Asian markets ends mixed

Nikkei, Seoul, Sydney extend gains while Shanghai, Sensex, Hang Seng ended in negative territory

Stock markets in Asian region vessel a retreat tune on Thursday, 16 April 2009. After opening the strongly higher in early trading on positive cues from Wall Street, the markets retreated after a government report revealed that the Chinese economy expanded at a slower pace of 6.1% during the first quarter. While markets in Japan, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan managed to end in positive territory, the markets in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore reversed the early gains and ended in negative territory.

On Wall Street, the stock markets ended the day with gains despite a couple of worse than expected earning reports, stocks managed to make good gains. The Nasdaq was in the red despite a steady earnings report from Intel. The Dow had managed to stay in the green, perhaps due to a stronger than expected housing report. After starting the day 23 points up earlier during the day, The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 109 points at 8,029. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 1 point at 1,626. S&P 500 ended higher by 10.5 points at 852.

In the commodity market, crude oil rose for the first time in a week as equities in the U.S., the world's biggest oil user, rallied and the Federal Reserve said some of the country's biggest regional economies slowed the pace of their decline. Crude oil gained as much as 1.2 percent after stocks climbed in the last hour of trading yesterday. Fed districts reporting a slower economic decline or signs of stabilization include San Francisco, the largest district, New York, Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas, the Fed said in its Beige Book business survey.

Crude oil for May delivery climbed as much as $1.05, or 2.1%, to $50.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $49.74 a barrel at 11:55 a.m. London time. Prices are up 11% so far this year. Yesterday, crude oil fell 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $49.25 a barrel, the lowest settlement on the Nymex since April 7, after a government report showed that U.S. stockpiles climbed to the highest level in almost 19 years as demand dropped.

Brent crude oil for June settlement rose as much as 94 cents, or 1.8%, to $53.38 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $52.92 a barrel at 11:44 a.m. London time.

Gold traded little changed in Asia as a rally in global equities resumed, eroding demand for the precious metal as a store of value. Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $890.50 an ounce at 11:25 a.m. London time.

In the currency market, the US dollar and yen are a touch softer in early Asian session but strike back after release of China GDP report, which showed GDP expanded 6.1% year on year in Q1, was the slowest growth rate in almost 10 years. Overall outlook in financial markets are still quite mixed.

The Japanese yen that weakened against its major counterparts on Thursday. The Japanese currency slipped to 99.14 against the US dollar.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7502 against the dollar. Actually The Hong Kong dollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85 to the U.S. dollar.

In Sydney trades, the Australian dollar closed stronger on Thursday, though its gains were restrained by weak Chinese growth data.

Towards its closing, the Australian dollar was trading at 72.34/36 US cents, up down from Wednesday's close of 71.75/78 US cents. During the morning, the unit traded between 73.15 US cents and 72.30 US cents.

In Wellington trades, the NZ dollar fell to a week-low around US57.35c early recovered and then tested support around US57.50c. It ended the day at US57.55c from US57.80c yesterday.

The South Koran ended at 1,338 won to the dollar, down 14.5 won from Tuesday's close, as overseas investors cut holdings of local shares.

The Taiwan dollar weakened slightly against the US dollar as it was trading at NT$ 33.800, down by NT$ 0.010 from Wednesday's close of NT$33.790.

Coming back in equities, in Japan, stock market morning gains to finish the session in a diverse note, off a three month high as investors booked profit after China's economic growth came out weaker than expected. Investors were attracted to mainly China-related stocks in the morning on hopes of the Beijing economic growth, but Japan's indices gave up most of their early gains after Beijing reported a contraction in economic activity during first quarter of 2009.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index rose 12.3 points, or 0.1%, to 8,755.26, while the broader Topix was 3.21 points, or 0.4%, lower to 832.

In Mainland China, the stock index finished the choppy session marginal lower, after Beijing reported a contraction in economic activity during first quarter of 2009. Financial and property sectors were mixed as investors booked profit after economic data shoed contraction in economic activity during first quarter of 2009. Power producers plunged on lower electricity output. Energy sector dropped on poor economic news rekindled concern over demand and corporate earning.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, fell 0.08%, or 1.92 points to 2,534.13. The Shenzhen Component Index was down 0.14%, or 13.23 points to close at 9,711.36.

On the economic front, the National Bureau of Statistics said China's gross domestic product expanded 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009, following the 6.8% gain in the previous quarter.

The Consumer prices in China eased 1.2% on year in March after the 1.6% annual falls in February. On month, inflation was down 0.3% due to weak domestic demand and falling commodity prices.

For the first quarter of 2009, inflation was down 0.6% on year following a 5.9% increase for all of 2008. Also, producer prices fell an annual 4.6% in the first quarter.

The NBS also said Industrial production in China was up 5.1% on year through the first three months of 2009, following a 12.9% jump in all of 2008. In March, industrial production added 8.3%, following the 11% jump in February.

The NBS said that urban fixed asset investment was up 28.6% on year in the first quarter and 30.3% in March. Retail sales were up 15% in the first quarter and 14.7% in March.

In Hong Kong, the stock market finished the volatile session slightly lower, snapping three day's of winning streak after alternate bouts of buying and profit taking, as growing optimism that stimulus efforts and record-low interest rates overshadowed by Beijing economic data which showed contraction in economic activity during first quarter of 2009.

The Hang Seng Index retracted 86.63 points, or 0.55%, to 15,582.99, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, which tracks H shares of Chinese companies, dropped 164.23 points, or 1.76% to 9,141.23.

In Australia, the share market close higher despite losing much of its gains after new figures showed that China's GDP slumped to its worst in nearly two decades. The regional market opened the day higher following gains on Wall Street that were spurred by a less gloomy report from the Federal Reserve on the state of the US economy. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 0.75%, or 28.2 points, at 3775.7 - after earlier trading over 3800 points. The broader All Ordinaries index was up 0.86%, or 31.7 points, at 3725.6.

In New Zealand, equity indices surged by more than 2%, for the first time in April 2009. The share market commenced trading strong after stocks on the Wall Street ended higher overnight. The rise came about despite a grim outlook on the domestic front as manufacturing continued to post a contraction which makes it apparent that investors confidence is based merely on the on goings in the worlds most developed regions. The benchmark NZX50 increased 2.40% or 62.491 points to close at 2663.137. The NZX 15 advanced 2.59% or 124.852 points to close at 4938.378.

On the economic front, New Zealand's manufacturing sector contracted for the 11th consecutive month in March as per the BNZ Capital – Business survey. The BNZ Capital - Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) for March was 40.7, which was an improvement from 38.6 in February. A PMI reading below 50 indicates that activity is declining.

Moreover, as per an OECD report, rising healthcare costs pose the biggest threat to the long-term sustainability of the New Zealand economy. In its 2009 report on New Zealand the 30-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development paints a fairly downbeat picture of this country's immediate future.

In South Korea, stock markets fell as investor hopes for an economic recovery were dented by weak U.S. retail sales. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 9.54 points to close at 1,333.09, ending a four-session gaining streak.

In Singapore, the stock market gave up early gains to finish the session lower, after disappointing earnings and faltering first-quarter Chinese economic growth prompted investors to lock in profits. The blue chip Straits Times Index fell 14.24 points, or 0.75%, to 1,891.75, with losers led gainers 314 to 298.

In Taiwan, stock market resumed its upward rally, attaining a new six and month high by traversing the 6000- level during the intraday movement, as financial stocks like Cathay Financial rallied ahead of the potential signing of a financial cooperation with China later in 2009.

The main Taiex share index regained its upward rally, nearing the closing level of 6000 – points, attaining a new six and half months high stature. Taiex leapt 121.98 points or 2.08%, closing the day at 5997.17, the highest closing since 25 September 2008 when market closed the day at 6060.83.

