India Equity Analysis, Reports, Recommendations, Stock Tips and more!
Search Now
Recommendations
Thursday, December 18, 2008
BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Dec 18 2008
Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
18/12/2008 533029 ALKALI H K STOCK SERVICES PVT. LTD. B 68000 122.93
18/12/2008 533029 ALKALI H K STOCK SERVICES PVT. LTD. S 68008 120.61
18/12/2008 530955 KAILASH FICO FAVOURITE SALES PRIVATE LTD S 54542 31.50
18/12/2008 531602 KOFF BR PICT HAREN TEXTILES PVT LTD S 38310 3.37
18/12/2008 511728 KZLEASING ANJALI YOGESH PANDYA B 27443 40.01
18/12/2008 511728 KZLEASING ANJALI YOGESH PANDYA S 27663 39.78
18/12/2008 512267 MEDIA MATRIX RDB INDUSTRIES LIMITED B 700000 4.98
18/12/2008 512267 MEDIA MATRIX VIMOCHAN PICTURES LIMITED S 700000 4.98
18/12/2008 532045 NEXXOFT INFO HETAL RAJESH PATEL B 50551 9.67
18/12/2008 531646 RFL INTERNAT UNIVERSAL CREDIT S 65000 1.26
18/12/2008 511218 SHRIRAM TRAN FIDELITY FUNDS MAURITIUS LIMITED B 1800000 198.75
18/12/2008 521034 SOMA TEX IND GLOBE CAPITAL MARKET LIMITED B 500000 33.25
18/12/2008 521034 SOMA TEX IND ALKA INDIA LIMITED B 253808 34.05
18/12/2008 521034 SOMA TEX IND BASMATI SECURITIES PVT. LTD. S 500004 33.25
18/12/2008 521034 SOMA TEX IND LOTUS GLOBAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED ACCOUNT GDR S 300000 34.55
18/12/2008 532824 VIJAYES TEXT HSBC BANK MAURITIUS LIMITED S 116141 5.48
NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Dec 18 2008
Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
18-DEC-2008,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,Fidelity Funds - Emerging Markets,BUY,100000,2439.93,-
18-DEC-2008,GANESHHOUC,Ganesh Housing Corp Ltd,JANPATH MARKETING PVT LTD,BUY,165000,62.20,-
18-DEC-2008,HCIL,HIMADRI CHEMICALS AND IND,HIMADRI DYES & INTERMEDIATES LTD,BUY,250000,116.50,-
18-DEC-2008,HDIL,Housing Development and I,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,BUY,1769503,145.83,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,ALKA INDIA LIMITED,BUY,134275,34.06,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,BASMATI SECURITIES PVT LTD,BUY,508431,34.24,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,DIMPALBHAI J. LIMBOD,BUY,279853,34.71,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,GLOBE CAPITAL MARKET LTD,BUY,500000,33.25,-
18-DEC-2008,SRTRANSFIN,Shriram Trans Fin Co. Ltd,FID FUNDS MAURITIUS LIMITED ,BUY,1825000,198.75,-
18-DEC-2008,HCIL,HIMADRI CHEMICALS AND IND,SHYAM SUNDAR CHOUDHARY,SELL,250000,116.50,-
18-DEC-2008,HDIL,Housing Development and I,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,SELL,1782503,145.90,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,ALKA INDIA LIMITED,SELL,600000,33.21,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,BASMATI SECURITIES PVT LTD,SELL,203931,33.29,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,DIMPALBHAI J. LIMBOD,SELL,281853,34.43,-
18-DEC-2008,SOMATEX,Soma Textiles & Ind. Ltd.,LOTUS GLOBAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED A/C GDR DEUTSCHE BANK,SELL,500000,34.55,-
18-DEC-2008,SRTRANSFIN,Shriram Trans Fin Co. Ltd,GOLDMAN SACHS INVESTMENT(MAURITIUS) I LIMITED,SELL,1130000,198.75,-
Realty stocks lift market spirits
Better weekly inflation numbers spirit up the market as the 30-stock Sensex gains around 350 points at close. The market staged a solid performance, backed by strong all-round buying inspite of other major Asian indices exhibiting a subdued trend in morning trades. The market opened five points higher at 9,710, but slipped immediately on selling in heavyweight, health care and oil & gas stocks and touched the day's low of 9,633. However buying at lower levels in realty, banking, power and public sector units’ stocks saw Sensex shed all losses and enter into the green again. Sustained buying thereafter helped Sensex regain the 10,100 mark and touch the intra-day high of 10,110. Sensex finally closed the session at 10,076, up 361 points. Nifty ended the session 106 points higher at 3,061.
The market breadth was negative with the losers outpacing the gainers in the ratio of 1.43:1. Of the 2,547 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,490 stocks advanced, whereas 966 stocks declined. Ninety one stocks ended unchanged. Among sectoral indices, BSE IT moved up by 5.77% followed by BSE Teck (up 3.94%), BSE Metal (up 3.63%) and BSE Auto (up 3.54%). However BSE CD and BSE Realty closed in a negative territory and shed 0.05% each.
Among reality stocks, DLF shot up 9.56% at Rs277.40, Unitech soared 9.17% at Rs38.10, Indiabulls Realestate surged 8.95% at Rs143.05 and Phoenix Mill jumped 4.96% at Rs77.20. Among other gainers, JP Associates moved up by 9.36% at Rs84.15, Reliance Infrastructure scaled up 9.32% at Rs600.35, ICICI Bank was up 9.16% at Rs471.35, SBI advanced by 7.88% at Rs1,295.85, Satyam Computer Services gained 7.15% at Rs169.35 and Tata Motors advanced by 7.09% at Rs173.63. However, Grasim Industries slipped 0.33% at Rs1230.35 followed by Sterlite Industries down 0.11% at Rs270.90.
Over 3.34 crore shares of Satyam Computer Services changed hands on the BSE followed by Reliance Natural Resources (2.27 crore shares), HDIL (1.99 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (1.62 crore shares) and Unitech (1.30 crore shares).
Post Session Commentary - Dec 18 2008
The domestic market ended with phenomenal gains. The Asian markets witnessed firm rally that helped domestic investors gather guts to trade with positive sentiments. The positive sentiments of Asian rally was reinforced by the inflation numbers which fell by 116bps to 6.84% for the week ended December 6, 2008 as compared to 8% the week before. The rate sensitive companies’ stock rallied as the fall in inflation numbers may inspire RBI to further reduce interest rates to support demand of goods and services.
