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Thursday, April 02, 2009
Rupee rises
Ends at 50.33/35 per dollar
Rupee rose to its highest in more than a month on Thursday as a rally in local and foreign stocks raised hopes of increasing risk appetite among investors that could lead to more fund inflows.
Rupee ended at 50.33/35 per dollar from a previous close of 50.71/.72. In early deals the rupee hit 50 per dollar, its highest since Feb. 25.
Dalal Street cheers; Sensex, Nifty end over 4.5% up
The 30-share index, Sensex wrapped the day on a pleasant note on encouraging global cues, intense buying seen across board and inflaftion numbers. Realty, metal, capital goods, oil & gas and banking stocks also led the rally. It opened on a strong note with a gain of 205.26 points, at 10,107.25 on Thursday. As the day progressed, it gained further strength, touching a high of 10,432.31.
India`s benchmark wholesale price index (WPI), inflation rose marginally to stand at 0.31% for the week ended Mar. 21, 2009, as compared to 0.27% a week ago. It stood at 7.85% during the corresponding week of the previous year.
Secondline stocks also performed well. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index surged 3.77% and 2.91% respectively.
Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty zooms 9.13% followed by Metal, which soared 6.85%, Oil & gas and Capital goods surged over 5% each, Bankex rose 4.79% and Power was up by 4.10.
Asian stocks ended positive, as US auto sales rose from a 27-year low and treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said economies are showing traction.Japanese benchmark index Nikkei gained 367.87 points, or 4.40%, to end at 8,719.78;Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index rose 1,002.43 points, or 7.41%, to close at 14,521.97;China`s Shanghai Composite advanced 17.27 points, or 0.72%, to settle at 2,425.29.
European stocks climbed above 4,000 for the first time in almost six weeks, as higher metals and oil prices lifted raw-material producers. FTSE 100 climbed 124.74 points, or 3.15%, to trade at 4,080.35, CAC 40 gained 122.42 points, or 4.31%, to trade at 2,962.03 and DAX advanced 195.80 points, or 4.74%, to trade at 4,326.87. (4.12 p.m., IST)
The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 446.84 points, or 4.51% at 10,348.83 after touching a high of 10,432.31 and a low of 10,107.25. The broad-based NSE Nifty climbed 150.70 points, or 4.92% at 3,211.05 after hitting a high of 3,228.75 and a low of 3,061.05.
Major gainers in the 30-share index were DLF (15.08%), Jaiprakash Associates (13.23%), Tata Motors (12.84%), Reliance Communications (9%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (8.28%), and Wipro (7.41%).
On the other hand, and Hindustan Unilever (2.49%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.
Overall market breadth was sharply positive. Out of the total 2,618 stocks traded at BSE, 2,014 advanced, 535 declined while 69 remained unchanged.
Nifty April 2009 futures at premium
Turnover surges
Nifty April 2009 futures were at 3227.15, at a premium of 16.10 points as compared to the spot closing of 3211.05. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment surged to Rs 56,491.50 crore from Rs 52,145.14 crore on Wednesday, 1 April 2009.
Reliance Industries April 2009 futures were at premium at 1668.95 compared to the spot closing of 1661.35.
Reliance Capital April 2009 futures were at premium at 413 compared to the spot closing of 411.90.
DLF April 2009 futures were at discount at 198.70 compared to the spot closing of 202.55.
In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty gained 150.70 points or 4.92% at 3211.05.
BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Apr 2 2009
Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
2/4/2009 532910 ANIL PRODUCT ANUJ JAYESHBHAI SHAH B 100000 54.35
2/4/2009 532910 ANIL PRODUCT PANKINI SHAH B 100000 54.35
2/4/2009 532910 ANIL PRODUCT MANOJ MITTAL S 184460 54.35
2/4/2009 530355 ASIAN OILFIE OASIS TRADE CAPFIN P LTD S 100000 32.17
2/4/2009 533059 BRAND HOUSE COPTHALL MAURITIUS INVESTMENT LIMITED B 273828 17.25
2/4/2009 533059 BRAND HOUSE BSMA LIMITED S 273828 17.25
2/4/2009 532324 CINEVISTS LT DAISY K MEHTA B 510000 4.21
2/4/2009 532324 CINEVISTS LT DARA K MEHTA S 510000 4.21
2/4/2009 532832 INDBUL REAL SONATA CAPITAL PRIVATE LIMITED S 2162615 109.99
2/4/2009 532081 K SERA SERA EDELWEISS ESTATES PVT. LTD. B 577491 10.77
2/4/2009 532081 K SERA SERA EDELWEISS ESTATES PVT. LTD. S 631369 10.54
2/4/2009 500271 MAX INDIA L. T ROWE PRICE INTERNATIONAL AC NEW ASIA FUND B 1861300 104.00
2/4/2009 532387 PRITISHN COM CRESTA FUND LTD B 1000000 15.25
2/4/2009 532387 PRITISHN COM THE INDIAMAN MAURITIUS LTD S 1000000 15.25
2/4/2009 531952 RIBA TEXTILE SHAILESH SOMABHAI PATEL B 36000 41.33
2/4/2009 531898 SANGUINE MD VISHU ENTERPRISE B 109488 3.19
2/4/2009 531898 SANGUINE MD SUVIDHA SECURITIES PVT LTD S 400000 3.03
2/4/2009 531898 SANGUINE MD VISHU ENTERPRISE S 95822 3.09
2/4/2009 532917 VARUN INDS AMI PATEL S 187000 20.24
2/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT MANOJ CHHAGANLAL RATHOD HUF B 48253 29.55
2/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT SUNIL RAMESHBHAI RUPANI B 50000 29.97
2/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT MANOJ CHHAGANLAL RATHOD HUF S 48253 29.63
2/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT RENU ANILKUMAR BHOOTRA S 30000 29.579
NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Apr 2 2009
Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
02-APR-2009,ABGSHIP,ABG Shipyard Limited,SETU SECURITIES LTD,BUY,289962,95.14,-
02-APR-2009,ADLABSFILM,Adlabs Films Limited,SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS A/C EQUITY MULTIPLIER FUND,BUY,373673,194.59,-
02-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,RAK JIG TEXTILE,BUY,1000000,13.32,-
02-APR-2009,ASIANELEC,Asian Electronics Ltd,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,181252,22.88,-
02-APR-2009,GENUSPOWER,GENUS POWER INFRASTRU LTD,TALMA CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,200000,90.00,-
02-APR-2009,GENUSPOWER,GENUS POWER INFRASTRU LTD,WINRO COMMERCIAL (INDIA) LTD,BUY,90568,90.00,-
02-APR-2009,HDIL,Housing Development and I,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,BUY,1423099,99.62,-
02-APR-2009,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,BUY,7218548,11.82,-
02-APR-2009,KSERAPRO,K Sera Sera Productions L,DIMPALBHAI J. LIMBOD,BUY,336785,10.74,-
02-APR-2009,MAX,Max India Ltd,T.ROWE PRICE INTERNATIONAL AC NEW ASIA FUND,BUY,1499183,104.00,-
02-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,SHEARSONINVESTMENT&TRADINGCOPVTLTD,BUY,813302,13.25,-
02-APR-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,1190689,13.39,-
02-APR-2009,AARVEEDEN,Aarvee Denims & Exports L,DEVANG NARENDRAKUMAR SANGHVI,SELL,400000,13.51,-
02-APR-2009,ABGSHIP,ABG Shipyard Limited,SETU SECURITIES LTD,SELL,179960,95.82,-
02-APR-2009,ASIANELEC,Asian Electronics Ltd,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,148739,22.81,-
02-APR-2009,ASIANELEC,Asian Electronics Ltd,ICG Q LTD,SELL,203000,22.63,-
02-APR-2009,HDIL,Housing Development and I,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,SELL,1407365,99.63,-
02-APR-2009,IBREALEST,Indiabulls Real Estate Li,SONATA CAPITAL PRIVATE LTD,SELL,2318702,109.78,-
02-APR-2009,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,SELL,7213648,11.84,-
02-APR-2009,KSERAPRO,K Sera Sera Productions L,DIMPALBHAI J. LIMBOD,SELL,309228,10.72,-
02-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,BHARAT V RAMANI,SELL,653916,13.25,-
02-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,DR. JYOTI RAMANI,SELL,165028,13.25,-
02-APR-2009,PUNJABCHEM,Punj Chem & Crop Prot Ltd,VENKATESWARA CAPITAL MANAGEMEN,SELL,40501,159.16,-
02-APR-2009,QUINTEGRA,Quintegra Solutions Ltd,INDIABULLS FINANCIALS SERVICES LTD,SELL,190637,4.07,-
02-APR-2009,SALORAINTL,Salora International Ltd.,YES INVESTMENTS VISHAL KISHORE BHATIA,SELL,44329,27.12,-
02-APR-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,SELL,1177196,13.41,-
Post Session Commentary - Apr 2 2009
With a strong bull run the domestic market closed with decent gains. The investors sentiments turned bullish as the global cues favored. The US stocks surged on Wednesday on the back of factory and home sales data that raised the hopes of moderating economic downturn. This led the stocks across the Asia pacific region. Also the expectation of further easing of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India added to the sentiments. The buying was seen across the board but the rally was backed by the financials and the metals. The investors were also optimistic about the outcome of the G20 meetings that also boosted the sentiments.