On the economic front, Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI) fell modestly an annual 0.15% in March for the second consecutive monthly fall. According to the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS) the drop was mainly due to declining prices of garments, entertainment, and travel, with food prices inching up a little.

During the month, the prices of storage memory cards, mobile phones, gasoline, and bus tickets all plummeted 20% while those of digital cameras, TVs, notebook PCs and CDs all fell over 10%.

Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics officials indicated that, after seasonal adjustment, the annual growth of the CPI posted a negative 0.01%, emphasizing that the global economy is under deflationary pressure, with Taiwan also being influenced.

March also saw the wholesale price index (WPI) dropping obviously for the fifth consecutive monthly fall of 9.2%. Based on the greenback, the prices of imports and exports sharply declined by 21.05% and 14.98%, respectively. For instance, the price of building materials fell by 8.7%, the largest fall of its kind since 1991, which is believed caused by the sluggish real estate market.

In India, a much-awaited correction materialized with the BSE Sensex falling below the 11000 mark. Realty shares, which held gains for most part of the day, crumbled like pack of cards in the last one hour of trade.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 337.33 points or 2.99% to 10,947.40. At the day's high of 11,367.23, the Sensex rose 82.5 points at the onset of trading session, its highest level since 14 October 2008. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 114.65 points or 3.29% at 3369.50.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was up 0.5% or 4.60 points to 961.28 while Indonesia's Jakarta composite index jumped by 2 or 31.42 points ending the day at 1625.09.

In other regional market, European shares rose modestly on Thursday, helped by gains in the banking sector, as investors also eyed a mixed bag of corporate updates from companies such as Roche and Danone. On a regional level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 3,985.47, the German DAX 30 index climbed 0.1% to 4,555.48 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.4% to 2,996.58.

Nifty April 2009 futures at premium

Turnover rises

Nifty April 2009 futures were at 3373.70, at a premium of 4.20 points as compared to the spot closing of 3369.50. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment surged to Rs 78,509.17 crore from Rs 72,224.45 crore on Wednesday, 15 April 2009.

Reliance Industries April 2009 futures were near the spot price at 1736.50 compared to the spot closing of 1735.

ICICI Bank April 2009 futures were near spot price at 427 compared to the spot closing of 427.55.

Tata Steel April 2009 futures were near spot price at 268.80 compared to the spot closing of 269.10.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty lost 114.65 points or 3.29% at 3369.50.

CMC

CMC

Infosys

Infosys

Market back in bearish groove

The market was once again subject to strong volatile moves and swung nearly 450 points during intra-day trades. Throughout the session the market zigzagged between negative and positive zones, making investors edgy. After starting the day slightly higher at 11358, the index dropped nearly 200 points in early trades before frenetic buying by mid-morning trades helped the index erase all its losses and gain around 100 points to touch an intra-day high of 11367. However, the market failed to sustain the early optimism and drifted into negative territory in noon trades, with the index crashing the 10900 mark on hectic selling in reality, metal, capital goods, power and oil stocks. The Sensex finally dropped 337 points or 2.99% to close at 10947 while Nifty shed 115 points at 3370.

The breadth of the market was weak. Of the 2,653 stocks traded on the BSE 1,742 stocks declined, 851 stocks advanced and 60 stocks ended unchanged. With the exception of the BSE FMCG Index, all the other sectoral indices were down by over 1-9% each. The BSE Realty Index and the BSE Metal Index lost over 6-9% each while the BSE CG Index, the BSE Oil Index and the BSE Power Index declined by more than 4% each.

Selling was rampant in several index heavyweight stocks. Tata Motors at Rs243.50, DLF at Rs227.50 and Reliance Infrastructure at Rs634 slumped by over 10-13% each. Among other major laggards, JP Associates shed 8.81% at Rs111.75, Tata Steel plunged 8.37% at Rs268.80, Hindalco Industries crumbled by 7.88% at Rs57.25, Reliance Communications declined 7.19% at Rs213.50, Ranbaxy Laboratories dropped 6.83% at Rs186.20, Larsen & Toubro tumbled 5.38% at Rs831 and Reliance Industries fell by 5.45% at Rs1726.10. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Sterlite Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Infosys Technologies, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and State Bank of India shed around 2-5% each. Select counters however managed to buck the downtrend and ended in the green. ITC rose 3.21% at Rs191.55, Wipro moved up by 2.84% at Rs276.55, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries added 2.05% at Rs1236.25 and Hindustan Unilever ended marginally higher at Rs239.15.

Over 5.93 crore Unitech shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Reliance Natural Resources (3.06 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (2.87 crore shares), Karuturi Global (2.77 crore shares) and Cals Refineries (2.24 crore shares).

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Apr 16 2009

Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
16/4/2009 521070 ALOK INDUSTR AVIVA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY INDIA PVT LTD S 1190000 14.82
16/4/2009 511710 CUBI FIN SER DEEPTI AGRAWAL B 50000 12.15
16/4/2009 505200 EICHER MOTORS LTD. DEUTSCHE SECURITIES MAURITIUS LIMITED B 200000 209.98
16/4/2009 532622 GATEWAY DIST SUNDARAM BNP PARIBAS SELECT MIDCAP FUND B 1200000 79.75
16/4/2009 532622 GATEWAY DIST ANTIQUE SECURITIES PVT LTD S 2050000 80.34
16/4/2009 531137 GEMSTONE INV MALA H SHETH S 114000 22.70
16/4/2009 522059 INDAGE VIN NEW VERNON INDIA LIMITED S 78944 66.90
16/4/2009 505840 JAIPAN INDUS VASUNATI INDRAVADAN JAIN B 45151 52.20
16/4/2009 532642 JINDAL SOUTH ACACIA PARTNERS LP B 146047 435.00
16/4/2009 532642 JINDAL SOUTH ACACIA CONSERVATION FUND LP B 90000 435.00
16/4/2009 532642 JINDAL SOUTH ACACIA INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS LP B 65185 435.00
16/4/2009 532642 JINDAL SOUTH QUANTUM M LIMITED S 311232 435.00
16/4/2009 522263 JMC PROJECT ACACIA PARTNERS LP B 594190 90.00
16/4/2009 522263 JMC PROJECT ACACIA INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS LP S 594190 90.00
16/4/2009 531687 KARUTURI GLO RAHUL.B SHAH B 5102268 8.70
16/4/2009 531687 KARUTURI GLO RAHUL B.SHAH S 5102268 8.77
16/4/2009 531687 KARUTURI GLO QUANTUM M LIMITED S 3000000 8.63
16/4/2009 531687 KARUTURI GLO MORGAN STANLEY MAURITIUS COMPANY LIMITED S 5050000 8.70
16/4/2009 512559 KOHINORFOODS TEMPTATION FOODS LTD B 139000 49.99
16/4/2009 502995 MALWA COT SP BINA SANDIP VORA B 66486 28.15
16/4/2009 502995 MALWA COT SP SANDIP PRAVINCHANDRA VORA S 39000 28.06
16/4/2009 532852 MCD HOLDING ACACIA INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS LP B 414009 47.70
16/4/2009 532852 MCD HOLDING ACACIA PARTNERS LP S 137009 47.70
16/4/2009 532852 MCD HOLDING ACACIA II PARTNERS LP S 325000 47.70
16/4/2009 523523 RAINBOW PAPE NIKITA AJAY GOENKA B 190000 44.00
16/4/2009 523445 RELIANCE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUC CHANDARANA INTERMEDIARIES BROKERS P. LTD B 123505 811.09
16/4/2009 523445 RELIANCE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUC CHANDARANA INTERMEDIARIES BROKERS P. LTD S 126069 806.34
16/4/2009 531898 SANGUINE MD PRASHANT MAHADEV KAMBLE S 80000 2.31
16/4/2009 590030 SOUTHERN PET JUPITER ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED B 730000 8.55
16/4/2009 590030 SOUTHERN PET DEUTSCHE SECURITIES MAURITIUS LIMITED S 730000 8.55
16/4/2009 512413 SPECTACLE NAYANAASHWINSHAH B 331302 55.37
16/4/2009 512413 SPECTACLE NAYANAASHWINSHAH S 331302 55.45
16/4/2009 512048 SPLASH MEDIA RAMADEVIMITTAL B 7900 74.04
16/4/2009 507458 UNITED BREWR SLOANE ROBINSON LLP B 782827 121.01
16/4/2009 532765 USHER AGRO DKG SECURITIES PVT LTD S 349774 38.50
16/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT CHANDRA SHEKHAR SUNIL BHATT B 46100 34.99
16/4/2009 531874 VENUS VENT VIPUL H.SHAH S 50000 34.50
16/4/2009 531249 WELL PACK PA KISHOR B CHAUHAN B 40000 150.37
16/4/2009 531404 ZICOM ELE SE MORGAN STANLEY MAURITIUS COMPANY LIMITED S 496513 80.45