The Indian market opened positive but sooner entangled into volatility. The volatile session continued until the mid session, however the Asian markets started trading firm and later the good inflation numbers cheered the investors to trade with full swing. The European markets had little impact on the domestic trend, however Asian markets helped gain momentum. Buying in technology, capital goods, power, auto, realty, and banking helped the markets to gain further. The better than expected inflation numbers played the magic spell on the sentiments of investors. Amongst the forerunners, Realty won the race followed by Bankex, Power and CG. These sectors are all rate sensitive and the fall in inflation numbers has given a hope of further cut in interest rates by RBI to fuel the shrunken economy.
Among the Sensex pack 28 stocks ended in green territory and 2 in red with marginal losses. The market breadth was positive as 1490 stocks closed in green while 966 stocks closed in red and 91 stocks remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex closed higher by 361.14 points at 10,076.43 and NSE Nifty ended up by 106.40 points at 3,060.75. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with good gains of 68.39 points and 33.39 points at 3,204.56 and 3,711.95 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,110.34 and intraday low of 9,633.04.
Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are DLF (9.56%), Jaiprakash Associates (9.36%), Reliance Infra (9.32%), ICICI Bank (9.16%) and State Bank of India with a gain of (7.88%).
Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Grasim Industries Ltd (0.33%) and Sterlite Industries (0.11%).
BSE Realty index ended up by (7.27%) or 154.78 points at 2,283.99. Major gainers are DLF (9.56%), Unitech (9.17%) and India Bulls (8.95%).
The BSE Bankex index ended higher by (7.06%) or 370.66 points at 5,620.04 as ICICI Bank (9.16%), Axis bank (8.22%), Canara Bank (8.07%), SBI (7.88%), Indusind Bank (7.13%) ended in green.
The BSE Power index advanced (5.81%) or 101.36 points to close at 1,845.00. Main gainers are GVK Power (12.34%), Suzlon Energy (11.62%), REL Infra (9.32%), NEYVELI (7.66%) and BHEL (6.90%).
The BSE PSU index ended higher by (5.11%) or 260.08 points at 5,348.50 as Nat Alluminium (11.41%), MMTC (10%), Hindustan Petroleum (9.58%), and Canara Bank (8.07%) ended in positive territory.
Rate sensitive stocks lead 3.7% Sensex surge as inflation declines sharply
Interest rate sensitive banking, realty and auto stocks led the rally on the bourses as a sharp fall in inflation raised the prospect of deeper interest rate cuts in coming weeks. The barometer index BSE Sensex breached the psychological 10,000 level. The Sensex rose 361.14 points, or 3.72%.
Sentiment was also bolstered after the government said it was seeking extra spending of about $9 billion for the current fiscal year to the end of March 2009 as part of a fiscal stimulus to lift economic growth and offset the impact of the global slowdown. The extra spending includes about Rs 12,500 crore for fertiliser and food subsidies.
Buying by foreign funds this month has also helped market sentiment. Foreign funds bought a net Rs 1681.10 crore of equities this month till, 17 December 2008.
The market was volatile. After a firm start, the market weakened in morning trade. The market recovered from the day's low in mid-morning trade on reports the government is working on a second stimulus package to pump prime the economy. The recovery gathered strength as a further fall in inflation added to expectations of a further cut in interest rates by the central bank. Lower rates may revive demand over a medium term. The market extended gains with the Sensex hitting 10,000 level in mid-afternoon trade. It later cut gains before spurting again.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 6.84% in the 12 months to 6 December 2008, below the previous week's annual rise of 8%, data released by the government today, 18 December 2008, showed. Inflation had surged into double digits in early June this year after an increase in state-set retail fuel prices, and peaked at 12.91% on, 2 August 2008, the highest reading since annual numbers in the current data series became available in April 1995.
Meanwhile, in a second stimulus package to boost growth, the government is likely to provide sops to the automobile, housing and steel sectors. As per reports, the committee of secretaries (CoS) on economic crisis is examining proposals like increasing the limit for low interest-rate housing loans from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, increasing the tax rebate on home loans, reducing car and two-wheeler loan rates by 2% (from the current 12-14%), increasing depreciation and ensuring faster disbursal of central value added tax (Cenvat) credit for the steel sector.
The first stimulus package unveiled by the government on Sunday, 7 December 2008, involved Rs 20,000 crore in additional government expenditure, an across-the-board 4% excise duty cut amounting to Rs 8,700 crore and benefits worth Rs 2,000 crore for exporters.
The new package could also include monetary measures such as cuts in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). CRR, down to 5.5% from 9% in August 2008, impounds cash with RBI while SLR mandates banks to keep a specified proportion of their deposits in government securities.
The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 361.14 points, or 3.72%, to 10,076.43. The barometer index settled above the psychological 10,000 level for the first time in more than a month. The last time the Sensex had settled above the 10,000 level was on 10 November 2008.
The Sensex rose 395.05 points at the day's high of 10,110.34 hit in late trade. At the day's low of 9,633.04, the Sensex fell 82.25 points in mid-morning trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty up 106.40 points, or 3.6%, to 3,060.75.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,078 crore higher than Rs 4,893.61 crore on 17 December 2008.
Nifty December 2008 futures were at 3085.25, at a premium of 24.50 points as compared to the spot closing of 3060.75. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment surged to Rs 54,607.11 crore, from Rs 49,360.05 crore on Wednesday, 17 December 2008.
The Sensex is down 10,210.56 points or 50.33% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 11,130.34 points or 52.48% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.
The BSE Realty index (up 7.27%), the BSE Bankex (up 7.06%), the BSE Power index (up 5.81%), the BSE PSU index (up 5.11%), the BSE Capital Goods index (up 4.46%), the BSE IT index (up 4.41%) outperformed the Sensex.
The BSE HealthCare index (up 0.84%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.89%), the BSE Metal index (up 1.97%), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 2.85%), the BSE Teck index (up 2.98%), the BSE Auto index (up 3.06%), the BSE FMCG index (up 3.12%) underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1,490 shares rose as compared with 966 that declined. 91 shares remained unchanged. Earlier, the breadth had turned negative from positive in mid-morning trade.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.74% to Rs 1,360.20, recovering sharply from the day's low of Rs 1,281.25, on hopes stimulus packages around the world would revive demand for its petroleum and petrochemical products. RIL's refining margins comfortably beat most of its global peers, and is seen as well placed to tap any revival in demand.
The stock had fallen 2.64% to Rs 1,350.15 yesterday, 17 December 2008 on profit booking after 10.68% rally in the previous six trading sessions.
