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Monday, October 27, 2008

20,000


No, its not the market :-)

Guess what ?




BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Oct 27 2008


Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
27/10/2008 505506 AXON INFOTEC MAHUA GOSWAMI B 5000 7.30
27/10/2008 532977 BAJAJ AUTO BAJAJ HOLDINGS INVESTMENTS LTD B 900000 461.90
27/10/2008 532929 BRIGADE ABN AMRO BANK NV LONDON BRANCH B 2026000 44.97
27/10/2008 532929 BRIGADE CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS MAURITIUS PVT LTD S 2007000 45.00
27/10/2008 526033 CRYSTAL SOFT SURYA MAHAL PROPERTIES PVT LTD B 48100 6.88
27/10/2008 526033 CRYSTAL SOFT RICHLINE FINVEST PRIVATE LTD S 30000 6.83
27/10/2008 526821 DAI ICH KARK ASHOKKUMARPARMAR B 38302 22.67
27/10/2008 500125 EID PARRY FIDELITY FUNDS MAURITIUS LIMITED S 500000 130.00
27/10/2008 526727 GARNET CONST JAYSHIREE JHAMATMAL PARIYANI B 46750 17.00
27/10/2008 532786 GREAT OFFSH ELEVENTH LAND DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LTD B 193861 284.36
27/10/2008 517354 HAVELLSINDIA SAIF III MAURITIUS COMPANY LTD B 495000 160.00
27/10/2008 532998 LOTUS EYE JHAVERI TRADING AND INVESTMENT PVT LTD S 135000 13.54
27/10/2008 532791 PYRAMID SAIM NIRMAL NARENDRA KOTECHA B 200000 44.99
27/10/2008 532791 PYRAMID SAIM NIRMAL N KOTECHA S 197985 44.86
27/10/2008 590077 RANKLIN SOLU V MANIKYALA RAO B 28047 53.87
27/10/2008 590077 RANKLIN SOLU SHREERAM BAGLA S 40000 53.90
27/10/2008 590077 RANKLIN SOLU RAVI KANT KURALLA S 36500 53.90
27/10/2008 511066 SAKTHI FINAN KUSHAGRA GUPTA B 174404 5.00
27/10/2008 530585 SWASTIK INV SHASHI JAIN B 27000 17.95
27/10/2008 506808 TUTI CORIN PRAKASH FINANCE B 130494 7.28
27/10/2008 532765 USHER AGRO R U RAMCHANDI B 120000 123.48
27/10/2008 532411 VISESH INFOT IVORY CONSULTANTS PVT LTD. B 400000 5.10
27/10/2008 532411 VISESH INFOT ARISTRO FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD S 400000 5.10

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Oct 27 2008


Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
27-OCT-2008,CANDC,C & C Constructions Limit,BOMBAY BUILDERS INDIA PVT LTD,BUY,102100,80.79,-
27-OCT-2008,EIDPARRY,EID Parry Ltd.,RELIANCE CAPITAL TRUSTEE CO. LTD A/C RELIANCE GROWTH FUND,BUY,2394689,125.00,-
27-OCT-2008,GTOFFSHORE,Great Offshore Limited,ELEVENTH LAND DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,315641,283.40,-
27-OCT-2008,HAVELLS,Havells India Limited,KOTAK MAHINDRA INTERNATIONAL LTD,BUY,505000,160.00,-
27-OCT-2008,HDIL,Housing Development and I,ORIENT GLOBAL CINNAMON CAPITAL LIMITED,BUY,1990000,126.15,-
27-OCT-2008,IBREALEST,Indiabulls Real Estate Li,ORIENT GLOBAL CINNAMON CAPITAL LIMITED,BUY,2600000,97.87,-
27-OCT-2008,INDOTECH,Indo Tech Transformers Li,BLACK STONE ASIA ADVISORS L.L.C. A/C INDIA FUND INC,BUY,86871,169.90,-
27-OCT-2008,NAUKRI,Info Edge (India) Limited,KRUTO FUND LP,BUY,211215,413.81,-
27-OCT-2008,PNC,Pritish Nandy Comm. Ltd.,TAKESHI INVESTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,135400,15.64,-
27-OCT-2008,VISESHINFO,Visesh Infotecnics Limite,IVORY CONSULTANTS PVT LTD.,BUY,400000,5.25,-
27-OCT-2008,EIDPARRY,EID Parry Ltd.,FID FUNDS MAURITIUS LIMITED ,SELL,3314079,125.79,-
27-OCT-2008,HAVELLS,Havells India Limited,ABN AMRO BANK NV LONDON BRANCH,SELL,505000,160.00,-
27-OCT-2008,INDOTECH,Indo Tech Transformers Li,MERRILL LYNCH CAPITAL MARKETS ESPANA S.A. SVB,SELL,85948,170.00,-
27-OCT-2008,NAUKRI,Info Edge (India) Limited,RELIANCE ASSET MANAGEMENT CO. LTD.A/C.PMS,SELL,166000,415.00,-
27-OCT-2008,PNC,Pritish Nandy Comm. Ltd.,TAKESHI INVESTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,400,14.48,-
27-OCT-2008,VISESHINFO,Visesh Infotecnics Limite,NENDEJ TIEUP PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,400000,5.25,-