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Apr 16 2009

Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
16-APR-2009,ABAN,Aban Offshore Ltd.,P R B SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD,BUY,302674,508.80,-
16-APR-2009,ALCHEM,Alchemist Ltd,RAJABABU SAMPATRAO BANDELA,BUY,112000,55.38,-
16-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,1309698,14.69,-
16-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,HI GROWTH CORPORATE SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,1138186,14.84,-
16-APR-2009,BOMDYEING,Bombay Dyeing & Mfg Co.,SUNEET LAL,BUY,204692,204.83,-
16-APR-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,118622,2266.04,-
16-APR-2009,EICHERMOT,Eicher Motors Ltd,DEUTSCHE SECURITIES MAURITIUS LIMITED,BUY,216000,209.88,-
16-APR-2009,EVERONN,Everonn Systems India Lim,BHARAT SECURITIES PVT LTD,BUY,79225,181.08,-
16-APR-2009,IFCI,IFCI Ltd.,CLEAN FINANCE & INVESTMENT LTD,BUY,5741943,25.26,-
16-APR-2009,IFCI,IFCI Ltd.,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,BUY,4568189,25.39,-
16-APR-2009,KGL,Karuturi Global Limited,RAHUL SHAH,BUY,3953501,8.62,-
16-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,GODAVARY CORPORATION,BUY,1139251,15.00,-
16-APR-2009,NAGARFERT,Nagarjuna Fert & Chem,PACE FINANCIAL SERVICES,BUY,2146245,23.11,-
16-APR-2009,ORCHIDCHEM,Orchid Chemicals Ltd.,RATNABALI CAPITAL MARKETS LTD.,BUY,255740,101.14,-
16-APR-2009,RELCAPITAL,Reliance Capital Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,2281022,544.42,-
16-APR-2009,RELINFRA,Reliance Infrastructu Ltd,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,1200358,682.47,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,117566,806.36,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,CHANDARANA INTERMEDIARIES BROKERS P. LTD,BUY,107413,806.07,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,BUY,101060,814.55,-
16-APR-2009,SINTEX,Sintex Industries Ltd.,CLSA (MAURITIUS) LIMITED,BUY,705000,140.19,-
16-APR-2009,SREINTFIN,SREI Infrastructure Finan,NEW VERNON ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED A/C NEW VERNON INDIA LI,BUY,650000,37.95,-
16-APR-2009,UBHOLDINGS,United Breweries (Holding,SLOANE ROBINSONLLP A/C SR PHONEICIA (M) LTD CLASS A PHONEICI,BUY,614128,121.06,-
16-APR-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,1945606,15.75,-
16-APR-2009,ABAN,Aban Offshore Ltd.,P R B SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD,SELL,304674,509.10,-
16-APR-2009,ALCHEM,Alchemist Ltd,RELIGARE SECURITES LTD,SELL,75000,55.40,-
16-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,SELL,1309698,14.81,-
16-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,AVIVA LIFE INSRANCE COMPANY INDIA PVT LTD,SELL,1314957,14.90,-
16-APR-2009,ALOKTEXT,Alok Industries Limited,HI GROWTH CORPORATE SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,1138186,14.84,-
16-APR-2009,BOMDYEING,Bombay Dyeing & Mfg Co.,SUNEET LAL,SELL,208292,205.18,-
16-APR-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,118622,2268.12,-
16-APR-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER MAURITIUS COMPANY LIMIT,SELL,113639,2253.99,-
16-APR-2009,EVERONN,Everonn Systems India Lim,BHARAT SECURITIES PVT LTD,SELL,79225,181.44,-
16-APR-2009,IFCI,IFCI Ltd.,CLEAN FINANCE & INVESTMENT LTD,SELL,5741943,25.27,-
16-APR-2009,IFCI,IFCI Ltd.,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,SELL,4639324,25.47,-
16-APR-2009,KGL,Karuturi Global Limited,MORGAN STANLEY MAURITIUS COMPANY LTD,SELL,5006020,8.60,-
16-APR-2009,KGL,Karuturi Global Limited,QUANTUM (M) LIMITED,SELL,2920932,8.58,-
16-APR-2009,KGL,Karuturi Global Limited,RAHUL SHAH,SELL,3903501,8.99,-
16-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,SATTAR SHAIKH,SELL,627902,15.00,-
16-APR-2009,MELSTAR,Melstar Info Tec Ltd,SURESHKUMAR BANSAL,SELL,493713,15.00,-
16-APR-2009,MURUDCERA,Murudeshwar Ceram Ltd,INDIA INVESTMENT PARTNERS LIMITED A/C ICG Q LIMITED,SELL,198167,20.88,-
16-APR-2009,NAGARFERT,Nagarjuna Fert & Chem,PACE FINANCIAL SERVICES,SELL,2209245,23.09,-
16-APR-2009,ORCHIDCHEM,Orchid Chemicals Ltd.,RATNABALI CAPITAL MARKETS LTD.,SELL,361529,101.11,-
16-APR-2009,RELCAPITAL,Reliance Capital Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,2281022,544.77,-
16-APR-2009,RELINFRA,Reliance Infrastructu Ltd,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,1200358,682.79,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,117566,806.48,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,CHANDARANA INTERMEDIARIES BROKERS P. LTD,SELL,109649,806.82,-
16-APR-2009,RIIL,Reliance Indl Infra Ltd,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,SELL,101103,815.64,-
16-APR-2009,TATAELXSI,Tata Elxsi (India) Ltd,OCBC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD.A/C SAVERS ASIA TECHNOLOGY FUNDS.,SELL,190000,94.99,-
16-APR-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,SELL,1945606,15.78,-

Post Session Commentary - Apr 16 2009

After the past few days of strong rally session, the domestic market today took a sharp turn to close in red terrain on intense profit booking. Depressing US index futures weighed on the sentiments. Benchmark indices were under pressure also on political uncertainty as parliamentary election started today. The lower inflation data for the week ended April, 4 2009, and the positive European markets were unable to bring any respite.

The Indian market opened marginally up following positive from global markets. Wednesday, the US stock markets ended in green after late rise in buying momentum came together with a spike in trading volume. However market suddenly turned volatile and started losing ground as selling emerged among the key stocks. Further, market continued to extend its losses despite little unsuccessful attempt to recover. During final trading hours, market slipped sharply to widen its negative gap to more than 3%. BSE Sensex snapped its eight successive sessions rally and ended below 11,000 level. In addition, NSE Nifty ended below 3,400 mark. From the sectoral front, investors off-loaded position across most of the sectors. Among those, mainly Reality, Metal, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Power, Consumer Durable and PSU stocks were unable to gain market favor. Mid Cap and Small Cap stocks also lost ground during the trading session as lost more than 4% each. However, FMCG stocks were in limelight as witnessed most of the buying from its basket.