Rate sensitive auto stocks rose on reports a likely second government stimulus package for the economy will include a reduction in interest on car and two-wheeler loans by 2%. Maruti Suzuki India, Hero Honda Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra rose by between 1.38% to 5.21%.
India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales, Tata Motors, rose 7.09%, shrugging off reports the company is undertaking a block closure of its commercial vehicle plant in Pune for three days from 29 December 2008, as high interest rates and unavailability of finance had depressed demand.
Rate sensitive real estate shares surged on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. Unitech, DLF and Indiabulls Real Estate rose by between 8.95% to 9.56%. Home purchases by home buyers are largely through finance.
Banking shares extended gains on hopes lower interest rates will boost lending growth. India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) rose 7.88% as its advance tax payment rose 56% at Rs 1,700 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 9.16% even as its advance tax payment declined 6% to Rs 470 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.
India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 5.82% even as its advance tax payment fell 10.7% to Rs 250 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.
Canara Bank surged 8.07% after a block deal of five lakh shares was executed on BSE at Rs 172.50 per share.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 December 2008, announced a 100-basis point cut in the repo rate and the reverse repo rate each. Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks and reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI accepts deposits from banks.
IT stocks gained on gains in American depository receipts (ADRs) and on recent reports President-elect Barack Obama's team is considering a plan to boost the recession-hit US economy that could be far larger than previous estimates and might reach $1 trillion over two years. Satyam Computer Services jumped 7.15% to Rs 169.35 on 1.35 crore shares after the company said its board will meet on 29 December 2008 to consider buyback of shares, a move aimed at boosting investor confidence.
The stock had slumped 30.22% to Rs 158.05 on Wednesday 17 December 2008 after it called off a deal to buy Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, the two firms promoted by the family of promoter and chairman Ramalinga Raju bowing to investor pressure.
India's fourth largest IT exporter by sales Wipro rose 2.74% as its ADR gained 2.73% on Wednesday. India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services jumped 6.93%. India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys gained 2.87% as its American depository receipt (ADR) rose 3.31% on Wednesday. Infosys sees the Indian IT industry going through a slow phase of growth for some time, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
IT firms derive more than 50% of their revenues from the US, shrugged off a firmer rupee. The Indian rupee traded near its highest in a month on Thursday, as a rise in local share prices raised expectations of more foreign capital inflows in the coming months. The partially convertible rupee was 47.05/06, off an intraday peak of 46.95, its highest since early November, and stronger than Wednesday's close of 47.67/69. A stronger rupee affects IT firms negatively as they earn most of their revenues from exports.
Some cement stocks rose on hopes government's efforts to give a boost to the realty sector will spur cement demand. ACC, Ambuja Cements, Birla Corporation of India rose by between 1.38% to 10.37%.
Infrastructure stocks rose on the government's effort to boost the infrastructure sector. Gammon India, Nagarjuna Construction Company, Era Infra Engineering, Hindustan Construction Company, Larsen & Toubro rose by between 0.16% to 9.36%. Government had 7 December 2008 had announced a slew of measures to prop up the sector.
GMR Infrastructure gained 6.53% as the promoters hiked stake in the company.
Patel Engineering galloped 9.7% after a consortium of the company bagged an order worth Rs 3,859 crore.
But Maytas Infra hit 20% lower circuit to Rs 310.65 extending losses for a second day after Satyam Computer Services cancelled acquisition of the builder just 12 hours after the $1.6 billion deal was announced on Wednesday 17 December 2008. The stock had hit 20% lower circuit to Rs 388.25 on 17 December 2008.
The government hopes to precipitate infrastructure projects worth Rs 100,000 crore through faster clearances of public-private partnership projects, and ensure their easier financing by way of a tax break on fund raising by the India Infrastructure Finance Company, a specialist lender to the infrastructure sector. The government has allowed India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) to raise Rs 10,000 crore by issuing tax-free bonds.
IIFCL will use these funds to refinance bank lending of longer maturity to infrastructure projects, especially in highways and port sectors.
PSU OMCs rose on fall in crude oil prices. BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation were up by 5.48% to 9.58%.
Oil extended its losses to below $40 a barrel on Thursday, 18 December 2008, near its lowest in more than four years, as rising US crude inventories and further evidence of slowing demand trumped the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (Opec)'s biggest ever production cut. Lower oil prices will reduce under-recoveries at the state-run oil firms on domestic sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene at a controlled price.
Airline shares rose following a recent steep cut in jet fuel prices. Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet rose by between 4.47% to 8.66%. Jet fuel constitute more than 50% of the operating cost for the Airliners.
Meanwhile, as per reports, SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir are likely to cut fares by 8%-10% from January 2009. Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India are working on plans to reduce fares by Rs 600 per ticket, reports suggest
Bharat Electronics rose 2.18% after a block deal of one lakh shares was executed on NSE at Rs 700 per share.
National Aluminium Company soared 11.41% on reports a likely second government stimulus for the economy may include measures to safeguards the domestic aluminium industry from cheaper Chinese imports.
McNally Bharat Engineering Company jumped 11.58% on bagging two orders aggregating Rs 244 crore.
Astra Microwave Products jumped 10.25% on bargain hunting after the stock fell sharply in the previous session despite the company winning an order.
Sun TV Network gained 5.07% after the company said its movie division to produce Rajinikanth starred Endhiran, India's biggest movie.
Thomas Cook India surged 6.83% after the company priced a rights issue of equity shares at Rs 35.50, a 26.73% discount to the ruling market price.
Reliance Natural Resources clocked the highest volume of 3.49 crore shares on BSE. Suzlon Energy (2.67 crore shares), Unitech (2.41 crore shares), GVK Power & Infrastructure (1.95 crore shares) and Housing Development & Infrastructure (1.69 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.
Reliance Industries clocked the highest turnover of Rs 469.11 crore on BSE. Housing Development & Infrastructure (Rs 249.25 crore), State Bank of India (Rs 234.65 crore), Satyam Computer Services (Rs 229.59 crore) and DLF (Rs 190.07 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.
European markets were mixed. Key benchmark indices in Germany and UK were up by between 0.09% to 0.9%. France's CAC 40 was down 0.8%.
Asian stocks were in positive zone, recovering from earlier fall, on hopes regional policy makers may be more aggressive after the cut in US rates on Tuesday, 16 December 2008. Key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were up by between 0.24% to 1.97%.
Trading in US index futures indicated the Dow could rise 48 points at the opening bell. US stocks fell on Wednesday, 17 December 2008, as the government's effort to stave off a deep economic recession raised worries about mounting public debt and blunted optimism following the Fed's sharp rate cut on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 99.80 points, or 1.12%, to 8,824.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.76 points, or 0.96%, to 904.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.58 point, or 0.67%, to 1,579.31.