ICICI Bank net profit drops


ICICI Bank's consolidated net profit dropped 27.4 percent to Rs 651.48 crore in the July-September quarter, although total income grew by nearly 13 percent to Rs 15,590.46 crore.

The consolidated figures include results for the bank as well as its subsidiaries, including ICICI Bank UK, and insurance, brokerage and mutual fund businesses.

On standalone basis, the country's top private sector lender said profit after tax rose to Rs 1,014 crore, up by a modest 1.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The bank's unconsolidated total income rose to Rs 9,712.13 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 9,588.41 crore in the same period last year.

The company's core operating profit rose to Rs 2,437 crore in Q2-2009, from Rs 1,712 crore in year-ago period.

The bank said that its operating expenses dropped by 12 percent due to its cost-rationalisation measures and its capital adequacy ratio currently stands at 14.01 percent.

The bank said that its current and savings account deposits rose 16 percent to Rs 66,914 crore at the end of September quarter, up from Rs 57,827 crore a year ago.

However, its total deposits fell marginally on a year-on-basis due to reduction in term deposits, the bank said.

The bank and its subsidiaries have entirely exited their non-India linked credit derivatives portfolio at no incremental loss over and above the provisions already made.

ICICI Bank UK's profit before mark-to-market impact and provision on investments was USD 43 million for H1-2009. After the provisioning charge related to its investment portfolio, including the MTM impact of credit spread widening during the period, ICICI Bank UK reported a net loss of USD 35 million.

"ICICI Bank UK's capital position continued to be strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 18.4 percent at September 30, 2008," it noted, adding that ICICI Bank UK had zero net non-performing assets at the end of the quarter.

ICICI Bank Canada's profit after tax for the six months ended September 30 was 22 million Canadian dollars.

The bank's net interest income rose by 20 percent to Rs 2,148 crore, while fee income increased by 26 percent to Rs 1,876 crore.

The bank said that it has expanded its network to 1,400 branches and 4,530 ATMs. The consolidated advances of the bank, its banking subsidiaries and ICICI Home Finance Company increased by 16 percent to Rs 264,665 crore.

ICICI Bank's NRI remittance volumes increased by 38.2 percent to Rs 11,946 crore.

On a standalone basis, the bank's net non-performing advances rose to Rs 4,232.9 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 2,970.9 crore in the year-ago period. The bank said that specific provisions for NPAs, excluding the impact of farm loan waiver, were Rs 868 crore in the second quarter compared to Rs 878 crore in the previous quarter

Post Session Commentary - Oct 27 2008


The Indian market recovered smartly during final trading hours but still closed below the dotted line. Stocks trimmed most of their earlier losses after touching three years low on intense selling across board as investors booked profits in short positions ahead of F&O expiry. Market witnessed sharp dive and BSE Sensex breached 8,000 level during trading session but further recovered to back above 8,000 level. Domestic market opened sharply lower along with other Asian markets. Further market continued to extend its losses as fears of a global recession routed stocks all over the world along with slowing corporate earning. However, the quarterly results from the banking giant SBI did not provided much support to the market. Its shares came into pressure after the bank has posted marginal growth of 11.50% in its consolidated net profit. However, the ICICI Bank shares sees some recovery although it reported a 27.45% fall in its consolidated net profit for the second quarter. Weak European markets also fueled to the depressing sentiment amid more trouble in the financial sector after Deutsche Postbank reported a quarterly loss. Postbank booked 364 million euros in the third quarter losses related to its exposures to U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. During last trading, short covering helped market to stage sharp recovery from days low. BSE Sensex ended above 8,500 level and NSE Nifty above 2,500 mark. From the sectoral front, Capital Goods, Bank, Auto, Pharma, Metal and Consumer Durables stocks contributed to the most of the selling pressure. However, Reality and Oil & Gas stocks were in limelight as witnessed most of the buying from these baskets.

