BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Sep 25 2009

Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
25/9/2009 531761 AMULYA LEAS SMRIDHI FARMS PVT. LTD. B 31100 15.76
25/9/2009 531761 AMULYA LEAS MEHUL VERMA S 31200 15.76
25/9/2009 505506 AXON INFOTEC VIJAYKUMAR BANARSI JAYSWAL B 5000 15.99
25/9/2009 500045 BELLA STE AL JMP SECURITIES PVT LTD B 1166239 3.69
25/9/2009 526652 CALS REF LTD JMP SECURITIES PVT LTD S 39762044 0.74
25/9/2009 532363 COMP-U-LEARN KISHOREBABU RAMINENI B 100000 20.09
25/9/2009 524768 EMMESSA BIOT RAGHAVAN M S AYYANGAR B 41000 6.00
25/9/2009 524768 EMMESSA BIOT PADMANABHAN CHANDRASEKAR S 40000 6.00
25/9/2009 500495 ESCORTS LTD. OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 561739 99.83
25/9/2009 500495 ESCORTS LTD. OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 561739 99.89
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH OM EDUCATION (IT) PVT LTD B 80000 33.25
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH CHIMANLAL MANEKLAL SECURITIES PVT.LTD B 63385 30.07
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH OM EDUCATION (IT) PVT LTD S 160000 30.82
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH AMRUT SECURITIES LTD. S 142243 29.43
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH SAMIRKUMAR DIPAKBHAI SHAH S 56317 29.38
25/9/2009 532022 FILAT FASH CHIMANLAL MANEKLAL SECURITIES PVT.LTD S 62257 30.60
25/9/2009 531486 FILMCIT MEDI WELLNESS COMMUNICATION (P) LTD S 1400000 0.98
25/9/2009 506109 GENE INT COR TAIB BANK A/C TSML B 99278 118.30
25/9/2009 506109 GENE INT COR RATNA PARDASANI S 100000 118.30
25/9/2009 531439 GOLDSTON TEC PREM MOHANLAL PARIKH B 200000 29.33
25/9/2009 531439 GOLDSTON TEC HEMANT MADHUSUDAN SHETH S 200250 29.29
25/9/2009 511682 IFL PRMOTER J A FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS PVT LTD S 20710 7.58
25/9/2009 504336 INDTRADECO L FINVEST PVT.LTD ROOPSHRI S 2500000 0.44
25/9/2009 532851 INSECTCID PRITESH BIPIN PATEL B 70953 80.73
25/9/2009 532851 INSECTCID PRITESH BIPIN PATEL S 70953 82.23
25/9/2009 523467 JAI MATA GLA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BANK OF INDIA S 50000 5.58
25/9/2009 533103 JINDALCOTEX TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. B 139989 84.11
25/9/2009 533103 JINDALCOTEX TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. S 139989 84.41
25/9/2009 532747 KFA GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT. LTD. B 1467149 57.15
25/9/2009 532747 KFA GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT. LTD. S 1467149 57.21
25/9/2009 531602 KOFF BR PICT KISHORE B CHAUHAN S 1693392 2.24
25/9/2009 531602 KOFF BR PICT HEMANT MADHUSUDAN SHETH S 1000000 2.24
25/9/2009 531602 KOFF BR PICT PREM M PARIKH S 350000 2.24
25/9/2009 511688 MATHEW EASOW RAJASTHAN GLOBAL SEC LTD B 76000 17.52
25/9/2009 511688 MATHEW EASOW SURENDRA NATH GUPTA S 71600 17.52
25/9/2009 524372 ORCHID CHEM OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 580815 172.87
25/9/2009 524372 ORCHID CHEM OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 580815 173.03
25/9/2009 511702 PARSHART INV KRUPA SANJAY SONI B 16777 19.49
25/9/2009 511702 PARSHART INV SONI KRUPA SANJAY B 30000 20.00
25/9/2009 511702 PARSHART INV KRUPA SANJAY SONI S 16777 19.83
25/9/2009 511702 PARSHART INV ASHLESH GUNVANTBHAI SHAH S 30000 19.88
25/9/2009 511702 PARSHART INV PRADEEP RAMPRASAD SANDHIR HUF S 20000 19.78
25/9/2009 532805 REDINGTON INDIA MAN FUND MAURITIUS FUND B 2902003 255.00
25/9/2009 532805 REDINGTON BEETHOVEN LIMITED S 2987144 255.01
25/9/2009 531646 RFL INTERNAT FAST TRACK ENTERTAINMENT LTD. B 62500 1.71
25/9/2009 531646 RFL INTERNAT NILESH KRUSHNA PALANDE B 117031 1.71
25/9/2009 531646 RFL INTERNAT UNIVERSAL CREDIT B 63664 1.71
25/9/2009 531646 RFL INTERNAT VORA JIGEN RASIKLAL HUF S 230825 1.71
25/9/2009 517534 S.V.ELECTRIC BABITA NARESH JAIN B 139500 15.52
25/9/2009 517534 S.V.ELECTRIC GIRISH NAIR S 150000 15.52
25/9/2009 530461 SABOO SOD CH NEHA UMESH DHRUVA B 131709 11.36
25/9/2009 506172 SAMPADA CHEM THE PREMIER COMMERCIAL COPVT LTD S 25000 24.68
25/9/2009 524540 SECUN HEALTH SAMEER N SHAH B 40815 29.06
25/9/2009 524540 SECUN HEALTH SAMEER N SHAH S 38837 29.11
25/9/2009 532945 SHRIRAM EPC ARGONAUT VENTURES OPPORTUNITIES FUND VAR SERIES B 998700 185.00
25/9/2009 532945 SHRIRAM EPC GALLEONSPECIAL OPP.FUND SPC LTDASIANCROSSOVERSEGREGATEDPORTFOLIO S 1000000 185.00
25/9/2009 503310 SWAN MILLS VIDEOCON INDUSTRIES LIMITED S 580000 110.09
25/9/2009 503310 SWAN MILLS SHREE DHOOT TRADING AND AGNCS S 850000 110.00
25/9/2009 532917 VARUN INDS HITESH SHASHIKANT JHAVERI B 130135 172.38
25/9/2009 532917 VARUN INDS HITESH SHASHIKANT JHAVERI S 116019 172.29
25/9/2009 503657 VEER ENERGY AANGI SHARES & SERVICES PVT. LTD. S 272391 22.01
25/9/2009 531668 VISION CORPO AKSHAYE KHANNA B 200000 7.40
25/9/2009 532795 WIRE& WIRLES TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. B 1232849 22.63
25/9/2009 532795 WIRE& WIRLES TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. S 1232849 22.69

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Sep 25 2009

Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
25-SEP-2009,FAME,Fame India Limited,GULSHAN INVESTMENT CO. LTD.,BUY,2274555,30.00,-
25-SEP-2009,FAME,Fame India Limited,SHAIL INVESTMENTS PVT. LTD.,BUY,2395383,30.00,-
25-SEP-2009,GLORY,Glory Polyfilms Limited,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,BUY,102108,25.88,-
25-SEP-2009,INSECTICID,Insecticides (India) Limi,PATEL PRITESH BIPIN,BUY,67156,80.24,-
25-SEP-2009,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,BUY,11763543,23.01,-
25-SEP-2009,JKTYRE,JK Tyre & Industries Ltd,ULTIMA FINVEST Ltd.,BUY,542985,134.08,-
25-SEP-2009,KFA,Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,BUY,2299665,57.27,-
25-SEP-2009,KFA,Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.,MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER MAURITIUS COMPANY LIMIT,BUY,1700000,57.20,-
25-SEP-2009,VHL,Vardhman Holdings Limited,G S AUTO LEASING LIMITED,BUY,20000,240.38,-
25-SEP-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,BUY,1324688,22.65,-
25-SEP-2009,APTECHT,Aptech Limited,MORGAN STANLEY MAURITIUS COMPANY LTD,SELL,414000,276.27,-
25-SEP-2009,FAME,Fame India Limited,ARANDA INVEST(MAURI) PTE LTD,SELL,3148633,30.00,-
25-SEP-2009,FAME,Fame India Limited,DUNEARN INVEST (MAUR) PTE LTD -FDI,SELL,1546750,30.00,-
25-SEP-2009,GLORY,Glory Polyfilms Limited,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,SELL,102108,25.84,-
25-SEP-2009,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,MAHALAXMI INNOVATIVE SERVICES LTD,SELL,150000,84.46,-
25-SEP-2009,INDLMETER,IMP Powers Ltd,ANTIQUE SECURITIES PVT.LTD.,SELL,80000,127.02,-
25-SEP-2009,INSECTICID,Insecticides (India) Limi,PATEL PRITESH BIPIN,SELL,67156,82.14,-
25-SEP-2009,ISPATIND,Ispat Industries Limited,JAYPEE CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,SELL,11010343,23.00,-
25-SEP-2009,JKTYRE,JK Tyre & Industries Ltd,AMITABH SONTHALIA,SELL,360000,132.66,-
25-SEP-2009,KFA,Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.,GENUINE STOCK BROKERS PVT LTD,SELL,2299665,57.29,-
25-SEP-2009,POLARIS,Polaris Software Lab Ltd,ORBITECH LIMITED,SELL,1290000,152.48,-
25-SEP-2009,VHL,Vardhman Holdings Limited,SHIVALIK SEC. LTD,SELL,20000,240.38,-
25-SEP-2009,WWIL,Wire and Wireless (India),TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,SELL,1364688,22.65,-