The Indian market opened on a strong note and kept on marching forward throughout the trading session. The US stock markets ended higher for a second day in a row on economic reports that helped stocks to overturn early losses. Initially, stocks exhibited weakness as investors responded to an ADP Employment Report that showed more job losses than expected. Further, market gained momentum due to bright side of manufacturing data and auto-sales reports to ignore a distressing labor-market survey. Finally, the Indian market concluded the session with gains to continue its rally for third straight day. From the sectoral front, heavy buying emerged across most of the sectors with Realty, Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods leading the gains. Mid Cap and Small Cap stocks were also attract the investors sentiments. However FMCG stocks remained out of favor during the trading session.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs accepted the recommendation of the National Advisory committee of Accounting Standards to defer implementation of Accounting Standard 11 (AS-11) that deals with accounting treatment of foreign currency transactions. As per the new standard companies need to report gain/loss every quarter after taking into account the value of their forex dent at the quarter end curry rates.
The wholesale price index or inflation of India rose 0.31 percent in the 12 months to March. 21, basically steady with the previous week''s 0.27 percent.
Among the Sensex pack 29 stocks ended in green territory and 1 in red. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained extremely strong as 2,014 stocks closed in green while 535 stocks closed in red and 69 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.
The BSE Sensex closed higher by 446.84 points at 10,348.83 and NSE Nifty ended up by 150.70 points at 3,211.05. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 113.62 and 97.05 points at 3,125.42 and 3,436.92 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,432.31 and intraday low of 10,107.25.
Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are DLF (15.08%), Jai Prakash Associate (13.23%), Tata Motors (12.84%), Reliance Communication (9%), ONGC (8.28%), Wipro (7.41%), Tata Steel (7.15%), Hindalco Industries (7.03%) and L&T (6.65%).
Losers from the BSE Sensex pack is only HUL today as it is down by (2.49%).
The BSE Realty index gained (9.13%) or 150.15 points to close at 1,795.47. Gainers are Mahindra Life (15.59%), DLF (15.08%), HDIL (13.01%), India Bull Real (9.15%) and Penland Ltd (8.58%).
The BSE Metal index also ended higher by (6.85%) or 399.12 points at 6,224.19. JSW Steel (21.81%), SAIL (9.96%), Tata Steel (7.15%), Hindalco Industries (7.03%) and Gujarat NRE (6.63%) ended in positive territory.
The BSE Oil & Gas stocks advanced by (5.73%) or 415.79 points to close at 7,671.79. Major gainers are Cairn India (9.96%), ONGC (8.28%), RNRL (5.91%), Essar Oil (5.87%) and RPL (5.39%).
The BSE Capital Goods index gained (5.32%) or 343.74 points at 6,807. Scrips that gained are Punj Lloyd (16.36%), Elecon Eng. (10%), AIA Engineering (9.80%), Gammon India (7.63%) and SKF India (4.78%).
The BSE Bankex ended up by (4.79%) or 220.34 points at 4,822.39. Gainers are Kotak Bank (13.56%), Allahabad Bank (10.87%), SBI (6.65%), PNB (5.81%) and Bank of Baroda (5.43%).
The BSE Power index grew (4.10%) or 76.14 points to close at 1,932.66. Main gainers are Tata Power (6.58%), Suzlon Energy (8.91%), Reliance Power (5.87%), GVK Power (3.94%) and NTPC (3%).
The BSE IT ended up by (4.10%) or 96.59 points at 2,454.72. Gainers are Wipro (7.41%), TCS (6.29%), HCL Technologies (5.85%), Rolta Ind. (4.41%) and Mphasis (3.42%).
Political uncertainty, profit-taking may cap upside
The outcome of the crucial G-20 meet scheduled on 2 April 2009 will dictate near term trend in global stocks which has risen sharply in the past few days on hopes the worst of the global economic recession may be over. But political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary elections and results from India Inc for Q4 March 2009 and also the year ended March 2009 will ensure high volatility in Indian stocks.
Profit taking may cap near term upside in Indian stocks. The Sensex jumped 2,188.43 points or 26.81% to 10,348.83 on 2 April 2009 from a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009.
There are slew of holidays for the market in the next few days. On Friday, 3 April 2009, the market remains closed on account of Ram Navmi. The market is closed on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 on account of Mahavir Jayanti and again on Friday, 10 April 2009 on account of Good Friday.
The G-20 meet in London is crucial as the leaders of the world's major economies will gather to find solutions to the global economic crisis. As per reports the G-20 countries which account for about 80% of the global economy may agree on regulation to all financial markets, instruments and institutions, including hedge funds. They are also expected to examine ways to get so-called toxic assets off banks' balance sheet where they are impeding lending to consumers and businesses.
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday, 2 April 2009, cut its key interest rate to 1.25%, a fresh record low. Yet, it was a smaller-than-expected cut. Most economists had expected a half-point cut to 1%. The ECB had already cut its key rate five times from 4.25% in October 2008 to 1.5% in March 2009
Economists are now waiting to see if the ECB follows other central banks in moving towards quantitative easing. Both the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve have introduced quantitative easing - whereby they increase the amount of money in the system - as they try to counter the economic downturn.
Also the US data on unemployment and non-farm payrolls due on Friday, 3 April 2009 will be closely watched. Economists expect 660,000 job losses in March 2009 to be revealed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, against 6,51,000 jobs lost in February 2009, marking the fifth straight month of over half a million job losses.
The a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development's (OECD) on 31 March 2009 said the world economy will shrink at a far faster pace than originally expected this year. The OECD cut India's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 4.3% from the earlier 7.3% forecasted in November 2008.
Closer home, the focus would shift to Q4 and year ended March 2009 earnings.