Among the Sensex pack 21 stocks ended in red terrain and 9 in green. The market breadth was negative as 2019 stocks closed in red while 515 stocks closed in green and 43 stocks remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 191.51 points at 8,509.56 and NSE Nifty ended down by 59.8 points at 2,524.2. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 129.45 points 2,966.23 and by 182.99 points at 3,478.84. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 8,739.48 and intraday low of 7,697.39.







Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Tata Motors (13.95%), M&M Ltd (13.71%), JP Associates (10.33%), Grasim Industries (9.57 %), Tata Power (8.75%), SBI (8.63%), L&T Ltd (7.13%), HDFC (7.12%), Hindalco (6.81%), ITC Ltd (6.38%) and Wipro Ltd (6.25%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Bharti Airtel (5.99%), Reliance (5.83%), Reliance Infra (3.97%), Reliance Communication Ltd (3.62%), Sterlite Industries (3.40%), ICICI Bank (2.03%) and TCS Ltd (1.39%).

The RBI kept its key lending rate stable at 8% and cash reserve ration unchanged at 6.5%. Along with this the RBI lowered its 2008/09 growth forecast to 7.5% from a previous forecast of around 8.0%.

The BSE Capital Goods index plunged 271.01 points to close at 6,339.80 as Suzlon Energy (17.02%), Havells India (16.96%), Everest Kanto (16.42%), Aiaengineer (11.44%) and Punj Lloyd (10.05%) ended in negative territory.
BHEL has won its first commercial order valued at Rs.1,474 crore for 660 MW Steam Turbine Generators from NTPC. The order is for setting up the steam turbine generator package at Barh Thermal Power Project Stage-II, in Bihar.

The Bank index lost 177.85 points to close at 4,472.02 as Indian Overseas Bank (15.20%), Indus Ind Bank (12.60%), Bank of India (9.55%), SBI (8.63%), Yes Bank (8.28%) and IDBI Bank (8.14%) in negative territory.
SBI has announced its second quarter results. Its standaloneQ2 net profit increased by 40.25% at Rs.2260 crore as against Rs.1611.42 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. SBI also posted second-quarter consolidated net profit of Rs.2,378.19 crores, compared with Rs.2,150.72 crores in the year-ago quarter.

The BSE Auto index ended down by 147.03 points at 2,333.93. Losers are Tata Motors (13.95%), M&M Ltd (13.71%), Bharat Forge (9.07%), MRF Ltd (8.41%), Apollo Tyre (7.00%) and Escorts Ltd (6.68%).

The BSE Pharma index closed lower by 139.63 points at 2,671.84. Losers are Glenmark Pharma (20.00%), Dishman Pharma (19.99%), Matrix Lab (14.81%), IPCA Lab Ltd (13.67%), Wockhardt Ltd (9.14%) and Aurobindo Pharma (8.38%).

The BSE Metal index ended down by 125.32 points at 4,268.56. Major losers are Nalco (13.14%), Jindal Steel (9.29%), Ispat Industries (7.41%), Wespan Guajrat Sr (6.85%), Hindalco (6.81%) and Tata Steel (5.50%).

The BSE Reality index gained 74.01 points to close at 1,817.28. Major gainers are Unitech Ltd (41.86%), Indiabull Real (15.07%), Omaxe Ltd (9.30%), Akruti City (1.63%) and Sobha Dev (1.12%).

Bear tights grip on Asian markets


Nikkei Slump by 6.2% to lowest level since 1982 while Hang Seng registered a biggest drop since 1997


The stock markets in the Asian region were closed lower in volatile trading after large falls in the region over the past week. The Asian markets also took a clue from Wall Street movement as the U.S. stocks closed more than 3% lower, with all the three major averages setting new five-year closing lows. The decline came as investors reacted to a panic fueled by overall weakness in the global markets combined with falling commodity prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down by 312.30 points, to 8,378.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished lower by 51.88 points at 1,552.03. S&P 500 finished lower by 31.34 points at 876.77.

In the commodity market, gold returned early gains to lose more than 3%, as equity markets plunged, with the latest series of government interventions not enough to stem fears about global recession. Gold was up almost 2% early on as investors scoured for safe havens amid fresh government efforts to calm market turmoil, before retracing by more than $35. Spot gold was quoted at $707.90 an ounce at 0843 GMT versus $728.35 on Friday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell $20.50 to $709.80 an ounce, after falling below $700 last week.

