific buying will continue depending on fundamentals of individual stocks. Insurance firms are now a major player in the Indian stock market given the huge mop up in Ulips in recent years. It was buying support from domestic funds which had aided the recent recovery on the bourses.
Morning Call - May 23 2008
Market Grape Wine :
In House :
Nifty at a support of 4970 & 4913 with resistance at 5062 and 5090 levels .
Buy : AbirNuvo above 1600 target 1650 s/l of 1584
Buy : Gail above 396.5 target 406 s/l of 391
Buy : Suzlon above 286 target 302 s/l of 280
Buy : TechMahindra above 846 target of 874 s/l of 834
Out House :
Markets at a support of 16816 & 16786 and resistance at 17071 & 17171 levels .
Buy : INFY & Wipro
Buy : RPL & MRPL
Buy : RPower
Buy : BombayDye
Buy : Coreproject
Buy :GujNre
Buy : Emami
Buy : Cairn at dips
Dark Horse : Suzlon , Kotak , BombayDye , Emami , IFCI , CORE, , GujNRE & Cairn
TGIF : Thank God Its Friday : Markets to remain choppy and volatile maintain strict stop loss .
Trading Calls - May 23 2008
Nifty (5025) Supp 4970 Res 5080
Sell Kotak Bank (715) SL 721 Target 694, 689
Sell HPCL (234) SL 239
Target 224, 220
Sell Tech M (842) SL 848
Target 830, 826
Buy Idea (107) 104
Target 116, 120
Buy i-Flex (1506) SL 1486
Target 1540, 1550
Rupee on a downslide
The spot rupee today reached a fresh 13-month, intra-day low of 43.20 against the dollar following heavy buying of the US currency by oil companies and by banks for non-deliverable forward (NDF) market arbitrage.
The rupee, however, recovered to close stronger at 42.97 following selling of dollars by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a part of the indirect intervention to stem the rupee depreciation, dealers said. Since the beginning of the month, the rupee has lost almost 7.5 per cent from 40.00 to a dollar to 42.96.
RBI had last sold dollars before the announcement of the annual monetary policy on April 29, 2008, to keep the rupee in the range of 39.90-40.00 to a dollar. "But for the selling of dollars by nationalised banks on behalf of the central bank to the tune of around $500-750 million, the rupee would have easily breached 43.30-43.40 to a dollar," said a dealer.
Dealers added that the selling happened around 43.20 in the spot dollar market and there was not much sales in the forward market.
"This is one of the reasons for the enhanced liquidity in the market, which is evident through a rise in reverse repo bids from around Rs 20,000 crore last week to Rs 36,000 crore on Thursday," said a dealer.
Since crude oil prices reached a high of nearly $136 a barrel in the international markets, the rupee opened weaker at 42.98-43 after closing on Wednesday at 42.85-86 to a dollar. The outlook on the Indian economy has been benign and there are no fresh inflows, while the demand has led importers, both oil and non-oil, to buy dollars aggressively, a dealer of a private bank said.
NDF is the derivatives market, where foreign investors take a position on the rupee-dollar exchange rate in the overseas market.
At present, the view on the rupee is bearish, which may lead to the purchase of dollars in the local market to be invested overseas. These markets mostly operate in Singapore and Hong Kong and banks or companies with active subsidiaries or branches in these countries play in the market.
Banks in India are buying dollars cheaper by 3-4 paise in the one- or two-month forward to sell it at a higher spread in the overseas market and earn profit.
Following a panic buying of dollars by oil companies, which preferred to book long-term contracts rather than the short-term ones, the annualised premia for the six-month and one-year forward dollars closed higher at 1.89 per cent and 1.39 per cent against 1.71 per cent and 1.30 per cent on Wednesday.
Bulls pray for a better day
Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
With so much talk these days on oil prices (they have cooled off a little), some of us may even be losing our common sense. Meanwhile, the Congress-led Government, which yesterday marked its fourth anniversary, is definitely feeling the heat from soaring crude prices. The Prime Minister says inflation will come down in the next 2-3 months. That's a tall and bold claim to make in the face of clear signs that crude oil may remain higher for a considerable time to come. Top global brokerages have hiked their forecast for oil prices for the year. Goldman Sachs sees crude hitting $200 per barrel in the next 24 months. Surging oil prices have become the single-biggest challenge facing the global economy, and it will be a while before one can heave a sigh of relief. Having said that its possible that the crude bubble may bust, especially if there is a mass exodus from funds. But, given the current momentum and fundamental factors backing it, looks like high oil prices are here to stay.