Market View
A rally in interest rate sensitive banking, realty, auto stocks boosted the market as a sharp fall in inflation raised the prospect of deeper interest rate cuts in coming weeks. The barometer index BSE Sensex breached the psychological 10,000 level. The Sensex provisionally rose 344.82 points, or 3.55%.
Sentiment was also bolstered after the government said it was seeking extra spending of about $9 billion for the current fiscal year to the end of March 2009 as part of a fiscal stimulus to lift economic growth and offset the impact of the global slowdown. The extra spending includes about Rs 12500 crore for fertiliser and food subsidies.
Buying by foreign funds this month has also helped market sentiment. Foreign funds bought a net Rs 27.50 crore of equities on Tuesday, 16 December 2008, with their inflow reaching Rs 1,789.80 crore this month.
The market was volatile. After a firm start, the market weakened in morning trade. The market recovered from the day's low in mid-morning trade on reports the government is working on a second stimulus package to pump prime the economy. The recovery gathered strength as a further fall in inflation added to expectations of a further cut in interest rates by the central bank. Lower rates may revive demand over a medium term. The market extended gains with the Sensex hitting 10,000 level in mid-afternoon trade. It later cut gains before spurting again
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 6.84% in the 12 months to 6 December 2008, below the previous week's annual rise of 8%, data released by the government today, 18 December 2008, showed. Inflation had surged into double digits in early June this year after an increase in state-set retail fuel prices, and peaked at 12.91% on, 2 August 2008, the highest reading since annual numbers in the current data series became available in April 1995.
Meanwhile, in a second stimulus package to boost growth, the government is likely to provide sops to the automobile, housing and steel sectors. As per reports, the committee of secretaries (CoS) on economic crisis is examining proposals like increasing the limit for low interest-rate housing loans from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, increasing the tax rebate on home loans, reducing car and two-wheeler loan rates by 2% (from the current 12-14%), increasing depreciation and ensuring faster disbursal of central value added tax (Cenvat) credit for the steel sector.
The first stimulus package unveiled by the government on Sunday, 7 December 2008, involved Rs 20,000 crore in additional government expenditure, an across-the-board 4% excise duty cut amounting to Rs 8,700 crore and benefits worth Rs 2,000 crore for exporters.
The new package could also include monetary measures such as cuts in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). CRR, down to 5.5% from 9% in August 2008, impounds cash with RBI while SLR mandates banks to keep a specified proportion of their deposits in government securities.
As per the provisional figures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 344.82 points, or 3.55%, to 10,060.11. The barometer index settled above the psychological 10,000 level for the first time in more than a month. The last time the Sensex had settled above the 10,000 level was on 10 November 2008
The Sensex rose 395.05 points at the day's high of 10,110.34 hit in late trade. At the day's low of 9,633.04, the Sensex fell 82.25 points in mid-morning trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty up 105.15 points, or 3.56%, to 3,059.50 as per the provisional figures.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,078 crore today higher than Rs 4,893.61 crore on 17 December 2008.
The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1,491 shares rose as compared with 961 that declined. 94 shares remained unchanged. Earlier, the breadth had turned negative from positive in mid-morning trade.
ACC, Reliance Infrastrucutre, ITC, Jaiprakash Associates and Bharat Heavy Electricals rose by between 5.52% to 11.37%.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.07% to Rs 1,351.10 off day's low of Rs 1,281.25, on recent reports the government will shortly move the Bombay High Court requesting it to vacate an interim stay order that restrained RIL from selling gas from the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin to companies other than Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) and state-owned NTPC.
RIL on its part has already appealed against the order. The court's interim order in May 2007 had directed RIL not to create third party interest for the disputed volume of 40 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) of gas from the K-G basin.
The stock had fallen 2.64% to Rs 1,350.15 on 17 December 2008 on profit booking after 10.68% in the previous six trading sessions.
Rate sensitive auto stocks rose on reports a likely second government stimulus package for the economy will include a reduction in interest on car and two-wheeler loans by 2%. Maruti Suzuki India, Hero Honda Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra rose by between 0.02% to 5.76%.
India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales, Tata Motors, rose 7.37%, shrugging off reports the company is undertaking a block closure of its commercial vehicle plant in Pune for three days from 29 December 2008, as high interest rates and unavailability of finance had depressed demand.
Rate sensitive real estate shares surged on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. Unitech, DLF and Indiabulls Real Estate rose by between 8.91% to 10.88%. Home purchases by home buyers are largely through finance.
Banking shares extended gains on hopes lower interest rates will boost lending growth. India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) rose 7.38% as its advance tax payment rose 56% at Rs 1,700 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 8.62% even as its advance tax payment declined 6% to Rs 470 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.
India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 4.79% even as its advance tax payment fell 10.7% to Rs 250 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 December 2008, announced a 100-basis point cut in the repo rate and the reverse repo rate each. Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks and reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI accepts deposits from banks.
IT stocks gained on rise in American depository receipts (ADRs) and on recent reports President-elect Barack Obama's team is considering a plan to boost the recession-hit US economy that could be far larger than previous estimates and might reach $1 trillion over two years. Satyam Computer Services jumped 7.15% to Rs 169.35 on 1.35 crore shares after the company said its board will meet on 29 December 2008 to consider buyback of shares, a move aimed at boosting investor confidence.
The stock had slumped 30.22% to Rs 158.05 on Wednesday 17 December 2008 after it called off a deal to buy Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra, the two firms promoted by the family of promoter and chairman Ramalinga Raju bowing to investor pressure.
India's fourth largest IT exporter by sales Wipro rose 2.74% as its ADR gained 2.73% on Wednesday. India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services jumped 6.93%. India's second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys gained 2.87% as its American depository receipt (ADR) rose 3.31% on Wednesday. Infosys sees the Indian IT industry going through a slow phase of growth for some time, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
IT firms derive more than 50% of their revenues from the US, shrugged off a firmer rupee. The Indian rupee traded near its highest in a month on Thursday, as a rise in local share prices raised expectations of more foreign capital inflows in the coming months.The partially convertible rupee was 47.05/06, off an intraday peak of 46.95, its highest since early November, and stronger than Wednesday's close of 47.67/69. A stronger rupee affects IT firms negatively as they earn most of their revenues from exports.
India's largest aluminum maker by sales National Aluminium Company soared 11.41% on reports a likely second government stimulus for the economy may include measures to safeguards aluminum industry from cheaper Chinese imports.