The activity of foreign institutional investors (FII) will be closely watched. They were net sellers of a marginal Rs 1.10 crore in March 2009 compared with an outflow of Rs 2707 crore in February 2009 and Rs 4250.30 crore in January 2009. However FIIs still remain net sellers to the tune of Rs 6671.60 crore in calendar year 2009 as on 31 March 2009. They had pulled out a massive Rs 52998.70 crore in calendar year 2008 as against an inflow of a huge Rs 71486.50 crore in calendar year 2007.
Inflation as measured by the wholesale price index rose 0.31% in the 12 months to 21 March 2009, marginally above the previous week's annual rise of 0.27%, government data showed on 2 April 2009. The annual inflation rate was 7.85% during the corresponding week of the previous year.
The market is agog with expectations of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A sharp fall in inflation has provided room for the RBI to cut interest rates further to support faltering economic growth. Marketmen are expecting at least a 50 basis-point cut in the repo and reverse repo rates. 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.
But the upside in Indian stocks will be capped due to political uncertainty with general election to be held in mid-April 2008 to mid-May 2009. More so at a time when it is highly unlikely that either Congress or BJP comes to power on its own i.e. without the support of other smaller/regional parties.
The market may recover if a coalition led either by Congress or BJP comes to power. But the recovery will be subject to BJP or Congress led coalition coming to power without a support from the Left front which is against key economic reforms. The market will then look for whether the new government which comes to power undertakes second generation reforms that could bring India back on a strong growth path witnessed in five years between 2003 and 2008.
Small-cap, mid-cap stocks shine as market extends gains for a third week in a row
Key benchmark indices extended gains for the third straight week boosted by positive global cues. The market gained in 3 out of 4 trading sessions. The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small-Cap indices outperformed the Sensex. Expectations of a further easing of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also aided the rally. Inflation as measured by the wholesale price index rose 0.31% in the 12 months to 21 March 2009, marginally above the previous week's annual rise of 0.27%, government data showed on 2 April 2009. The annual inflation rate was 7.85% during the corresponding week of the previous year.
The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 300.34 points or 2.98% to 10,348.83, in the week ended Thursday, 2 April 2009. The broader 50-issue Nifty jumped 102.40 points, or 3.29%, to end the week at 3,211.05.
The BSE Mid-Cap index gained 191.26 points or 6.51% to 3,125.42 and the BSE Small-Cap index advanced 198.81 points or 6.13% to 3,436.92 in the week. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex
The BSE Sensex jumped 2188.43 points or 26.81% in to 10,348.83 on 2 April 2009 from a three-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009. The Sensex is up 701.52 points or 7.27% in calendar 2009 from its close of 9,647.31 on 31 December 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty is up 251.90 points or 8.51% in calendar 2009 from its close of 2,959.15 on 31 December 2008.
Trading for the week began on a dismal note with key benchmark indices tumbling nearly 5% on Monday, 30 March 2009 mirroring weak global equities. The BSE 30-share Sensex slumped 480.35 points, or 4.78%, to 9,568.14 and the S&P CNX Nifty lost 130.50 points or 4.2% to 2,978.15.
Positive global cues and buying by domestic institutional investors on last day of financial year to boost net asset values helped indices log gains on 31 March 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 140.36 points, or 1.47%, to 9,708.50 and the S&P CNX Nifty rose 42.80 points or 1.44% to 3,020.95.
Higher US index futures, firm global markets and build-up of positions fresh positions by traders for the new accounting year 2009-10 boosted market on 1 April 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex gained 193.49 points, or 1.99%, to 9,901.99 and the S&P CNX Nifty rose 39.40 points or 1.3% to 3,060.35.
Key benchmark indices extended gains for the third day on Friday 2 April 2009 mirroring firm global equities, buying by foreign funds and hopes of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India after inflation hovered near record low. The BSE 30-share Sensex jumped 446.84 points, or 4.51%, to 10,348.83 and the S&P CNX Nifty surged 150.70 points or 4.92% to 3,211.05.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) surged 7.39% to Rs 1662.50 in the week. As per reports, the company has started pumping gas from the Krishna Godavari (KG) which is estimated to add close to $2 billion to the company's profit at peak production levels.
Rate sensitive real estate shares rose on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. DLF (up 14.21%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (up 17.93%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 10.73%), and Unitech (up 4.59%), gained. Most of the realty deals including sale of commercial property and housing sales is driven by finance.
Metals stocks gained tracking firm prices on the London Metal Exchange triggered by hopes that the worst may be over for the global economy. Tata Steel (up 0.24%), Steel Authority of India (up 3.59%), and Hindalco Industries (up 3.54%), advanced.
Banking stocks were mixed with investors on the one hand betting that lower interest rates will boost lending growth and on the other hand concerns remained that non-performing assets will rise in a slowing economy. India's largest bank in terms of assets and branch network State Bank of India rose 1.30%.
India's second largest private sector bank by operating income HDFC Bank rose 4.25%. However India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank fell 6.05%.
Indian largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 5.19% to Rs 715.30 after it won two orders worth a total of Rs 1,344 crore ($265 million) from refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals.
However India's largest equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals slipped 1.25% to Rs 1532. The company reported a 6.06% rise in net profit to Rs 3,039 crore on 28.52% rise in turnover to Rs 27,505 crore for the financial year ended March 2009 over financial year ended March 2008, as per tentative figures released on 2 April 2009.
Outsourcing focussed IT stocks rose on hopes aggressive measures by the United States to revive the economy may bear fruit. US is the biggest market for Indian IT firms. India's second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies rose 5.66% to Rs 1423.
India's third largest software services exporter, Wipro advanced 6.32% to Rs 269.15. Recently its unit Wipro Infotech won an outsourcing contract worth Rs 1,182 crore from the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
However India's largest software services exporter by sales TCS fell 0.73% to Rs 571. The company's advance tax payment fell 54.3% to Rs 53 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.
India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra rose 9.33% to Rs 421.25. after booking for the company's new vehicle Xylo crossed the 12000 mark since its launch on 13 January 2009. The company posted a 6% rise in total vehicles sales to 26,209 in March 2009 over March 2008.
India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales Tata Motors rose 6.99% to Rs 202. Its domestic sales however fell 13% to 52,686 units in March 2009 over March 2008. Nevertheless, the domestic sales rose 24% in March 2009 over February 2009.
India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India rose 1.84% to Rs 780 as its total vehicle sales rose 21.9% to 85,669 units in March 2009 over March 2008.
Among the small and mid-cap gainers, Tanla Solutions (up 39.46%), ICSA India (up 28.77%), JSW Steel (up 33.78%), Financial Technologies (up 19.22%), surged
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 24 March 2009 said India's economy will revive in a big way in six to seven months as stimulus packages start to take effect. On the same day, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia scaled down the GDP (gross domestic product) growth projection for the current fiscal to 6.5% from the 7.1% increase estimated by the government earlier during the year, owing to the ongoing global crisis.
Indian manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in March 2009 as demand remained depressed by the global economic downturn, although there were some signs of improvement, a survey showed on 1 April 2009. The new orders index rose to 49.5 in March 2009 from 45.9 in February 2009.
Exports fell 21.7% in February 2009 to $11.91 billion from a year earlier, government data released on 1 April 2009 showed. It was a fifth straight monthly fall in exports as the global slowdown slashed demand for goods.
