India Equity Analysis, Reports, Recommendations, Stock Tips and more!
Search Now
Recommendations
Friday, November 21, 2008
BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Nov 21 2008
Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
21/11/2008 532919 ALLIED COMP SHREE BHIKSHU FIN. PVT LTD B 400000 5.15
21/11/2008 505506 AXON INFOTEC SATYANRAIN PREMSUKH LAHOTI HUF B 5000 7.80
21/11/2008 500335 BIRLA CORPOR MERLIN SECURITIES PVT LTD B 1700000 109.96
21/11/2008 500335 BIRLA CORPOR SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS SELECT MIDCAP FUND S 1459233 110.00
21/11/2008 500144 FINOLEX CABL J M MUTUAL FUND AC JM BASIC FUND MF01594851BS S 2004391 20.01
21/11/2008 513059 G.S. AUTO SPJ STOCK S 60000 21.83
21/11/2008 530955 KAILASH FICO MANDVI DYES AND CHEMICALS PVT B 150000 22.86
21/11/2008 526045 LUMINAI TECH PRABHAKAR DATTARAM KUDASKAR S 150000 4.43
21/11/2008 530461 SABOO SOD CH SPJ STOCK B 55029 8.12
21/11/2008 530461 SABOO SOD CH SPJ STOCK S 102029 8.49
21/11/2008 531898 SANGUINE MD VISHU ENTERPRISE B 111501 7.14
21/11/2008 531898 SANGUINE MD COMFORT INTECH LIMITED S 200000 7.21
21/11/2008 526775 VALIANT COMM* NAISHADH JAWAHAR PALEJA S 46557 18.00
21/11/2008 514470 WINSOME TEXT PRATAP ASHAR MANISH S 45480 13.23
21/11/2008 532788 XL TEL ENE MORGAN STANLEY MAURITIUS COMPANY LIMITED B 220000 54.50
21/11/2008 532788 XL TEL ENE CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS MAURITIUS PVT LTD S 220000 54.50
NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Nov 21 2008
Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
21-NOV-2008,BLUEDART,Blue Dart Express Ltd,DERIVE TRADING PVT.LTD.,BUY,400000,385.00,-
21-NOV-2008,CHAMBLFERT,Chambal Fertilizers Ltd.,PACE FINANCIAL SERVICES,BUY,2330892,31.63,-
21-NOV-2008,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,114620,1755.60,-
21-NOV-2008,GPIL,Godawari Power And Ispat,NAND KISHORE BANSAL,BUY,141289,65.79,-
21-NOV-2008,BLUEDART,Blue Dart Express Ltd,ARUNA FUND LTD SUB A/C. OF NOTZ STUCKI ET CIE S A,SELL,519821,385.03,-
21-NOV-2008,CHAMBLFERT,Chambal Fertilizers Ltd.,PACE FINANCIAL SERVICES,SELL,2251542,31.72,-
21-NOV-2008,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,114620,1757.37,-
Market seen volatile on derivatives expiry
Key benchmark indices are more likely to be influenced by global cues as they have been in the recent past. On the domestic front, expectations have risen that the central bank would again cut interest rates to shore up a faltering economy. Volatility may rise as derivative contracts for November 2008 series expire on Thursday, 27 November 2008.
Sustained selling by the foreign institutional investors (FII) to shore up resources to beat the global liquidity crunch, have weighed heavily on the bourses since 2008. FII outflow reached Rs 53,476.90 crore in calendar 2008, till 20 November 2008.
Indian markets will continue to be influenced by developments on the global front. Reports the US economy could shrink by 0.2% through 2009 and that US automakers, General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC are at risk of bankruptcy if a last-minute bail-out plan fails, sent the world stock indices to 5-1/2 year lows on 20 November 2008. The rising jobless claim, which rose to a 16-year high in the US, is expected to worsen the US economy further.
Back home, volatility is likely to remain high as derivative contracts for November 2008 series expire on Thursday, 27 November 2008. Nifty rollovers in the December 2008 series has been low, of about 4.70 million shares, as on 20 November 2008, which is substantially lower than a rollover of 14.22 million shares in the November 2008 series by this time last month.
Closer home, inflation has retraced sharply in the past two weeks raising hopes the central bank will cut interest rates further to shield the domestic economy from the global economic slowdown. Lower interest rates boost stocks as lower borrowing costs help lift corporate profits. The central bank is monitoring the liquidity situation on a real-time basis and would take the desired steps to boost further liquidity in the system if and when required, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao said on Tuesday, 18 November 2008.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 8.90% in the 12 months to 8 November 2008, marginally below the previous week's annual rise of 8.98%, data released on Thursday, 20 November 2008 showed. Inflation has been softening after hitting a 16-year high at 12.91% on 2 August 2008.
The RBI has aggressively cut rates over the past two months to support growth and cushion the economy against the spreading global turmoil. The repo rate, the main short-term lending rate has been cut by 150 basis points to 7.5% since October 2008 and the cash reserve ratio, the proportion of deposits that banks have to keep with the central bank, has been reduced by 350 basis points to 5.5%.
India's economy is slowing down after growing at an annual rate of 9% or more in the past three years. The economic growth slumped to 7.9% in the April-June 2008 quarter from 9.2% in the same period last year. The Reserve Bank of India has downgraded its growth forecast to 7.5% to 8% for the current financial year.
Small-cap, mid-cap indices tumble
Fears of a prolonged global recession, slowdown in the domestic economy and selling by foreign funds pulled the key benchmark indices lower in the week ended Friday, 21 November 2008. The market edged lower in four out of five trading sessions. The BSE Small-Cap and Mid-Cap indices tumbled on intense selling pressure. Volatility was high throughout the week.
The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 470.21 points or 5.01% to 8,915.21 in the week ended Friday, 21 November 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty declined 116.90 points or 4.15% to 2693.45 in the week.
The BSE Mid-Cap slumped 299.42 points or 9.31% to 2,916.66 and the BSE Small-Cap index shed 374.29 points or 9.94% to 3,390.76. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.
Sustained selling by the foreign institutional investors (FII) to shore up resources to beat the global liquidity crunch, have weighed heavily on the bourses since 2008. FII outflow reached Rs 53,476.90 crore in calendar 2008, till 20 November 2008.
World stocks fell on worries that a recession in Japan will last longer than expected and on doubts about the survival of Citigroup Inc, the No. 2 US bank. Reports the US economy could shrink by 0.2% through 2009 and that US automakers, General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC are at risk of bankruptcy if a last-minute bail-out plan fails, sent the world stock indices to 5-1/2 year lows on 20 November 2008. The rising jobless claim, which rose to a 16-year high in the US, is expected to worsen the US economy further.
Closer home, the barometer index BSE Sensex is down 11,371.78 points or 56.05% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 12,291.56 points or 57.96% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.