European markets were mixed. Key benchmark indices in Germany and UK were up by between 0.38% to 0.83%. France's CAC 40 was down 0.48%.
Asian stocks were in positive zone, recovering from earlier fall, on hopes regional policy makers may be more aggressive after the cut in US rates on Tuesday, 16 December 2008. Key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were up by between 0.24% to 1.97%.
Trading in US index futures indicated the Dow could rise 46 points at the opening bell. US stocks fell on Wednesday, 17 December 2008, as the government's effort to stave off a deep economic recession raised worries about mounting public debt and blunted optimism following the Fed's sharp rate cut on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 99.80 points, or 1.12%, to 8,824.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.76 points, or 0.96%, to 904.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.58 point, or 0.67%, to 1,579.31.
US markets fall
Dow inches up in the green for a very brief time before ending the day in the red
Stocks at Wall Street ended with losses on Wednesday, 17 December. US market is still perhaps trying to come in terms with different moves announced by the Federal Reserve in present times to help the US economy overcome the recession it has already sunk in. After rallying yesterday as an instant reaction to Federal Reserve's more than expected rate cut, the US stock market was back in the red on Wednesday, 17 December, 2008. Dollar was severely under pressure today taking commodities like gold higher.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down by 100 points at 8,824.14, the Nasdaq closed down by 10.5 points at 1,579.3 and the S&P 500 closed down by 8.7 points at 904. Dow had climbed up in the green in between but soon had slipped back in the red.
Twenty-five out of thirty stocks ended in the red today led by Citigroup. Seven of the ten sectors ended in the red.
The financial sector was badly hammered today after Morgan Stanley posted a larger-than-expected loss for the latest quarter after Goldman Sachs posted first massive losses in a long period yesterday.
Among major earning reports hitting the wires today, consumer staples companies General Mills and ConAgra posted better-than-expected results for the latest quarter. General Mills actually increased its earnings per share outlook for fiscal 2009, but it is still short of the consensus forecast. ConAgra, on the other hand, issued an earnings outlook that exceeded the consensus estimate.
The Federal Reserve surprised market yesterday to save the U.S. economy slashing interest rates to just above zero and promising to try an array of new economic measures to stimulate spending. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee established a target range for the federal funds rate of zero to 0.25%, effectively cutting its key rate for overnight lending to banks by between 0.75% and 1%.
The Fed gave clear signals that it has moved on to other measures beyond setting interest rates in its fight to keep the economy rolling.
Crude prices dropped substantially today, Wednesday, 17 December, 2008. Prices fell despite a weak dollar and also as OPEC announced another production cut. But prices fell as an impact of the weekly inventory report by the energy department.
On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $40.06/barrel (lower by $3.54 or 2%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, prices touched a low of $39.98. For this year in 2008, crude prices have dropped 51%.
After a meeting in Oran, Algeria, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut 4.2 million barrels a day from its actual September production level of 29.045 million barrels a day. The production cut is effective on 1 January, 2009. Excluding previously announced cuts, OPEC will actually cut its daily production by 2.2 million barrels from current levels. That constitutes its biggest production cut ever.
At the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar extended its losses after the Fed decision yesterday, adding more upward pressures on gold prices. The dollar index fell as much as 2.7% after dropping 2% yesterday.
Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.3 billion, with advancing stocks ahead of those declining 3 to 2. On the Nasdaq, more than 877 million shares exchanged hands, and decliners ran just ahead of advancers.
For tomorrow, the weekly initial jobless claim reading is expected to garner additional attention. That will be followed by the November leading indictors and December Philadelphia Fed reports
Pre Session Commentary - Dec 18 2008
Today markets are likely to open negative and trade volatile during the session. After yesterday’s weak trading one could gauge the weak sentiments prevailing across markets. The sentiments are still under the bearish influence and any sing of firmness at this point is questionable. The markets trend seems to have halted after it touched the 10k mark, the sentiments emanating from the broader markets. The sense of volatility would creep in during the trading session as there is not much good factor to defend from bears.
On Wednesday, the markets traded volatile and later succumbed to the negative cues from European markets. The Fed’s rate cut plan had minimal impact on the domestic markets’ sentiments. The majority of Asian markets had traded positive since phenomenal opening in the morning. However the domestic investors were highly skeptical on the fall of European markets. Profit booking and sense of insecurity pulled the markets southwards. Sensex and Nifty lost 2.62% and 2.87%. Realty, Teck, Power and Metal conceded losses of 7.36%, 5.02%, 4.44% and 4.36% respectively. Among the sectors Bankex was at the safest zone with a least fall of 0.15%. During the trading session we expect the markets to be trading volatile with negative bias.
The BSE Sensex closed lower by 261.69 points at 9,715.29 and NSE Nifty ended low by 87.40 points at 2,954.35. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with losses of 108.04 points and 98.09 points at 3,136.17 and 3,678.56 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,073.10 and intraday low of 9,682.91.
On Wednesday, the US markets closed in red. The sentiments were weak despite Fed’s decision of reducing the lending rates between 0 to 0.25%. Morgan Stanley posts wore than expected results. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sacs were among the laggards in the financial sector. On the other hand, in the debt markets the Government Debts considered to be the safest investment avenue closed higher with a yield of 2.16% on 10-year note. Crude oil futures for the month of January delivery fell $3.54 to $40.06 per barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. The OPEC has planned to reduce the oil production by 4.2 million barrels to 24.85 million barrels.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed low with 99.80 points at 8,824.34 NASDAQ index fell 10.58 points at 1,579.31 and the S&P 500 (SPX) also closed lower by 8.76 points to close at 904.42 points.
Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys gained by 3.49% and Wipro also gained by 2.73% followed by Satyam that surged by 50.00% and Patni Computers closing high by 0.33%. In banking sector ICICI Bank lost 2.75%, HDFC Bank plunged by 2.42%. In telecommunication sector, Tata Communication dropped by 6.63%, while MTNL declined by 1.18%.
Today the major stock markets in Asia opened mixed. The Shanghai Composite is trading low by 13.14 at 1,963.67 Hang Seng is low by 125.15 points at 15,335.37. Further Japan''s Nikkei is high by 43.25 points at 8,655.77. South Korea’s Seoul Composite is high by 7.08 points at 1,176.83 and Singapore’s Strait Times is high by 0.62 points at 1,176.83.
The FIIs on Wednesday stood as net buyer in buyer equity and net seller in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 1684.80 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 157.10 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 1657.20 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 418.90 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 27.50 Crore and Rs (261.80) Crore respectively.