Post Session Commentary - Sep 25 2009

The Indian market ended today’s volatile session below the dotted line as investors took calculative steps ahead of the long weekend. The market will remain close on Monday, 28th September 2009, for public holiday. However market tried to recover during afternoon trade and reduced losses, which were led by unfavorable global cues on Federal Reserve’s announcement regarding plans to start unwinding some stimulus measures. Zigzag movement was contributed by constant buying and selling witnessed in key stocks. Weak Asian stocks also contributed to the instability on the domestic bourses. The BSE Sensex ended around 16,700 level and NSE Nifty closed below 4,970 mark.

The domestic market opened on negative note tracking weak cues from the global markets. Asian stocks were lower and US stock market ended down on Thursday on weak home sales data and on Federal Reserve’s announcement regarding plans to start unwinding some stimulus measures. Further a sharp rise in dollar led selling pressure in commodities that in turn weighed heavily on materials stocks. However, market exhibited firmness in early trade after weekly jobless claims fell unexpectedly to two-month low, but the gains were short-lived. Further, Indian benchmark indices managed to recover from early lows on some buying at lower level. During afternoon session market gathered decent momentum to touch the positive zone for a short while on a little buying sentiment. However, stocks once again slipped into red to close with losses. From the sectoral front, most of the selling was seen in Metal, IT, Teck, Bank and Auto stocks. However, Pharma, Consumer Durable and Oil & Gas stocks remained in limelight as witnessed most of the buying from these baskets. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps stocks also reported rise.

Among the Sensex pack 20 stocks ended in red territory and 10 in green territory. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained positive as 1628 stocks closed in green while 1137 stocks closed in red and 90 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 88.43 or (0.53%) points at 16,693 and NSE Nifty ended down by 27.60 points or (0.55%) at 4,958.95. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 40.42 and 67.48 points at 6,226.93 and 7,450.25 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 16,812.02 and intraday low of 16,613.22.

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Tata Steel (2.85%), ICICI Bank (2.50%), TCS Ltd (2.06%), Tata Power (2.05%), Wipro Ltd (2.04%), Hindalco (1.82%), Infosys Tech (1.74%), Tata Motors (1.65%), Sterlite Industries (1.53%), M&M Ltd (1.30%) and Bharti Airtel (1.17%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Sun Pharma (7.04%), Reliance (1.21%), ITC Ltd (1.01%), ONGC Ltd (0.75%), DLF Ltd (0.51%), Maruti Suzuki (0.47%) and HDFC (0.28%).

On the global markets front, the Asian markets that opened before the Indian market, ended lower tracking Wall Street losses overnight. Meanwhile, leaders of the world''s 20 largest economies assembled in the U.S. to find ways to foster a healthy economic recovery. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Nikkei 225, Singapore''s Straits and Seoul Composite ended lower by 14.71, 26.33, 278.24, 4.61 and 2.4 points at 2,838.84, 21,024.40, 10,265.98, 2,662.82 and 1,691.48 respectively.

European markets, which opened after the Indian market, are trading mostly down. In Paris the CAC 40 is lower 3.38 points at 3,754.98, in Frankfurt DAX index is trading down 8.23 points at 5,596.98 whereas in London FTSE 100 is trading up by 21.51 points at 5,100.78.

The BSE Metal index lost (2.23%) or 318.81 points 13,952.93. Losers are Sesa goa Ltd (5.62%), JSW Steel (3.81%), Welspan Guajrat SR (3.50%), Tata Steel (2.85%) and Steel Authority (2.37%).

The BSE IT index closed down by (1.72%) or 77.10 points at 4,413.46 on disappointing US housing data. Main losers are Aptech Ltd (4.42%), HCL Tech (2.71%), TCS Ltd (2.06%), Wipro Ltd (2.04%) and Infosys Tech (1.74%).

The BSE Teck index closed lower by (1.3%) 41.72 points at 3,176.97. Losers are Aptech Ltd (4.42%), HCL Tech (2.71%), IBN18 (2.63%), HT Media (2.28%) and TCS Ltd (2.06%).

The BSE Bank index ended down by (1.14%) or 108.93 points at 9,434.49 fell on profit taking as ICICI Bank (2.50%), Karnataka Bank (2.08%), Yes Bank (1.92%), Indian Overseas Bank (1.56%) and Canara Bank (1.31%) ended in red.

The BSE Pharma index increased by (5.33%) or 217.9 points at 4,309.79. Gainers are Dr Reddy’s Lab (10.50%), Orchid Chem (9.19%), Aurobindo Pharma (8.51%), Biocon Ltd (7.27%) and Sun Pharma (7.04%).

The BSE Oil & Gas index advanced by (0.97%) or 97.18 points at 10,240.15. Gainers are Indian Oil Corporation (1.77%), HPCL (1.31%), Reliance (1.21%), BPCL (1.20%) and Cairn Indi (1.10%).

Welspan Gujarat SR closed lower by 3.50%. It launched and successfully priced, Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds ("FCCB") offering for an amount of US $ 130 Million, with an upsize option of US $ 20 million. The funds will be utilized to invest for capital expenditure, investments in growth opportunities and other usage in accordance with applicable statutory and/or regulatory requirements.

BHEL dropped by 0.18%. The company has bagged a Rs 365 crore order from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. for supply of four steam generators for India''s second 700 MWe nuclear power station, being set up at Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, Kota. The stock is now trading higher by (0.28%) at Rs. 2,256.

Infosys fell 1.74% on concerns of higher expenses after a report it plan to give pay rises and promotions next month.

M&M Ltd lost 1.30% on reports that the company is planning to consolidate its stake in Swaraj Engines, as part of its plan to expand the diesel engine business.

Wockhardt Limited closed up by 3.56%. The companyhas received a very prestigious award instituted by the Government of India as the ''Pharmaceutical Company for the maximum number of Patent filings and grants from India.'' Wockhardt has been granted 70 patents, 15 from the Indian Patent office and 55 from the American and European Patent offices.

Strides Arcolab Limited (Strides) ended up by 5.80%. The company said that it has launched its anti MINI drug - Starflu in retail. Starflu is the generic version of drug Oseltamivir and is available in 75 mg capsules in a strip of 10''s, the MRP for which is Rs 460 per strip.

Maruti Suzuki rose 0.47% on reports that the company will relaunch SX4with a new 1.6 litre engine, which will have a higher pick up.

Sensex sheds 88 points

The market turned negative from opening bell, and on emergence of selling touched an intra-day low of 16613. The index pared losses to a considerable extend and ended the session with a loss of 88 points at 16693, while Nifty declined 28 points to 4959.

The market breadth was positive. Of the 2,855 stocks traded on BSE, 1,628 stocks advanced, 1,137 stocks declined and 90 stocks ended unchanged. BSE HC was up 5.33%, while BSE Oil & Gas, BSE CD, BSE Realty and BSE FMCG gained marginally. Rest of sectoral indices ended in negative territory. BSE Metal declined 2.23%, BSE IT was down 1.72%, BSE Teck lost 1.30% and BSE Bankex slumped 1.14%.

Among gainers in heavyweights, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries jumped 7.04% to Rs1,311, Reliance Industries gained 1.21% to Rs2,129.80, and ITC advanced 1.01% to Rs234.75. ONGC, DLF, Maruti Suzuki India, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates and National Thermal Power Corporation reported marginal gains. However, Tata Steel dropped 2.85% to Rs498.50, ICICI Bank fell 2.50% to Rs838.60, Tata Consultancy Services shed 2.06% to Rs587.05, Tata Power declined 2.05% to Rs1284.10 and Wipro slipped 2.04% to Rs567.15. Other losers like Hindalco Industries, Infosys Technologies, Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were down around 1-2%.