Trading for the week started on a dull note with the market declining on Monday, 17 November 2008, despite the Reserve Bank of India announcing measures to shield the Indian economy from the global economic slowdown. The BSE 30-share Sensex slipped 94.91 points, or 1.01%, to 9,291.01 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 10.80 points, or 0.38%, to 2,799.55, on that day.
The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 353.81 points, or 3.81%, to 8,937.20 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 116.40 points, or 4.16%, to 2,683.15 on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, as worries about a weakening domestic and world economy, political uncertainty due to ongoing state elections, and weak global cues played spoilsport.
Fears of more foreign fund sales pulled the market lower on Wednesday, 18 November 2008, offsetting hopes of more measures from the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to help revive the domestic economy. The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 163.42 points, or 1.83%, to 8,773.78 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 48.15 points, or 1.79%, to 2,635, on that day.
Worries of a deep global recession and fears that there could be another wave in the global credit crisis pulled the domestic bourses down for the seventh consecutive trading session on Thursday, 19 November 2008. The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 322.77 points, or 3.68%, to 8,451.01 and the S&P CNX Nifty was down 81.85 points, or 3.11%, to 2,553.15, on that day.
Key benchmark indices edged higher on Friday, 21 November 2008 as battered pivotals made a comeback snapping seven-day losses. A surge in US index futures and gains in European stocks boosted the domestic bourses. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 464.20 points, or 5.49%, to 8,915.21 and the S&P CNX Nifty gained 140.30 points, or 5.50%, to 2693.45, on that day.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.85% to Rs 1127.35 in the week on concerns a global slowdown would hit demand for petrochemicals.
IT stocks fell on mounting worries about US economy after the Federal Reserve slashed its growth forecasts for the economy. Indian IT firms derive a lion's share of revenue from exports to US. India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys fell 2.72% to Rs 1184.74 after chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan on 17 November 2008 said the currency movement will have an impact on revenue in Q3 December 2007 and that the company is seeing flat billing rates.
Wipro (down 4.61% to Rs 229.80), Satyam Computer Services (down 8.05%to Rs 240.60), and TCS (down 4.32% to Rs 506.55), edged lower.
Metal stocks declined on worries that global economic slowdown will hit demand. Hindalco Industries (down 8.30% to Rs 51.90), Sterlite Industries (down 3.72% to Rs 218.75), and Tata Steel (down 7.62% to Rs 160.05), slipped.
Auto stocks declined on a worsening global economic outlook and declining domestic demand due to high interest rates and fuel prices. Maruti Suzuki India (down 4.71% to Rs 511.35), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 6.49% to Rs 309.25), and Tata Motors (down 2.45% to Rs 133.60), declined.
Private sector banking shares slipped on worries about bad loans in a slowing economy. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank lost 15.32% to Rs 856.70. India's India's largest private sector bank by net profit, ICICI Bank slumped 15.25% to Rs 335.55 after it halved its lending growth target for March 2009 to 15% in a slowing economy.
But India's largest commercial bank by net assets State Bank of India (SBI) rose 1.12% to Rs 1183.15.
Realty stocks fell on slowdown in the sector due to lower demand and a liquidity crunch. Unitech (down 30.38% to Rs 31.85), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 8.82% to Rs 99.75),and DLF (down 17.73% to Rs 198.20), slipped.
India's largest oil exploration firm by revenues ONGC shed 0.50% to Rs 690.05 even as the company along with its partners bagged 20 out of the 44 blocks were awarded under the seventh round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VII). The government announced awarding the blocks after trading hours on Thursday.
Telecom firms slipped amid a controversy regarding the award of 2G telecom licenses. India's largest cellular services provider by net profit Bharti Airtel fell 4.78% to Rs 619.10. India's second largest cellular services provider by net profit Reliance Communications lost 5.76% to Rs 207.10
The controversy centres on award of 2G telecom licenses for a total of Rs 9000 crore on 10 January 2008. It has been alleged that this amounted to severe underpricing, causing a loss of almost Rs 51000 crore to the exchequer.
Among the non-Sensex stocks, Amtek India (down 47.80%), Orchid Chemicals (down 29.87%), Reliance Capital (down 24.60%), and Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (down 24.59%), suffered steep losses.
On 15 November 2008, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced measures to improve money market liquidity and help exporters. The measures include extension of a special repurchase facility to provide liquidity for mutual funds and non-banking finance companies till March 2009, increase in the limit on export credit refinance available to banks, allowing housing finance companies to raise funds through short-term overseas borrowings, reduction in provisioning on standard assets of banks to a uniform level of 0.4%, and reduction in risk weights for banks on commercial real estate and on unrated claims on corporates. The central bank also said it would consider proposals from local firms to buy back foreign currency convertible bonds early.
On 18 November 2008, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government will take steps to stimulate the domestic economy to compensate for the downside caused by the downturn in the world economy.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 8.90% in the 12 months to 8 November 2008, marginally below the previous week's annual rise of 8.98%, data released by the government on Thursday, 20 November 2008 showed. Inflation has been softening ever since it hit a 16-year high of 12.91% on 2 August 2008.
On 21 November 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India will emerge strong from the global economy crisis. Singh said the government will ensure that the shortage of demand from the global slowdown is neutralised to the maximum possible extent through the use of fiscal and monetary policies and through the use of public investment.
Post Session Commentary - Nov 21 2008
The domestic market broke its seven days of losing trend and concluded the day with handsome gains on huge buying across the board. The market opened strongly after a sharp pull back from yesterday on the back of recovery in the Asian markets from initial fall along with reduction in domestic inflation figures. The wholesale price index stood at 8.90% for the week ended 8th November 2008, marginally below the previous week’s annual rise of 8.98%. The market maintained its opening gains and continued to trade strongly though touched dotted line after mid session. Further, market managed to gain strength and rallied again to close with heavy gains on short covering and firm global markets. BSE Sensex crossed 8,900 mark with increase of 5.49% and NSE Nifty ended around 2,700 mark with gain of 5.5%. From the sectoral front, most of the indices closed in green and Power, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, PSU, Bank, Teck and IT stocks were in limelight as strong buying witnessed in these baskets. However, Reality index remain out of favour during the trading session.
Among the Sensex pack 26 stocks ended in green territory and 4 in red. The market breadth was negative as 1293 stocks closed in red while 1177 stocks closed in green and 96 stocks remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex closed higher by 464.20 points at 8,915.21 and NSE Nifty ended up by 140.30 points at 2,693.45. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 20.87 points and 5.42 points at 2,916.66 and 3,390.76 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 8,988.03 and intraday low of 8,442.31.
Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Reliance Infra (14.07%), Reliance Communication Ltd (13.64%), Sterlite Indus (9.10%), NTPC Ltd (8.80%), HDFC (8.49%), SBI (8.29%), TCS Ltd (7.89%), BHEL (7.29%), L&T Ltd (6.75%), Reliance (6.49%), ONGC Ltd (6.10%) and Maruti Suzuki (5.90%).
Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are DLF Ltd (3.41%), JP Associates (2.18%), ACC Ltd (2.08%) and Tata Power (0.47%).
The BSE Power index gained (6.21%) or 92.94 points to close at 1,588.64. Major gainers are Reliance Infra (14.07%), GVK Power (13.28%), NTPC Ltd (8.80%), Suzlon Energy (8.04%), BHEL (7.29%) and Power Grid (6.28%).
The Oil & Gas index ended up by (5.69%) or 298.88 points at 5,550.89 as Reliance (6.49%), ONGC Ltd (6.10%), Reliance Petroleum (5.72%), Cairn Ind (5.52%), BPCL (4.78%) and IOC (4.22%) in positive territory.
The BSE Capital Goods index ended higher by (5.59%) or 346.99 points at 6,556.37. Major gainers are Suzlon Energy (8.04%), BHEL (7.29%), L&T Ltd (6.75%), Alstom Proje (4.90%), Punj Lloyd (4.71%) and Reliance Industrial Infra (4.64%).
The BSE Teck index advanced by (5.22%) or 95.69 points to close at 1,927.62 as Reliance Communication Ltd (13.64%), Deccan Chronicle (11.75%), Jagran Prak (9.53%), TCS Ltd (7.89%), Financ Tech (7.52%) and Idea Cell (7.15%) ended in positive territory.
The BSE PSU index surged (5.04%) or 220.39 points to close at 4,589.33. Gainers are Nalco (10.55%), NTPC Ltd (8.80%), SBI (8.29%), BHEL (7.29%), SAIL (7.25%) and Power Grid (6.28%).
The BSE Reality index dropped by (2.00%) or 33.64 points to close at 1,645.42. Losers are Unitech Ltd (9.39%), Housing Dev (4.05%), Penland Ltd (3.78%), DLF Ltd (3.41%), Ansal Infra (3.37%) and Mahindra Life (2.27%).
Market snaps seven days’ losses
The market showed strong optimism today despite witnessing a fall in trades yesterday. The Sensex had a gap-up opening despite weak global cues. However, buoyancy in heavyweights triggered a major rally and the Sensex rose sharply by mid-morning. Maintaining its upward bias thereafter, extensive buying in power, oil & gas and capital goods stocks propelled the index to touch an intra-day high of 8,988, up 537 points for the day. The Sensex finally ended the session with gains of 5.49% and was up 464 points at 8,915. Nifty moved up 140 points to close at 2,693.
However the market breadth was negative. Of the 2,566 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,293 stocks declined, whereas 1,177 stocks advanced. Ninety six stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices notched up significant gains. BSE Power was the biggest gainer and soared 6.21% followed by BSE Oil & Gas (up 5.69%), BSE CG (up 5.59%), BSE Teck (up 5.22%), BSE PSU (up 5.04%) and BSE IT (up 4.85%).
Among the 30 stocks in the Sensex basket, 26 ended at higher levels. Reliance Infrastructure led the upsurge and flared by 14.07% at Rs485.20. Among other major gainers, Reliance Communications surged 13.64% at Rs207, Sterlite Industries moved up by 9.10% at Rs218.75, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) advanced 8.80% at Rs150.25, Maruti Suzuki India vaulted 8.73% at Rs525, HDFC shot up by 8.49% at Rs1,399, State Bank of India added 8.29% at Rs1,183.15, Tata Consultancy Services gained 7.89% at Rs506.55 and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd rose 7.29% at Rs1,281.25. While, DLF slipped 3.41% at Rs198.20, JP Associates lost 2.18% at Rs58.25, ACC dropped 2.08% at Rs399.45 and Tata Power was marginally down at Rs630.90.
Power stocks saw strong buying action during the day. Followed by Reliance Infrastructure, GVK power & Infrastructure surged 13.28% at Rs14.67, NTPC soared 8.80% at Rs150.25, Suzlon Energy jumped 8.04% at Rs49.70 and Power Grid Corporation of India added 6.28% at Rs73.60. Oil & gas stocks also logged significant gains with Reliance Industries, ONGC, Reliance Petroleum, Cairn India, BPCL, IOC and GAIL soaring over 3-6% each.
Over 2.04 crore share of Unitech changed hands on the BSE followed by GVK Power & Infrastructure (1.71 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (1.51 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.33 crore shares) and DLF (0.71 crore shares).
Market snaps seven-day losing streak; Sensex jumps 5.5%
A surge in US index futures and gains in European stocks boosted the domestic bourses in a volatile trading session. The market staged a solid bounce back after it had slipped into the red briefly in mid-afternoon trade. The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 464.20 points, or 5.49%, recovering from a steep slide in the preceding seven trading sessions.
The market was choppy. It had plunged into red in mid-afternoon before bouncing back instantly. The market had surged in mid-morning trade as Asian stocks rose triggered by speculation governments will step up efforts to revive economies. Hopes of a further rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to shield the domestic economy from the global economic slowdown also supported the domestic bourses.
A further fall in inflation has raised hopes the central bank will cut interest rates further to shield the domestic economy from the global economic slowdown. Lower interest rates boost stocks as lower borrowing costs help lift corporate profits. Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 8.90% in the 12 months to 8 November 2008, marginally below the previous week's annual rise of 8.98%, data on Thursday, 20 November 2008 showed. Inflation has been softening since peaking at 12.91% on 2 August 2008.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today, 21 November 2008, India will emerge strong from the global economy crisis. Singh said the government will ensure that the shortage of demand from the global slowdown is neutralised to the maximum possible extent through the use of fiscal and monetary policies and through the use of public investment.
European stocks edged higher on Friday, 21 November 2008, with oil shares turning positive and banks rising further as Bank of Ireland surged on bid talk. The key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up by between 0.1% to 0.53%.
Asian stocks rose for the first time in five days, led by finance companies, as a variety of rumors such as China cutting interest rates later in the day prompted investors to cover short positions before the weekend. Speculation that Citigroup, the number two US bank, will merge with a rival which will help shore up the global financial system, also aided the rebound in Asian shares from an slide caused by weak US economic data.
The Nikkei share average turned positive after falling three percent earlier. It was now up 2.93%. Singapore's Straits Times index rose 3.21% even as the government today said the economy could shrink next year, as financial services and its exports are expected to be hit by a weaker global economy. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan were up by between 1.98% to 5.8%. But China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.72%.
One such rumour floating in the market was that China will cut interest rates later in the day. Speculation was also rife that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in an emergency move later in the day and global central banks could conduct another round of joint interest rate cuts in the face of renewed market volatility.