Among the Sensex pack 24 stocks ended in red territory and 6 in green. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained negative as 1742 stocks closed in red while 851 stocks closed in green and 60 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 337.33 points at 10,947.40 and NSE Nifty ended down by 114.65 points at 3,369.50. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 163.16 and 194.46 points at 3,438.73 and 3,905.82 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 11,367.23 and intraday low of 10,900.47.

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Tata Motors (13.50%), Reliance Infra (9.36%), DLF Ltd (8.63%), Tata Steel (8.25%), JP Associates (8%), Hindalco (6.84%), Ranbaxy Lab (6.81%), RCom (5.48%), L&T Ltd (5.38%), Sterlite Industries (4.98%) and Reliance (4.88%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are ITC Ltd (3.21%), Wipro Ltd (2.84%), Sun Pharma (2.05%), HUL (1.51%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.45%).

India''s wholesale price index rose 0.18% for the week ended April, 4 2009 as against the previous week''s annual rise of 0.26%, government data showed on Thursday. However, the annual inflation rate was 7.71% during the corresponding week of the previous year. The index for primary articles group rose by 1.1%. The index for ''food articles'' group grew by 1.2%. On the other hand, the index for non-food articles group raised by 0.7%. The index for fuel, power, light & lubricants rose by 0.5%. The Manufactured products group rose by 0.1%. The index for food products group rose by 0.6%.

On the global markets front the Asian markets which opened before the Indian market, ended mixed ahead of key corporate earnings reports from the U.S. However, data from China hinted that its economy may be recovering. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Straits Times index ended lower by 1.92, 86.63 and 14.24 points at 2,534.13, 15,582.99 and 1,891.75 respectively. However, Nikkei 225 and Seoul Composite gained 12.30 and 3.63 points at 8,755.26 and 1,336.72 respectively.

European markets which opened after the Indian market are trading firm In Frankfurt the DAX index is trading up by 32.46 points at 4,582.25 and in London FTSE 100 is trading higher by 32.85 points at 4,001.25.

The BSE Realty index under performed the benchmark indices as lost (9.16%) or 211.79 points to close at 2,100.74. Losers are Housing Development (14.71%), Omaxe Ltd (11.09%), Parsvnath (10.31%), Orbit Co (9.97%) and Anant Raj (9.89%).

The BSE Metal ended down by (6.97%) or 517.39 points at 6,905.12 on profit booking. Losers are Jindal Saw (11.96%), JSW Steel (10.05%), Gujarat NRE C (9.82%), Ispat Indus (9.19%) and NMDC Ltd (9.12 %).

The BSE Capital Goods index also ended lower by (4.95%) or 397.94 points at 7,645.51. Suzlon Energy (18.27%), Gammon Indi (11.35%), Areva (10.62%), Praj Indus (9.53%) and Punj Lloyd (8.25%) ended in negative territory.

The BSE Oil & Gas index lost (4.5%) or 372.01 points at 7,901.37. Scrips that fell are Cairn Ind (9.48%), RNRL (8.74%), Reliance (4.88%), ONGC Ltd (4.8%) and Reliance Pet (4.69%).

The BSE Power stocks dropped by (4.38%) or 94.84 points to close at 2,071.40. Major losers are Suzlon Energy (18.27%), Lanco Infra (11.43%), GVK Power (10.41%), Crompton Greaves (9.95%) and Reliance Infra (9.36 %).

The BSE FMCG index went up by (1.92%) or 39.55 points to close at 2,101.01. Main gainers are Tata Tea (3.99%), ITC Ltd (3.21%), Nestle Ltd (3.16%), HUL (1.51%) and Britania In (0.60%).

Tata Communications dropped by 5.04%. The company has announced its participation in the $ 600 million, new West Cable System. This investment will further boost Tata Communications’ global reach and enhance the company’s investments in the region.

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) lost 5.38%. The company has recorded a healthy growth in order inflows during FY 2008-09. L&T has bagged a number of prestigious orders, both domestic and international, from diverse sectors totaling to approximately Rs 520 Billion as compared to Rs 420 Billion in the previous year.

Natco Pharma slipped 8.04% on signing a pact with Dr Reddy''s Laboratories for the development, manufacture and supply of a generic oncology drugs, used for cancer treatment.

Tech Mahindra tumbled 5.11%. The Company Law Board (CLB) on Thursday approved the sale of Satyam Computer Services Ltd by Tech Mahindra Ltd that emerged as the highest bidder for the company.

State Bank of India (SBI) dropped by 2.62% The bank is looking the option of another round of rate cut in its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR). During the third quarter of the last financial year, SBI had rolled out 1,000-day deposits at over 10 per cent that helped it to raise around Rs 1,000 crore a day, which has now dropped to around Rs 500 crore a day.

Bank of India fell 3.79%. The bank has announced a cut in deposit rates on domestic rupee term deposits by 25 to 100 basis points, across various maturities.

Sensex falls below 11,000 on profit taking

A broad-based decline dragged the barometer index BSE Sensex below the psychological 11000 mark as a much awaited correction set in. The market breadth turned negative in contrast to a strong breadth seen in past few sessions. Both BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices slipped into the red after eight consecutive days of gains.

Realty shares, which held firm for most part of the day, crumbled like pack of cards in the last one hour of trade. All the sectoral indices on BSE, barring the FMCG index, were in the red. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 337.33 points or 2.99%.

Political uncertainty weighed on the market as the the month-long parliamentary elections began today, 16 April 2009. Poll estimates point a fractured mandate.

The market was extremely volatile. After opening on a firm note taking cue from higher Asian stocks and overnight rally in US stocks, the market soon lost ground as IT and oil & gas shares declined. A recovery was witnessed after the Sensex slipped into the negative zone in early trade. However, the recovery proved short-lived and the Sensex once again slipped into the red.

Data showing a record low inflation triggered a short-lived recovery from lower level in afternoon trade. A sell-off once again gripped the bourses in afternoon trade. The market cut losses in mid-afternoon trade on expectations of a further easing of the monetary policy. However, sell-off once again gripped the market in late trade.

Inflation measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) rose 0.18% in the 12 months to 4 April 2009, below the previous week's annual rise of 0.26%, government data released by the government today, 16 April 2009 showed. It was the lowest growth in WPI inflation in at least two decades. Record low inflation has raised expectations of a further easing of the monetary policy by the Reserve bank of India (RBI). The central bank's next monetary policy review is on 21 April 2009.

Signs of an improvement in the Indian economy and easing of the credit crisis triggered a solid rally on the Indian bourses in the past few days. The rally was also a part of a sharp surge in global equities triggered by hopes the worst of the global economic recession may be over. From a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009, the Sensex jumped 3124.33 points or 36.92% to 11,284.73 on 15 April 2009, its highest closing since 14 October 2008.

Trading in US index futures showed the Dow could fall 29 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 16 April 2009.

European markets came off the lower level but trade was choppy. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up by 0.74% to 1.17%.

Shares of the the world's largest maker of mobile phones Nokia Corp rose after it reported Q1 results which were in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase reported a better-than-expected profit of $2.1 billion in Q1 March 2009 even as the bank aggressively set aside money to cope with rising loan losses.

In the euro zone, consumer prices grew at a record low of 0.6% in March 2009 while industrial production in February 2009 tumbled, the latest data showed.

Asian stocks ended on a mixed note. Key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were up by 0.14% to 2.08%, on growing optimism that stimulus efforts and record-low interest rates are easing the global recession.

But stocks declined in China and Hong Kong after a government report showed the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years. China's Shanghai Composite index was down 0.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.55%. Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.75%

China's Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6.1% in Q1 arch 2009, after expanding 6.8% in Q4 December 2008. Expectations were a for a 6% expansion in gross domestic product for the period

The Chinese government said Thursday that recent economic data showed positive changes with better performance than expected. A spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics in a statement Thursday cited improvement in agriculture and a steady increase in industrial production, despite falling profits. However, the bureau also warned that problems remain, including a fall in demand for Chinese exports, reduced government revenue and increased difficulties on employment.