India's fiscal deficit for the April-February 2009 period was Rs 3,07,000 crore ($61 billion), or 94.1% of an upwardly revised budget target, a government statement said on Tuesday, 31 March 2009. In February 2009, the government revised upwards its fiscal deficit estimate for the year ending 31 March 2009 to Rs 3, 27, 000 crore, equivalent to 6% of gross domestic product from 2.5% estimated earlier. The deficit has widened after the government announced extra spending of close to Rs 1,50,000 to cover a farm debt scheme, subsidies and steps to stimulate a slowing economy.
Stock markets will remain shut on Friday, 3 April 2009, on account of Ram Navmi. The market is closed again on Tuesday, 7 April 2009 on account of Mahavir Jayanti and on 10 April 2009 on account of Good Friday.
Bulls call the shots
Key benchmark indices extended gains for the third day in a row after a near 5% fall on Monday 30 March 2009, led by gains in banking, capital goods, realty and metal stocks. Firm global equities and data showing resumption of buying by foreign funds triggered a solid rally on the domestic bourses today. Inflation hovered at near zero level reinforcing expectations of a further easing of the monetary policy by the central bank and boosting stocks.
The barometer index BSE Sensex settled at its highest level in nearly five months. The Sensex jumped 446.84 points, or 4.51%. The barometer index today also crossed the psychological 10,000 mark. The Sensex had hit 10,000 mark late last week. However, a near 5% slide on Monday, 30 March 2009, had pulled it below that level.
Expectations of a further easing of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) aided the rally. Inflation as measured by the wholesale price index rose 0.31% in the 12 months to 21 March 2009, marginally above the previous week's annual rise of 0.27%, government data showed today, 2 April 2009. The annual inflation rate was 7.85% during the corresponding week of the previous year.
Meanwhile, as per reports the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has accepted the recommendation of the National Advisory Committee of Accounting Standards (Nacas) to defer implementation of Accounting Standard 11 (AS-11) which deals with accounting treatment of foreign currency transactions. According to AS-11, companies need to report a gain or loss every quarter after taking into account the value of their foreign exchange (forex) dent at the quarter-end currency rates. With MCA nod for the Nacas's decision, the companies need not report mark-to-market losses or gains in this regard.
Some of the companies which would benefit significantly from this step are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Ranbaxy among others. The deferment could also include companies that import key raw materials and firms that pay royalty.
European shares rose on Thursday on hopes that an economic downturn is moderating, with investors training their sights on a G20 leaders' meeting in London. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up by between 2.66% to 3.94%.
The European Central Bank (ECB) today cut its key interest rate to 1.25%, a fresh record low. Yet, it was a smaller-than-expected cut. Most economists had expected a half-point cut to 1%.
Meanwhile, the latest data in UK was positive. The Nationwide Building Society said UK house prices unexpectedly rose 0.9% in March 2009. The average house price rose for the first time since October 2007, Nationwide noted. The rise followed a 1.9% drop in prices in February 2009.
Asian stocks shot to a three-month high on Thursday, building a three-day rally on hopes the U.S. economy has bottomed. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.72% to 7.41%.
US stocks surged on Wednesday, 1 April 2009, after the Institute for Supply Management said its factory index increased to 36.3 last month, a third consecutive advance. Another data showed US pending home resales rose 2.1% in February 2009, exceeding economists' forecasts.
The latest US data came after some other reports had recently suggested that the worst of the global economic recession may be over. US durable-goods orders rose in February 2009, Chinese urban investment surged 26.5% in the first two months of the year, and German investor confidence reached its highest level since July 2007 in March 2009. The latest data had also showed that the rate of contraction in European manufacturing and services industries is slowing. Japanese companies including automaker Nissan Motor Co. have said that they will increase production in coming months.
Even so, bad news still pervades. Data released yesterday showed that Japanese business confidence plunged to a record low, Chinese manufacturing is shrinking and German retail sales unexpectedly fell. Companies in the US cut an estimated 742,000 workers in March 2009, the most since records began in 2001, according to ADP Employer Services.
US auto sales continued sliding in March 2009 but the auto makers pointed to a sales rebound in the last week of the month.
Trading in US futures showed the Dow could rise 132 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 2 April 2009.
Closer home, Indian manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in March 2009 as demand remained depressed by the global economic downturn, although there were some signs of improvement, a survey showed on Wednesday, 1 April 2009. The new orders index rose to 49.5 in March 2009 from 45.9 in February 2009.
Signs of improvement in the manufacturing sector has helped offset dismal exports data. India's exports fell an annual 21.7% in February 2009 to $11.91 billion, data released by the government duding trading hours on Wednesday, 1 April 2009, showed. It was a fifth straight monthly fall in exports as the global slowdown slashed demand for Indian goods. The trade deficit narrowed to $4.9 billion in February 2009 from $6.1 billion in January 2009 due to a sharp fall in imports. Imports fell an annual 23.3% to $16.82 billion in February 2009. Oil imports fell 47.5% during the month from a year earlier to $4.05 billion.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 24 March 2009 said India's economy will revive in a big way in six to seven months as stimulus packages start to take effect. On the same day, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia scaled down the GDP (gross domestic product) growth projection for the current fiscal to 6.5% from the 7.1% increase estimated by the government earlier during the year, owing to the ongoing global crisis.
Meanwhile, there are signs that the credit flow to businesses is improving. During the fortnight ended 13 March 2009, loans sanctioned by scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), including regional rural banks, went up by Rs 22,423 crore. This was the third fortnight in a row when credit flow went up. Earlier, an extreme risk aversion by banks had chocked credit flow to the industry - the lifeline of business.
Indian corporate bonds sales posted their best quarter on record as government-backed infrastructure and finance companies raised funds to bolster their capital. Indian companies raised Rs 37800 crore from bonds in Q1 March 2009, 44% more than in the same period a year earlier. State-owned lender India Infrastructure Finance Co. raised Rs 7370 crore in the biggest bond sale of the quarter, followed by a Rs 3950-crore issue by the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, known as Nabard.
Earlier the global financial crisis ends and sooner the risk appetite of global investors and global companies improves, better it will be for India Inc. An increase in risk appetite of global investors/global companies will help Indian firms raise overseas funds required for business expansion. The global financial crisis has chocked the overseas funding route for Indian firms.
Raising funds could become difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with new lending regulations for banks, popularly known as Basel II norms coming into practice from 1 April 2009. All business units, irrespective of their size, will need to take ratings for their enterprises to secure working capital, loans, and other funds from banks.
Lack of funding has hit a slew of long-gestation infrastructure projects in India. World Bank Chief Economist & Senior Vice-President, Dr Justin Yifu Lin, on 13 March 2009, said if India can improve its infrastructure such as electricity, power, transportation and port facilities, it will be well on its path to achieve a 9-10% growth.
India's fiscal deficit for the April-February 2009 period was Rs 3,07,000 crore ($61 billion), or 94.1% of an upwardly revised budget target, a government statement said on Tuesday, 31 March 2009. In February 2009, the government revised upwards its fiscal deficit estimate for the year ending 31 March 2009 to Rs 3, 27, 000 crore, equivalent to 6% of gross domestic product from 2.5% estimated earlier. The deficit has widened after the government announced extra spending of close to Rs 1,50,000 to cover a farm debt scheme, subsidies and steps to stimulate a slowing economy.
Foreign funds have resumed buying of Indian stocks. As per the provisional data foreign funds bought shares worth a net Rs 173.75 crore on Wednesday, 1 April 2009. The inflow followed heavy sales in the preceding three trading sessions. Foreign funds dumped stocks worth a net Rs 1266.70 crore in three trading sessions from 27 March 2009 to 31 March 2009. Before the selling, foreign institutional investors had mopped up stocks worth Rs 3635 crore in a short span from 17 March 2009 to 26 March 2009.