This will only add to the list of worries for the market, what with the economy slowing and inflation at multi-month high. A weakening local currency coupled with foreign capital outflows and faltering momentum in India Inc's earnings growth will continue to keep investors edgy. The long-term may look promising, but most market players are probably not even thinking that far. They are more concerned with the near-term outlook, which unfortunately doesn't appear to be all that bright. Today, we could see a better opening and hopefully a good end to what has been a tumultuous week. The weekly inflation data has the potential to swing the mood of the market either way. Plus, one has to continuously keep an eye on global markets as well.
Meanwhile, the Government has denied reports of rationing of transportation fuels; stopping of supply of normal fuels in the metros and freeze on new LPG connections. It has clarified that it has not issued any such directions to the OMCs, which have been advised to rectify the situation.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs5.37bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Thursday while local institutions were net buyers of Rs4.15bn. In the F&O segment, foreign funds were net sellers of Rs2.48bn. On Wednesday, foreign funds were net sellers of Rs6.1bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net buyers of Rs131mn.
Key Results Today: BHEL, Crompton Greaves, Federal Bank, Geojit Financial, ITC, India Glycol, Mount Everest Mineral, Munjal Showa, Repro India and VIP Industries.
US stock indices ended marginally higher on Thursday after a two-day selloff that was sparked by record high crude oil prices. Market sentiment improved as oil prices softened from the $135 per barrel level. Also, an unexpected drop in jobless claims countered analyst recommendations to sell shares of brokerages.
The S&P 500 added 3.64 points, or 0.3%, to 1,394.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.43 points, or 0.2%, to 12,625.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 16.31 points, or 0.7%, to 2,464.58.
Market breadth was positive. More than three stocks climbed for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Stocks had been stronger in the early afternoon, but the advance lost some steam by the close, ahead of the long holiday weekend. All US financial markets are closed on Monday for Memorial Day, and some Wall Street players could make it a four-day weekend.
Wall Street tumbled in the previous two sessions, with the Dow losing more than 425 points, as investors reacted to soaring oil and gas prices, in addition to a gloomy economic and inflation outlook from the Federal Reserve.
The focus this week has been on oil prices and how its rise could hurt consumer spending - already hit by the housing sector meltdown and a slowing economy. Markets on Friday will likely take a cue from the April existing-home sales report, due out before the start of trade.
US light crude oil for July delivery hit a new electronic trading record of $135.09 a barrel before pulling back to settle at $130.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of about $2.36.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to a record $3.831 from the previous day's record high for gas.
COMEX gold for August delivery fell $10.20 to settle at $923 an ounce. The dollar rose versus the euro and yen. Treasury prices tanked, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.91% from 3.81% late on Wednesday.
In the day's economic news, prices of homes sold in the first quarter fell 3.1%, according to a US government report. It was the biggest quarterly decline since the agency started keeping records 17 years ago.
Another report showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell last week, surprising economists who were expecting a slight rise.
Ford said it will cut production through the rest of 2008 amid rising oil prices and the sluggish economy, and is no longer expecting to return to profitability next year. Ford shares slumped 8.2% and dragged on fellow automaker GM.
UBS said it would raise about $15.5bn in capital at a deep discount below the current share price. The investment bank also said it sold subprime and other mortgage-backed assets to a new investment fund run by BlackRock for $15bn.
European shares ended up after two days of losses, as a reversal in oil prices brought relief to stocks sensitive to consumer spending and growing fuel costs. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4% to 324.41. Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.4% to 7,070.33, while the French CAC-40 ended nearly unchanged at 5,029.74. The UK's FTSE 100 couldn't hold onto early gains and fell 0.3% to 6,181.60.
In the emerging markets, the IPC index in Mexico was up 0.4% at 31,245. The RTS index in Russia fell 1.4% to 2433 while the ISE National 30 index in Turkey fell 0.9% to 49,916. the Brazil market was shut for a holiday.
Can the bulls bounce back
Another weak session comes to an end with the benchmark Sensex closing below the 17k mark and the Nifty index losing over 90 points. The gap down opening could be attributed to the weakening global cues and all round selling over the bourses. Rising crude oil prices and a weak start to equity markets across Europe proved to be a sentiment dampener. US light crude oil for July delivery set a closing record of $133.17 in New York Mercantile Exchange trading, up more than $4 a barrel.