US stocks surged on Wednesday, 15 April 2009, after the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey showed the US slowdown is moderating and after credit card provider American Express Co. said bad loans increased at a slower pace in March 2009.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 337.33 points or 2.99% to 10,947.40. At the day's low of 10,900.47, the Sensex fell 384.26 points in late trade. At the day's high of 11,367.23, the Sensex rose 82.5 points at the onset of trading session, its highest level since 14 October 2008.

The S&P CNX Nifty was down 114.65 points or 3.29% at 3369.50. It slipped below its crucial 200 daily moving average (DMA) of 3450. Nifty April 2009 futures were at 3373.70, a premium of 4.2 points compared to the spot closing. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 78509.17 crore higher than Rs 72224.45 crore on Tuesday, 15 April 2009.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 4.53% and the BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.72%. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.

The BSE FMCG index (up 1.92%), the BSE Healthcare index (down 1.76%), the BSE IT index (down 2.16%), and the BSE Auto index (down 2.63%), outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Bankex (down 3.11%), the BSE PSU index (down 3.24%), the BSE Consumer Durables index (down 4.07%), the BSE Power index (down 4.38%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (down 4.50%), the BSE Capital Goods index (down 4.95%), the BSE Metal index (down 6.97%), and the BSE Realty index (down 9.16%), underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 851 shares rose as compared to 1742 that declined. A total of 60 shares were unchanged. The breadth was strong in early trade.

India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors tumbled 13.50% on profit selling after it rose 56.35% in six consecutive sessions to Rs 281.20 on 15 April 2009 from Rs 179.85 on 1 April 2009.

India's top passenger vehicle maker by sales Maruti Suzuki rose 0.45% to Rs 851.55 on hopes lower interest rates will boost demand for passenger cars. The stock hit intraday high Rs 873, its 52-week high.

India's largest realtor by market capitalisation DLF slumped 11.62%. The company is reported to have approached the government to surrender four IT-ITeS notified special economic zones due to a cash crunch.

Unitech (down 9.78%), HDIL (down 14.71%), Omaxe (down 11.09%), Sobha Developers (down 9.41%), and Indiabulls Real Estate (down 9.02%), were the other real estate shares that fell sharply.

World's sixth largest steel maker by sales Tata Steel fell 8.25% on profit selling after the stock rose 49.55% in eight consecutive sessions to Rs 293.35 on 15 April 2009 from Rs 196.15 on 30 March 2009.

Stainless steel maker JSL slipped 9.11% on reports the company would post its first ever annual loss in the upcoming year ended results on high raw material prices and longer-than-expected plant shutdowns.

Jindal Saw (down 11.96%), JSW Steel (down 10.05%), Gujarat NRE Coke (down 9.82%), NMDC (down 9.12%), Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren (down 8.82%), Sesa Goa (down 8.09%), Hindalco Industries (down 6.84%), were the other major metal sector losers.

India's largest drug maker by sales Ranbaxy Laboratories fell 6.81% on reports the company has lost more than Rs 2500 crore in forex hedging. It had reported foreign exchange-related loss of Rs 784 crore in Q4 December 2008.

India's second largest software outsourcer by sales Infosys Technologies fell 2.15%. Infosys has the second highest weightage of 8.26% on the index. The stock had had lost nearly 3% yesterday, 15 April 2009 after the company issued a weak guidance for the year ending March 2010 (FY 2010).

Infosys has forecast a 3.1% to 6.7% decline in revenue to between $4.35 billion and $4.52 billion as per US GAAP for the year ending March 2010 (FY 2010). The company forecast a 9.5% to 13.6% decline in consolidated earnings per American Depositary Share in the range of $ 1.91 and $ 2.00 for FY 2010. The pricing for the quarter ended March 2009 declined by 3%, S.D.Shibulal, chief operating officer, Infosys said in a statement.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by revenue Larsen & Toubro fell 5.38% even as the company expects its order inflow to grow by 25-35% in the year ending March 2010 (FY 2010). The company said new orders grew 24% to Rs 52000 crore in the financial year that ended on 31 March 2009.

Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy tanked 18.27% on reports the company faces new problems over blades for a project in China. The company, however, on Thursday denied media reports. Suzlon clarified that blades referred to in the reports are in testing stage and their production has not started yet, the company's chief operating officer (COO) Sumant Sinha said

Gammon India (down 11.35%), Areva T&D (down 10.62%), Crompton Greaves (down 9.95%), Praj Industries (down 9.53%), Punj Lloyd (down 8.25%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 2.59%), were the other capital goods sector shares that fell.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 4.88% on profit taking after it rose 20.44% in eight straight sessions to Rs 1825.55 on 15 April 2009 from Rs 1515.70 on 30 March 2009. The scrip has the highest weightage of 17.78% on the Sensex. The company recently 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.

Private sector oil explorer Cairn India dropped 9.48% after Macquarie Group cut rating on the stock to 'underperform' from 'outperform', citing lower forecasts for crude oil prices.

India's largest state-run oil explorer by market capitalisation Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) fell 4.80% after Macquarie Group cut rating on the stock to 'underperform' from 'outperform', citing lower forecasts for crude oil prices.

Reliance Infrastructure (down 9.36%), Jaiprakash Associates (down 8%), Reliance Communication (down 5.48%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 4.82%), were the other major Sensex losers.

Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 2.05%), Wipro (up 2.84%), and ACC (up 0.36%), were other major gainers from the Sensex pack.

Shares of FMCG companies rose forecasts of a good monsoon rains this year. Tata Tea (up 3.99%), Nestle (up 3.44%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.51%), ITC (up 3.21%), and Britannia Industries (up 0.60%), rose. The BSE FMCG Index rose 1.92%.

The International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society at Columbia University has forecast normal-to-slightly-above-normal monsoon for India between June and September this year. A good harvest could boost rural demand for FMCG products.

Banking shares, which had risen in early trade on the back of sharp decline in government bond yields, fell sharply as the session progressed. ICICI Bank (down 3.90%), HDFC Bank (down 1.80%), State Bank of India (down 2.62%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 5.31%), Axis Bank (down 6.66%), and Yes Bank (down 8.36%), declined.

Bond yields slipped to one-month low on Thursday due to surplus cash of more than Rs 1 lakh crore with banks. At 12:30 IST, the 10-year benchmark bond yield was at 6.49%, its lowest since 20 March 2009. It had ended at 6.60% on Wednesday. It may be recalled that many banks had reported robust Q3 December 2008 results on the back of treasury gains as bond prices soared. Bond yields and bond prices are inversely related.

Agrochemicals maker Rallis India spurted 7.09% on posting 25.8% rise in net profit to Rs 9.90 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008. Net sales rose 33.8% to Rs 193.12 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008. As the time of announcing results, the board of directors recommended a dividend at the rate of Rs 16 per share (160%).

Liquor maker Radico Khaitan fell 5.05%. According to reports, an entrepreneur Ramesh Vangal is in talks with Radico Khaitan to acquire a controlling interest in the brand portfolio of the liquor firm. Vangal is backed by a large American buyout fund while white spirits giant Bacardi is also a potential suitor for Radico's stake.

Steel tubes and pipes maker Bihar Tubes hit 5% upper circuit as the company achieved close to 75% growth in production in the financial year ended March 2009.

Moulded products maker Supreme Industries jumped 5.59% on reporting 245.8% surge in net profit to Rs 28.56 crore in Q3 March 2009 over Q3 March 2008.Nnet sales rose 35.5% to Rs 442.16 crore in Q3 March 2009 over Q3 March 2009.