The crude oil fell for a second day in New York on concerns that OPEC's production cut may fail to arrest a slump in prices as the global financial crisis threatens to reduce energy demand. The 13 members of the OPEC agreed on October 24 to lower supply by 1.5 million barrels a day starting in November.

On 24 October 2008, the front-month contract fell $3.69, or 5.4%, to $64.15, the lowest close since May 31, 2007. Futures are down 31% from a year ago. The front-month contract dropped 11 percent last week, the fourth straight weekly decline. Brent crude oil for December settlement declined 80 cents, or 1.3%, to $61.25 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:42 p.m. in Singapore.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was trading in the lower 94 yen-range on Monday. In early trades, the dollar was quoted in a range of 94.12-94.18 yen, down 1.02 yen from Friday's close of 95.14-95.17 yen in Tokyo.

The Australian dollar opened weaker. The Aussie opened at US$0.6196, down from Friday's close of US$0.6391.

Coming back in equities, the Japanese market pared its losses after hitting a 26-year intraday lower earlier in the session. The South Korean market was trading in negative territory after gaining earlier following the Bank of Korea's unexpected decision to cut its key interest rate in an emergency meeting. Markets in Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand were closed on account of public holidays.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 486.18 points or 6.36% to 7,162.90, closing below 7,603 for its lowest level since 1982. The broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues was down 59.65 points or 7.40% to 746.46.

Japan's finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa said that the government was closely watching the foreign exchange market and added that excessive currency moves were bad for the economy and financial markets, indicating that the government was growing concerned about the pace of the yen gains.

In Mainland China, the Shanghai stock index extended losses for the fifth consecutive day to finish the session a steep 6.3% down to hit a two-year low on broad based slump across the board, with sharp falls in commodity related stocks and energy shares. The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 116.27 points, or 6.3%, lower to 1,723.35, off the day’s high of 1,809.22 and low of 1,772.23.

In Hong Kong, the stocks crumbled under a barrage of selling, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index plunging 12.7% to its lowest finish in more than four years. The Hang Seng Index slumped as much as 15.4% during the day, sliding under both the 12,000- and 11,000-point milestones in a single session. After falling as low as 10,676.29, it pared losses to end 12.7% down at 11,015.84 – the lowest closing level since Sept 23, 2003, when it ended at 10,944.36.

The Australian stock market closed lower, after opening the week on weaker note amid a huge sell-off on Friday and continued global jitters about a deepening recession. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down by 60.20 points or 1.56% at 3,809.20 - its near four-year low. The broader All Ordinaries index was losing 63.30 points or 1.65% to 3,768.30.

The South Korean stock market was closed marginally up in a volatile session after earlier climbing into positive territory following the Bank of Korea's unexpected decision to slash its key interest rate in an emergency meeting. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, gained 7.70 points or 0.82% to 946.45.

On the economic front, the Bank of Korea slashed interest rates by 75 basis points to 4.25% from 5.00% in an emergency meeting on today morning to help the struggling economy and the plummeting stock market. It was the second rate cut this month as the Bank of Korea trimmed rates by 25 basis points on 9 October 2008. Before raising rates in August to combat inflation, the board had left interest rates at 5.00% for eleven straight meetings.

The South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a budget speech to parliament that the country is capable of overcoming the ongoing financial crisis through a combination of appropriate policy measures, including tax cuts, deregulation, fiscal spending increase, and sufficient supplies of foreign and local currencies. He added that the government would continue to supply liquidity into the financial markets until the uncertainty eased.

In the Philippines, the stock exchange briefly halted trading after the main index fell by more than 12%. It fell further as trading resumed and finished down nearly 240 points, it worst single-day point drop on record. The benchmark index PSEi toppled 12.27% or 239.66 points to 1,713.83.

In Taiwan, the share markets in Taiwan touched another fresh five-year lows as margin calls increased after recent steep losses driven by fears of a global economic recession. The market was also pressured by the restoration of the 7% limit on daily share price falls. Authorities had halved the limit to 3.5% for two weeks until last Friday in a bid to slow the pace of stock declines amid a global financial crisis. The 7% limit was restored today. Taiex, the benchmark index, continued to remain below the key 5,000 points level, breaches the previous five-year low level. The weighted index closed down 212.75 points or 4.65% at 4,366.87 - the lowest level since 11 May 2003, when it ended at 4,349.91 points.