However, a recent sharp volatility in the rupee may dissuade fresh buying by foreign funds. The rupee has bounced back after hit a record low beyond 52 per dollar early last month.
The Indian rupee rose for a second straight session on Thursday 2 April 2009 boosted by expectations of gains in domestic stocks which could bring in foreign fund flows while a weaker dollar overseas also helped. The partially convertible rupee was at 50.34 per dollar, stronger than Tuesday's close of 50.71/72. The currency market was closed on Wednesday for annual book closing of banks Domestic institutional investors have been absorbing heavy selling by foreign funds witnessed in first two months of calendar year 2009.
The upside on the domestic bourses will be capped in the next two months due to political uncertainty ahead of parliamentary election to be held between mid-April 2009 to mid-May 2009. More so at a time when it is highly unlikely that either Congress or BJP will come to power on its own, i.e., without the support of other small/regional parties. Early estimates point a fractured mandate. An alliance led by the Congress party is ahead in pre-poll surveys carried out by several polls.
But in a move which could undermine the chances of a Congress-led alliance getting more seats in the election, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad has announced candidates for 28 of the 40 constituencies in Bihar including from the three seats where Congress has sitting MPs. RJD is one of the key constituents of the current Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
The Congress, meanwhile, has reportedly sealed a seat-sharing pact with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the populous Maharashtra state. Relations between the two parties have been prickly as the NCP negotiated with opposition parties to undercut Congress and boost its leader's prime ministerial ambitions. Congress will stand for 26 seats in the state and the NCP for 22. The allies are weighing up their options for a similar deal outside the state.
A latest jolt to the Congress party came from a decision of the regional party in Tamil Nadu viz. the PMK on Thursday, 26 March 2009, to join hands with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). PMK is a part of the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the centre. The PMK's decision to join AIADMK could give impetus to the Third Front if the PMK and AIADMK join it.
The Congress party on Tuesday 24 March 2009 said it would extend interest relief to farmers and build on the national job guarantee scheme. The focus on populist measures by Congress may weigh on the stock market sentiment especially at a time when the fiscal deficit has risen sharply. Releasing the party manifesto for the election, the Congress party on Tuesday said it would maintain government control over state-run firms in the manufacturing and finance sectors.
Meanwhile, BJP president Rajnath Singh said in a recent interview to a news agency that the party will speed up foreign investment projects in the country if it wins the parliamentary elections in May 2009. The measure is part of the BJP's election manifesto to be unveiled this week.
Singh said the BJP would be more open to foreign investment than Congress, which was unable to pass major economic reforms and open the economy further up globally due to opposition from leftist allies. Singh said his party would also focus on agriculture, putting more money in the pockets of farmers. More than half of India's 1.1 billion population live in villages.
A group of smaller political parties, including the communists, have formally launched a Third Front in a bid to provide an alternative to the two main parties viz. the Congress and the BJP.
The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 446.84 points, or 4.51%, to 10,348.83, its highest closing since 10 November 2008. At the day's high of 10,432.31, the Sensex rose 530.32 points in mid-afternoon trade. At the day's low of 10,107.25, the Sensex rose 205.26 points in early trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty was up 150.70 points or 4.92% to 3,211.05, its highest closing since 21 October 2008.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4,900 crore, higher than Rs 3,887.60 crore on Wednesday 1 April 2009.
Nifty April 2009 futures were at 3227.15, at a premium of 16.10 points as compared to the spot closing of 3211.05. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment increased to Rs 56,491.50 crore from Rs 52,145.14 crore on Wednesday, 1 April 2009.
From a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009, the Sensex has risen 2,188.43 points or 26.81%.
Coming back to today's trade, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 3.77% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 2.91%. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.
The BSE Realty index (up 9.13%), the BSE Metal index (up 6.85%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 5.73%), the BSE Capital Goods index (up 5.32%), the BSE Bankex (up 4.79%) outperformed the Sensex.
The BSE FMCG index (down 0.31%), the BSE Healthcare index (up 1.75%), the BSE Auto index (up 2.76%), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 3.21%), the BSE IT index (up 4.1%), the BSE Power index (up 4.1%), the BSE TECk index (up 4.23%), the BSE PSU index (up 4.45%) underperfomed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong on BSE with 2,014 stocks advancing as compared with 556 that declined. A total of 55 shares remained unchanged.
From the 30 share Sensex pack 29 stocks rose while 1 fell.
India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 5.26% to Rs 1,662.50 on reports the company has started pumping gas from the Krishna Godavari (KG) which is estimated to add close to $2 billion to the company's profit at peak production levels. However, the stock came off the day's high of Rs 1,678.80.
RIL's advance tax payment fell 16.47% to Rs 370 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.
India's largest oil exploration firm by sales ONGC rose 8.28% while Cairn India jumped 9.96% on rise in crude oil prices. Rise in crude oil prices would result in higher realizations from crude sales for the oil exploration firm. Crude oil for May 2009 delivery surged $2.51 a barrel or 5.19% to $50.90 a barrel in Asian Electronic Trading on Thursday, 2 April 2009 on signs the world economy is stabilizing as leaders of the most powerful nations meet in London to address the financial crisis.
Shares of oil marketing companies extended recent gains after the government issued oil bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore recently to compensate them for under-recoveries on sale of petroleum products at a controlled price during the current financial year. BPCL and HPCL rose by between 2.15% and 2.64% respectively.
Indian Oil Corporation rose 3.17% after company said on 25 March 2009 the government has approved a proposal to absorb its subsidiary Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals (BRPL). Indian Oil will issue four shares for every 37 shares in BRPL.
Indian Oil Corporation has been issued oil bonds worth Rs 5,817.27 crore, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation has been issued bonds worth Rs 2,144.32 crore. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has got bonds worth Rs 2,038.41 crore.
Rate sensitive real estate shares extended gains on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate and Unitech rose by between 0.01% to 15.08%. Most of the realty deals including sale of commercial property and housing sales is driven by finance.
Housing Development & Infrastructure spurted 13.01% on reports the company is selling 4 lakh square feet of transferable development rights worth Rs 42 crore.
Metals stocks rose on firm metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. Tata Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Sterlite Industries, National Aluminum Company and Hindalco Industries, rose by between 2.22% to 9.96%.
Indian largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 6.65% to Rs 717.25 after it won two orders worth a total of Rs 1,344 crore ($265 million) from refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals. It had earlier announced bagging two orders aggregating Rs 1,143 crore ($227 million) from Tata Steel. However the stock came off the day's high of Rs 735.
Other capital goods stocks, Crompton Greaves, Punj Lloyd, Praj Industries, Thermax, ABB, rose by between 0.89% to 16.36%.
India's largest equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 4.06% to Rs 1,531.85 after it reported a 6.06% rise in net profit to Rs 3,039 crore on 28.52% rise in turnover to Rs 27,505 crore for the financial year ended March 2009 over financial year ended March 2008, as per tentative figures. The stock came off the day's high of Rs 1,564.
Banking stocks rose on hopes a further fall in interest rates may boost lending growth. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 3,09% to Rs 360.25 off the day's high of Rs 379. Its American depository receipts (ADR) rose 8.05% on Wednesday, 1 April 2009. ICICI Bank's advance tax payment remained unchanged at Rs 250 crore in Q4 March 2009 when compared to Q4 March 2008.