Health care stocks were the major gainers. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories soared 10.50% to Rs985.85, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals was up 9.19% to Rs177.65, Aurobindo Pharma advanced 8.51% to Rs744.30, Biocon jumped 7.27% to Rs257.55 and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries surged 7.04% to Rs1311. Glaxosmithline Pharma, Divis laboratories and Pfizer advanced over 5-7% each.

Ispat Industries was the most actively traded share with over 1.32 crore shares changing hands on BSE followed by IFCI (1.14 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (98.61 lakh shares), IDBI Bank (97.25 lakh shares) and GTL Infrastructures (90.95 lakh shares).

Asian markets ends higher

G-20 stimulus assurance helps regional retrieval

Stock market in Asian region rose on Friday, 25 September 2009, as G20 leaders pledged in a draft statement to keep some stimulus supports in place until a recovery is clearer.

World leaders at the two-day G20 meeting, which began on Thursday, have reportedly agreed to keep emergency economic supports in place until a durable recovery is secured. They have also reportedly agreed to work together when time comes to remove the economic stimulus. The G20 nations have also reportedly agreed to take steps to rein in financial industry excesses that led to the financial crisis, and to act together to raise capital standards for banks.

Media reports also suggest that the G20 nations have agreed on a 5 percentage point shift in International Monetary Fund voting power from controlling developed countries to underrepresented countries. The move is part of efforts to give emerging economic powers more say in the IMF to recognize their growing influence in the world economy.

On Wall Street, selling in housing, materials and commodity-related stocks stifled the major averages Thursday. Oil plunged more than $3 a barrel, and existing-home sales dropped unexpectedly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 44 .11 points, or 0.4%, to 9707.44, while the S&P 500 shed 10.09 points, or 1%, to 1050.78. The Nasdaq Composite edged down 23.81 points, or 1.1%, to 2107.61.

On the economic front, the home-sales data squashed initial gains that came as jobless claims fell unexpectedly to 530,000. Continuing claims fell more than expected to 6.14 million, versus 6.23 million the month prior.

In the commodity market, crude oil rose as some traders viewed this week’s slump as excessive, providing an opportunity to buy contracts before rising demand triggers a rebound.

Crude oil for November delivery rose as much as 81 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $66.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and traded at $66.29 at 10:25 a.m. in London.

Brent crude for November settlement climbed as much as 83 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $65.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and was at $65.40 at 10:26 a.m. London time.

Gold, trading below $1,000 an ounce in London today, headed for its biggest weekly decline in more than two months as a stronger dollar curbed the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Immediate-delivery bullion added $2.35, or 0.2 percent, to $996.45 an ounce by 9:55 a.m. London time.

In the currency market, US dollar rebounded strongly yesterday on further speculation that Fed is paving the way to exit from current stimulus programs. Fed said that it will scale back the emergency lending program and reduce the combined initiatives down from $450 billion to $100 billion by January and will evaluate whether to maintain the Term Auction Facility on a permanent basis and put out for public comment a “range of possible structures for a permanent TAF."

The Japanese yen strengthened against major currencies. The Japanese yen was quoted at 90.14 against the US dollar.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7504 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 trade, the Australian dollar clawed back losses on Friday after a bout of buying late in the day helped put it on track for weekly gains for the sixth straight week. At the local close, the dollar was trading at $US0.8693, down from Thursday’s close of $US0.8741.

In Wellington trade, The New Zealand dollar rose through the first part of the night against major currencies, but then fell away as the greenback rallied amid a wave of risk aversion. By 8am the NZ dollar was buying US71.67c, down from US71.95c at 5pm yesterday and after having peaked during the overnight session around US72.70c shortly after midnight.

The South Korean currency ended at 1,186.1 won against the dollar, up 9.6 won from Thursday's close, as offshore investors sold the greenback.

The Taiwan dollar weakened further against the greenback. The Taiwan dollar was trading lower against the US dollar at NT$ 32.4050, 0.0100 down from Thursday’s close of NT$32.3950.

In Asian equity market, a rush of sell orders for Nomura Holdings hammered down the Japanese financial sector Friday after the Japanese brokerage house announced its second large share offering in six months, reigniting concerns about equity dilution.

In Japan, the stock market ended in negative territory dragged down securities after Nomura Securities unveiled plans to raise huge funds for the second time and financials declined on concerns about the impact of stricter capital norms and moratorium proposal for small companies. Weak closing in Wall Street in the previous session also impacted market sentiment.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index ended at 10,266, representing a loss of 278.24 points, or 2.64%, while the broader Topix index of all first section stocks was down 27.53 points, or 2.90%, to 922.67.

On the economic front, the Bank of Japan released the minutes of the August 10-11 meeting, which revealed that the board members expressed confidence that the Japanese economy was finally starting to show signs of bottoming out. "Financial conditions, while remaining generally tight, had continued to show signs of improvement," the minutes said.

In a separate statement, the Bank of Japan revealed that an index measuring corporate service prices in the country was down 3.5% on year in August, posting a score of 92.2. That was exactly in line with analyst expectations following the 3.4 percent annual contraction in July.

In Mainland China, the stocks ended slightly lower on Friday, with metal stocks leading the losses. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, edged down 0.52% or 14.71 points and closed at 2,838.84 points after fluctuating between 2,864.07 and 2,812.92 points. The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange decreased 0.8% or 91.72 points to 11,384.16 points, after touching an intraday low of 11,261.7 points.

In Hong Kong, stocks finished Friday with fall. The Hang Seng Index, the benchmark, opened 239 points higher at 20,810. After touching the intraday low of 20,766.46 points, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 26.33 points or 0.13% to close at 21,024.4.

In Australia, stock markets ended moderately higher, after an impressive turnaround on the back of strong gains in the financial sector. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 gained 12.1 points or 0.26% ending the day at 4713.30. The broader All Ordinaries added 6.8 points or 0.14% closing at 4714

In New Zealand, equity market ended the week in the negative following frail foreign markets. The share market registered second consecutive decline in a row on Friday. Asian markets were weak with Japanese shares leading the sell-off trailing markets on the United States overnight. Meanwhile, disappointing U.S. housing data along with sharp falls in metals and energy prices on Thursday battered sentiment in Asia. The NZX50 decreased 0.53% or 19.10 points to 3111.25. The NZX 15 was down 0.38% or 21.50 points to close at 5704.86.

On the economic front, New Zealand’s value of both merchandise exports and imports fell in August 2009 compared with August 2008, down 23.2 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively. Export values have now returned to a level similar to what they were in August 2007, before the large value rises observed in dairy and crude oil exports in the latter half of 2007 and during 2008. The trade balance for August 2009 was a deficit of $725 million or 26.4 percent of the value of exports. This compares with an average August deficit of 34.1 percent of exports for the previous five years.

In South Korea, stocks closed lower Friday on strong foreign and institutional selling sparked by overnight falls on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.4 points to 1,691.48. Foreign investors dumped a net 151.9 billion won worth of tech and financial large caps. Institutional investors continued their selling streak for a seventh session.

In Taiwan, stock market snapped its losing streak helped by financial shares, after Taiwan’s central bank kept interest rate unchanged and said the pace of economic contraction had eased. The benchmark Taiex share index finally snapped its four-day losing streak by finishing the last session of the third week of September higher by 21 points or 0.29% in a day, closing the day at 7345.22.

On the economic front, Taiwan’s M2 money supply grew 8.17% year-on-year in August, the fifth straight month for the broadly defined money supply to score growth exceeding the target zone set by the Central Bank of China (CBC).

According to the data released by Central Bank of China, the growth rate dropped slightly by 0.16% from the July level but still surpassed the Central Bank of China’s targeted growth range of 2.5-6.5%. Moreover, M1B money supply, or money supply in narrower definition, jumped 22.14% year-on-year in August.

In Philippines, equities slid following a generally weak undertone in the Asian equities as risk aversion ruled the roost ahead of the weekends. The recent Asian Development Bank forecast, which stated that the Filipino economy would slow down to slow to 1.6%, this year on concerns over job security and falling export demand also weighed heavy on the domestic markets. The benchmark index PSEi fell 0.56% or 16 points to 2,821.34, while the All Shares index lost 0.31% or 5.76 points to 1,806.92.

In India, volatility ruled the roost as the key benchmark indices slipped on mostly lower global stocks. Investors took home some cash ahead of a long weekend and with the market open only for three days next week. The market remains closed for a public holiday on Monday, 28 September 2009 and again on Friday, 2 October 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 88.43 points or 0.53% to 16693. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 27.60 points or 0.55% to 4,958.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index went down 0.06% or 0.67 points to 1217.39 while stock markets in Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index ended the day lower at 2444.58.