Engineering company Honeywell Automation India rose 4.17% after its net profit rose 173.73% to Rs 29.81 crore on 24.62% rise in net sales to Rs 274.78 crore in Q1 March 2009 over Q1 March 2008.

Pre Session Commentary - Apr 16 2009

Today domestic markets are likely to have positive opening as the global cues sre supportive as the Asian markets are trading in green and the US markets closed with decent gains. However, the institutional investors are back in markets to book their positions. The FII''s net buying in April so far has gone up to Rs443 crore as compared to Rs131 crore in March. The insurance companies are also actively taking part and continued its buying spree. The bulls are likely to extend the gains and rule the ground after a stellar performance yesterday. The investors also keep a close watch on the inflation numbers, which is scheduled to be announced by the government today. However, the profit booking cannot be ruled out during the trading session. Moreover, the domestic country is going for a voting today for the general elections and this will end on May 13.

On Wednesday, domestic markets recorded eight consecutive gains. The Sensex has finally broken its shackles to close above the 11k mark. There was not a very conducive atmosphere across the Asian and European markets however the domestic investors were bullish across the broader level stocks. There could be an intuitive buying force before the Lok Sabha election. In the Sectoral indices , Realty, CG, Power and Bankex witnessed huge buying as they gained 8.79%, 7.36%, 5.19% and 4.53% respectively. However on the other hand IT was the only sector to close in red due the apprehensive forecast by Infosys for FY10. Smallcap and Midcap stocks have once again stolen the charm of the day from the heavyweights as they closed with exemplary gains of 3.95% and 5.32% respectively. During the session we expect the markets to be trading positive with an essence of slight volatility.

The BSE Sensex closed with gain of 317.51 points at 11,284.73 and NSE Nifty ended with gain of 101.55 at 3,484.15. BSE Mid Caps and BSE Small Caps ended with gains of 136.97 points and 208.29 points at 3,601.89 and 4,123.45 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 11,337.75 and intraday low of 10,719.18.

Wednesday, the US stock markets ended in green. A late rise in buying momentum came together with a spike in trading volume. The buying effort was mainly led by financial stocks. US light crude oil futures for May delivery closed down by 1% to settle at $49.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The May futures contracts slipped below the $50 level on the back of the DOE report, which showed that the crude oil experienced a larger than expected build in inventories for the week ending April 10.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) increased by 109.44 points to close at 8,029.62. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index increased by 1.08 points to close at 1,629.80 and the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 10.56 points to close at 852.06.

Today major stock markets in Asia are trading up. Shanghai composite is higher by 7.08 points at 2,543.13. Japan''s Nikkei is trading up by 253.43 points at 8,996.39 followed by Hang Seng which is up by 85.51 points at 15,755.13. Taiwan Weighted is also higher by 135.06 points at 56,010.25 and Seoul Composite is up by 28.28 points at 1,361.37 respectively.

Indian ADRs ended mixed. In technology sector, Infosys ended down by 6.78% along with Wipro by 4.50%. Further, Patni Computers gained 1.86% whereas Satyam closed lower by 2%. In banking sector ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 6.08% and 1.21% respectively. In telecommunication sector Tata Communication dropped by 1.09% while MTNL advanced by 4.47%. Sterlite Industries increased by 0.72%.

The FIIs on Wednesday stood as net buyers in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 2,058.30 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 468.90 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 1,416.40 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 135.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 641.80 Crore and Rs 333.90 Crore respectively.

On Wednesday, the Rupee closed at Rs. 49.69/70, 19 paise stronger than its previous close of Rs. 49.82. The local currency closed stronger due to domestic markets surging in new high.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 69.63 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 7,701.78 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded was 139.05 Crore and total turnover was Rs 20,995.79 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 116875132 shares, Suzlon Energy with 48591648 shares, DLF with 24946323 shares, Hindalco with 24749818 shares followed by ICICI Bank with 18814676 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 1041611 with a total turnover of Rs 17,145.04 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 636706 with a total turnover of Rs 23,544.34 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1729315 with a total turnover of Rs 29,470.40 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 52560 and notional turnover was Rs 2,064.67 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 3,448 and resistance at 3,561 and BSE Sensex has support at 11,076 and resistance at 11,634.

Market may gain further

The benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, are expected to commence on a firm note and witness significant rally during intra-day trades, as international markets backed by firm US and Asian indices may help the sentiment remain buoyant. Among the Asian majors, Kospi Index has surged 1.64% while Straits Times & Jakarta Composite Index has scaled up nearly 1-2% each. On the technical front, the Nifty could test in the 3520-3560 range on the upside and has supports in the 3450-3400 range, while the Sensex has a likely support at 11150 and may face resistance at 11450.

US indices posted significant gains on Wednesday, supporting the broader market, after a Federal Reserve report on the economy added to hopes that the pace of the slowdown is easing. As a result, the Dow Jones flared up by 109 points at 8,030, while the Nasdaq added a points to close at 1627.

Indian ADRs had a mixed outing on the US bourses. Infosys on weak quarterly numbers lost over 6.78% while Satyam, Wipro, Rediff and VSNL were up down 1-4% each. However, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy, MTNL, HDFC Bank and Patni Computers gained over 1-6%.

Crude oil prices in the US market declined, with the Nymex light crude oil for May delivery moved down by 16 cents to close at $49.25 per barrel . In the commodity segment, the Comex gold for June series gained $1.50 to settle at $893.50 a troy ounce.

Stocks register good gains at Wall Street

Late buying effort helps offset weak economic report impact

Stocks at Wall Street ended with gains on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009. Though the indices traded in the mixed mode for almost the entire day, they managed to finish in the green at the end. Despite a couple of worse than expected earning reports, stocks managed to make good gains. The Nasdaq was in the red despite a steady earnings report from Intel. The Dow had managed to stay in the green, perhaps due to a stronger than expected housing report.

After starting the day 23 points up earlier during the day, The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 109 points at 8,029. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 1 point at 1,626. S&P 500 ended higher by 10.5 points at 852.

Nine of the ten sectors posted a gain today led by financial sector. Technology sector was the sole laggard. The buying effort crept in the final hour of trading.

With mortgage rates near all-time lows and a home buyer tax credit in place, U.S. home builders were much more optimistic about the housing market in April than they were in March. The National Association of Home Builders reported today that its home builders' index rose to 14 in April from 9 in March. It's the first time the index has been in double digits since October, when it was also at 14.

It was the largest one-month increase in the index in more than five years, but it still shows that only about one in seven builders thinks business is good or fair.

In the earnings sector, Intel announced its latest quarterly results. It was, quite solid and better-than-expected earnings results. Intel even indicated during its conference call that a bottom has been reached in the personal computer market and that the worst is behind them from an inventory and demand perspective. But the same has failed to inspire Nasdaq to move up to the green territory.

The Fed came out with its latest Beige Book report on the economy today. As per the report, the economy continued to worsen across the United States in March and early April, amid scattered signs that the pace of the decline was lessening in some regions.

The economy declined at a 6.3% annual pace in the fourth quarter, and economists are forecasting a decline of 5% in the first quarter and about 2% in the current quarter. Almost all sectors were contracting or slowing in almost all regions. Manufacturing weakened, retail spending was "sluggish," the housing markets were "weak" and banks reported rising delinquencies and deteriorating loan quality.

The Labor Department reported today that March industrial production fell 1.5%, which is worse than the 0.9% decline that was expected. Capacity utilization came in at 69.3%, which is in-line with expectations. The report overall was bad and continued to reflect a weak demand environment.

In a separate report, the government reported that, at the consumer level, prices in March slipped 0.1%, but core prices increased 0.2%. Market expected a respective increase of 0.1% and an increase of 0.1%. The government also reported that inflation at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.