All the BSE Sectoral indices ended in negative terrain, with BSE Bankex and BSE Realty indices slipping over 2.6% each. Even the broader indices i.e. BSE Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap indices witnessed selling pressure.
Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 336 points lower to close at 16,907 and the Nifty index slipped 92 points to close at 5,025.
Overall about 1,040 stocks advanced; 1,684 stocks declined while 67 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 45 stocks ended in down and 5 stocks ended in green.
Bajaj Holdings gained by over 3% to Rs697 after the company said that it plans to set up Economic Zone in Aurangabad. The company also said that Bajaj Finserve, Bajaj Auto would list on exchanges May 26. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs697 and a low of Rs641 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.
Praj Industries ended lower by 2.5% at Rs212. The company announced that it received a Rs1.20bn contract for supply of key equipment to Vivergo Fuels, UK through its subsidiary, BioCnergy Europa B. V. (a Joint Venture with Aker Solutions, Netherlands). The plant is designed to produce approximately 400mn litres of fuel ethanol a year (1,200,000 litres per day). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs222 and a low of Rs210 and recorded volumes of over 38,00,000 shares on BSE.
Hindustan Zinc dropped by 4.5% to Rs717. The company announced that it cut lead prices by Rs2,300 per ton to Rs1,06,300 and kept zinc prices unchanged. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs745 and a low of Rs714 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.
M&M slipped by 2.2% to Rs652. According to reports, the company signed a term sheet with Kinetic Motors, in its bid to acquire 76% stake in the company valued at about Rs1.20bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs657 and a low of Rs650 and recorded volumes of over 41,000 shares on BSE.
Infosys edged lower by half a percent to Rs1860. The company is exploring options to restore its organisational structure and has hired consultants. The company also intends to increase the spend on education and training of its employees by 15-20% as compared to the Rs7bn spent last year, according to reports. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1898 and a low of Rs1847 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on BSE.
Ranbaxy Labs was in poor health and ended lower by half a percent at Rs498. According to reports, the company has sold off its land and building to its group companies at Rs900mn and bought 24.9% stake at Rs934mn in its other group company Shimal Labs. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs505 and a low of Rs493 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.
ONGC ended down by 1.5% to Rs924. Reports, stated that the company is planning to sell 30-40% stake in the two blocks won in Vietnam in 2006. There were also buzz that ONGC has infused Rs50bn in western offshore fields. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs937 and a low of Rs916 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on BSE.
Corporate News
An increasing number of dealers have stopped accepting BPCL’s petro and smartfleet cards after the company cut commission rates. (Mint)
Subhash Chandra exists from Centrum Capital. (Mint)
IndiaBulls Real Estate pays its UK listed entity Rs4.5bn more than estimated by independent valuers. (Mint)
Providence Equity Partners get 20% in Idea Cellular unit for US$640mn. (Mint)
HT Media’s ‘Hindustan’ launched in Uttarakhand. (Mint)
HPCL seeks borrowing limit hike by Rs50bn. (Mint)
SCI’s management says it’s not affected by the global credit crisis. (Mint)
Videocon Industries plans major global retail foray under ‘VC’ brand. (BS)
Bajaj Auto expects flat sales in FY09. (BS)
Bharti Airtel ties up with global smartphone company HTC. (BS)
Hewlett Packard clarified that it will not make an open offer for Mphasis shares. (BS)
Tata Communication has designed detection and mitigation service to defend against cyber attacks on critical network infrastructure and business applications. (BS)
Tata Elxi announced setting up two new development centers in Coimbatore and Hyderabad and further expand its facility in Thiruvananthapuram. (BS)
Spice Telecom cuts STD and roaming rates. (BS)
Gail India to get into gas pipeline deal with J&K government. (BS)
Satyam and GE Healthcare enter into agreement to support customers deploying healthcare solutions based on GE Centricity Enterprise software. (BS)
Hyundai Motor raises prices by 2%. (BS)
Sail signs MoU with Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals for long term supply of low-silica limestone. (BS)
Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company agreed to buy 1,241MW power produced by Reliance Power’s MP plant. (BS)
Aditya Birla group plans to invest Rs800bn in Orissa. (BS)
Essar Oil offers Vadinar output to ease fuel deficit. (BS)
RCom talks to television vendors for DTH launch. (BS)
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation firms up plans for LNG terminal at Mundhra. (BL)
Dr. Reddy’s launches gastritis drug. (BL)
Trent adopts franchise model to reach out to smaller cities. (BL)
Bajaj Finserv to set up asset management and distribution company. (BL)
TCS secures ~Rs10bn contract for processing Indian passport applications. (ET)
ICICI Ventures, M&M teams up for acquiring Belgian gear-maker VCST Industrial Products for ~Rs15.5bn. (ET)
Welspun India secures supplier of the year award for quality in home products. (ET)
Omaxe ties-up with Leander Sport to build and manage spa, sport and fitness centers at five locations in the country. (ET)
TCS, Wipro, HP, Infosys and Satyam been shortlisted to commence the integration of Railways commercial portal. (ET)
The Hinduja Group receives approval for setting up a World Knowledge Center in Mumbai. (ET)
IDBI Bank looking to seal an acquisition this year and is looking at both private and public sector banks for this purpose. (ET)
Jaypee Group Company acquires Bina Power from Aditya Birla group for Rs1.5-1.75bn. (ET)
Reliance Infrastructure set to secure MP power supply contract. (ET)
Jindal Steel & Power may secure mining license for 20bn tons of iron ore deposits of El Mutun mine in Bolivia. (ET)
Tata Elxsi to triple manpower on overseas design orders. (FE)
Bank of Maharashtra opens its 1,377th branch in India. (FE)
ONGC refuses to accept oil bonds as payment for its crude oil sales to PSU refiners. (FE)
Government approves merger of Sponge Iron India with NMDC. (FE)
Essar Oil offers to wipe out most fuel deficit in the country by supplying the entire output from its Vadinar Refinery. (FE)
Expansion plans of SAIL and RINL on track to double capacity by 2010 at a collective cost of Rs630bn says government. (FE)
Economic News
SEBI defers upfront margin payment by institutional investors in the cash market. (Mint)
The UPA government will not allow relaxation of labour laws in tax free zones. (BS)
Centre plans package to give relief to oil companies. (BS)
Government authorized Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to start land acquisition for new projects ahead of formal sanctions. (BS)
Bangalore’s new airport starts operations today. (BS)
Government may relax ban imposed on exports of various commodities. (ET)
Planning Commission cautions the civil aviation ministry against setting up larger then required airport infrastructure in Kolkata and Chennai. (ET)
Drug companies may get a reprieve on price caps for brands containing price-controlled ingredients. (ET)
Karnataka real estate developers decide to raise home price by 3-8% from June 10. (ET)
Petroleum minister to meet PM on Friday to discuss raising retail prices. (FE)
Ficci, CII and Assocham seek finance minister’s intervention for service tax exemption. (FE)
Punjab infrastructure Development Board approves Rs200bn worth projects. (FE)
Company Background - TV18
Television Eighteen (TV18), India's premier business and consumer news broadcaster and leading media content provider, was incorporated on 24th Sep 1993 as Television Eighteen India Private Ltd. It Became a public limited Company in 2nd November 1994 and Subsequently Renamed as Television Eighteen India on 2nd Jan 1995. Over the last decade, the Company has provided prime time television content to almost all leading satellite channels in India including BBC, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee, MTV and Discovery. Raghav Bahl and Sanjay Ray Chaudhury are the promoters of the Company.
CNBC TV18 is India's leading business news channel. The channel is a joint venture between CNBC Asia-Pacific and Television Eighteen India Ltd., with TV18 holding 90 percent of the stake.
TV18 owns studios in New Delhi and Mumbai and has a news gathering network of over 200 journalists across the country.
At Present the TV18 India Ltd five Subsidiaries namely Television Eighteen Mauritus Ltd, e-eighteen.com Ltd, I.News.com, Eighteen Entertainment India Ltd, Money Control Dot Com India Ltd and SRH Broadcast News Holdings pvt Ltd.
In 1996 the Company set up a wholly owned Subsidiary in Mauritius i.e's Television Eighteen Mauritius Ltd on receiving requisite consent from the Department of company affairs and reserve Bank of India. It also entered in to joint venture through its subsidiary to launch Asia Business News India (ABNi), the countries first dedicated 24-hour business news information channel.