In other regional market, European shares traded in a tight range on Friday, with gains from commodity-sector stocks offsetting losses for industrials. Equity markets on the Continent were lackluster with the German DAX index down 0.1% at 5,599.78 ahead of the weekend's election and the French CAC-40 index down 0.2% at 3,752.11. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 5,098.35.

Derivatives: Aggressive out-of-money put writing implies bullish undertone for the market

But trends in corporate results and global cues are equally important either to sustain the rally or to reverse the trend.

The market remained extremely volatile during the week ended 25th September 2009 being the future expiry week and also due to the fear that the market may experience some correction after it hit the symbolic 5000 level. Although the rollover was quiet healthy the market on Friday opened at extreme negative. The intraday volatility was immense. The market cut losses soon after an early slide triggered by weak Asian stocks.

Global stocks were mostly lower as weak US housing data and plans by world central banks to scale back infusions of US dollars into their banking system kept investors worried. Major world central banks announced on Thursday, 24 September 2909, that they planned to scale back massive injections of US dollars into their banking systems as financial markets stabilize after a devastating crisis.

Amid huge volatility during the week ended 25th September 2009, the S&P Nifty closed 17.10 points lower at 4958.95 as compared to the close of the previous week. On the expiry day the F&O volume understandably increased considerably to 116850.34 crore and the October Nifty future closed at a premium of 11.70 points to the underlying. The Nifty October series added 68.19 lakh shares in open interest (OI) on Thursday and the total OI on this day stood at 2.47 crore shares. Simultaneously there was active call buying of 4900 and above strikes. The 5000 and 5100 strike nifty call also witnessed addition of OI due to buying. Besides 4900 and below strike puts also witnessed addition of OI due to fresh writing signaling extreme bullish signals.

In the stock future front Reliance October future added 25.53 lakh shares in OI to take the total OI in the scrip to 64.73 lakh shares. Besides Tata Motors and Tata Steel October futures added 13.35 lakh shares and 29.33 lakh shares in OI on the September series expiry day. Overall the October series F&O added 44.34 crore shares in OI on the September expiry day with active out-of-money stock put writing as well. The major addition in OI was contributed by the stock future, which contributed 39.91 crore shares.

On Friday as well the F&O market exhibited extreme bullishness as the Nifty future closed at a premium of 8.30 to the underlying. Although the markets opened lower it later cut it's lose and the Nifty OI added marginal OI to take the total OI at 2.48 crore shares. The volume understandably was lower at Rs 59792.44 crore.

The market-wide open interest (OI) on Friday stood at 137.60 crore shares, thus gaining by 3.93 crore shares as compared to the previous trading day. The stock future contributed the major addition. (See table OI breakup).

The roll over to the October series was extremely healthy as the Nifty witnessed 69% rollover whereas some of the stock futures like Reliance, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank witnessed rollover of 74%, 73%, 79% and 72% respectively.
Open Interest (OI) break-up as on 25th September 2009
Open Interest (OI)* Change**
Market wide 137.6 3.93
Index Future 2.72 0.02
Stock Future 126.92 3.13
Index Options 7.77 0.7
Stock options 0.19 0.08
* No of shares in crores
** Change is vis-à-vis previous day
Source: NSE

The Nifty 4900 and above call options continued to witness aggressive addition of OI due to buying whereas 4900 and below puts also added OI due to selling on Friday as well. For e.g. the 5000 strike added 7.02 lakh shares in OI whereas 5100 strike calls added 4.66 lakh shares in OI. The 5200 strike call also added 5.9 lakh shares in OI. Thus the total OI of all these 3 strikes increased to 32.26 lakh shares, 22.72 lakh shares and 29.18 lakh shares respectively. On the put front the 4900 strike put witnessed addition of 7.59 lakh shares in OI due to writing. The 4800 and 4700 strike put also witnessed addition of OI due to writing. These are confident bullish signals.

The index put call ratio on Friday increased to 1.25 as compared to 1.11 during the previous day. The stock put call ratio was lower at 0.21 thus taking the total put call ratio at 1.16. Its early days into the new series for the put call ratio to suggest any contrarian indicators.

The aggressive OI addition in out-of-the-money Nifty puts due to writing is a major bullish indicator. However, going ahead the results of major companies would be closely watched. Any major positive or negative in that front is important either to sustain the rally or to reverse the trend.

Market may hold firm on expectations of good Q2 results

Optimism about Q2 September 2009 results may keep equities firm even as traders will refrain from building large positions due to a truncated trading week. The market sentiment remains firm on more signs of a recovery in the economy and on sustained buying by foreign funds. A fund raising spree by Indian companies has aided the rally that took the Sensex to a 16-month high on 22 September 2009 but a strong pipeline of initial public offers (IPOs) may suck liquidity from the secondary market.

Firm global stocks have supported domestic bourses and investors here will continue to take cues from overseas markets. The MSCI world equity index hit a 11-month recently on optimism that world economies were rebounding.

In a clear sign of the strength of the industrial comeback, the government's excise duty collection 22.7% in August 2009 over July 2009, Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs V Sridhar said on 25 September 2009.

There is optimism about Q2 September 2009 results after advance tax collections registered a positive growth in the second quarter after witnessing a negative growth in the first quarter. Corporate advance tax and advance personal income-tax were up by 14.7% and 1.7%, respectively in the September 2009 quarter. IT giant Infosys kickstarts the earnings reporting season on 9 October 2009.

Among top Indian firms, State Bank of India (SBI) paid advance tax of Rs 1,832 crore in the September 2009 installment, 17.4% higher than Rs 1,560 crore it paid in same period last year. Bharti Airtel's advance tax outgo rose by a whopping 220% to Rs 484 crore in second installment while Infosys registered a 100% increase in its advance tax payment to Rs 300 crore. Similarly, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries registered a 69% jump in its tax payment to Rs 1,157 crore and Maruti Suzuki paid 97.76% higher tax at Rs 265 crore in the second installment.

Meanwhile, foreign funds are aggressively buying Indian stocks. FII inflow in September 2009 totaled Rs 12,694 crore (till 23 September 2009). That was much higher than their purchases worth Rs 4028.80 crore in the whole of August 2009. FII inflow in the calendar year 2009 totaled Rs 52,891.70 crore (till 23 September 2009).

The stock market remains closed on Monday, 28 September 2009, on account of Dasara and then again on Friday, 2 October 2009, Gandhi Jayanti.

A section of the market is concerned that a glut in share sales may suck liquidity from the secondary market. The corporate sector has raised large sums of money through equity and equity related instruments in the past six months or so to either to retire high cost debt or to fund expansion. The supply of paper by Indian firms appear limitless, raising concerns that additional share sales will suck liquidity from the secondary market.

As per one report, companies plan to raise at least Rs 40,000 crore through initial public offers (IPOs)/follow on public offers (FPOs) in the second half of the current financial year. Power companies such as GMR Energy, Indiabulls Power and JSW Energy and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals and NTPC are likely to tap the primary market. Reliance Infratel plans to raise about Rs 5,000 crore from the primary market. A number of companies are also in the fray to raise funds by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP), reports suggest.

Small-cap, mid-cap indices nudge higher

Volatility ruled the roost as the key benchmark indices slipped with investors taking home some cash ahead of a long weekend and with the market open only for three days next week. Mostly lower global stocks also weighed on sentiment. The market remains closed for a public holiday on Monday, 28 September 2009 and again on Friday, 2 October 2009.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 88.43 points or 0.53%, up about 80 points from the day's low and off close to 120 points from the day's high. Pharmaceutical stocks surged even as IT, metal and banking stocks fell. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose. Quite a few small-cap and mid-cap stocks surged. The market breadth was strong.

Global stocks were mostly lower as weak US housing data and plans by world central banks to scale back infusions of US dollars into their banking system kept investors worried. Major world central banks announced on Thursday, 24 September 2909, that they planned to scale back massive injections of US dollars into their banking systems as financial markets stabilise after a devastating crisis.

Closer home, intraday volatility was immense. The market cut losses soon after an early slide triggered by weak Asian stocks. The Sensex hit positive zone for a short while in morning trade. It slipped into the red again later. The market moved in a narrow range in early afternoon trade. The market once again slipped into the red after hitting a fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. The market cut losses after hitting a fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. But the market weakened again later.

World leaders at the two-day G20 meeting which began on Thursday have reportedly agreed to keep emergency economic supports in place until a durable recovery is secured. They have also reportedly agreed to work together when time comes to remove the economic stimulus. The G20 nations have also reportedly agreed to take steps to rein in financial industry excesses that led to the financial crisis, and to act together to raise capital standards for banks.