Crude oil fell once again on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009 after energy department reported that crude inventories rose more thane expected for the week ended 10 April, 2009. On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for May delivery closed at $49.1/barrel (lower by $0.31 or 0.6%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Before the report hit the wires, crude was trading higher by 1%. Last week, crude ended lower by 0.5%.

The EIA reported today that crude inventories rose 5.6 million barrels in the week ended 10 April, 2009. Market was expecting an increase of 2.5 million barrels. At 366.7 million barrels, U.S. inventories stood at the highest level since September 1990.

Earning reports expected tomorrow include JP Morgan Chase. Economic data will also be in focus, with housing market release of the March building permit and housing starts report. Also on the economic calendar, weekly new unemployment claims is due at 8:30ET followed by the Philadelphia Fed report at 10:00ET.

Market may extend gains on firm Asian equities

The market may extend recent solid gains on positive cues from the global markets and sustained buying by foreign funds. But political uncertainty ahead of the parliamentary elections may cap near term upside. The month-long parliamentary elections begin today, 16 April 2009. The elections may result with no existing political alliance able to form a government, according to a Star News- Nielsen poll conducted from 26 March 2009 to 3 April 2009.

The market sentiment remains firm due to buying by foreign funds after heavy outflows in the first two months of calendar 2009. As per the provisional data released by the stock exchanges, foreign fund bought shares worth a net Rs 684.50 crore on Wednesday, 15 April 2009. FII inflow totaled Rs 2320 crore in the first few days this month (till 13 April 2009).

Asian stocks rose on growing optimism that stimulus efforts and record-low interest rates are easing the global recession. But China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.14% as a government report showed the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years.

China's Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6.1% in Q1 arch 2009, after expanding 6.8% in Q4 December 2008. Expectations were a for a 6% expansion in gross domestic product for the period

The Chinese government said Thursday that recent economic data showed positive changes with better performance than expected. A spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics in a statement Thursday cited improvement in agriculture and a steady increase in industrial production, despite falling profits. However, the bureau also warned that problems remain, including a fall in demand for Chinese exports, reduced government revenue and increased difficulties on employment.

US stocks surged on Wednesday, 15 April 2009, after the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey showed the US slowdown is moderating and after credit card provider American Express Co. said bad loans increased at a slower pace in March 2009.

Trading in US index futures showed the Dow could rise 15 points on Thursday, 16 April 2009.

Closer home, the Q4 March 2009 results will dictate the near-term trend on the bourses and investors will closely watch the future outlook provided by the company managements.

Cement, Hotels, Oil and Gas, Metals Q4FY09 Preview

Cement, Hotels, Oil and Gas, Metals Q4FY09 Preview

Daily News Roundup - Apr 16 2009

ICAI has opposed the proposed sale of Satyam to Tech Mahindra before restating accounts. (ET)
CLB nod sought for 31% sale of Satyam to Tech Mahindra. (ET)
Infosys fresher intake at 16,000 will constitute 89% of total recruitments to be carried out in FY10. (BS)
SBI will need to raise RS600-700bn over the next five years. (ET)
Sterlite likely to match Gurpo Mexico’s bid to acquire Asarco. (FE)
L&T’s order book for FY09 is expected to be in excess of Rs700bn. (FE)
L&T signed a preliminary agreement with Russia’s ZAO Atomstroyexport for nuclear power reactors. (Mint)
Suzlon is learnt to have pledged its shares with C Sivasankaran to raise ~Rs4bn to buy its stake in REpower. (ET)
DLF has approached the government on surrendering its 5 of the 9 IT/ITES notified SEZs. (FE)
DLF may retrade its apartments at New Town Heights, Gurgaon, and Garden City, Chennai, at a discount. (BS)
NALCO to lose a weeks production as its mines were attacked by the Maoists. (ET)
Cairn India may get nod to export crude oil from the Rajasthan fields as buyers are willing to buy less than one third of the peak output. (ET)
GVK Industries commissioned its 220MW Jegurupadu phase-II power plant using gas supplied by GAIL through a swap deal with Reliance Industries. (BL)
RCom would invite tenders from existing bondholders to buying back FCCB’s at a discount. (FE)
RCom adds 3mn subscribers in March. (ET)
GSPC-Adani to pump in Rs5bn for LNG terminal land in Mundra. (BS)
Kingfisher has sought 10 more days to pay IOC its jet fuel dues. (Mint)
ArcelorMittal’s greenfield steel project in Orissa is facing trouble due to delayed payments to the state government. (ET)
Hero Group pulled out of JV with Daimler to manufacture commercial vehicles in India. (ET)
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India plans to invest Rs3bn as part of its expansion plans in India over the next 3 years. (BS)
United Spirits FY09 volumes grew 20% to 90 million cases. (BL)
Polaris Software plans to strengthen its insurance portfolio business by introducing new solutions. (BS)
Ranbaxy Laboratories is likely to take Rs25bn MTM hit on forex contracts. (ET)
NMDC may stop iron ore exports if prices crash. (ET)
Ennore Coke looking to acquire 90% stake in Broughton coal mines.(BS)
Gitanjali Gems to buy back shares for an amount not exceeding Rs1.44bn. (FE)
Apollo Tyres sees revival in replacements during Q4 FY09. (BL)
Kotak Bank opposes merger of Subhiksha with Blue Green Investment and Consultant. (ET)
Colours TV channel emerged as the leader in viewership in hindi GEC segment that was held by Star Plus for the past 9 years. (Mint)

Air traffic slumps 14% in March on high fares. (ET)
Jet fuel prices hiked by 6.7%, third time in a month. (FE)
Steel secretary expects FY10 steel production and consumption to be higher than FY09 levels. (FE)
Coal India’s and Singareni Collieries Company’s coal production for February ’09 stood at 42.88MT, higher by 1.77MT. (FE)
Central excise collections in Orissa declined by 6.5% at the end of February ’09. (BS)
Vegetable oil imports increased 28% in March. (BL)
13 large power stations are currently reeling with less than 4 days of coal stock. (BL)
Builders Association of India seeks ban on cement exports. (ET)

Bulls count their blessings!

It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.

The bulls have turned dictators and continue to count their gains. A dour forecast from Infosys didn’t seem to bother them as the Sensex surpassed 11,000. The Nifty is closing in on 3,500. The small and mid-cap shares continued to outperform their frontline peers. Volume and turnover saw a welcome jump. FIIs extended their buying binge, though reports say this may be inflated on account of outdated currency rate used by SEBI. Still, there is no denying that the undertone has improved over the past few weeks.

How far can this rebound go, especially if there is no incremental good news on the global economy and financial sector? For India, there is the added ‘X’ factor – elections, which kicks off today. There is yet no clarity on which formation will get the throne at the Centre. An unexpected verdict could spoil the party for bulls. For today, the outlook is largely positive. With Asian stocks are off their highs post release of Chinese Q1 GDP data (6.1% growth vs 10.6%), don’t be surprised if some cooling does take place.

US blue chip stocks ended a choppy session up on Wednesday by surging higher into the close, with financials pacing the gains. Blue chips rallied late, supporting the broader market, after a Federal Reserve report on the world's largest economy added to hopes that the pace of the slowdown is easing. An unclear outlook from chip titan Intel late on Tuesday kept technology space subdued.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 109 points, or 1.4%, to 8,029.62. The S&P 500 index gained 10 points, or 1.3%, to 852.06. The Nasdaq Composite index finished unchanged at 1,626.80.

US stocks roiled on Monday and fell on Tuesday in a choppy start to the week following a five-week rally. The advance has been driven by bets that the pace of the recession is slowing. A Federal Reserve report released on Wednesday afternoon added to those bets. The Fed's "Beige Book" periodic reading on the economy showed that overall activity stayed weak or got worse. But five of the 12 districts showed a slowdown in the pace of decline and a few more districts showed certain parts of the economy were stabilizing.