In 1997, this venture suffered a major setback as ABNi, which was providing around 50% of the Companies revenue closed down following the merger of its parent, ABN with CNBC Asia, but regained its relationship the CNBC in 2003. CNBC-TV18 will now jointly brand a channel which was operated by TV18s Subsidiary and TV18 shall now own nearly 90% stake in the Channel and balance held by the CNBC Asia Pacific
In Dec 1999, the company came out with a public issue of 29,36,000 equity shares of Rs.10/- each at a premium of Rs.170/- per share. In march 2000 it incorporated e-eighteen.com pvt ltd, a subsidiary to house its internal interests. The subsidiary has acquired Moneycontrol Dot Com Private Ltd, the Company owning the highly successful financial portal, Money control.com
During 2001-2002, the entertainment part of the Companies business was hived off to 100% subsidiary viz Eighteen Entertainment India Ltd.
During 2002-2003 the company successfully restructured its relationship with CNBC in accordance with the new government guidelines for new channels. Tv18 previously held a 49% stake in the CNBC India Joint Venture in Mauritius. Under the new Guidelines CNBC-TV18 is now a jointly branded channel to be operated by TV18's subsidiary and TV18 shall now own a near 90% stake in the Channel company and the balance 10% being held by CNBC Asia Pacific. TV18 has also prematurely terminated its ad sales representation relationship with SET (Sony Entertainment Television) in April 2002 and has set up a dedicated inhouse marketing and sales team for the channel.
In 2004 A Large 40,000 Sq Ft plus facility was set up in Mumbai with state-of-the-art broadcast equipment and studios.
During 2005 the Company entered in to General News Space. To Facilite this ambitious expansion, the Company started work on a 60,000 Sq ft studio in Noida, which will be operational in the fourth quarter of the year. Turner International (Turner) and Global Broadcast News (GBN), a TV18 Group Company, announced a partnership to launch a co-branded, 24-hour, English-language general news channel in India. Renowned TV journalist Rajdeep Sardesai spearheads GBN's foray into the general news space as the Editor-in-Chief of the service. The co-branded service, CNN-IBN, will build upon the strong foundation of TV18's newsgathering experience and infrastructure in India, bolstered by CNN's eminent and extensive global news network.
Under the terms of the agreement, GBN's proposed channel - formerly known as India Broadcast News (IBN) and now co-branded as CNN-IBN - will have access to CNN's trademark live breaking news as well as key feature programmes. This unique alliance will, for the first time ever, enable Indian viewers to view local news as well as relevant global news from CNN, the world's news leader, on the same platform. The new channel will focus on providing robust and high quality news from every corner of India with a complete commitment to the needs and aspirations of the Indian viewer, while CNN International will continue to deliver global news to Indian viewers.
Headquartered in New Delhi, the channel will be supported by over 20 bureaus nationwide, along with a team of experienced newspersons and production staff, backed by TVl8's state-of-the-art broadcast infrastructure and newsgathering technology.
GBN, a TV18 Group Company, is a 74:26 joint venture between the TV18 Group and professionals - Rajdeep Sardesai, Sameer Manchanda and Haresh Chawla. GBN's charter is to launch channels in the general news space under the editorial leadership of Sardesai, one of India's most renowned TV journalists.
The company during 2005-2006, acquired a 50% stake in Channel 7 - a general news channel in Hindi, owned by Dainik Jagran Groupin April 2006. TV 18 group has recently revamped the editorial team and relaunched the channel with a new international look in June 2006. The company has done a JV with Asia's leading e-recruitment provider-jobstreet.com for a job search portal and launched yatra.in- India's first integrated online travel services company founded by TV18 and Norwest Venture Partners. During the year the company also launched a subscription based investment advisiory portal called poweryourtrade.com which has got over 75,000 paid subscribers
Company Background - Pantaloon India
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd (PRIL), previously known as Pantaloon Fashions (India) Ltd (PFIL) is India's leading retail company with presence across food, fashion, home solutions and consumer electronics, books and music, health, wellness and beauty, general merchandise, communication products, e-tailing and Liesure & Entertainment.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), operates through 3.5 million square feet of retail space, has over 100+ stores and 30+ cities in India. The company owns and manages multiple retail formats catering to a wide cross-section of the Indian society and its width and depth of merchandise helps it capture almost the entire consumption basket of the Indian consumer.
Its products are marketed under the brand name Pantaloon and Bare Necessities through a network of over 300 dealers spanning the metro and class-I cities in the country. PRIL also markets its products through a network of exclusive retail shops and Pantaloon Connections in the major metropolitan cities.