Media reports also suggest that the G20 nations have agreed on a 5 percentage point shift in International Monetary Fund voting power from controlling developed countries to underrepresented countries. The move is part of efforts to give emerging economic powers more say in the IMF to recognize their growing influence in the world economy.

Closer home, the next trigger for the market is Q2 September 2009 results of India Inc next month. There is optimism about Q2 September 2009 results after advance tax collections registered a positive growth in the second quarter after witnessing a negative growth in the first quarter. Corporate advance tax and advance personal income-tax were up by 14.7% and 1.7%, respectively in the September 2009 quarter.

Meanwhile, a news agency quoted an unnamed finance ministry official as saying that the government's excise duty collection have risen 22.7% in August 2009 from the previous month.

India's exports fell an annual 19.7% in August 2009, as the global slump hit demand for Indian goods, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Thursday.

Coming back to stocks, a section of the market is concerned that a glut in share sales may suck liquidity from the secondary market. The corporate sector has raised large sums of money through equity and equity related instruments in the past six months or so to either to retire high cost debt or to fund expansion. The supply of paper by Indian firms appear limitless, raising concerns that additional share sales will suck liquidity from the secondary market.

As per one report, companies plan to raise at least Rs 40,000 crore through initial public offers (IPOs)/follow on public offers (FPOs) in the second half of the current financial year. Power companies such as GMR Energy, Indiabulls Power and JSW Energy and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals and NTPC are likely to tap the primary market. Reliance Infratel also announced on Tuesday, 22 September 2009, its intention to raise Rs 5,000 crore from the primary market. A number of companies are also in the fray to raise funds by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP), reports suggest.

European shares edged higher in volatile trade on Friday, 25 September 2009. Key benchmark indices in France, UK and Germany were up by between 0.06% to 0.67%.

But Asian stocks dropped after Japan's biggest brokerage Nomura Holdings announced a record $5.6 billion share offering and sales of existing US homes unexpectedly declined. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore South Korea, Japan were down by between 0.14% to 2.64%. But Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted rose 0.29%.

Trading in US index futures indicated Dow could rise 26 points at the opening bell today, 25 September 2009.

US markets fell for a second day in a row on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced plans to start unwinding some stimulus measures and a report showed existing-home sales fell last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 41.11 points, or 0.4%, to 9,707.44. The S&P 500 index fell 10.09 points, or 1%, to 1,050.78, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 23.81 points, or 1.1%, to 2,107.61.

In economic data, existing US home sales disappointed after it fell 2.7% in August against economists expectations of a 2.9% increase. Meanwhile, the initial jobless claims fell to its lowest level in two months. The figure came in at 530,000 which was less than estimates. Continuing claims were also below expectations at 6.14 million against the predicted 6.18 million.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 88.43 points or 0.53% to 16693. The Sensex rose 30.59 points at the day's high of 16,812.01 in early afternoon trade. The barometer index fell 168.21 points at the day's low of 16,613,22 in afternoon trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty fell 27.60 points or 0.55% to 4,958.95. Nifty October 2009 futures were at 4960.30 at a premium of 1.35 points as compared to the spot closing of 4958.95. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 59,792.44 crore, sharply lower than Rs 1,16,850.34 crore on Thursday, 24 September 2009.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5865 crore, higher than Rs 5420.01 crore on Thursday, 24 September 2009.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1621 shares rose as compared with 1137 that declined. A total of 90 shares remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 20 fell and rest rose.

The Sensex is up 7,045.69 points or 73.03% in calendar year 2009 as on 25 September 2009. From a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009, the Sensex is up 8,532.60 points or 104.56% as on 25 September 2009. FII inflow in the calendar year 2009 totaled Rs 54212.80 crore (till 24 September 2009).

Coming back to today's trade, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.65% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.91%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Healthcare index (up 5.33%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.97%), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.82%), the BSE Realty index (up 0.69%), the BSE FMCG index (up 0.68%), the BSE PSU index (down 0.21%), the BSE Auto index (down 0.23%), the BSE Power index (down 0.47%), outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Metal index (down 2.23%), the BSE IT index (down 1.72%), the BSE Teck index (down 1.3%), the BSE Bankex (down 1.14%), the BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.56%), underperformed the Sensex.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) reversed early losses, gaining 1.21% to Rs 2129.80. As per reports, RIL has issued a notice to Reliance Infrastructure, an Anil Ambani group company, threatening to stop gas supplies to the latter's 220-MW power plant at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh, claiming that it has defaulted on payment. In its reply, Reliance Infrastructure has said it had stopped payment as the marketing margin imposed by RIL in the nature of sales price/price of sale of gas is illegal, unauthorised and unwarranted.

RIL said on Thursday it has signed gas supply agreement with state-run utility NTPC to supply gas for some of its power plants for five years. Reliance will supply 0.61 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd) to NTPC, and expects to start supplies within a week.

Meanwhile, recent report suggest the outlook for Asian oil refiners, previously hit by a sharp fall in margins, is now improving on a likely ramp-up in demand and slowing capacity expansion.

The RIL counter was under pressure late last week following a large treasury share sale by the company in the secondary market. Petroleum Trust on Thursday sold 1.5 crore equity shares of RIL through block deals on the bourses at Rs 2125 per share. The financial impact of the transaction will be reflected in the consolidated statements, RIL said.

Oil exploration stocks rose even as US crude oil futures settled at the lowest level in eight weeks on Thursday as weak US home sales suggested a slow economic recovery in the world's biggest economy and added to demand worries following a US government report on Wednesday of a surprise large increase in fuel stockpiles. Fall in crude oil prices would result in lower realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, front-month November crude settled down $3.08, or 4.47% at $65.89 a barrel.

India's biggest state-run oil exploration firm by revenue Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 0.75%. ONGC on Wednesday said it will invest over Rs 5000 crore in the next two years in bringing new oil and gas finds into production. Cairn India rose 1.1%

PSU OMCs rose as fall in crude oil prices will reduce underrecoveries on domestic sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG at controlled prices. HPCL and BPCL rose by between 1.31% to 1.77%. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rose 1.77%. The company's board approved a liberal 1:1 bonus issue on 14 September 2009.

The government last week issued bonds worth over Rs 10,306 crore to three oil marketing PSUs to compensate them for the losses incurred on account of selling petroleum products below market price. While bonds worth Rs 6,207.06 were issued to IOC, Rs 2,033.99 crore worth bonds were given to HPCL and Rs 2,065.28 crore worth of bonds were given to BPCL.

India's largest cellular services provider by sales Bharti Airtel fell 1.17%. A delegation of South African officials has reportedly told Indian policymakers on Thursday that the latest change in takeover rules would make it more difficult for telecom major MTN to execute a proposed merger deal with Bharti Airtel. Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) announced early this week the takeover laws would apply to all future issues of American Depositary Receipts (ADR) or Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) with voting rights.

Bharti and MTN have been in negotiations since 25 May 2009 on a $23 billion cash and share-swap deal aimed at an eventual full merger. The deadline for the talks has been extended twice, most recently the deadline was put back another month to 30 September 2009.

Metal stocks fell as LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange fell 2.64% on Thursday, 24 September 2009. Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India, Jindal Saw, Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel fell by between 1.65% to 3.81%.

India's largest copper maker by sales Sterlite Industries fell 1.53%. A US bankruptcy judge on Thursday rejected attempts by India's Sterlite Industries Ltd to sweeten its offer for U.S. copper miner Asarco LLC, and recommended for the second time that rival bidder Grupo Mexico SAB de CV regain control of the company. Sterlite, however, maintained it was still in the race to acquire the copper miner.

Sterlite said on Monday that it would release Grupo Mexico from a potential legal liability of nearly $8 billion if the Indian miner can win control of bankrupt US copper miner Asarco LLC.

In a court document filed on Monday, Sterlite said that if a federal court approves its plan to acquire Asarco over rival bidder Grupo Mexico's offer, it would not hold Grupo Mexico liable for more than about $900 million of liability related to the 2003 transfer of a Peruvian mine. Sterlite, a unit of India-focused mining company Vedanta Resources, has been facing off with Mexican miner Grupo Mexico for acquiring control Asarco, which has been under bankruptcy protection since 2005.

IT stocks fell on weak US home sales data. US is the biggest market for Indian IT firms. India's third largest software services exporter by sales Wipro fell 2.04%.