In five weeks, the Dow gained 22%, its biggest consecutive five-week run on a percentage basis since 1933, when it gained 31%. The run up followed a rout that left the Dow and S&P 500 at 12-year lows and the Nasdaq at 6-year lows.

Other economic reports continued to support hopes that the US economy is getting closer to finding its footing. A report on consumer prices showed inflation remains a non-issue as a result of the recession. Another report showed that New York-area manufacturing weakened at a slower pace in April than in March.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Labor Department's key measure of inflation, fell 0.1% in March after rising 0.4% in February. Economists thought it would rise 0.1%. The so-called Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% after climbing 0.2% in the previous month. Economists predicted it would rise 0.1%. CPI fell 0.4% over the last year, the first year-over-year decline since August 1955.

Industrial production fell 1.5% in March, after falling a revised 1.5% in February. Economists thought it would drop 0.9%. Capacity utilization fell to 69.3% from 70.3% in the prior month as against expectations of a fall to 69.6%.

Another report, the New York Empire State index on manufacturing activity, improved to negative 14.7 in April from negative 38.2 in March, surprising economists who were looking for a smaller improvement to negative 35.

After the market close on Tuesday, Intel reported weaker quarterly sales and earnings that nevertheless topped expectations. The company declined to give a current-quarter forecast, but Intel's CEO said that PC sales bottomed in the first quarter. Shares fell 2.4% on Wednesday.

EBay said late on Tuesday that it plans to spin off its Skype Internet telephone unit in an initial public offering next year. Shares were little changed on Wednesday.

Swiss banking giant UBS warned that it would post a big quarterly loss and cut almost 9,000 more jobs. Shares were little changed.

Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.79% from 2.78% on Tuesday.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.

US light crude oil for May delivery fell 16 cents to settle at $49.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dropped after a government report showed weekly supplies rose more than double what was expected.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $1.50 to settle at $893.50 an ounce.

March reports on housing starts and building permits are due from the government before the start of trading on Thursday. The weekly jobless claims report is also due before the open. The Philadelphia Fed index, a regional read on manufacturing, is due shortly after the open.

On the quarterly results front, JPMorgan Chase and Nokia report profits before the opening bell. Google reports after the close.

Indian market extended gains to eight straight trading session on Wednesday. Unabated buying in the interest rate sensitive stocks, Pharma, metals and the cement stocks lifted the BSE Sensex to end above the 11,000 mark. NSE Nifty also ended above the 200 DMA with huge turnover. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap indices outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 4% and Small-Cap index added 5.3%.

The BSE Sensex rallied 317 points to close at 11,284 and the NSE Nifty ended 101 points higher at 3,484.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 22 stocks ended in positive terrain and 7 stocks ended in the red. Tata Motors, DLF, BHEL, Reliance Infra, Ranbaxy and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers. Among the top losers were Infosys, TCS, HDFC Bank and Tata Power.

Shares of Bhushan Steel surged 2.2% to Rs429 after reports stated that the company has hiked its Orrisa plant capacity to 2.5mtpa. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs452 and a low of Rs422 and recorded volumes of over 0.18mn shares on BSE.

Shares of DCW Ltd surged by over 7% to Rs11.1 after the company announced that it commenced sale of it's surplus power from the company's 2 x 25 MW Coal based Captive Co Generation Plant situated at Sahupuram in Tamilnadu to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

The supply commenced on April 09, 2009 and the agreement is for supply of power till May 31, 2009 for the time being.

Akruti was locked at 5% lower circuit to Rs491. The board of directors of the company announced that they would meet on May 08, 2009 to consider spilt of the equity shares of the company having a face value of Rs10 per share.

Shares of Infosys recovered from its intra-day low and ended at Rs1370 down by 2.7%. The stock sharply slipped after the IT bellwether announced Q4 FY09 net profit of Rs16.13bn versus Rs16.41bn in the previous quarter, translating into a sequential drop of 1.7% in Rupee terms. Revenue for the fourth quarter is down 2.6% QoQ at Rs56.35bn as against Rs57.86bn in Q3 FY09.

Shares of CMC Ltd shot up by over 51% to Rs571 after the company’s fourth-quarter consolidated net profit rose 60% from a year earlier to Rs384.5mn.The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs627 and a low of Rs398 and recorded volumes of over 0.53mn shares on BSE.

Shares of Rolta India rallied by over 7% to Rs110 after the company announced the renewal of its partnership with Intergraph® Corp; the leading global provider of engineering and geospatial software. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs122 and a low of Rs99 and recorded volumes of over 10.6mn shares on BSE.

With the NSE Nifty managing to close above the 200DMA, bulls will look to extend gains on Thursday. However, after a long upswing, profit taking and selling at higher levels cannot be ruled out. Trading cautiously is advised.

SGX Nifty Live Update - Apr 16 2009

SGX Nifty 3,518.0 trading at +25.5

Bullion metals add little shine

Weaker than expected economic reports increase the appeal of precious metals

Bullion metal ended little higher on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009. Prices rose as traders went back to precious metals today after weak set of economic reports hit the wires today.

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 June delivery rose $1.5 (0.2%) to close at $893.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Last week, gold ended lower by 1.5%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 0.9%.

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 (15.5%) since then.

On Wednesday, Comex silver futures for May delivery rose by 3.5 cents (0.3%) at $12.8 an ounce. Year to date, silver has climbed 12% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

The Labor Department reported today that March industrial production fell 1.5%, which is worse than the 0.9% decline that was expected. Capacity utilization came in at 69.3%, which is in-line with expectations. The report overall was bad and continued to reflect a weak demand environment.

In a separate report, the government reported that, at the consumer level, prices in March slipped 0.1%, but core prices increased 0.2%. Market expected a respective increase of 0.1% and an increase of 0.1%. The government also reported that inflation at the wholesale level fell more sharply than had been anticipated last month amid weaker energy prices.

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 lower by Rs 46 (0.3%) at Rs 14,282 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 14,400 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 14,210 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed Rs 17 (0.08%) lower at Rs 21,093/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 21,101/kg and fell to a low of Rs 20,920/Kg during the day's trading.

Crude drops again

Prices drop as crude inventories rise more than expected

Crude oil fell once again on Wednesday, 15 April, 2009 after energy department reported that crude inventories rose more thane expected for the week ended 10 April, 2009. Earlier during the week, the International Energy Agency had lowered its forecast for this year's global oil demand.

On Wednesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for May delivery closed at $49.1/barrel (lower by $0.31 or 0.6%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Before the report hit the wires, crude was trading higher by 1%. Last week, crude ended lower by 0.5%.

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 70% since then. Year to date, in 2009, crude prices are higher by 11.4%. On a yearly basis, crude prices are lower by 48%.

The EIA reported today that crude inventories rose 5.6 million barrels in the week ended 10 April, 2009. Market was expecting an increase of 2.5 million barrels. At 366.7 million barrels, U.S. inventories stood at the highest level since September 1990.

EIA also reported that gasoline inventories fell by 900,000 barrels last week, as refineries reduced production, and distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.2 million barrels. U.S. refineries operated at 80.4% of their operable capacity, the lowest level since September 2008. Meanwhile, total petroleum demand over the past four weeks fell by 5.2% from a year ago.

Paris based IEA reported earlier during the week that it is cutting its demand projection by 1 million barrels a day. After the latest revision, global oil demand this year is now forecast at 83.4 million barrels a day, which is 2.4 million barrels a day below the 2008 level.

Also at the Nymex on Wednesday, May reformulated gasoline fell 1.1% to $1.4419 a gallon and May heating oil lost 1.2% to $1.3851 a gallon. May natural-gas futures fell 1.4% to $3.638 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 2,588/barrel, lower by Rs 30 (1.14%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for April delivery closed at Rs 183.5/mmbtu, higher by Rs 0.3/mmbtu (0.16%)