In India, the BSE 30-share Sensex closed down 191.51 points, or 2.2%, to 8,209.55. The Sensex had lost 1,003.68 points to 7,697.39 in afternoon trade. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 59.80 points, or 2.3%, to 2,524.20, after tanking to a three-year low of 2252.75.

In the other regional markets, European shares fell tumbled again, amid more heavy losses in Asia and more trouble in the financial sector after Deutsche Postbank reported a quarterly loss and said that it will raise capital.

Of European national indexes, the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 5.3% 3,678.17, the French CAC-40 index fell 5.9% to 3,006.59 and the German DAX 30 index fell 4.4% to 4,108.09.

On the economic front, the robust pace of money supply growth in the euro zone decelerated in September, as lending growth to the private and corporate sector slows. , According to the European Central Bank the September broad M3 money supply growth was at an almost two-year low of just 8.6% on the year, below August's 8.8% annual rise.

The September figure is the lowest growth rate since October 2006 when it was 8.5%, and even corporate lending, which has been resilient in recent months, was lower.

M1 money growth, meanwhile, picked up in September to an annual rate of 1.2% from 0.2% on the year in August. Loan growth to non-financial corporations eased to 18.9% on the year in September, from 20.7% in August. Overall, private sector loan growth edged down to 8.5% on the year from August's 8.8%. The ECB also reported that the year-on-year growth rate of loans to households grew 3.8% in September, just down from a rise of 3.9% in August. The closely watched three-month moving average for M3, which irons out some of the monthly fluctuations, expanded 8.9% in the July-September period, down from 9.2% in June-August.

Looking ahead the day is scheduled to release new home sales data from U.S. In the evening we have speech from treasury head Mr. Paulson. In the late evening Japan will release details on retail trade.

Sensex cuts losses sharply


Key benchmark indices witnessed sharp intra-day pullback in second half of the day's trading session helped by short covering of derivative positions ahead of the expiry on Wednesday, 29 October 2008, after plunging to over 3-year low in the first half spooked by weak global equities. Volatility was the hallmark of the day's trading session. The market breadth was weak.

The opening volatility on the bourses followed the slump in Asian markets to five-year lows, following the poor showing by the US markets overnight on concerns of looming US recession worries and global economic slowdown decelerating corporate earnings growth. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan slipped between 0.80% and 6.36% today, 27 October 2008. European markets were not spared from the global bloodbath either as indices in France, Germany and UK fell between 3.16% to 6.31%.

The Dow Jones industrial average futures were down about 200 points today, 24 October 2008. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also fell sharply as turmoil gripped markets around the world. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance and give an indication of how markets may open when trading begins in New York.

The BSE 30-share Sensex declined 180.49 points, or 2.07%, to provisionally close at 8,520.58, after slumping 1,003.68 points to 7,697.39 in afternoon trade, its lowest since 28 October 2005. At the day’s high of 8,739.48 hit in early trade, the Sensex rose 38.41 points. The Sensex had opened 112.21 points lower at 8,588.86.

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 51.60 points, or 2%, to 2,532.40 as per the provisional figures, after tanking to a low of 2252.75, its lowest since 22 July 2005.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak with 1,996 shares declining compared with just 538 that rose. 41 shares remained unchanged.

The volatility is attributed to the expiry of the derivative contracts for October 2008 series on Wednesday, 29 October 2008. As per reports, marketwide rollover of positions was 37%, while that of Nifty stood at 45% from the October 2008 series to November 2007, by Friday, 24 October 2008. The rollovers are fairly high, indicating market players are uncertain about the direction of the market.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 21 declined while the rest gainer. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 15.67% to Rs 241.80), Tata Motors (down 13.73% to Rs 1404.40), Grasim Industries (down 10.2% to Rs 946) were the key losers from the Sensex pack.

India’s largest state-run bank by net profit State Bank of India (SBI) fell 9.2% to Rs 1050 on muted growth in consolidated net profit in Q2 September 2008. In its results declared before market hours today, 27 October 2008, SBI reported a 10.60% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2378.19 crore on a 26.4% increase in total income to Rs 27083.47 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. The consolidated earnings include numbers from recently acquired State Bank of Saurashtra.

India’s largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 6.25% to Rs 1,079, making a strong recovery from day’s low of Rs 930 . RIL’s net profit rose 7.4% to Rs 4122 crore on 39.8% growth in sales to Rs 44787 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007, the company said after market hours on Thursday, 23 October 2008.