Founded in 1987, Pantaloon Retail forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the opening up of a chain of department stores, Pantaloons. In 2001, it launched Big Bazaar, a hypermarket chain, followed by Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain. It went on to launch Central, a first of its kind, seamless mall located in the heart of major Indian cities. Some of it's other formats include, Collection I (home improvement products), E-Zone (consumer electronics), Depot (books, music, gifts and stationaries), aLL (fashion apparel for plus-size individuals), Shoe Factory (footwear) and Blue Sky (fashion accessories). It has recently launched its etailing venture, futurebazaar.com.
Some of the companies subsidiaries include Home Solutions Retail India Ltd, Pantaloon Food Product (India) Ltd, Footmart Retail (India) Ltd, Pan Indian Restaurants Ltd, Future Media (India) Ltd, Future Logistic Solutions Limited, CIG Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, KB Infin Pvt Ltd, Kshitij Investment and Advisory Co Ltd, and ConvergeM Retail (India) Ltd, which leads the group's foray into home improvement, e-tailing and communication products, respectively. Other group companies include Pantaloon Industries Ltd, Galaxy Entertainment and Indus League Clothing. The company has also entered joint venture agreements with a number of companies including ETAM group, Gini & Jony, Liberty Shoes and Planet Retail, a company that owns the franchisee of international brands like Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Guess in India.
A new Trouser manufacturing plant at MIDC Tarapur at a installed capacity of 1200 Trousers per day was commissioned on early 2001.
The company has acquired the trademark and exclusive licensing rights for apparel brand Norules in India,from US based Norules Inc in 2003. During 2004,the comapny has entered into strategic alliance with Arvind Brands Ltd.
During 2005-2006, the company, has expanded its capacity of stiching machines from 300 Nos to 373 Nos to produce Apparels.
The company signed a MOU with Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Pvt to form a 50:50 Joint Venture company for retailing of fitness/wellness related products and for the rendering of health and fitness related services. The company also signed a MOU with Manipal Health Systems Pvt Ltd to form a 50-50 Joint Venture company for rendering healthcare related services and sale of healthcare products.
The company has entered in to a strategic alliance agreement with Ruchi Soya Industries Limited for sale of refined edible oil in the stores of the Company.
The Company has on July 31, 2006 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Blue Foods Private Limited to form a 50-50 Joint Venture Company for setting up food courts and speciality restaurants across the country.
During 2005-2006, the company transferred its shareholding in its subsidiaries i.e, Ambit Investment Advisory company Ltd and Kshitij Investment Advisory company Ltd to its subsidiary KB Infin Pvt Ltd.
During 2005-2006, the company also allotted on rights basis 44,78,720 equity shares of Rs.10/- each at premium of Rs.490/- per share aggregating to Rs.22393.60 lacs. The company also allotted 4,08,165 equity shares of Rs.10/- each on preferential basis.
The company has expansion plan to increase the retail space under control substantially. The total retail space at the end of 2005-06 stood at over 2.75 million square feet. The company has planned to roll out further retail space of 2.50 million square feet in the 2006-07 under various retailing formats it operates.
Stunner ! - IPO Rating - MCX India
CRISIL has assigned a CRISIL IPO Grade "5/5" (pronounced "five on five") to the proposed initial public offer of Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX). This grade indicates that the fundamentals of the issue are strong relative to other listed equity securities in India. However, this grade is not an opinion on whether the issue price is appropriate in relation to the issue fundamentals. The grade is not a recommendation to buy / sell or hold the graded instrument, or a comment on the graded instrument's future market price or its suitability for a particular investor.
CRISIL expects MCX to maintain its dominant market position in the commodities market, backed by product innovation and strong technological capabilities. Currently, MCX enjoys market leadership, with a share of 77 per cent in volumes traded on commodities exchanges in India. The company has consciously focused on commodities such as bullion, energy and metals, which are benchmarked to international prices. The high liquidity in these commodities and the low impact costs (comparable to other leading exchanges), along with MCX's strong technological capability - aided by its association with the promoter, FTIL, a leader in exchange related technology - are expected to help the company maintain its competitive advantage.
MCX's profitability and return indicators have been strong in the past 4 years. Growth is likely to moderate in the short term due to the impact of the commodity transaction tax (CTT). However, in the medium term, MCX's strong market position and continuous focus on product innovation would act as growth drivers. In the long term, growth could be spurred by the introduction of new instruments (like options) and participation by institutional players, once the necessary regulatory changes are in place.