On Wednesday Indian Rupee closed at 47.67/69 a dollar, 0.5% stronger than Tuesday''s close of 47.92/93. Despite the fall in the stock markets the rupee ended stronger as U.S. Federal Reserve lifted the sentiments by slashing interest rates.
On BSE, total number of shares traded were 42.01 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 4,893.61 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 84.43 Crore and total turnover was Rs 12,872.23 Crore.
Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Satyam with 81279339 shares, Unitech with 41703824 shares, Suzlon Energy with total volume traded 39215005 shares, followed by SAIL with 17912516 shares, Reliance Petro with 14221929 shares.
On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1129470 with a total turnover of Rs 15,864.32 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 1275936 with a total turnover of Rs 13,719.14 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1255197 with a total turnover of Rs 18,978.24 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 69647 and notional turnover was Rs 798.36 Crore.
Today, Nifty would have a support at 2,897 and resistance at 3,020 and BSE Sensex has support at 9,550 and resistance at 9,930.
Market may move up ..
The market may recover after Wednesday’s slide caused by concerns about the weakening economy and worries on concerns over corporate governance standards at Indian firms. Reports that the government is working on a second stimulus package to pump prime the economy may aid the recovery.
In the second stimulus package to boost growth, the government is likely to provide sops to the automobile, housing and steel sectors. As per reports, the committee of secretaries (CoS) on economic crisis is examining proposals like increasing the limit for low interest-rate housing loans from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, increasing the tax rebate on home loans, reducing car and two-wheeler loan rates by 2% (from the current 12-14%), increasing depreciation and ensuring faster disbursal of Central value added tax (Cenvat) credit for the steel sector.
The first stimulus package unveiled by the government on Sunday, 7 December 2008, involved Rs 20,000 crore in additional government expenditure, an across-the-board 4% excise duty cut amounting to Rs 8,700 crore and benefits worth Rs 2,000 crore for exporters.
The new package could also include monetary measures such as cuts in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). CRR, down to 5.5% from 9% in August 2008, impounds cash with RBI while SLR mandates banks to keep a specified proportion of their deposits in government securities.
Asian stocks were mostly in the green after the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday, 16 December 2008, slashed rates to a target rate of zero to 0.25% from 1%. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were up by between 0.04% to 0.56%.
US stocks fell on Wednesday, 17 December 2008, as the government's effort to stave off a deep economic recession raised worries about mounting public debt and blunted optimism following the Fed's sharp rate cut on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 99.80 points, or 1.12%, to 8,824.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.76 points, or 0.96%, to 904.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.58 point, or 0.67%, to 1,579.31.
Closer home, concerns about a lack of transparency and worries about absence of strict corporate governance practices at Indian firms pulled the market down on Wednesday, 17 December 2008, after India's fourth largest software firm in terms of sales, Satyam Computer Services' aborted attempt to buy two related companies. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 261.69 points, or 2.62%.
Bright day for precious metals
Gold and silver prices firm up as dollar index slips another 2%
Bullion metal prices rose sharply higher on Wednesday, 17 December, 2008. Bullion metals rose due to the falling dollar. The dollar fell despite the Fed cut interest rates by 75 bps to 0.25% yesterday. Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.
On Wednesday, Comex Gold for February delivery rose $25.8 (3.1%) to close at $868.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, it reached a high of $883.6. Last week, gold gained 9%. On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped significantly (16.1%) since then.
For the month of November, gold prices ended higher by 14%. Prior to this, for the month of October, gold had ended lower by 18%. It was the biggest percentage loss for gold since February, 1983.
This year, gold prices have gained 3.6% till date. Futures have averaged $878 in 2008. The dollar index has gained 4% this year. For the third quarter ended September, 2008, gold prices ended lower by 5.1%. It was the first quarterly loss for the yellow metal since the second quarter in FY 2007. Prior to that, the yellow metal ended second quarter with a marginal gain of 0.7%. For first quarter prices gained 10.7%.
On Wednesday, Comex silver futures for March delivery rose 71.5 cents (6.5%) to $11.42 an ounce. Last week, silver gained 80 cents (9%). For the month of November, silver prices had gained 5%. Till date, silver has lost 23% this year.
For the month of October, silver had slipped by 20%. Silver had ended month and quarter of September 2008 with a loss of 10%. For the second quarter, it had gained a paltry 1.4%. Silver had gained 16% in Q1. The metal also had gained for seven straight years.
At the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar extended its losses after the Fed decision yesterday, adding more upward pressures on gold prices. The dollar index fell as much as 2.7% after dropping 2% yesterday.
The Federal Reserve surprised market yesterday to save the U.S. economy slashing interest rates to just above zero and promising to try an array of new economic measures to stimulate spending. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee established a target range for the federal funds rate of zero to 0.25%, effectively cutting its key rate for overnight lending to banks by between 0.75% and 1%.
Earlier this year, the weakening dollar and higher global demand for raw materials had led to records this year for commodities including gold. Gold reached a record in March as a U.S. housing slump and credit crisis spurred the Federal Reserve to slash borrowing costs. In the latest move, the Federal Reserve has cuts its target bank lending rate to 0.25% from 5.25% in September, 2007. The Fed did it in nine steps.
Gold had witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007 as lower interest rates had sent the dollar tumbling, and crude-oil prices rose to a record. Silver had climbed 16% in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.
At the MCX, gold prices for February delivery closed higher by Rs 238 (1.8%) at Rs 13,168 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 13,377 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 12,934 per 10 grams during the day's trading.
At the MCX, silver prices for March delivery closed Rs 542 (3.1%) higher at Rs 18,097/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 17,643/kg and rose to a high of Rs 18,250/Kg during the day's trading.
Crude drops below $40
Crude drops below $40
Prices drops drastically despite weak dollar and production cut
Crude prices dropped substantially today, Wednesday, 17 December, 2008. Prices fell despite a weak dollar and also as OPEC announced another production cut. But prices fell as an impact of the weekly inventory report by the energy department.
On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $40.06/barrel (lower by $3.54 or 2%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, prices touched a low of $39.98. Prices reached a high of $147 on 11 July but have dropped almost 73% since then. On 5 Dec, 2008, prices touched a low of $40.5. Last week, prices ended higher by almost 13%. Prior to that, prices coughed up 25% in the week before that. That was the largest weekly loss for crude in past twenty five years. For this year in 2008, crude prices have dropped 51%.
For the month of November, crude prices ended lower by 19.7%. Before this, for the month of October, 2008, crude prices had ended lower by 32.6%, the biggest monthly drop since 1983.