India's largest IT exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services fell 2.06%. TCS recently secured a five-year Rs 140-crore project to build and operate a state-wide area network in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

The new head of Tata Consultancy Services N. Chandrasekaran, who takes over as chief executive when S. Ramadorai retires on 5 October 2009 said in an interview to a news agency on Thursday that it would take another few months to tell whether business spending was recovering, as customers were still working on their IT budgets for 2010.

India's second largest software services exporter by sales Infosys fell 1.74% on concerns of higher expenses after a report it plan to give pay rises and promotions next month.

Banking stocks fell on profit taking. Banking stocks have risen sharply in the past few days on higher advance tax payment by some top banks in the second installment this fiscal. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank fell 2.5% as its ADR fell 2.89% on Thursday.

India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank fell 0.84% as its ADR fell 1.64% on Thursday.

India's largest bank by net profit and branch network State Bank of India fell 0.9%. Chairman O.P. Bhatt on 8 September 2009 said the bank's earnings are likely to grow 30-35% in Q2 September 2009 over Q2 September 2008.

Realty stocks rose on reports demand for residential projects in major cities is picking up on lower home loan rates, property price cuts by developers and a recovery in the job market. Realty market had slumped last year amid a global credit crunch and buyers fearing job losses. DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate and Ansal Properties, Ackruti City rose by between 0.51% to 4.1%.

Pharmaceutical stocks hogged the limelight with a number of stocks in the sector surging. According to a recent prepared by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) alongwith Ernst and Young (E&Y), the Indian pharmaceutical market will treble to $20 billion by 2015 from $7.1 billion in 2007, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.3%.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories surged 10.5% after the company's American depository receipt, or ADR, jumped 5.35% to $19.49 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, 24 September 2009.

Among other pharma stocks, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Cipla and Pfizer rose by between 3.17% to 6.63%.

Some cement stocks fell on profit taking. ACC, Ambuja Cements, Ultratech Cement fell by between 0.01% to 1.19%. A thrust on the infrastructure sector in the Union Budget 2009-2010 may keep cement demand strong. But cement makers recently cut prices by Rs 3 per 50 kilogram bag in Mumbai.

Construction shares rose as higher government spending on infrastructure sector in the Union Budget 2009-2010 to provide a stimulus to the economy, may result in increase order flow for construction. Nagarjuna Construction Company, Gammon India, Gayatri Projects, Valecha Engineering rose by between 0.17% to 5.28%.

The government has set a target of spending $20 billion a year on road construction.

Jaiprakash Associates rose 0.1%. The company on Wednesday raised around Rs 1,190 crore through sale of 5 crore treasury shares by way of bulk deals on the bourses.

FMCG pivotals rose on revival of annual monsoon since mid-August. FMCG firms derive substantial revenue from the rural sector. Nestle India, Marico, Hindusatn Unilever, ITC, United Spirits, Dabur India Britannia Industries rose by between 0.38% to 3.57%.

Fertiliser shares rose on revival of annual monsoon since mid-August. GSFC, GNFC, National Fertilizer, Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilisers rose by between 3.19% to 17.69%. Fertilizer sales are directly dependent on monsoon. A bountiful monsoon boosts sales whereas a drought hits sales adversely.

Revival in the monsoon in mid-August 2009 has improved prospects for an early sowing of winter crops including wheat and canola, and replenished water levels in reservoirs. Farmers use this water to grow wheat and oilseeds planted between October and December.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro fell 0.71% on profit tasking. The company on Thursday won an order worth more than Rs 2000 crore from GMR Energy.

Among other capital goods stocks, Bharat Heavy Electricals, BEML, ABB, Praj Industries, fell by between 0.18% to 1.67%.

Auto stocks fell on profit taking. The stocks rallied recently on hopes of strong sales in the upcoming festive season. India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.3%. India's largest motorbike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors fell 0.12%.

But, India's top small car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki rose 0.47%. As per reports, the government will release pay arrears to government employees under the second and final installment ahead of big festivals in October 2009. The payout would boost demand for cars and motorcycles.

India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors fell 1.65%. Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday unveiled a new business plan for the next decade, under which it will invest substantially in a new range of eco-friendly vehicles. The plan, designed to increase global competitiveness, drive growth and sustain profitability, envisages an investment of £800 million (over Rs 6,200 crore) on environmental innovation alone, part-supported by the European Investment Bank.

The plan will also see the company shutting down of one of its plants, in a bid to cut costs and to improve its financial health.

Domestic car sales rose 26% to 120,669 units in August 2009 over August 2008 boosted by new launches and availability of cheaper loans, data released by the industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on 8 September 2009, showed. Sales of trucks and buses rose 18.5% to 40,624 units and motorcycle sales rose 26% to 611,173 units.

Sugar stocks reversed early gains as farm minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the government will extend tax-free imports of white sugar beyond November 2009. The move is aimed at keeping a lid on prices of the commodity which have risen sharply due to fall in production. Dhampur Sugars, Bajaj Hindustan and Balrampur Chini fell by between 0.12% to 0.86%.

Union Cabinet late last week extended limits on stocks that can be held by traders of sugar until September 2010.

Cals Refineries clocked highest volume of 10.81 crore shares on BSE. Ispat Industries (1.32 crore shares), King Fisher Airlines (1.25 crore shares), IFCI (1.14 crore shares) and Suzlon Energy (0.98 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.

Reliance Industries clocked highest turnover of Rs 222.99 crore on BSE. Tata Steel (Rs 155.45 crore), DLF (Rs 143.61 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs 121.36 crore) and Educomp Solutions (Rs 113.04 crore) were other turnover toppers in that order.

Grey Market - Oil India, Pipavav Shipyard, Euro Multivision

Company Name	Offer Price (Rs.)	Premium (Rs.)	Kostak (Rs. 1 Lac Application)
Oil India	1050	30 to 32	--
Pipavav Shipyard	58	2 to 3	--
Thinksoft Global	115 to 125	Discount	1600 to 1675
Euro Multi Vision	70 to 75	5 to 5.50	--

Market may edge lower

The market is moving in tune with global markets and the weak Asian indices in current trades coupled with overnight fall in the US markets is likely to weigh on the local indices. Although the sentiment is likely to remain bearish on weak global indices. The domestic funds resorting to selling of equities could make the investors jittery from taking any fresh position. Among the key local indices, the Nifty could decline to 4950 on the downside while on the upside there is a near term resistance at 5050. The Sensex has a likely support at 16650 and may face resistance at 17050.

Stocks slumped Thursday, falling for the second straight session, as a surprise drop in existing home sales and tumbling commodity prices gave investors a reason to sell into a rally that pushed the major gauges to one-year highs. While the Dow Jones shed 41 points at 9707, the Nasdaq was down 24 points to close at 2108.

Most of the Indian ADR's fell on the US bourses. VSNL was the biggest loser and dropped over 6% followed Rediff declined 4.69%, while Infosys, Satyam, MTNL, Wipro, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Patni Computers were down around 0.50-3% each. However, Dr Reddy soared over 5.35% while HDFC Bank gained around half a percent.

Crude oil prices gained sharply, with the Nymex light crude oil added $4.86 at $39.48 per barrel. In the metals segment, the Comex gold for April series lost $1.70 to settle at $976.50 an ounce.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities
On September 23 2009, FIIs were net buyers of stocks to the tune of Rs1833 crore (purchases worth Rs4311 crore and sales of Rs2478 crore) while domestic mutual funds were net buyers of stocks to the tune of Rs110 crore (purchases worth Rs886 crore and sales of Rs776 crore.