Better-than-expected results by the world's No. 2 PC maker Dell Inc and decision by two biggest home loan finance companies to staunch the wave of evictions and home losses in the United States, also aided recovery in Asian stocks and the positive news aided surge in US index futures. Trading in US futures suggested the Dow could rise 223 points at the opening bell. But the futures were volatile.
Dell shares surged 6.3% to $10.43 in after hours trading in the United State on Thursday, after the world's No. 2 PC maker reported better-than-expected profit as cost cuts tempered lower revenue. In another positive development after hours, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two biggest home loan finance companies, said they would suspend foreclosures of occupied homes until early 2009 -- one of the biggest moves to date by the government to staunch the wave of evictions and home losses.
The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 464.20 points, or 5.49%, to 8,915.21. At the day's high of 8,988.03 hit in late trade, the Sensex rose 537.02 points. The Sensex lost 8.7 points at the day's low of 8,442.31 in mid-afternoon trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty rose 140.30 points, or 5.5%, to 2,693.45 .
The market snapped last seven days losses. Fears of a global recession, slowdown in the domestic economy and selling by foreign funds had pulled the Sensex down 2,085.15 points or 19.79% in the last seven trading sessions to 8,451.01 on Thursday, 20 November 2008 from 10,536.16 on 10 November 2008
The barometer index is down 11,371.78 points or 56.05% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 12,291.56 points or 57.96% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3,562 crore today as compared to a turnover of Rs 2,899.59 on 20 November 2008.
Nifty November 2008 futures were at 2727, at a premium of 33.55 points as compared to the spot closing of 2693.45. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment surged to Rs 47,696.14 crore from Rs 37,983.83 crore on Thursday, 20 November 2008.
Though the key benchmark indices surged, the market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,177 shares rose as compared with 1,293 that declined. A total of 96 shares remained unchanged. The market breadth swung between positive and negative territory throughout the day today. After an initial weakness, the breadth had improved later, before weakening again in afternoon trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.72% to 2,916.66 and the BSE Small-Cap index up 0.16% to 3,390.76. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.
The BSE Power index (up 6.21% to 1,588.64), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 5.69% to 5,550.89), the BSE Capital Goods index (up 5.59% to 6,556.37) outperformed the Sensex.
The BSE Teck index (up 5.22% to 1,927.62), the BSE PSU index (up 5.04% to 4,589.33), the BSE IT index (up 4.85% to 2,457.55), the BSE Bankex (up 4.56% to 4,598.90), the BSE Metal index (up 2.99% to 4,377.60), the BSE Auto index (up 2.31% to 2,305.12), the BSE HealthCare index (up 1.75% to 2,812.70), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.69% to 1,793.72), the BSE FMCG index (up 1.68% to 1,887.75), the BSE Realty index (down 2% to 1,645.42), underperformed the Sesex.
Reliance Communications (up 13.64% to Rs 207.10), Larsen & Toubro (up 6.75% to Rs 760.35), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 7.29% to Rs 1,281.25), were the major gainers from the Sensex pack.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 6.49% to Rs 1,127.35, on recent reports the company is seeking nod to restart fuel retailing.
India's largest oil exploration firm by revenues ONGC rose 6.1% after it along with its partners bagged 20 out of the 44 blocks that have been awarded under the seventh round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VII). The government announced awarding the blocks after trading hours on Thursday.
Selan Exploration Technology rose 1.8% after its board approved buyback of shares at up to Rs 230, a 73.78% premium over the ruling market price.
Power stocks gained on reports Union power ministry will shortly meet private sector players to help resolve their problems, amid concerns that the global financial meltdown could hurt India's power project development plans. NTPC, Reliance Infrastructure, ABB, Reliance Power, Power Grid Corporation of India rose by between 5.08% to 14.03%. Meanwhile, public sector utilities are not finding it difficult to go ahead with their plans because they have huge cash reserves, reports suggest.
Metal stocks gained on hopes the government will take steps to prop up domestic demand. Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Sterlite Industries, Steel Authority of India Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, National aluminum Company rose by between 1.27% to 10.55%.
The government had on 18 November 2008 announced imposition of 5% import duty on specified iron and steel items to protect the domestic steel industry from cheaper imports.
Banking stocks rose in volatile trade on hopes of a further fall in interest rates may boost lending growth. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank was up 4.19% to Rs 856.70. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 4.74 % to Rs 335.55 even as its ADR lost 9.72% on Thursday, 20 November 2008. The stock came off from the day's low of Rs 308.10. India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) surged 8.29% after it got Reserve Bank of India's approval for a proposed joint venture with a unit of French bank Societe Generale for offering custodial and related services.
The RBI has aggressively cut rates over the past two months. The repo rate has been cut by 150 basis points to 7.5% since October this year and the cash reserve ratio, the proportion of deposits that banks have to keep with the central bank, has been reduced by 350 basis points to 5.5%. In response, government owned banks lowered prime lending rates by up 75 basis points, but large private lenders like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are yet to do so.
IT stocks rose as the rupee was trading near a record low against the dollar. India's third largest IT exporter by sales Satyam Computer Services rose 3.08% even as ADR fell 5.81% overnight. India's fourth largest IT exporter by sales Wipro rose 4.64% even as ADR lost 8.19% on Thursday. India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services jumped 7.89%.
India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys gained 5.1% on reports it is pursuing five to six outsourcing deals each worth $50 million to $200 million. Its ADR fell 5.67% on Thursday.
The Indian rupee shed some of its early gains and traded flat in afternoon trade on Friday as choppy equity markets raised concerns of accelerating foreign withdrawals. The partially convertible rupee was at 50.175/200 per dollar, little changed from its previous close of 50.18/22, when it had hit a record low of 50.60. A weaker rupee augurs well for the sector as IT firms earn most of their revenues from exports.
Real estate stocks declined for the second day in a row after the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday 20 November 2008 the economic downturn will slow commercial real estate market in 2009. Unitech, DLF, Housing Development & Infrastructure, and Omaxe were down by between 0.47% to 5.39%. While, Indiabulls Real Estate rose 8.25%.
Ansal Properties & Infrastructure tumbled 3.37%, after rating agency Fitch downgraded the long-term credit rating of the property firm and revised its outlook to negative from stable.
Infrastructure stocks rose on reports the finance ministry is considering further relaxation in overseas borrowing norms for infrastructure companies. Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Construction Company, Nagarjuna Consruction Company, IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects rose by between 2.18% to 12.18%. The government is looking at doing away with interest rate caps to make borrowing outside India easier for the infrastructure firms.
GVK Power & Infrastructure surged 13.28%, on bagging seven deep sea blocks out of the 44 blocks that were awarded under the government's New Exploration Licensing Policy.
Auto stocks rose on hopes a further cut in interest rates could spur demand which is mainly driven by finance. Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Honda Motors, Tata Motors rose by between 0.16% to 5.9%.