India's second largest private sector bank by operating income HDFC Bank rose 3.77% to Rs 1,034.75 off the day's high of Rs 379. Its ADR rose 2.38% on Wednesday. Its advance tax payment rose 10% to Rs 275 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.
India's largest bank in terms of assets and branch network State Bank of India rose 6.65% to Rs 1,145.35 off the day's high of Rs 1,172. Its advance tax payment jumped 27.64% to Rs 1810 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.
India's biggest dedicated housing finance firm by operating income HDFC rose 5.09% to Rs 1,562.50 off the day's high of Rs 1,619. It announced a 50 basis points reduction in its retail prime lending rate (RPLR) to 14% effective 25 March 2009.
Outsourcing focussed IT stocks rose on hopes aggressive measures by the United States to revive the economy may bear fruit. US is the biggest market for Indian IT firms. India's second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies rose 3.26% as its ADR rose 1.35% overnight. Recent reports said it may win a large IT project from the government, which will run on a transaction-based pricing model, similar to the passport processing contract its larger rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) won last year. The contract is among the many large IT contracts that are up for bidding from government departments or public sector undertakings, reports suggest.
India's third largest software services exporter, Wipro rose 7.41% .Its ADR rose 2.53% on Wednesday. Recently its unit Wipro Infotech won an outsourcing contract worth Rs 1,182 crore from the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
India's largest software services exporter by sales TCS rose 6.29% The company's advance tax payment fell 54.3% to Rs 53 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008.
Cement stocks rose on reports cement firms have raised prices by Rs 3-7 per 50 kg bag in anticipation of higher demand. ACC, Birla Corporation India and India Cements 2.12% to 3.8%.
Ambuja Cements rose 3.28% after its shipments rose an annual 0.5% to 1.72 million tonnes in March 2009 over March 2008.
Grasim Industries rose 3.47% while UltraTech Cement gained 2.66%. Aditya Birla Group's cement shipments rose 11.2% to 3.37 million tonnes in March 2009 over March 2009. Production for the month rose 12.4% to 3.40 million tonnes. The group's cement business includes flagship Grasim Industries and unit UltraTech Cement, with combined production capacity of 35 million tonnes a year.
Commercial vehicle maker rose on recent reports the government plans to extend higher depreciation benefit of 50% on commercial vehicles by three months till June 2009. India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales Ashok Leyland rose 2.17%.
India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales Tata Motors rose 12.84%. Its domestic sales however fell 13% to 52,686 units in March 2009 over March 2008. Nevertheless, the domestic sales rose 24% in March 2009 over February 2009. The higher depreciation rate translates into lower tax liabilities and lower insurance premiums for buyers of commercial vehicles.
India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.14% as its total vehicle sales rose 21.9% to 85,669 units in March 2009 over March 2008.
India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra rose 6.46% after the company posted a 6% rise in total vehicles sales to 26,209 in March 2009 over March 2008.
India's largest motorbike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors fell 1.18% even as it reported 10.2% rise sales to 3.53 lakh unit in March 2009 over March 2008.
TVS Motor Company rose 0.22% after the company posted a 4.22% rise in its two-wheeler sales to 1,21,988 units in March 2009 over March 2008.
India's largest power generation firm by sales NTPC galloped 3% after the company said it will generate 217 billion units of electricity in the financial year 2009/10 that began on 1 April 2009.
Bharat Electronics rose 2.04% after the company said its turnover per employee and value added per employee rose in the year ended March 2009 over the year ended March 2008.
Reliance Natural Resources clocked the highest volume of 2 crore shares on BSE. Suzlon Energy (1.94 crore shares), Unitech (1.44 crore shares), Housing Development & Infrastructure (1.14 crore shares) and Ispat Industries (1.1 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.
ICICI Bank clocked the highest turnover of Rs 329.44 crore on BSE. Reliance Industries (Rs 284.23 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 181.99 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 176.41 crore) and State Bank of India (Rs 160.64 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.
Pre Session Commentary - Apr 2 2009
Today domestic markets are likely to open positive as majority of Asian markets have opened positive and the US markets also closed in green. The phenomenal opening of the Asian markets would pump the buying sentiments across the domestic arena. There is lack of news in the domestic economy and hence investors are most likely to follow the global cues. The sentiments across the globe are conducive for another rally in the domestic markets as well. However the markets have already recovered its previous losses and any rise from this level would prompt investors to book profit as well.
On Wednesday, the domestic markets closed in green on the back of phenomenal buying towards the end. Despite the weak opening the domestic market during the noon trade started moving towards the northward as Asian markets showed positive cues of trend. The positive sentiments started building up strong after the post mid session as sectors like Realty, IT, Oil & Gas and Bankex exuded huge buying interest with gains of 5.41%, 3.17%, 2.88% and 2.48% respectively. Bottom line stocks were in the limelight as BSE SmallCap outperformed benchmark indices. During the session we expect the markets to be positive.
The BSE Sensex closed with gain of 193.49 points at 9,901.99 and NSE Nifty ended with gain of 39.40 points at 3,060.35. BSE Mid Caps and BSE Small Caps ended with gains of 55.57 points and 93.24 points at 3,011.80 and 3,339.87 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 9,921.96 and intraday low of 9,546.29.
On Wednesday, the US Markets closed with phenomenal gains. A surprise 2.1% increase in February pending home sales helped improve the investor sentiments. Pending home sales were expected to remain unchanged after declining 7.7% in January. There were some bad economic indicators like the ISM Manufacturing Index for March that showed continued contraction in manufacturing was essentially in-line with expectations at 36.3, and was up slightly from February''s 35.8. On the other hand ADP Employment Report that indicated 742,000 jobs were lost in the month of March. Economists expected 663,000 job losses. The US light crude oil for May delivery declined by 2.8% to settle at $48.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed high by 152.68 points at 7,761.60, the NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index inclined by 23.01 points to close at 1,551.60 and the S&P 500 (SPX) inclined by 13.21 points to close at 811.08.
Today major stock markets in Asia are trading positive. Hang Seng is trading up by 608.56 points at 14,128.10 followed by Japan''s Nikkei which is up by 274.20 points at 8,626.11, Strait Times is up by 55.50 points at 1,757.76. While Taiwan Weighted is up with gains of 116.71 points at 5,431.16 and Seoul Composite points is also up by 37.04 points at 1,270.40 respectively.
Indian ADRs ended mostly higher. In technology sector, Infosys ended up by 1.35% along with Satyam by 8.28%. Further, Wipro gained 2.53% and Patni Computers closed higher by 4.69%. In banking sector ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 8.25% and 2.38% respectively. However, in telecommunication sector Tata Communication and dropped by 3.09% and 1.10% respectively.
The FIIs on Wednesday stood as net seller in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 1,640.90 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 339.90 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,172.30 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 368.60 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs (531.40) Crore and Rs (28.70) Crore respectively.
On BSE, total number of shares traded were 34.57 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 3,887.60 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 79.88 Crore and total turnover was Rs 11,559.46 Crore.
Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 63149899 shares, Suzlon Energy with 42682811 shares, ICICI Bank with 22367380 shares, SAIL with 16783470 shares followed by Rel Capital with 15076150 shares.
On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1023889 with a total turnover of Rs 14,675.42 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 491189 with a total turnover of Rs 14981.69 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1370181 with a total turnover of Rs 21,036.88 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 41666 and notional turnover was Rs 1,460.15 Crore.
Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,085 and resistance at 3,112 and BSE Sensex has support at 9,960 and resistance at 10,088.