SINGAPORE NIFTY @ 9.20AM = 4941.50 (-60.50)

Stocks with +ve Bias: RCOM, India Infoline (Sl 145)
Stocks with -ve Bias: Cairn, Punj lloyd, Sterlite
Stocks for Investment: Apollo tyres, ADSL , U.Phophorus ,Emco

Pre Session Commentary - Sep 25 2009

Reliance Industries threatens to stop gas supply to Reliance Infra on payment defaults. (ET)

Reliance Industries has signed natural gas sales pact with NTPC. (BS)

Reliance Infratel, an arm of Reliance Communication to sell 10% stake through IPO. (ET)

South Africa government officials met representative from market regulators and the finance ministry on a proposal to permit dual listed companies involving Bharti-MTN deal. (BS)

Reliance Infra, Sterlite and Lanco Infra have submitted bids for PFC’s mega transmission project. (ET)

Jaguar-Land Rover, subsidiary of Tata Motors will close one of its two plants in west Midlands. (ET)

L&T bags Rs20bn order from GMR Energy. (ET)

Sesa Goa to raise up to US$500mn through FCCBs. (FE)

Jet Airways to raise up to US$400mn through QIP to meet its working capital requirements. (FE)

Tech M, TCS and IBM are in race for US$400mn Sistema deal. (ET)

Tech Mahindra to raise Rs3bn via NCB. (FE)

GE deal to stay with Mahindra Satyam for three years. (ET)

Wipro bags Rs1.35bn contract from Punjab and Sindh Bank. (ET)

M&M may buy Kirloskar’s stake in Swaraj Engines. (FE)

TVS Motors set to make twin spark plug for their motorcycle model Flame. (FE)

Nalco plans to increase sales of alumina in immediate delivery market by 20% next year. (BL)

Tata Communication enters cloud computing segment. (FE)

Fortis Healthcare has received SEBI approval for its plans to raise funds by issue of equity shares and warrants on rights basis. (BL)

Government to offload 10% stake in MMTC this fiscal. (FE)

Inflation for the week ended September 12 rises to 0.37% from 0.12% in previous week. (ET)

According to trade Minister Anand Sharma, India's exports fell an annual 19.7% in August. (FE)

The government is considering increasing maximum area of iron ore mining from 25sqkm to 100sqkm. (ET)

RBI has asked banks to meticulously assess the inherent group risk on borrowal accounts coming under real estate category. (BL)

Centre plans to extend duty free imports of refined sugar beyond November. (BL)

India’s oil product consumption grew by 6.2% yoy in August. (BL)

Count your gains and relax

One may know how to gain a victory, and know not how to use it.

The bulls are indeed on seventh heaven as the September series came to a happy close with a 7% gain in the major indices. Foreign funds continue to pour money into Indian equities while the local funds don’t appear to be all that excited. The market is likely to remain sideways with mostly a positive bias and its trajectory will hinge on FII inflows and external environment. Results and RBI’s monetary policy are the two big events to watch out for next month.

Meanwhile, inflation is slowly making its way back, with WPI inflation climbing more than expected. Consumer prices are much higher. Inflation is considered bad for equities as it hurts consumer spending and erodes corporate profitability. But for an economy like India 4-5% inflation should not be a big issue. For the time being it may not have a major impact on market sentiment.

Today, we expect a lower start as most global markets are in the red. We have two back-to-back extended weekends. This has the potential to make the market choppy but also gives you a chance to relax.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs10.61bn in the cash segment on Thursday on a provisional basis. The local funds pulled out Rs6.17bn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers at Rs3.66bn. On Wednesday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs18.33bn in the cash segment. The net FII investments in Indian stocks this year have crossed $10.9bn. Mutual Funds were net buyers of Rs1.09bn on Wednesday.

US stocks ended lower on Thursday, falling for the second straight session, as sales of existing homes unexpectedly slumped and the Federal Reserve said that it will cut the size of two programs meant to bolster credit markets.

Weak commodity prices too gave investors a reason to sell into a rally that has pushed the major indices to one-year highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 41 points, or 0.4%, to 9,707.44. The S&P 500 index fell 10 points, or 1%, to 1,050.78. The Nasdaq Composite index declined 24 points, or 1.1%, 2,107.61. Declines were broad based, with 2 out of every 3 Dow stocks sliding.

US stocks gained early after the Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell for the third week in a row. But the market erased those gains after the housing report. A slide in oil and gold shares on the back of a stronger dollar dragged on commodity stocks.

Stocks had pulled back on Wednesday from almost one-year highs after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and essentially maintained its recent economic outlook. A week ago, Fed chief Ben Bernanke said the recession was very likely over, but the labor market still has a long way to go.

The Fed policymakers said on Thursday it was winding down a couple of emergency programs in the wake of an improving economy. The central bank is cutting back the amount of money available to banks under the Term Auction Facility, a short-term loan program. The Fed is also pulling back on a program that lets investment banks trade bad debt for safe Treasury debt.

The major indexes ended Tuesday's session at the highest levels since just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September. Since bottoming at a 12-year low March 9, the S&P 500 has gained 56.8% and the Dow has gained 48.9%, as of Thursday's close. After hitting a six-year low, the Nasdaq has gained 68%.

The stock advance was driven by signs that the economy is slowly starting to recover, fueled by extraordinary amounts of fiscal and monetary stimulus.

Existing home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted 5.1 million unit rate in August from a 5.24 million unit rate in July, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. Economists forecast that sales would rise to a 5.3 million unit rate in the month.

A report from the Labor Department showed weekly jobless claims fell for the third week in a row. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 530,000 last week from a revised 551,000 in the prior week. Economists thought claims would rise by 5,000. Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, fell to 6,138,000 from 6,261,000 in the previous week. Economists expected a rise.

Shares of A123 Systems surged as much as 56.6% from their initial pricing, before trimming the gain to just over 50% at the close. The company, one of a small group of electric-car battery makers, raised $380 million in an initial public offering on Wednesday that priced above forecasts.

A123 was one of 5 companies that went public on Thursday, the biggest day for the IPO market since Nov. 15, 2007, when 6 debuted. Among the other debuts, online pharmacy Vitacost.com was little changed and asset management firm Artio Global Investors added 4.8%.

Two REITs also debuted. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance fell 7.5% and Colony Financial fell 2.5%.

Three more IPOs are due by the end of the week and eight over the next two weeks.

This could be seen as another indicator of a broader economic recovery. Alternately, it could mean that companies are running out of financing options.

Rite Aid reported its ninth consecutive quarterly loss, although the results were not as weak as analysts had expected. However, the drugstore chain also said it would see a wider fiscal-year loss than it initially thought because of falling sales. Shares fell 12.3%.

Chelsea Therapeutics tumbled 60% after its experimental drug to treat a neurological disorder showed disappointing results in a late-stage trial.

The Group of 20 leading developed and emerging countries kicked off another major summit in Pittsburgh to discuss financial reforms in the wake of the global financial market collapse. It is the third such meeting, following earlier events in April and last November.

The dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. The greenback has repeatedly hit one-year lows against a basket of currencies over the last few weeks.

US light crude oil for October delivery fell $3.08 to settle at $65.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $15.50 to settle at $998.90 an ounce. Gold closed at a record high of $1,020.20 last week.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.38% from 3.41% late on Wednesday.

Friday brings government reports on new home sales and durable goods orders, as well as the University of Michigan's September consumer sentiment index.

European shares closed sharply lower. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index slumped 1.9% to 240.15, with stocks reversing stride after a report showing the first decline in US existing home sales in five months.

Germany's DAX index fell 1.7% to 5,065.21, while the French CAC 40 index dropped 1.7% to 3,758.36 and the UK's FTSE 100 index dipped 1.2% to 5,079.27.

After taking a breather in the previous trading session, the Indian markets resumed their uptrend on last day of F&O expiry. The Bulls greeted the September series a good BUY with the NSE Nifty clocking in almost 9% gains during the series.

Today’s session showed strength in the current upmove, the NSE Nifty found strong support at 4900 levels, near its 13 DMA. Markets started off the day on a pessimistic note tracking weak cues from the US and the Asian markets. However as the day progressed, key indices gradually recovered led by index heavyweights like HDFC, ICICI Bank, L&T and Bharti.

The BSE Sensex recovered almost ~290 points and the NSE Nifty has recouped 80 points from their respective day’s low.

The BSE Sensex gained 62 points or 0.4% at 16,781 after touching a high of 16,834 and a low of 16,494. The index opened at 16,634 against the previous close of 16,719. The NSE Nifty gained 16 points to shut shop at 4,986.

In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan was up 1.6%, while Australia's S&P/ASX ended lower by 0.6% at 4,701. Shanghai SE Composite in China gained by 0.3% at 2,853. However, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended lower 2.5% at 21,050.

In Europe, stocks were in the red. The FTSE in the UK was down 0.2%, The DAX in Germany was down 0.3% and the CAC 40 index in France fell 0.3%.

Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the Bankex index was the top gainer, adding 1.5%, followed by the Pharma index that was up 1%. The BSE FMCG index gained 0.8% and the BSE Realty index was up 0.7%.

The BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.8% and the BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.5%.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 18 stocks ended in the green and 12 ended in the negative terrain. Among the major gainers were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, RCom, NTPC and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Hindalco, Infosys, Hero Honda, Tata Steel and ACC were among the major laggards.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were UCO Bank, Gujarat NRE, REI Agro, CESC and Torrent Power. On the other hand, losers included LIC Housing Fin, GMDC, Federal Bank and SCI.

The annual rate of inflation, stood at 0.37% for the week ended September 12, 2009 as compared to 0.12% for the previous week ended September 05, 2009 and 12.42% during the corresponding week ended September 13, 2008 of the previous year. The Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' for the week ended September 12, 2009 rose by 0.2% to 242.6 from 242.0 for the previous week. The government announced that it revised inflation in week to July 18 to -0.54% as against -1.54%.

