From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health. - Catalan Proverb
The world may be observing Health Day but the bourses don’t seem to be in a state of well being; however, there is nothing bitter as yet. Investors need to stick to their prescribed course of maintaining caution at higher levels.
For the day, we expect a flat start and some resistance at even slightly higher levels. On the global front, the S&P and Nasdaq managed to inch higher while the Dow closed in the red. The Asian markets are mostly higher.
The economic recovery may lose steam, despite recent moderate improvements, according to the Fed minutes from their recent policy meeting. Policymakers indicated that they could raise rates as soon as they see continued signs of life in the economy, according to the minutes.
U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 22 cents to settle at $82.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest point for crude since October 2008.
The rupee weakened marginally after hitting a 19-month high on Monday. Reports indicate that the central bank may have intervened.
Pipavav Shipyard will consider issue of securities convertible into shares on preferential basis.
SEBI has proposed to reduce the time between the closure of the issue and listing to 12 days from May 1.
In other prominent news in the media:
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake has struck northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Reports suggest that Wipro plans to exit its babycare and vanaspati business while Wipro Technologies has signed a partnership agreement with Philips to offer Blu-ray middleware and solution development services.
Temasek Holdings Pte is seeking stakes in Indian power producers, including GMR Group, as they double capacity to meet demand. (BS)
The online auction system for third generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum will prevent firms from placing unrealistic bids. (BS)
Data released by TRAI, in the quarter ended December 2009, indicated a rapid increase in the subscriber base from rural areas. (BS)
India and the US on Tuesday set up a Cabinet level economic partnership forum that is expected to encourage massive investment by US companies in Indian infrastructure, while the US will want to be reciprocated by deeper financial sector reforms. (FE)
After a stellar show on Monday, the Indian markets were flattened out today as bulls took a breather on account of profit booking at higher levels. On a number of occasions during the day, the BSE Sensex flirted with the 18,000 mark, but was unable to breach the psychological level. Realty and Power stocks were among the major gainers, while Auto and IT stocks remained under pressure. "What was encouraging was that the advance-decline ratio was in favor of the bulls. In an interesting turn of events, local institutions have been net buyers of over Rs8bn in the past couple of sessions. Prior to this, they had consistently been net sellers while FIIs had been net buyers", says Amar Ambani VP Research, India Infoline. Advance-decline ratio, out of total 2980 stocks on the BSE, 1745 stocks advanced as against 1166 declining stocks while, 69 remained unchanged. Global markets too were steady, European markets gained following an extended Easter weekend. In Asia, things were pretty much quiet. Market in Australia rose by nearly 1% despite announcement of a fresh rate hike. The Hong Kong market remained shut today as well. Finally, the BSE Sensex ended flat at 17,950 and NSE Nifty shut shop almost unchanged at 5,366. In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan ended lower by 0.5%, Australia's S&P/ASX gained 1%. Shanghai SE Composite rose 0.5% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was closed. In Europe, stocks were trading with a positive bias. The DAX in Germany was up 0.6%, the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.6% and the FTSE in the UK was up 0.6%. Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Realty index was top gainer, the index rose 1.5%, followed by BSE Consumer Durables index up 0.8% and Power index up 0.7%. Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were BEL, United Spirits, GTL Infra and KSK Energy. On the other hand, gainers included Allahabad Bank, GE Shipping, Federal Bank and Castrol India. Dishman Pharmaceuticals plans to raise Rs750mn by next month via non-convertible bonds, the MD, J.R. Vyas was quoted as saying. The company plans to use the funds to finance Rs1bn investment in four new drug-making plants, he added. The stock erased early gains and ended lower by 0.6% at Rs219. It opened at Rs221 it touched an intra-day high of Rs223 and a low of Rs217 and recorded volumes of over 91,000 shares on BSE. Shares of SpiceJet shot up by over 7% to Rs61 after media reports stated that Religare Voyages Ltd. may buy a majority stake in the low-cost airline. Religare may pay between Rs70 and Rs75 per share for SpiceJet, added reports. The scrip opened at Rs61 it touched an intra-day high of Rs62.9 and a low of Rs59 and recorded volumes of over 11.1mn shares on BSE. Shares of Suzlon advanced by 2.5% to Rs75 after the company announced that it won 18MW repeat order from Gujarat State Fertilizer. The scrip opened at Rs74 it touched an intra-day high of Rs76 and a low of Rs73 and recorded volumes of over 5.4mn shares on BSE. Shares of Shriram EPC rallied by over 6% to end at Rs230 after reports stated that the company won an order worth Rs1.07bn from SAIL. The scrip opened at Rs220 it touched an intra-day high of Rs239 and a low of Rs200 and recorded volumes of over 0.14mn shares on BSE. Shares of Nu Tek India were locked at 10% upper circuit at Rs38.35 after the company announced that it plans to raise funds and set up a European unit to explore new business opportunities. The scrip opened at Rs36.5 it touched an intra-day high of Rs38.35 and a low of Rs35.6 and recorded volumes of over 0.29mn shares on BSE