Banco Products India declined 2.95%, on its decision to reduce the number of working days of operations due the slowdown in automobile industry.
Eicher Motors moved up 2.74%, after its board approved buyback of own shares at a price which was more than three times its closing price on Thursday, 20 November 2008.
Unitech clocked the highest volume of 2.05 crore shares on BSE. GVK Power & Infrastructure (1.71 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (1.51 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.33 crore shares) and DLF (71.85 lakh shares) were the other volume toppers un that order.
Reliance Industries clocked the highest turnover of Rs 344.16 crore on BSE. Reliance Capital (Rs 184.05 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 176.56 crore), State Bank of India (Rs 161.87 crore) and DLF (Rs 139.83 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained 2.53%, on receiving US Food & Drug Administration approval for a new drug.
Meanwhile latest data in the United States raised concerns of a deep and protracted global economic recession. The number of American workers on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in a quarter century, government data on Thursday showed, while a regional manufacturing gauge slumped as the economic misery intensified.
Pre Session Commentary - Nov 21 2008
Today Markets are likely to open with blood bath as US markets closed in deep red and other Asian markets have also opened with brutal losses. The job markets data caused the carnage in US and the weak sentiments have now plagued the other Asian markets. The sentiments are very fragile and as today is the closing day of the weak one could witness the investors being in a cautious note and hence little chances for markets to bounce back. The inflation data for the week ended November 8, 2008 recorded at 8.90% lower than 8.98% in the week earlier.
On Thursday, domestic Markets opened with heavy losses and continued the down trend till the end. The weak setiments across the markets in the world could be the sole cause of the fall. However investors are also skeptic about the present domestic economic scenario. Markets across Asia, Europe and US have faced extreme bearish pressures due to concerns over the global economy moving towards recession. Sensex and Nifty fell by 3.68% and 3.11% respectively. Realty, CD and Oil & Gas were the worst hit as they fell by 8.30%, 4.95%, 4.64% respectively. During the trading session we expect the market to be trading in deep red.
The BSE Sensex closed lower by 322.77 points at 8,451.01 and NSE Nifty ended lower by 81.85 points at 2553.15. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 102.60 points at 2,895.79 and by 107.78 points at 3,385.34. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 8,540.46 and intraday low of 8,316.39.
On Thursday, US markets fell drastically. The bad job market news and the weak financial sector caused the blood bath in the markets. The latest jobless data shows 11th consecutive decline in monthly nonfarm payrolls. Initial jobless claims for the week ended November 15, 2008 jumped 27,000 to 542,000. That took the 4-week moving average to 506,500 from 490,750. Further the continuing claims increased to 4.01 million from 3.90 million. Crude oil futures for the December delivery fell by $4 cents to $49.62 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. This is the lowest price since May 23, 2005. The weak concern about the economy has pulled the demand for oil.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed lower by 444.99 points at 7552.29 NASDAQ index lost 70.30 points at 1,316.12 and the S&P 500 (SPX) also closed lower by 54.14 points to close at 752.44 points.
Indian ADRs ended negative. In technology sector, Infosys fell by (5.67%) and Wipro ended low by (8.19%) followed by Satyam that ended low by (5.81%) and Patni Computers closing low by (6.49%). In banking sector ICICI Bank was low by (9.72%), while HDFC Bank fell (9.66%). In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication declined by (8.53%), while MTNL declined by (5.69%). Sterlite Industries was low by (5.23%).
Today the major stock markets in Asia opened negative. The Shanghai Composite is trading low by 73.89 at 1,909.87 Hang Seng is low by 293.00 points at 12,005.56. Further Japan''s Nikkei is low by 170.93 points at 7,532.11. Straits Times is also trading low by 26.86 points at 1,587.09 and South Korea’s Seoul Composite is low by 9.09 points at 939.60.
The FIIs on Thursday stood as net sellers in equity and net buyers in debt. The Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 1,884.00 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 337.60 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,092.20 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 0.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were (Rs 208.10) Crore and Rs 337.60 Crore respectively.
On Thursday, the partially convertible rupee ended at 50.18/22 per dollar, weaker by 0.3% on Wednesday’s closing at 50.02/03. The weak markets have led to outflow of dollars hugely, however today the heavy selling of dollars by state-run banks on behalf of the central bank helped the rupee to pair off its weakness.
On BSE, total number of shares traded was 22.17 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 2,899.59 Crore. On NSE, total volume of shares traded was 48.36 Crore and total turnover was Rs 7,793.97 Crore.
Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Suzlon Energy with total volume traded 22989561, followed by Unitech with 19375349, Reliance Petro with 15043893, ICICI Bank with 12389261 and SAIL with 10482309 shares.
On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1019079 with a total turnover for the same was Rs 12060.2 crores. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 931039 with a total turnover of Rs 8985.35 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1199223 and total turnover was Rs 16379.92 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 52216 and notional turnover was Rs 558.36 Crore.
Today, Nifty would have a support at 2,405 and resistance at 2,535 and BSE Sensex has support at 8,010 and resistance at 8,310.
SGX Nifty Live Update - 3 - Nov 21 2008
SGX Nifty currently down 54.5 points at 2,515.5.
It has trimmed losses - was about 80 points down about an hour back
US stocks plunge again
Uncertainty in several fronts take market substantially down
It was another ugly day at Wall Street today, Thursday, 20 November, 2008 taking Dow to levels it has not witnessed in last eleven years. There were the current ongoing factors for today's negative sentiment in the market. Citigroup and economic reports mainly weighed on the market. Concerns over the fate of U.S. automakers, disappointing economic data, a yesterday's dour outlook from the Fed and the market's inability to hold its lows fueled the selling interest.
After climbing in and out of positive and negative turf in the early going, the major stock indexes were down decisively in afternoon trades. Selling accelerated in the last hour of trading.
At the end, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged below the 8,000 mark for the first time since 2003 yesterday. Today, the Dow closed down 445 points or 5.1% at 7,552, the Nasdaq shed 70 points or 6.5% to 1,316 and the S&P 500 dropped 54 points or 6.1% to 752.
All the ten sectors ended in the red today. Weakness in the financial sector was widespread. Energy posted the largest decline of the session, though. The steep declines in energy followed losses in crude oil prices. Crude futures fell below $49 per barrel to reach their lowest point in more than three years. The commodity finished the session near its lows.
All thirty Dow stocks ended in the red today. Citigroup and GE were the main Dow laggards. GE stocks dipped to a decade low.
Citigroup continued to be badly hammered today after the bank announced yesterday that it took on more than $17 billion in assets from structured investment vehicles and shut another hedge fund. The stock dropped by another 25% today to almost $5.