Shares of Jet Airways edged lower by 0.3% to end at Rs311. Reports stated that the Airliner has sought the government’s permission to sell shares to overseas investors to avoid loan defaults and violation of debt covenants.

The company cannot afford to have a financial crisis impacting its operations, which may have negative cascading effect in terms of sustenance of 13,000 employees, besides defaulting on payment obligations and violating the covenants prescribed by the various lenders," the company said in a letter to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Shares of AIA Engineering advanced by over 2.5% to Rs283 after Genesis acquired 4.68% equity stake in the company.

~4.1mn equity shares of the company were transacted on the BSE at an average price of Rs280 a piece. Financial investor SNM Investment was the seller and it sold its entire stake which it held in the company for 10 years.

Larsen & Toubro received an order valued over Rs20bn from GMR Energy Limited, a GMR Group company, for setting up a 2 x 384 MW gas based power plant at Vemagiri, near Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh on a lumpsum turnkey basis. L&T’s scope includes design, detailed engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of the plant on a turnkey basis.

L&T gained 1.5% to end at Rs1657. The stock opened at Rs1624 and made an intra-day high of Rs1669 and a low of Rs1613. Total traded volumes stood at 0.35mn shares.

Shares of Orbit Corp gained by 2% to Rs244 after kuwait INV Authority- Kuwait INV - fund 205 acquired ~0.61mn shares of the company at an average price of Rs232.64 per share on NSE. The stock opened at Rs236 and made an intra-day high of Rs251 and a low of Rs235. Total traded volumes stood at 1.2mn shares.

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines gained by 5% to Rs53 after reports stated that the company plans to raise up to US$175mn before March 2010 via rights issue and GDR. The stock opened at Rs50.90 and made an intra-day high of Rs53 and a low of Rs50. Total traded volumes stood at 3.8mn shares.

Market may fall tracking weak Asia

The market may fall tracking weak Asia. Investors may book profit after recent strong gains.

Reliance Industries will be in action after it has put Reliance Infrastructure, an Anil Ambani group company, on notice that it would cut gas supply to the latter's 220-MW power plant at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh, claiming the latter has defaulted on payment. The power plant has been getting gas from RIL since May 10 at $4.20 per mmBtu and marketing margin of $0.13 per mBtu. According to Reliance Infarstructure, it had stopped payment as RIL was charging a marketing margin of $0.135 per mBtu. The marketing margin imposed in the nature of sales price/price of sale of gas is illegal, unauthorised and unwarranted,” Reliance Infrastructure said in a reply to RIL

Investors are worried that a glut in share sales may suck liquidity from the secondary market. The corporate sector has raised large sums of money through equity and equity related instruments in the past six months or so to either to retire high cost debt or to fund expansion. The supply of paper by Indian firms appear limitless, raising concerns that additional share sales will suck liquidity from the secondary market.

As per one report, companies plan to raise at least Rs 40,000 crore through initial public offers (IPOs)/follow on public offers (FPOs) in the second half of the current financial year. Power companies such as GMR Energy, Indiabulls Power and JSW Energy and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals and NTPC are likely to tap the primary market. Reliance Infratel also announced on Tuesday, 22 September 2009, its intention to raise Rs 5,000 crore from the primary market. A number of companies are also in the fray to raise funds by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP), reports suggest.

Three Indian firms and in one case promoters of a company raised about Rs 3000 crore in a single day on Wednesday, 23 September 2009. Majority of the fund raising was routed through share sale in the secondary markets through the stock exchanges mechanism.

Meanwhile, India's exports fell an annual 19.7 % in August 2009, as the global slump hit demand for Indian goods, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Thursday.

Nevertheless, there is optimism about Q2 September 2009 results after advance tax collections registered a positive growth in the second quarter after witnessing a negative growth in the first quarter. Corporate advance tax and advance personal income-tax were up by 14.7% and 1.7%, respectively in the September 2009 quarter. Higher advance tax payment indicates good Q2 September 2009 results from India Inc. next month.

India's headline inflation rate rose for the second straight week, data released by the government on Thursday showed. Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 0.37% in the year through 12 September 2009, higher than previous week's gain of 0.12%. The food article index was responsible for the rise in inflation. The index surged 15.64%.

Asian stocks dropped today after Nomura Holdings Inc. announced a record $5.6 billion share offering and sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly declined. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Singapore fell by between 0.47% to 2.9%.

US markets fell for a second day in a row on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced plans to start unwinding some stimulus measures and a report showed existing-home sales fell last month.

The Dow was down 41.11 points, or 0.4%, to 9,707.44. The S&P 500 index fell 10.09 points, or 1%, to 1,050.78, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 23.81 points, or 1.1%, to 2,107.61.

In economic data, existing home sales disappointed after it fell 2.7% in August against economists expectations of a 2.9% increase. Initial jobless claims fell to its lowest level in two months. The figure came in at 530,000 which was less than estimates. Continuing claims were also below expectations at 6.14 million against the predicted 6.18 million.

World leaders at the G20 meeting on Thursday closed in on a statement urging new restraints on bankers' pay, a flashpoint for outrage in the global financial crisis. Group of 20 nations have also agreed on a 5 percentage point shift in International Monetary Fund voting power from controlling developed countries to underrepresented countries, G20 sources said on Thursday. The move is part of efforts to give emerging economic powers more say in the IMF to recognize their growing influence in the world economy.

Back home, buying resumed on the bourses on Thursday after Wednesday's (23 September 2009)'s slide that followed a rally in the preceding five days. But volatility ruled the roost as traders rolled over derivatives contracts from September 2009 series to October 2009 series ahead of Thursday's expiry of September 2009 contracts. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 61.93 points or 0.37% to 16781.43 on that day.

As per provisional figures on NSE, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1061.52 crore and domestic funds sold shares worth Rs 616.77 crore on Thursday, 24 September 2009.

Natco to release one million doses of H1N1 drug

Natco Pharma will be releasing into the market over 1 million doses (10 million tablets) of Natflu, its medicine for treatment of swine flu, by the end of next month, reports Business Standard.

The company said with H1N1 virus spreading in the country they will be required to supply at least 1 million doses of Natflu by the end of October.

The cost of each dose was pegged at Rs 480. Natco has so far released into the market 125,000 doses of Natflu, which are currently available in 33 medical shops, including 25 MedPlus shops, in Hyderabad.

The drug will be now made available throughout the city within a week and in 500-600 medical shops across the country by October 15.

Natco would also be launching pediatric doses (in syrup form) of Natflu in 45 days. At present, the company is supplying only 75 mg Natflu tablets, which is basically an adult dosage.

Shares of the company closed down Rs 1.15, or 0.84%, at Rs 135.60. The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 410,862 (Thursday).

via IRIS

Daily Newsletters - Sep 25 2009

Daily Newsletters - Sep 25 2009

HCL Technologies

HCL Technologies

Tata Power

Tata Power

SGX Nifty deep in the red

4,940.0 -62.0

Precious metals turn paler

Weak housing report takes dollar up

Precious metal prices continued to turn pale on Thursday, 24 September, 2009. Prices fell today after dollar firmed up following weaker than expected housing report.

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 Thursday, gold for December delivery ended at $998.9, lower by $15.5 (1.5%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier during the day, it rose to a high of $1,021 and also fell to a low of $991.3 during intra day trading. Last week, gold ended higher by 0.4%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 13.5%.

Gold ended August, 2009 higher by 0.2%. Before this, for the second quarter, gold ended higher by 0.5%. The metal had gained 4.3% in the first quarter of this year.

On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped somewhat (4.3%) since then.

On Thursday, Comex silver futures for December delivery fell 61 cents (3.6%) to $16.31 an ounce. Last week, silver ended higher by 2.2%.

Silver ended 7.1% higher for August, 2009. For second quarter, silver rose 4.5%. Year to date, silver has climbed 45.2% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

In the currency market on Thursday, the dollar index, which measures the strength of dollar against a basket of other currencies, rose by almost 0.6%.

The National Association of Realtors in US reported on Thursday, 24 September, 2009 that resales of U.S. homes dropped 2.7% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, the first decline in five months. Sales fell in three of four regions last month, with only the West showing a small increase of 2.7%.

In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year.

At the MCX, gold prices for October delivery closed lower by Rs 238 (1.5%) at Rs 15,599 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 15,870 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 15,550 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for December delivery closed Rs 905 (3.3%) lower at Rs 26,232/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 27,095/kg and fell to a low of Rs 26,155/Kg during the day's trading.