Mr Jignesh Shah, the founder and Non-Executive Vice Chairman and Mr Joseph Massey, the MD & CEO of MCX, have been the driving force behind the company's business growth and product innovation. MCX also benefits from a strong and experienced senior management team as well as a highly capable product innovation and development team.
About the company and the issue
Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Pvt Ltd was incorporated on April 19, 2002. The proposed IPO is in the form of an offer for sale of 4 million shares by the promoters and a fresh issue of 6 million shares. Subsequent to the IPO, the promoters' stake in the company will reduce to 26.1 per cent.
On September 26, 2003, MCX received permanent recognition from the Government of India for facilitating online trading, clearing and settlement operations for commodity futures markets across the country. MCX offers trading in 56 different commodities categorised into various market segments such as bullion, energy, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, oil and oil seeds, cereals, pulses, plantations, spices, fibre and others. The company has leadership position in bullion, energy and metals trading in India.
Of the company's total turnover, bullion accounts for 53 per cent, metals for 28 per cent, energy for 16 per cent and agricultural commodities account for the rest. Globally, MCX is the largest silver exchange, second-largest natural gas exchange, third-largest gold, crude oil and copper exchange in terms of number of contracts traded in each of these commodities. MCX was the first exchange to launch futures trading in steel, crude oil and plastics in India. The company has launched weather indices such as RAINDEX - to track the progress of monsoon rains in locations such as Mumbai, Indore and Jaipur - and also trading in carbon credits on the exchange. MCX was also the first exchange to initiate evening trading sessions to coincide with trading on international exchanges such as London, New York and other international markets. The company's initiative to constantly innovate and develop new products is expected to help increase volumes.
For the year ended March 31, 2007, MCX reported a net profit of Rs 930 million on a turnover of Rs 2.0 billion, as compared with a net profit of Rs 375 million and revenues of Rs 1.0 billion in the previous year.
Rebounding dollar pushes precious metals down
Precious metals prices drop as crude slips by more than $2 and dollar goes up
After being on a roll for the last few days, precious metal prices dropped today, Thursday, 22 May, 2008 after crude oil prices eased and the dollar once again rebounded against the rivals. The dual effect took some glitter off the precious metals today. Ealier this week, crude oil's rally to a fresh record high above $133 a barrel boosted the precious metal's appeal as an inflation hedge. Oil has doubled in the past year, fueling concern inflation will accelerate.
Gold has traditionally been used as a safe-haven asset against rising inflation. Investor sentiments are boosted by the fact that gold and silver are alternate sources of good investment in the face of declining dollar and rising energy prices. Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies. On the other hand, a lower dollar pushes up precious metal prices as their demand lessens as it becomes cheaper for traders holding other currencies.
Comex Gold for June delivery fell $10.3 (1.1%) to close at $918.3 ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, prices touched a high of $935.4/ounce. Last week, gold prices ended higher by $14 (1.6%). On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. Prices have dropped by 10.2% since then.
This year, gold prices have gained 9.6% for the till date against a 7.6% drop for the dollar against the euro. For April, prices closed lower by 6.3%. For first quarter prices gained 10.7%. In January, prices gained 11%, the highest monthly gain since April 2006. For February, it gained 6%. But in March, prices succumbed and fell by 5.5%.
Comex Silver futures for July delivery fell 2.5 cents (0.2%) to $18.025 an ounce. Silver has gained 20.7% in 2008 till date. For April, it closed lower by 5.5%. Silver gained 16% in Q1. In January this year itself, prices climbed 14%. In February, it gained another 15%. For March, it ended lower by 13%. The metal had climbed 16% in FY 2007. The metal also has gained for seven straight years.
At the currency markets on Thursday, the dollar rose on speculation the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs by the end of the year to curb inflation. The dollar also got a lift against major rivals after better-than-expected weekly jobs data. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.4% to 72.18.
Since last September, Fed has axed interest rates seven times and brought it down to 2%. The ECB has kept rates unchanged at 4% since June, 2007.
Dollar weakness typically benefits dollar-denominated commodities, such as gold and crude oil, because it makes them cheaper for holders of other currencies. On the other hand strong dollar reduces the appeal of the metal as alternate source of investment.