Select Sensex stocks reversed early losses. India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys was rose 0.3% to Rs 1252.50 after hitting an intra-day low of Rs 1,161. Sterlite Industries rose 1.49% to Rs 211.45 off from day’s low of Rs 164.50. India’s largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 1.61% to Rs 315 after declining to low of Rs 282.15. India’s largest telecom services provider by market share Reliance Communications surged 6.33% to Rs 205.65 off day’s low of Rs 148.60. Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom services provider by market share jumped 10.17% to Rs 588.80, off day’s low of Rs 484. Reliance Infrastructure rose 5.13% to Rs 401, recovering from low of Rs 354.

India's third largest IT exporter by sales Satyam Computer Services rose 2.28% to Rs 293.40 off day’s low of Rs 240.25. Its ADR slid 6.9% in US on Friday.

India's fourth largest IT exporter by sales Wipro tumbled 6.4% to Rs 220.10 off day’s low of Rs 181.70. Its ADR shed 9.6% on Friday in US.

India’s second largest power generation company in terms of net profit Tata Power Company slumped 8.75% to Rs 570.25 ahead of its Q2 results today, 27 October 2008.

BSE Realty index rose 4.25% and was the major gainer from the sectoral indices on BSE. Realty majors, Indiabulls Real Estate, Unitech rose between 15.07% to 41.86%. However, India’s largest real estate player by market capitalization DLF fell 2.84% to Rs 198.10 off day’s low of Rs 158.

Central banks across the globe are likely to launch new coordinated emergency action this week to calm panic in financial markets. Reports indicate the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a 50 basis-point cut in overnight rates on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 that would take them to 1%, the lowest level since June 2004, with some expecting an even deeper reduction to 0.75%.

The US markets had declined in volatile trade on Friday, 24 October 2008, as fears of a full-blown global recession intensified and investors dumped risky assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 312.30 points, or 3.59%, to 8,378.95. The S&P 500 index slipped 31.34 points, or 3.45%, to 876.77, and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 51.88 points, or 3.23%, to 1,552.03.

Back home, markets suffered a severe setback on Friday 24 October 2008, plunging to three-year lows mirroring weak global equities on worries about a sharp global economic slowdown and disappointment from the second quarter monetary policy review of the Reserve Bank of India. The BSE 30-share Sensex plunged 1070.63 points, or 10.96%, to 8,701.07, recording its biggest fall in percentage terms since May 2004 and the S&P CNX Nifty was down 359.50 points or 12.2% to 2,584.

Crude oil was little changed in New York near a 16-month low amid expectations that OPEC's decision to cut production will start to bring supply back in line with demand that is being curbed by the global financial crisis. Crude oil for December delivery was at $US63.93 a barrel down 22 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange today.

The Indian currency continued its downward march and plunged to 50.05 against the greenback in early trade on Monday.

Lesser Profits & losses as well


The tide for Indian firms seems to be turning. As much as 41 per cent of companies announcing their second-quarter results have registered a drop in profit.

From the sample size of 657 companies, 218 firms have shown a drop in profit, while 51 firms reported losses against profits in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The net profit of 218 firms dropped 30.5 per cent and net sales rose at a slower pace of 17.7 per cent. In contrast, these firms saw net profit growth of 19.23 per cent on net sales growth of 18.69 per cent for the quarter ending September 2007.

Apart from slower sales growth in sales, rising input costs seem to have narrowed the operating margins of these 218 companies fully 592 basis points from 21.25 per cent in the quarter ending September 2007 to 15.33 per cent in the same quarter of 2008.

Companies reporting losses in the second quarter have registered a combined loss of Rs 669 crore against Rs 724 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year — and a net profit of Rs 734 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Most of this quarter’s loss-makers are firms in sectors like automobiles, cement, metals, the media, capital goods and fertilisers, which were hard hit by rising input costs that could not be offset by price increases.

Ambuja Cement, Hindustan Zinc, Grasim Industries and Bharat Heavy Electricals are among the heavyweights that have suffered on account of rising input costs.

Ambuja Cement, now part of the Holcim group, admitted that its performance was affected mainly due to rise in the cost of coal, freight and fly ash. The firm was unable to pass on the higher costs to consumers under pressure from the government, which was attempting to rein in a sharp rise in inflation.

Power and fuel costs, which increased a steep 35 per cent, seemed to have contributed the most to the margin contraction.