After a meeting in Oran, Algeria, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut 4.2 million barrels a day from its actual September production level of 29.045 million barrels a day. The production cut is effective on 1 January, 2009. Excluding previously announced cuts, OPEC will actually cut its daily production by 2.2 million barrels from current levels. That constitutes its biggest production cut ever.
At the currency market on Wednesday, the dollar extended its losses after the Fed decision yesterday, adding more upward pressures on gold prices. The dollar index fell as much as 2.7% after dropping 2% yesterday.
The Fed slashed its key interest rate to a range of zero to 0.25% yesterday, effectively cutting its key rate for overnight lending to banks by between 0.75% and 1%. It said "the outlook for economic activity has weakened further," adding more worries over falling energy demand.
The Energy Information Administration reported today that that U.S. crude supplies rose by 500,000 barrels to stand at 321.3 million barrels during the week ended 12 December, 2008. At 321.3 million barrels, total U.S. crude inventories were 17.5 million barrels above the five-year average and 24.4 million barrels above year-ago levels. The EIA also reported an increase of 1.3 million barrels in gasoline stocks and a rise of 2.9 million barrels in distillate stocks last week.
For the third quarter of the year crude prices ended lower by 28%. This was the biggest quarterly drop since 1991. Before that, crude prices had gained 38% in the second quarter of this year. It was the biggest quarterly increase in nine years. For the month of September, prices registered drop of 13%.
Against this background, January reformulated gasoline fell 3 cents to end at $1.01 a gallon and January heating oil dropped 2 cents to $1.44 a gallon.
January natural gas futures fell 13 cents to end at $5.62 per million British thermal units.
At the MCX, crude oil for January delivery closed at Rs 2,214/barrel, lower by Rs 97 (4.2%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for December delivery closed at Rs 263.3/mmbtu, lower by Rs 11.5/mmbtu (4.2%).
Trading Calls - Dec 18 2008
Nifty (2954) Sup 2900 Res 3020
Buy Everron (253) SL 249
Target 261, 263
Buy Renuka Sugars (63) SL 61 Target 67, 68
Buy ICICI Bank (432) SL 427 Target 442, 444
Sell ACC (486) SL 491
Target 476, 474
Sell Tata Power (704) SL 711 Target 690, 685
Daily News Roundup - Dec 18 2008
Satyam calls off acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra. (BS)
RIL to supply the second consignment of crude oil from its eastern offshore KG D6 block to Chennai Petroleum in January-end or early February instead of this month. (BS)
FIPB cleared a proposal by German plastic moulding major Ralf Schneider, setting aside objections raised by its former Indian partner L&T. (BS)
M&M’s ultra low-cost tractor is scheduled to be launched in June 2009. (BL)
Tata Power signed a JV agreement with IOC for establishing a coal-based power plant in Orissa. (BL)
Patel Engineering bagged the Pranahita-Chevella Lift Irrigation-package 6 for Rs38.6bn from the Andhra Pradesh Government in consortium with BHEL and Navyuga Construction. (BL)
Essar Power plans to double capacity of its upcoming power plant in the Jamnagar district of Gujarat from 1,200MW to 2,400MW. (BS)
Honda Siel Cars India to postpone the capacity enhancement and assembly operations at its new plant in Rajasthan. (BS)
NSE picked up 26% stake in Bangalore-based front-end technology provider Omnesys Technologies. (BS)
Wockhardt may resort to fresh borrowing overseas to repay holders of FCCB as its attempt to sell assets has failed to generate buyers. (BS)
Titan Industries to spinning off its precision engineering division into a JV. (BS)
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation to set up a 200MW wind farm project for an estimated investment of Rs10bn-12bn. (BS)
Elecon Engineering Company won an order of Rs1.2bn from Mundra port and SEZ of the Adani Group. (BS)
IDBI has shortlisted seven buyers for its home loan subsidiary. (BS)
TCS to qhire over 3,500 employee's in China over the next four years. (TOI)
SpiceJet, IndiGo & GoAir are likely to cut fares by 10%.
Temptation Foods has increased its stake in Kohinoor Foods to 13% from 3.9% in June. (TOI)
BHEL will not dilute its stake in JV Company with NTPC. (ET)
Cadila buys remaining 30% in Zydus Pharmaceuticals from its partner. (ET)
Gail imposes service charge of Rs110 per thousand standard cubic metre on gas distribution. (ET)
Civil aviation ministry has proposed a Rs25bn bail out package for Air India, which is likely to be announced by January 09. (ET)
Oil companies want airlines to pay interest on outstanding bills. (ET)
Government is likely to announce further sops for real estate, auto and steel sector in its second stimulus package. (ET)
The Centre and the state governments have agreed not to unilaterally change the tax rate on goods and services, once the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented from April 2010. (BS)
Small savings collections rise 5.85% yoy during the period April-October, 2008. (BL)
Government to consider a proposal to double the income tax exemption limit on housing loans to Rs0.3mn from the current level of Rs0.15mn. (BS)
The Orissa government has decided to reduce the land requirement of 10 mega steel projects by about 5,481 acres (16% lower). (BS)
The oil ministry in an attempt to control over-aggressive bids in the eighth round of the Nelp VIII, may make the government’s share of profits from oil and gas blocks a non-biddable item and capping it at between 70 and 80%. (BS)
Nabard has sanctioned Rs36.2bn from its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to 22 State governments for implementing infrastructure projects in rural areas. (BL)
TRAI has asked communication ministry to come clean on the 3G licenses to be issued to the new entrants and the license fees. (ET)
Share of saving and current a/c deposits in banks falls in first half of the current fiscal. (ET)
Hotel room rates falls 25% with a fall of 35% in occupancies rate across the entire premium business hotel. (ET)
Handle with care
Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.
After a market mishap, Satyam management is still contemplating various ways of pacifying an aggrieved investor community. The stock may see some rebound today but don’t mistake it as restoration of confidence. Similar is the scene with the broader market. After a day's correction, the main indices could resume their uptrend after a cautious opening. The undertone could receive some fillip from news that the Government is considering a new set of stimulus measures to revive a sluggish Indian economy.
Real Estate, Auto and Steel sectors are likely to benefit from the proposed second round of fiscal-cum-monetary steps. Among the other positives include the recent resurgence in foreign portfolio investments, strength in the rupee and falling interest rates. Add to it a healthy global markets and the bulls may just be able to hold off the might of the bears for some more time.
Having said that, the advance is unlikely to sustain unless the headwinds - both global as well as local - gradually start dissipating. As a result, we would continue to maintain the view that every rally should be used to lock in gains though long-term investors can continue to dabble in quality stocks at lower levels. Remember quality stocks. Catch them only if you can get a grip on the handle.