For tomorrow, retailers will dominate earnings announcements tomorrow morning. Among economic reports, initial jobless claims for the week ended 15 November is due before opening bell followed by leading economic indicators for October. The November Philadelphia Fed Index is also due at the same time as the economic indicators report.
Among economic reports for the day, the Labor Department in US reported today, Thursday, 20 November, 2008, that first-time filings for unemployment benefits shot up to their highest level since July 1992 for the week ended 14 November, 2008. It rose 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 542,000. Meanwhile, the number of people receiving benefits rose to 4.01 million in the week, the highest level in 26 years.
The four-week average of claims also climbed in the latest week, rising by 15,750 to 506,500. That was the highest since January 1983. The insured unemployment rate increased to 3.0% from 2.9%.
Treasury Secretary Paulson stated in a speech today that market stress is clearly continuing and that maintaining stability throughout the recovery process remains top priority. He noted that transparency of market risk must be a higher priority, as it relates to financial products.
Uncertainty continued to hover around auto makers. While some reports indicated that senators have reached a bipartisan auto aid agreement with wide support, some others indicated that the likelihood that a bill is approved and passed in the immediate future is slim. One senator said
Market to extend losses
Concerns about the weakening domestic and global economy and selling by foreign funds will see the market extending recent steep losses. Asian stocks dropped as dismal US. economic data intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession. US stocks declined sharply on Thursday, 20 November 2008.
As per the provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) today, 20 November 2008, sold shares worth a net Rs 762.94 crore. FIIs are dumping stocks in Indian and other emerging markets to shore up resources to beat the global liquidity crunch. FII outflow reached Rs 52,820.80 crore in calendar 2008, so far, till 19 November 2008, as against an inflow of a huge Rs 71,440.10 crore in the corresponding period last year.
In Asia, the key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Taiwan were down by between 0.65% to 4.28%.
The number of American workers on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in a quarter century, government data on Thursday showed, while a regional manufacturing gauge slumped as the economic misery intensified.
The fate of US corporate titans like General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Citigroup was uncertain, adding to a general mood of anxiety. Democratic congressional leaders demanded executives at the Big Three automakers come up with a detailed business survival plan in exchange for their support of up to $25 billion in loans. Citi, not long ago the world's most valuable financial firm, was reportedly considering selling itself.
US stocks tumbled on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 444.99 points, or 5.56%, to 7,552.29. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 54.14 points, or 6.71%, to 752.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 70.30 points, or 5.07%, to 1,316.12.
Trading Calls - Nov 21 2008
Considering the unprecedented carnage in the global financial markets and uncertainty over the fate of the US and other major economies, we would like to refrain from giving any intra-day trading ideas. We continue to advise extreme caution at this stage.
Investors should stay on the sidelines till the global sell-off abates and markets stabilise. One should not get carried away if there is any kind of a relief rally, as further selling is expected. Any advance in Indian stocks can only be sustained if global markets recover.
Daily News Roundup - Nov 21 2008
ONGC and its partners bag 20 blocks under NELP VII. (BL)
CCEA rejects Cairn India’s bid for the Mumbai Basin block. (ET)
Reliance Capital AMC gets Malaysia license. (BS)
Maruti rules out price cuts for its products. (FE)
Religare plans to sell it’s AMC stake to Aegon. (DNA)
Hindustan Zinc has raised zinc prices by Rs2,800/ton. (DNA)
Malco reduces production by 60%. (BS)
Nalco cuts aluminium prices by 3.5%. (BS)
Fitch downgrades bonds issued by Uco Bank and Indusind Bank. (ET)
MRTPC has initiated investigations into Jet Airways and JetLite over cartelization concerns. (ET)
Demand for JSW Steel’s auto grade steel has seen drop of 40-50%. (ET)
Cummins India to sell its power retail business. (BS)
Alok Industries puts SEZ plan on hold. (BS)
JSW Steel expects a 10-12% growth in sales in FY09. (BS)
Glenmark Pharma gets marketing rights in US for Azathioprine tablets. (ET)
Kernex wins an order worth US$17.5mn from Egyptian Railway. (ET)
Polaris denies reports of Citi selling its stake in the company. (ET)
Fitch downgrades long term credit rating of Ansal Infrastructure to negative from stable. (ET)
Air Deccan promoter trims its stake in the company to 5.01%. (ET)
Colgate-Palmolive India sells its Nepal subsidiary. (ET)
Welspun Gujarat bags orders worth Rs5bn from US and Gulf countries. (ET)
GVK Power plans to raise Rs2.4bn for its power unit in Punjab. (ET)
Kalpataru Power wins an order worth Rs1.4bn from a UAE firm. (BS)
Patni Computers wins contract from Turkish bank. (BS)
Inflation rate fell marginally to 8.9% for the week ended November 8, 2008. (ET)
Crude oil prices slipped below US$50/bbl for the first time since May 2005. (ET)
Finance ministry is considering a further relaxation in overseas borrowing norms for infrastructure companies. (ET)
Government has approved an average 96% increase in salaries of those working in central public sector enterprises. (ET)
Local rates may fall to 20 paise per minute according to telecom minister. (ET)
Indian companies had borrowed US$1bn overseas in October 2008. (ET)
Centre may hike borrowing caps for state governments. (ET)
NHAI has relaxed the rule limiting eight bids per road builder. (ET)
CCEA awards 44 blocks in the NELP-VII round. (ET)
Government mulls Rs750bn refinance window to provide concessional funds for infrastructure, housing and SMEs. (BS)
Government likely to finalize sops for textile industry. (BS)
Winds of change!
If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.
The winds of change continue to blow away from markets world over. The seven-day rout, which has knocked off about 20% from the key indices, is likely to continue, at least in the early part of today's session. And, no prices for guessing the reason behind our grim forecast! Market participants will continue to pay a price as stocks on Wall Street got pounded for a second day running, amid uncertainty over the fate of the American auto giants, continuing bad news on the economy and growing concerns over the health of Citigroup.
The Ambani brothers may have shook hands after four years. Don’t read too much into it. That’s more because they landed up at the same place, same time to discuss the same issue with the Opposition leader LK Advani. Again no prices for guessing what the issues are. Leading industrialists met Advani who promised to restore confidence in India's growth story if voted to office. Advani message to the gathering was that BJP was "willing and able" to tackle the economic challenge.
A recent survey ‘Mood of the Nation’ conducted by India Infoline’s institutional arm - IIFL states that ‘Nationally there is a swing against the incumbent UPA alliance. Inflation and terrorism are the most important issues for voters…..one of UPA’s biggest achievements, the Indo-US nuclear deal finds no resonance.”
Meanwhile, the economic and financial contagion is not restricted to the US alone. The news flow from across the globe remains downbeat and bleak. Every day one hears or reads about profit warnings, slew of job cuts and production rationalization by companies to cut costs and stay afloat. A large Indian corporate may also announce some downsizing later this year. We do not see any let up in this string of bad news in the foreseeable future, as the worldwide economic gloom deepens.