Hindustan Zinc was affected by a decline in zinc and lead prices by around 40 per cent each on the London Metal Exchange. At the same time, mining and manufacturing expenses rose from 14.3 per cent of revenues in the second quarter of previous year to 29.4 per cent this year due to a sharp increase in power and fuel costs, mainly because the company imports thermal coal on a spot basis.

Overseas debt, mostly external commercial borrowing (ECBs), foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and hedging of export revenue and dollar are among some other factors that have hurt companies like JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, GTL, Jubilant Organosys, Wockhardt and Cipla, among others.

JSW Steel had to set aside Rs. 268.35 crore for exchange loss on account of the depreciation of the rupee against various foreign currencies. Finolex suffered forex and derivative losses of Rs 59.1 crore and commodity hedging related losses of Rs 1.9 crore primarily for importing raw material.

Wockhardt provisioned Rs 55.32 crore for currency rate fluctuation and Rs 1.09 crore for interest rate derivative losses.

HT Media, which registered an 18 per cent rise in net sales, saw its net profit decline 49 per cent due to high raw material costs, including higher newsprint prices and also because of a jump in advertising costs. The media company stepped up advertisements to promote its Delhi edition.

Chennai Petroleum reported a loss of Rs 100 crore on account of weak refining margins of $1.7 per barrel. The refiner also suffered losses of Rs 190 crore on crude purchases and lower refinery throughput of 2.3 MMT compared with a run-rate of 2.7 MMT on account of a maintenance shutdown.

Jubilant Organosys reported net loss of Rs 69.57 crore, having set aside Rs 174.19 crore for FCCB-related exchange losses and other cash charges.

Market slumps


Banking stocks dragged down the market from a positive opening into the red in a volatile opening session. But for index heavyweight Reliance Industries, the fall could have been even steeper as global markets tumbled to new five-year lows on investors withdrawing from equity markets on worries a global economic slowdown would hurt corporate profitability.

Asian markets were trading lower today, 27 October 2008. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan were down by between 0.46% and 5.57%.

The US markets had declined in volatile trade on Friday, 24 October 2008, as fears of a full-blown global recession intensified and investors dumped risky assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 312.30 points, or 3.59%, to 8,378.95. The S&P 500 index slipped 31.34 points, or 3.45%, to 876.77, and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 51.88 points, or 3.23%, to 1,552.03.

At 10:25 IST, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 434.49 points, or 5%, to 8,266.38. The Sensex opened 112.21 points lower at 8,588.86. The Sensex lost 436.91 points to a three-year low of 8,264.16 hit in early trade. At the day’s high of 8,739.48, the Sensex had risen 38.41 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 136.85 points, or 5.30%, to 2,447.15, after tanking to a three-year low of 2,431.10 in early trade.

The total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 453 crore by 10:30 IST

Volatility is likely to remain high as derivative contracts for October 2008 series expire on Wednesday, 29 October 2008. As per reports, marketwide rollover of positions was 37%, while that of Nifty stood at 45% from October 2008 series to November 2007, by Friday, 24 October 2008. The rollovers are fairly high, indicating market players are uncertain about the direction of the market.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, only two managed to escape the drubbing.

Banking shares extended the losses of Friday, 24 October 2008, as the central bank did not announce any measures to boost liquidity at the mid-term monetary policy review. On Friday, 24 October 2008, the Reseve Bank of India (RBI) kept all the key rates unchanged even as it lowered its 2008-09 growth forecast to 7.5% to 8% from a previous forecast of around 8%. The RBI also left the cash reserve ratio, the amount of funds that banks have to keep on deposit with it, unchanged at 6.5%.

India’s second largest bank by market capitalisation HDFC Bank lost 8.31% to Rs 891.85 and was the top loser among the Sensex pack. India’s second largest private sector bank by market capitalisation ICICI Bank slipped 4.68% to Rs 298.50 ahead of its Q2 September 2008 results today, 27 October 2008. In the midst of a credit turmoil gripping economies across the world, marketmen will focus on ICICI Bank’s result for its exposure to some of the crisis-ridden institutions in the US including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

India’s largest state-run ban by net profit State Bank of India (SBI) fell 6.60% to Rs 1080 on muted growth in consolidated net profit in Q2 September 2008. In its results declared before market hours today, 27 October 2008, SBI reported a 10.60% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2378.19 crore on a 26.4% increase in total income to Rs 27083.47 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. The consolidated earnings include numbers from recently acquired State Bank of Saurashtra.