Among major economic news of the day, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell back in the latest week, dropping by 9,000 to 365,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
In the crude market today, oil futures dropped as much as 2.3% to $130.07 a barrel after earlier reaching a record $135.09. Yesterday, crude-oil futures climbed past $133 a barrel to close at another record level after government data showed that crude supplies unexpectedly dropped, marking their first decline in five weeks. It touched an all-time peak of $133.35.
Earlier during the week, crude oil rose after billionaire hedge-fund manager Boone Pickens said prices will reach $150 a barrel this year as demand outpaces supply. Last week, crude-oil futures rallied to a fresh record high near $128 a barrel as Goldman Sachs raised its second-half-of-the-year forecast for oil prices by 32% to $141.
At the MCX, gold prices for June delivery closed lower by Rs 96 (0.7%) at Rs 12,730 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 12,999 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 12,710 per 10 grams during the day’s trading.
At the MCX, silver prices for July delivery closed Rs 30 (0.1%) lower at Rs 24,897/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 24,990/kg and fell to a low of Rs 24,666/Kg during the day’s trading.
Crude price eases a bit
Prices drop by more than $2 as traders resort to four day profit booking
Crude-oil futures fell today, Thursday, 22 May, 2008 after the dollar rebounded and the traders resorted to profit booking after four days of massive rise in crude prices. Crude prices had been on a roll since the past few days and had crossed the $133/barrel for the first time yesterday.
Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for July delivery today closed at $130.81/barrel (lower by $2.3/barrel or 1.8%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Price touched a high of $135.09 earlier during the day.
In the past four sessions, crude prices had gained more than 7%. Last week, crude prices closed higher by 29 cents. For the year, crude is up by 31% till date. Prices have more than doubled on a yearly basis.
At the currency markets on Thursday, the dollar rose on speculation the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs by the end of the year to curb inflation. The dollar also got a lift against major rivals after better-than-expected weekly jobs data. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.4% to 72.18.
Among major economic news of the day, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell back in the latest week, dropping by 9,000 to 365,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Yesterday, the Energy Department reported that crude supplies fell by 5.4 million barrels to 320.4 million for the week ended 16 May. Prior to that, supplies had climbed more than 12 million barrels in the past four weeks. Market was expecting a rise of 900,000 barrels for the latest week.
EIA also revealed that crude-oil imports averaged 9.2 million barrels per day last week, down 696,000 barrels per day from a week earlier. Meanwhile, refinery utilization rose to 87.9% of capacity from 86.6% a week ago. Still, motor gasoline supplies fell 800,000 barrels to 209.4 million barrels last week. Distillate stocks were up 700,000 barrels at 107.8 million barrels.
Last week, prices kissed $128 for first time after Goldman Sachs raised its forecast on Friday for the average price of West Texas Intermediate oil in the second half of 2008 to $141 a barrel from $107 a barrel. As per the company’s reports, long-term oil prices will need to continue to rise to bring trend oil demand growth in line with trend supply growth. Credit Suisse Group AG and Societe Generale SA raised their oil price forecasts for 2008 and 2009 citing investor flows and limited supply.
U.S. natural gas inventories last week increased less than analysts forecast
Brent crude oil for June settlement today fell $2.19 (1.7%) to $130.51 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London benchmark rose 54% in FY 2007, the most since 1999 when prices more than doubled.
Natural gas futures climbed after a government report showed U.S. inventories last week increased less than analysts forecast. Gas for June delivery rose 5.7 cents (0.5%) to settle at $11.697 per million British thermal units.
EIA reported today that stockpiles were 3 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, compared with a 3 billion-cubic-foot surplus a week earlier. Supplies were down 302 billion cubic feet, or 16 percent, from a year earlier.
Against this backdrop, July reformulated gasoline closed at $3.3297 a gallon, down 7.03 cents, while July heating oil futures rose 4.43 cents to end at $3.9543 a gallon in New York after trading at a record high of $4.02 in the electronic trading session.
AAA reported today that regular retail gasoline prices jumped by 2.3 cents to a fresh record of $3.831 a gallon at USA. It's up 9.1% from a month ago.
Crude had ended FY 2007 substantially higher by $35 or 57%. It was crude’s biggest yearly gain in five years.
At the MCX, crude oil for May delivery closed at Rs 5,661/barrel, higher by Rs 5 (0.08%) against previous day’s close. Natural gas for July delivery closed at Rs 513.1/mmbtu, higher by Rs 9.7/mmbtu (1.9%).
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