We expect the market to regain its winning ways at start but may remain choppy in the face of continuing uncertainty over the fate of the global economy. Inflation will be out today and is likely to fall further. But, that anyway has been factored in by most players.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs1.88bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Wednesday while the local institutions pulled out Rs978.2mn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs5.05bn. On Tuesday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs275mn in the cash segment.
US stocks retreated on Wednesday at the end of a volatile session, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index slipping from a one-month peak, led by financials after Morgan Stanley reported a bigger-than-expected loss.
After a triple-digit slide and brief stab at turning positive, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 8,824.34, down 99.8 points, or 1.1%. Twenty-five of the Dow's 30 components posted declines, with Citigroup proving to be the heaviest weight, its shares falling 4.9%.
After hitting a five-week high on Tuesday, the S&P 500 Index fell 8.76 points to 904.42, with utilities and financials leading sector losses among the index's 10 groups. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.58 points to 1,579.31.
Market breadth was positive. Advancers beat out decliners 3-to-2 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 1.34 billion shares. And advancers just beat decliners on the Nasdaq, with a volume of 2.16 billion shares.
US stocks started the session sharply lower and battled back to positive territory briefly, but in the final hour of the session, the key indices gave back all of their earlier gains.
Stocks rallied on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve slashed its target rate for overnight loans between banks to between zero and 0.25%, and said that it would buy more debt and mortgage-backed securities.
Crude oil futures declined, with the contract for January delivery off US$3.54 to end at US$40.06 a barrel as traders paid little heed to a widely expected production cut of 2.2 million barrels in current oil output by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The dollar remained under pressure, hitting a more-than two-month low against the euro and a fresh 13-year low against the Japanese yen.
Treasury prices were mixed, with shorter-dated securities falling and longer-term notes gaining. The benchmark 10-year note gained nearly 0.2%, pushing its yield down to 2.2%.
Before markets opened, Morgan Stanley posted a staggering US$2.3bn loss for the fourth quarter, which was far greater than the US$298mn loss that analysts were expecting. The loss was yet another indication that every part of the financial sector has been battered by stock-market volatility and credit-market weakness. The announcement from Morgan Stanley came the day after rival Goldman Sachs posted a US$2.1bn loss - the company's first since it went public in 1999.
Lending rates continued to decline. The overnight Libor rate declined to 0.13% from 0.16% on Tuesday, while the 3-month Libor rate dropped to 1.58% from 1.85%. Libor, or the London Interbank Offered Rate, is a daily average of what 16 different banks charge other banks to lend money in London. The improvements in Libor rates are one indicator of credit-market pressures easing.
European shares fell on Wednesday. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 0.8% to 197.51, after trading as high as 200.79 earlier. The index has closed lower in four out of the last five sessions. Germany's DAX 30 index declined 0.5% to 4,708.38 and the French CAC-40 index fell 0.3% to 3,241.92. The UK's FTSE 100 index closed up 0.4% at 4,324.19 after a volatile session, helped by strong gains for oil producers.
Banks exerted the most pressure, with BNP Paribas shares down 17.2%. The French bank late on Tuesday warned its investment banking arm had posted a loss for the first 11 months of the year and said it could shed around 800 workers in the division. BNP said that, as a whole, it was "largely profitable" over the 11-month period.
Market snapped two day winning streak on Wednesday erasing almost all previous day’s gains. The realty, power and telecom stocks were among the major laggards. Also the mid-cap and the small-cap stocks were heavily offloaded.
Market sentiments also dampened tracking a sharp slide in the equity markets across Europe. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 9,708 losing 268 points and the NSE Nifty index ended at 2,954 losing 87 points.
All the BSE Sectoral indices ended in the red with the realty, Teck, Power and auto stocks were under pressure.
Market breath was negative, 1,568 stocks declined against 957 advances, while, 71 stocks remained unchanged.
Among the 30-components of Sensex, 21 stocks ended in the red and 9 stocks ended in the positive terrain, the big gainers were ICICI Bank (2.5%), HDFC Bank (2%), Infosys (1.5%) and Wipro (1.5%).
On the other hand, major losers were Satyam (30%), Reliance Infrastructure (13.7%), RCom (13.3%), JP Associates (12.1%) and ACC (9%).
V Guard Industries is planning either a technology agreement or an acquisition to enter the online power backup business in 2009, said reports. The company said that it has earmarked upto Rs300mn for the foray.
The stock rose by 1% to Rs46.8 hitting an intra-day high of Rs53 and a low of Rs46 recording volumes of over 26,000 shares on the BSE.
Shares of HDIL rallied by over 1.54% to Rs146 after reports stated that the company was planning to enter the sub Rs2mn home category. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs161 and a low of Rs144 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,00,000 shares on NSE.
Shares of Bharat Forge gained by half a percent to Rs85 after reports stated that both Bharat Forge and Alstom would set up manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 5,000mw at Mundra port. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs96 and a low of Rs84 and recorded volumes of over 25,00,000 shares on NSE.
Shares of Accentia Technologies surged by over 2.5% to Rs128 after the company announced that it secured an order in the HRCM arena amounting to US$22mn to service a chain of hospitals in the USA. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs132.15 and a low of Rs122 and recorded volumes of over 28,000 shares on BSE.
Shares of ACC have declined by 9% to Rs485 after the company announced that it would shut one of its kilns in the state of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab because of poor demand.
The 15-day closure of the kiln at Gagal in Himachal Pradesh started yesterday. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs544 and a low of Rs477 and recorded volumes of over 7,00,000 shares on NSE.
Markets might continue to remain sluggish ahead of inflation data to be released tomorrow. Also in the US, Morgan Stanley would announce its Q4 results. It is advisable to stay cautious.
Asian Markets open positive
Asian stocks gained, led by financial and transportation companies, after UBS AG recommended investors buy Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and a slump in oil prices signaled lower fuel costs.
Mitsubishi UFJ gained almost 2% in Tokyo as UBS said the lender is likely to see increased loan volumes.
Japanese benchmark index Nikkei advanced 74.52 points, or 0.87%, to trade at 8,687.04.
Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index fell 50.06 points, or 0.32%, to trade at 15,410.46.
China`s Shanghai Composite declined 4.83 points, or 0.24%, to trade at 1,971.99.
Taiwan`s Taiex index climbed 16.14 points, or 0.35%, to trade at 4,664.16.
South Korea`s Kospi index increased 14.50 points, or 1.24%, to trade at 1,184.25.
Singapore`s Straits Times went up 6.24 points, or 0.35%, to trade at 1,785.53.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)