NTPC (down 7.57% to Rs 120.95), Ranbaxy (down 6.59% to Rs 176.50), and Maruti Suzuki India (down 7.24% to Rs 494.90), were the other key losers from the Sensex pack.

India’s largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.41% to Rs 1029.80 in volatile trade, rebounding from its 52-week low of Rs 985.10 hit in early trade. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. RIL’s net profit rose 7.4% to Rs 4122 crore on 39.8% growth in sales to Rs 44787 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007, the company said after market hours on Thursday, 23 October 2008.

India’s biggest listed cellular services provider Bharti Airtel rose 0.29% to Rs 536. The stock moved in a range of Rs 552 and Rs 502.20 in choppy trade.

Among the side counters, Glenmark Pharma (down 20% to Rs 259.25), Numeric Power (down 19.87% to Rs 229.30), and Omax Auto (down 17.65% to Rs 21) slumped.

However, Unitech (up 38.54% to Rs 41.70), Suzlon Energy (up 6.15% to Rs 50.15), and Gujarat NRE Coke (up 3.44% to Rs 28.50), surged.

India Inc.’s report card for the September 2008 quarter so far shows a muted bottomline growth, partly due to a surge in interest cost. Aggregate results of 875 companies showed a 6.2% rise in net profit on 28.5% increase in net sales in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. Interest cost jumped 35.6% in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.

While governments and central banks across the globe are expected to take further dramatic action to prop up the global financial system this week, there is concern this would not be enough to prevent companies from slashing production and jobs as sales get hit and financing remains difficult.

Central banks are likely to launch new coordinated emergency action this week to calm panic in financial markets. Reports indicate the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a 50 basis-point cut in overnight rates on Wednesday, 29 October 2008 that would take them to 1%, the lowest level since June 2004, with some expecting an even deeper reduction to 0.75%.

Back home, markets suffered a severe setback on Friday 24 October 2008, plunging to three-year lows mirroring weak global equities on worries about a sharp global economic slowdown and disappointment from the second quarter monetary policy review of the Reserve Bank of India. The BSE 30-share Sensex plunged 1070.63 points, or 10.96%, to 8,701.07, recording its biggest fall in percentage terms since May 2004 and the S&P CNX Nifty was down 359.50 points or 12.2% to 2,584.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of equities worth Rs 1431.56 crore, while the mutual funds bought more shares than they sold at a net Rs 514.26 crore on Friday, 24 October 2008, according to provisional data on the NSE.

US light crude for December 2008 delivery fell 22 cents to $63.93 a barrel today, 27 October 2008, after touching a 17-month low of $63.67 as an emergency production cut by OPEC was shrugged off by traders anxious about the onset of a deep global recession.

SGX Nifty Update - 2 - Oct 27 2008


SGX Nifty currently trading +17.0 up at 2,545.0

Suzlon Energy - blade broken!


(PIC: NYT)

Suzlon plans to strengthen or replace 1,251 blades - almost the entire number it has sold to date in the U.S. -- after cracks were found on more than 60 blades on turbines run by Deere and Edison International's Edison Mission Energy.

GAIL


GAIL

Muhurat Trading - Oct 28 2008


Market Opens – 6.15 p.m.
Market Closes - 7.15 p.m.


Post Closing:
Starts - 7.25 p.m.
Ends - 7.35 p.m.

PNB - SELL


We recommend a sell in Punjab National Bank from a short-term trading perspective. It is evident from the charts of Punjab National Bank that it was on a broad sideways consolidation in the range between Rs 440 and Rs 530 between late July and late October. The stock failed to surpass the upper boundary (Rs 530) of the sideways consolidation during mid-October and started to decline.

Subsequently, the stock penetrated the 21- and 50-day moving averages by tumbling over 6 per cent on October 22. Moreover on October 24, the stock conclusively broke out of the sideways consolidation by slipping 11 per cent, along with the broad market sell-off.

The daily relative strength index (RSI) has entered in to the bearish zone and the weekly RSI is on the verge of entering this zone. Furthermore, the moving average convergence and divergence has entered the negative territory, indicating a sell. Our short-term forecast for the stock is negative. We expect the stock’s decline to prolong until it hits our price target of Rs 375 in the upcoming trading sessions. Traders with short-term perspective can sell the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 440.

SGX Nifty Update - Oct 27 2008


SGX Nifty currently trading up +72.0 at 2,600.0 points