The solace one can derive is the steep fall in oil prices. But again, the slide in crude is mainly due to fear of demand destruction in the face of the savage economic downturn rather than any drastic change in fundamentals of demand and supply. For India though, lower crude prices could prove to be a boon, as it will lower inflation further, opening up the door for more rate cuts. But, the fact remains that the markets are refusing to respond to any regulatory action to reverse the tide. Investors remain highly pessimistic and skeptical about the effectiveness of any government initiatives (unilateral or global) on the rapidly deteriorating economic climate.
Coming to the Indian market today, the key indices would continue to follow patterns across global markets. Any improvement in external sentiment might provide a glimmer of hope to the bulls later in the day after a weak opening. We usually don’t recommend such moves. But if you have the guts and the money take a chance for some short term gains. Lower levels are here to stay for some time.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs7.63bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Thursday while the local institutions pumped in Rs4.27bn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs8.74bn. On Wednesday, FIIs were net sellers at Rs2.08bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds net sold Indian shares worth Rs507mn on the same day.
The bloodletting refuses to ease in global equity markets, as US shares plummeted to new multi-year lows after the Congress failed to arrive at a consensus on a bailout for the Big Three automakers, and outlook on Citigroup worsened further.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index plunged to an 11-1/2 year low after jobless claims approached the highest level since 1982, the index of leading economic indicators fell for a third time in four months and manufacturing in the Philadelphia area shrank at the fastest pace in 18 years.
The S&P 500 index slid 6.7% to 752.44, under the low of 776.76 reached during the bear market in 2002. The broader market gauge closed at its lowest point since April 14, 1997. It is now down 49% in 2008, poised for the worst annual decline in its 80-year history.
Seventeen companies in the S&P 500 lost more than 20%, as all 10 of the index's main industry groups slid at least 3.5%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 444.99 points, or 5.6%, to 7,552.29. The Nasdaq Composite dived 5.1% to 1,316.12. Both the Dow and Nasdaq closed at their lowest points since March 12, 2003, which was just above the low of the last bear market.
The Dow has lost 872 points, or 10.4%, over the last two sessions.
Market breadth was negative. Twelve stocks retreated for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
Treasury prices rallied as investors sought the comparative safety of government debt. The dollar was mixed versus other major currencies.
Oil prices plunged below US$50 per barrel, falling to a three-year low on concern that the slumping economy will crush demand.
US stocks slipped through the early afternoon following miserable readings on the labor market and manufacturing. The major gauges briefly bounced after hitting fresh 5-1/2 year lows. But the recovery attempt fizzled out as Congress haggled over the fate of the automakers and selling in Citi shares accelerated.
JPMorgan Chase lost 18% and Citigroup dropped 26% as concern that the recession will trigger more bankruptcies pushed the cost of insurance against corporate defaults to an all-time high.
The Senate called off a vote on a proposed US$25bn bailout package for the auto industry due to lack of bipartisan support. Democratic leaders have said that the Senate will return in December to discuss a package.
GM shares bounced in the afternoon after hitting the lowest level since the Great Depression. Ford Motor shares also bounced after hitting lows. GM's finance arm GMAC said it has filed to become a bank holding company, in a bid to tap into the US$700bn bank bailout.
GM was the only Dow component to advance in Thursday's session.
Citi's largest shareholder, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, said he is increasing his stake in the troubled bank back to 5% from 4%, even as shares continue to plummet. Citi shares plunged 26.4%.
Separately, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that Citi executives began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the New York bank outright, according to people familiar with the matter.
In other corporate news, General Electric (GE) denied it is looking for money from sovereign wealth funds or other funds. Shares fell 11%.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment jumped last week to 542,000, the highest level in 16 years, the government reported. The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits neared a 26-year high.
The index of leading economic indicators (LEI), fell by 0.8% in October, after gaining a revised 0.1% in September. Economists thought the Conference Board report would fall by 0.6%.
The November Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing, fell to negative 39.3 from negative 37.5 in October. Economists expected a reading of negative 35.
Speaking in the afternoon, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the current financial crisis is something only seen once or twice in a century. However, he also cautioned against imposing too-strict rules to prevent it from happening again.
US light crude oil for December delivery fell US$4.77 to settle at US$49.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gasoline prices dipped another 2.7 cents to a national average of US$2.02 a gallon. Prices have been declining for more than two months. During that time, prices have dropped by US$1.84 a gallon, or over 52%.
The dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen. COMEX gold for December delivery rose US$12.70 to settle at US$748.70 an ounce.
Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to a five-year low of 3.14%, down from 3.33% late on Wednesday. The yield on the 2-year fell to a record low below 1%.
The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill briefly fell to 0.00%, a nearly 68-year low, before bouncing back to 0.015%. The 3-month - seen as the safest place to put money in the short term - last hit these levels in September as investor panic peaked. The low yield means nervous investors would rather preserve their money despite little or no interest rather than risk the stock market.
Borrowing rates were slightly improved. The 3-month Libor rate fell to 2.15% from 2.17% Wednesday, while overnight Libor was unchanged at 0.44%. Libor is a key bank lending rate.
European stocks saw a fresh round of selling on Thursday. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index dropped 3.6% to 186.75, closing at its lowest level since April 2003.
The losses were paced by the firms most exposed to the economy like miners and by those geared to broader stock markets, like insurers.
UK's FTSE 100 fell back below the 4,000 mark for the first time since late October. It closed down 3.3% to 3,874.99. The German DAX 30 shed 3.1% to 4,220.20 and the French CAC 40 slid below 3,000, losing 3.8% to 2,980.42Indian shares ended lower for the seventh consecutive day, as investors ignored better than expected inflation data and focused on the global factors, where equity markets in Asia and Europe slid anew on mounting worries over the state of the global economy.
Global stocks extended their run of losses, hitting five-and-a-half-year lows, after the Federal Reserve cut its outlook for US economic growth, and several global companies announced job cuts in the face of grim outlook for consumer demand.
Weak economic reports in the US, coupled with concerns over the health of American auto industry and latest troubles for Citigroup also added to the gloom in Asian and European markets.
After a small and brief recovery post the announcement of the inflation numbers, the market once again turned weaker with about half an hour to go for the close. This led to the seventh consecutive day of losses for the Indian market and pushed the BSE Sensex to a three-year low.
Earlier, a lower than expected inflation lifted the key stock indices from the day's lows, as investors bet that falling prices will give more head room to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates and spur growth.
The annual point-to-point inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), stood at 8.90% in the week ended November 8 as against the previous week's figure of 8.98%, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said today in New Delhi.
Inflation was expected to remain nearly unchanged. It had touched a 16-year high of 12.91% in the week ended Aug. 2. The annual inflation rate was 3.2% during the corresponding week of the previous year.