Market may extend gains on firm global equities
The market may extend last two days' gains on firm global equities and data showing resumption of buying by foreign funds. However, investors may refrain from building large positions as the stock market remains closed on Friday, 3 April 2009, for a public holiday.
Shares of small-car major Maruti Suzuki will be in focus ahead of the release of figures of March 2009 sales. Cement firms will also be in the spotlight in the next day or two as they release monthly dispatches figures. A likely fall in inflation to a near zero level will reinforce expectations of a further fall in the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Traders and operators who had closed positions at the year-end will start building fresh positions from the beginning of the new financial year. Some traders who don't want to show positions on their balance sheet typically unwind positions before the year-end. The BSE Sensex rose nearly 2% on the first day of the new financial year FY 2010 on Wednesday 1 April 2009.
As per the provisional data foreign funds bought shares worth a net Rs 173.75 crore on Wednesday. The inflow followed heavy sales in the preceding three trading sessions. Foreign funds dumped stocks worth a net Rs 1266.70 crore in three trading sessions from 27 March 2009 to 31 March 2009. Before the selling, foreign institutional investors had mopped up stocks worth Rs 3635 crore in a short span from 17 March 2009 to 26 March 2009.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) is expected to stay near zero level in the year through 21 March 2009. WPI inflation had hit a record low of 0.27% in the year through 14 March 2009. The government will release the inflation data around midday on Thursday, 2 April 2009.
Asian stocks surged on Thursday, led by automakers and banks, after US car sales beat estimates and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies are showing traction amid widening stimulus efforts.
Trading in US futures showed the Dow could rise 99 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 2 April 2009.
Daily News Roundup - Apr 2 2009
Maruti is planning to phase out Maruti 800 and Omni models in 11 major cities. (BS)
Government has ordered special audit of books for Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices. (BS)
TCS, Wipro and Infosys along with multinational rivals are currently chasing an outsourcing contract worth US$100mn from Australia’s Woolworths. (ET)
Reliance Industries has started gas production from its KG-D6 field. (BS)
A minor fire broke out in a section of Reliance Petro’s Jamnagar refinery. (ET)
NTPC’s capacity crosses 30,000MW after commissioning of a 250MW unit. (BS)
West Bengal has claimed that Tata Motors’ Nano will be made in Singur. (BS)
ICICI Bank has repurchased bonds worth US$90mn. (BS)
Central Bureau of Investigation will probe the diversion of funds from Satyam Computers. (ET)
Cements makers such as ACC, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Grasim and Ultratech Cement have hiked prices. (ET)
L&T has bagged Rs11bn worth of orders in Q4 FY09 from electrical construction sector. (BL)
Bajaj Hindusthan chairman is scaling up his group’s equity holding in the company by nearly 5% through subscription of preferential warrants. (ET)
HCC bags order worth Rs6.9bn from Bhutan. (BS)
Suzlon’s US subsidiary has bagged a repeat order from Duke Energy, US. (BS)
The Khorakiwala family, the promoters of Wockhardt has put its headquarters Wockhardt Towers up for sale. (ET)
HDIL is selling development rights for about 400,000sqft. (BS)
GMR may refinance its US$1.1bn loan taken to acquire InterGen in 2011. (BS)
GMR Infra plans to set up aircraft parts assembly plant in the country. (ET)
Hotel Leelaventure plans to invest US$500mn to set up five hotels across the country by 2012. (BS)
Over the next four-five years Bharti Shipyard and ABG Shipyard can claim subsidies to the tune of Rs17bn and Rs10bn respectively. (BL)
Shipping Corporation of India will place orders for 10 vessels in FY10. (FE)
Corporation Bank has reduced its PLR by 50bps to 12%. (BS)
RGPPL has proposed a per unit tariff of Rs4.44 for FY10. (FE)
For the month of February 2009, exports dipped by 21.7% yoy, while imports declined by 23.3% yoy. (BS)
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has accepted the recommendation to defer the implementation of AS-11. (BS)
First phase of bidding for blocks under NELP VIII will take place on April 9, 2009. (BS)
Wheat prices have crashed below the MSP following record output. (BL)
Government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of polyester yarn from China, Vietnam and Thailand. (FE)
Finance ministry is in consultation with RBI to relax the provisioning norms for restructured loans. (ET)
The new regulations make it mandatory for insurance company to renew a health insurance policy irrespective of how much it has already paid out its claims. (ET)
Bulls look for quality gains!
Those who speak most of progress measure it by quantity and not by quality.
After staging a strong comeback in March, the bulls seem to be eyeing quantitative gains this month too. Fueling the pull-back rally are tentative signs of improvement in economic conditions, not just here but globally. However, the data is still pretty mixed. While ABN AMRO’s PMI and auto sales are showing recovery in manufacturing, trade and BoP data are anything but inspiring. While wholesale inflation will soon turn sub-zero, consumer prices are still ruling high.
To make matters worse, policy-making has been hit by the model code of conduct. The election in itself could throw up some surprises. We will also have to grapple with earnings and possible negative surprises there too. Before that markets are looking at the G-20 summit for some encouraging words. Whether we get a unanimous plan to combat the global turmoil remains to be seen. In the meantime, RIL has kicked off gas supply from the KG basin. We expect the market to open firm and remain so given the strong global cues.
FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Wednesday at Rs1.74bn while the local institutions were net buyers at Rs116mn. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs6.93bn. On Tuesday, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs5.31bn in the cash segment.
US stocks jumped on Wednesday, as traders focused on positive economic reports on pending home sales and manufacturing while ignoring the weak auto sales and another grim labor-market survey for the private sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.68 points, or 2.01%, to 7761.6. The Dow's second straight gain pared its losses for 2009 to 12% and brought it 19% above its closing nadir on March 9.
The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 13.21 points, or 1.66%, to 811.08, and is now 20% above its March 9 close. The Nasdaq Composite index was up 23.01 points, or 1.51%, at 1551.6, paring its loss for the year to date to 1.6%.
Stocks had tumbled at the open on a worse-than-expected private sector jobs survey and reports that GM and Chrysler will have to go into bankruptcy to restructure. But the selling pressure eased as the day wore on.
Stocks gained in March at the end of the Dow's worst first quarter in 70 years. The blue-chip indicator gained 7.7% during the month, but fell 13.3% in the first quarter, its worst January-March showing since 1939.
The Dow and S&P 500 briefly touched more than 12-year lows in early March, before bouncing back on optimism that the world's largest economy is closer to stabilizing. But, the real test will come over the next few weeks as investors sort through the first-quarter results.
March auto sales fell 35%, but a rise from February levels could suggest the industry has bottomed. Ford Motor said sales fell 41% from a year ago, although they were up from January and February levels. Ford, considered to be in the best financial shape of the three Detroit automakers, had been expected to post a decline of 50%.
Toyota Motor said sales fell 39% and Honda Motor said sales fell 36%. General Motors (GM) said sales fell 45% in the month, while privately held Chrysler said sales fell 39%.
GM and Chrysler have managed to stay afloat due to billions in aid from the government, but are in danger of being forced into bankruptcy if they can't come up with a plan to stay viable.
The Obama administration rejected both companies' restructuring plans on Monday. GM has 60 days to figure out how to cut costs and debt. Chrysler has 30 days to complete a deal with Fiat. Barring that, the government could force both companies into bankruptcy court to restructure.
The pending home sales index rose 2.1% in February, surprising economists who were expecting a flat reading. Pending home sales fell 7.7% in January.