The BSE Sensex ended at 8,451, down 323 points or 3.7%. It had earlier touched a day's low of 8,316 and a day's high of 8,540 after opening at 8,400. The index was down 1.8% yesterday. The NSE Nifty fell 3.1% at 2,553 after being as low as 2,502 and as high as 2,634.
The BSE Small-Cap and Mid-Cap indices declined 3% and 3.4%, respectively.
All BSE sectoral indices closed in the red. Real Estate bore the brunt of the sell-off amid a worsening outlook for the industry, as buyers defer purchases in a slowing economy and developers defer projects due to cash crunch.
The BSE Realty index plunged 8.3%, with DLF, Unitech, Indiabulls Realty, HDIL, Orbit Corp. and Ansal Infra leading the fall.
Consumer Durable, Oil & Gas, Banking, Metals and Auto were the other big losers, falling by 4-5%. Capital Goods, IT Power and Pharma indices lost 2-3%. The BSE FMCG index was down just 0.5%.
DLF, RCOM, Sterlite, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Infra, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Industries, Maruti, Tata Motors, Tata Power and HDFC were the biggest losers within the Sensex, losing 5.5% to 8.5%.
ACC, NTPC, SBI, Ranbaxy and Hindustan Unilever bucked the negative trend, rising by 0.3% to 1.6%.
Back home, the rupee tumbled to a record low against the dollar as a rout in global equities added to speculation that foreign investors will increase sales of riskier emerging-market assets amid a deepening global economic slump.
The yield on India's benchmark 10-year government bond slid to the lowest in two and a half years on speculation that the RBI will cut interest rates for a third time in a month to support the nation's slowing economy.
Outside the main indices, the notable losers were HDIL, Deccan Chronicle, Bombay Dyeing, Indiabulls Realty, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Century Textiles, Educomp, Max India, Rolta, MMTC, Yes Bank, Gujarat NRE Coke, Bharat Forge, Chambal Fertilizers and Adani Enterprises.
The market breadth continued to be negative, as 594 shares advanced on the BSE and 1,899 shares fell, while 68 scrips remained unchanged.
Total turnover in the BSE cash segment was down sharply at Rs28.99bn as against Wednesday's Rs35.46bn. Traded volume too fell to 221.7mn from 240.7mn shares.
On the NSE, the cash segment turnover was Rs77.94bn versus Wednesday's Rs92.86bn. Traded volume stood at 483.6mn shares compared to 514mn shares yesterday.
Citi - to sell ?
Citigroup, the beleaguered New York bank that is witnessing unprecedented sell-off in its shares, is reportedly considering selling off parts of the bank or the whole company, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported online, citing people familiar with the matter.
Talks are preliminary and don’t suggest that Citi and management are backing down from their insistence that the New York company has sufficient capital, funding and strategic direction, the WSJ said. Citi's board is scheduled to have a formal meeting on Friday to discuss the options.
Citi shares declined US$1.69, or 26.4% to a 15-year low of US$4.71 on the New York Stock Exchange at 4:15 p.m. It has fallen 84% this year.
Earlier, Citi's largest shareholder, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, said that he was increasing his stake in the troubled bank back to 5% from 4%, even as shares continue to plummet.
Citi is also seeking to revive a prohibition on short-selling financial stocks, according to reports. The bank has discussed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and lawmakers its proposal to reinstitute the ban on bets that stock prices will fall.
Citi has reported losses for four straight quarters, and has raised about US$75bn since December by selling assets and equity stakes, including a US$25bn injection from the US Treasury.
Citi has lost about US$20bn in the past four quarters as bad loans increased and demand for banking services declined. CEO Vikram Pandit said this week the company will cut 52,000 jobs in the next year to lower costs.
Alphageo - BUY
We recommend a buy in Alphageo (India) from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of Alphageo that it has been on a long-term downtrend from its life-time high of Rs 1,078 recorded in early January. Since then, the stock has been forming lower troughs and lower peaks. During mid-September, the stock’s downtrend accelerated and it declined steeply. However, the stock found support at Rs 103 (52-week low) on November 20 and bounced up forming inverted hammer candlestick pattern, which indicates short-term bullishness. We observe that the stock has a significant long-term support at Rs 100 that is 1994 peak and 2006 low. Moreover, we notice that the daily relative strength index is displaying positive divergence and moving average convergence and divergence also is displaying positive divergence. The weekly RSI is hovering in the oversold territory. We take a contrarian view on the stock from a short-term perspective and anticipate it to make a corrective up move until it hits our price target of Rs 120 in the impending trading sessions. Traders with short-term perspective can buy the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 102.
ICICI Bank - no manipulative trading
Market regulator SEBI on Thursday said it did not find evidence of manipulative trading in shares of ICICI Bank, which had demanded a probe by the watchdog after its scrip came under heavy selling pressure in September.
"While SEBI continues its surveillance of the stock exchange trading in various securities, SEBI did not find evidence of manipulative trading in ICICI Bank shares during the period (September 8 to October 10)," the market regulator said in a statement here.
A spokesperson of ICICI Bank, which had approached the regulator seeking a probe into what they called "beating down" of their shares by vested elements, declined to comment.
SEBI said by and large, the trading patterns are consistent with the shareholding pattern of ICICI with predominant holdings by FIIs, general buying and selling behaviour by FIIs and the broad movements of the market during this period.
The regulator analysed the trading pattern of ICICI Bank shares from September 8 to October 10 this year following the complaint by the country's largest private sector bank.
ICICI Bank MD and CEO K V Kamath had earlier demanded a probe by SEBI, alleging conspiracy by market manipulators to destbilise the bank's shares through rumours.
SEBI said prices of ICICI Bank shares fell by 49.52 per cent from Rs 720.45 on September 8 to Rs 363.65 on October 10 this year.
In its analysis, SEBI said none of the major sellers were observed to be placing orders successively at lower price. "There was no pattern observed regarding placement of successive orders at lower price by sellers to hammer down the price. There was no pattern observed of booking intra-day profits by major clients or brokers."
DLF may cut jobs in future
Real estate giant DLF Ltd on Thursday said trimming of staff could happen in the future, although it has not laid off any employee so far.
"We have not laid off anything. The lay-off could happen in future in case the demand further goes down," DLF Chairman KP Singh said at an Assocham event here.
He clarified that as of "today" DLF has not laid off anybody.
Earlier this week, during India Economic Summit, Singh had said DLF fired "some" employees.
"We must have laid off some employees somewhere," Singh had said.
He also said the company had deferred some of its projects due to poor demand.
"In hotels, residential and commercial everywhere... deferred because of lower demand and liquidity crisis," he had said.
Singh today said high interest rates have taken a toll on demand.
"The interest rates should be around seven percent," Singh said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)