Private sector employers cut 742,000 jobs from their payrolls in March after cutting a revised 706,000 in February, according to a report from payroll services firm ADP. Economists had predicted a reduction of 663,000 jobs. The report is closely watched ahead of the monthly jobs report.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 36.3 in March from 35.8 in February, versus forecasts for a rise to 36.
February construction spending fell 0.9%, after dropping a revised 3.5% in January. Economists had forecast a fall of 1.9% in the month.
Diversified manufacturer 3M said that it was cutting 1,200 jobs worldwide in the first quarter, or 1.5% of its workforce. Shares of the Dow component rose nearly 2%.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.65% from 2.66% on Tuesday.
Lending rates were mostly higher. The 3-month Libor rate dipped to 1.18% from 1.19% on Tuesday. The overnight Libor rate fell to 0.3% from 0.51% Tuesday. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.
In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen.
US light crude oil for May delivery settled down $1.27 to $48.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for June delivery rose $2.70 to settle at $927.70 an ounce.
Investors were gearing up for the start of the G-20 meeting in London, which brings together leaders from the world's largest economies. President Obama is expected to make the push for a bigger global economic stimulus effort.
He is also expected to detail the new financial regulations pitched to Congress last week as a means of preventing another financial meltdown like the current one.
The weekly jobless claims report and February factory orders index are also due on Thursday.
Europe stocks closed higher on Wednesday after a volatile day of trade. Down as much as 1.7% early in the day, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index finished with a rise of 1.6% to 179.26 as the highly-geared banking sector advanced.
The French CAC-40 index ended up 1.1% at 2,839.61. The German DAX 30 index rose 1.1% to 4,131.07 and the UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.8% to 3,955.61.
Indian markets extended gains for second straight trading session on Wednesday. After a sloppy start, key indices gained momentum as the day progressed. Even weak trade data was unable to dampen the sentiments on Dalal Street. Finally, the BSE Sensex advanced 193 points to close at 9,901 and the NSE Nifty was up 39 points at 3,060.
Among the 30-components of Sensex, 20 stocks ended in positive terrain and 10 stocks were in the red. Among the top gainers were Reliance Infrastructure, Ranbaxy, HDFC, DLF, ICICI Bank and Infosys.
The top losers in the Sensex were, Sun Pharma, Grasim, BHEL, Sterlite, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever.
Shares of BGR Energy have surged by over 10% to Rs156 after BGR Boilers Pvt Ltd a special vehicle unit and Foster Wheeler North America Corp., a subsidiary of Foster Wheeler's Global Power Group have entered into a license agreement to design manufacture and sell Sub-critical coal fired Steam Generators (Boilers).
The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs157 and a low of Rs141 and has recorded volumes of over 0.34mn shares on NSE.
Shares of Suzlon have surged by over 7% to Rs45.5 after the company’s Australian subsidiary entered into contract with AGL Energy Ltd for supplying 132.3MW wind turbine capacity, stated reports.
The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs46.1 and a low of Rs42.4 and has recorded volumes of over 20.7mn shares on NSE.
Shares of Kalpataru Power erased gains and ended lower by 1% to Rs323 after the company announced that it won three projects for transmission lines worth Rs4bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs339 and a low of Rs322 and has recorded volumes of over 15,000 shares on BSE.
Shares of Ranbaxy rallied by over 7% to Rs178 after the company announced that it is all set to launch a drug for high blood pressure discovered by Daiichi. The scrip touched an intra-day high ofGold ends little higher
Recessionary thoughts increases appeal of yellow metal
Bullion metal prices ended little higher on Wednesday, 01 April, 2009. Recessionary constraints increased the appeal of the precious metal. The weak dollar was also the main reason for precious metals ending higher.
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 April delivery rose $3.5 (0.4%) to close at $926.1 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Last week, gold ended lower by 3.5%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 12.4%.
For the month of March, gold fell 2.1%, down for the first month in five. But the metal gained 4.3% in the first quarter. Before March, for the month of February, gold ended higher by 7.4%. For January, 2009, gold had gained 3.9%.
On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (7.9%) since then.
On Wednesday, Comex silver futures for May delivery fell marginally by 1 cent to end at $12.975an ounce. In February, 2009, silver had rose 4.3% after climbing 14% in January. Year to date, silver has climbed 19.6% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.
The ADP employment report said on Wednesday, 01 April, 2009 that The U.S. labor market worsened again in March, as private-sector firms cut 742,000 jobs. It was the largest job loss recorded by ADP in its nine-year history.
In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year.
Last year, the weakening dollar and higher global demand for raw materials had led to records for commodities including gold. Gold reached a record in March 2008 as a U.S. housing slump and credit crisis spurred the Federal Reserve to slash borrowing costs. In the last 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.
Prior to 2008, 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 June delivery closed higher by Rs 24 (0.16%) at Rs 15,088 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 15,195 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 14,986 per 10 grams during the day's trading.
At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed Rs 120 (0.54%) lower at Rs 21,735/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 21,800/kg and fell to a low of Rs 21,581/Kg during the day's trading.
Crude goes down
Oil prices fall as crude inventories build up
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, 01 April, 2009 after energy department reported build up in crude inventories last week.
On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for May delivery closed at $48.39/barrel (lower by $1.27 or 2.6%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Last week, crude ended higher by 0.6%.
Crude ended March trading up 10.9%. It rallied 11.3% in the first quarter. For the month of February, crude prices had ended higher by 1.5%.
Oil prices had reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 63% since then. Year to date, in 2009, crude prices are higher by 11.6%. On a yearly basis, crude prices are lower by 52%.
As per the report, crude inventories rose 2.8 million barrels, staying at the highest level since July 1993. Crude inventories, the delivery point for Nymex oil futures, fell 800,000 barrels to 30.9 million barrels.
The report also said that gasoline inventories increased 2.2 million barrels in the week ended 27 March, 2009. The EIA also reported an increase of 300,000 barrels in distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil.
EIA also reported that total demand for petroleum demand over the last four-week period averaged 18.9 million barrels a day, down by 4.4% compared to the similar period last year. Among them, motor gasoline demand averaged 9 million barrels a day, down by 0.2% from a year ago, while distillate fuel demand slumped by 9.1%. U.S. refineries operated at 81.7% of their operable capacity last week, down from the 82% a week ago,
Also at the Nymex on Wednesday, May reformulated gasoline fell 4.96 cents, or 3.5%, to $1.3717 a gallon and May heating oil dropped 2.21 cents, or 6%, to $1.3458 a gallon.
May natural gas also lost 8.1 cents, or 2.1%, to $3.695 per million British thermal units.
Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.
At the MCX, crude oil for March delivery closed at Rs 2,426/barrel, lower by Rs 55 (2.2%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for April delivery closed at Rs 189/mmbtu, lower by Rs 1.9/mmbtu (0.99%).
Bartronics
We recommend a buy on Bartronics India from a short-term trading horizon. It is apparent from the charts of Bartronics that it was a medium-term downtrend as it declined from Rs 100 to Rs 61 between early January and early March. However, it found support in the long-term support band between Rs 55 and Rs 60. Since early March, the stock has been on a medium-term uptrend. On March 31, the stock conclusively penetrated its medium-term down trendline as well as the 50-day moving average by surging 7 per cent. This bullish momentum prolonged and the stock gained more than 9 per cent on April 1. We observe that there is an increase in volume over the past three trading sessions. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is featuring in the bullish zone and the weekly RSI has entered the neutral region. Moreover, the moving average convergence and divergence has entering the positive territory. We are bullish on the stock from a short-term trading perspective. We anticipate it to rally until it hits our price target of Rs 96. Traders with short-term perspective can buy the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 81
via BL
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