Take some rest

Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest -Ashleigh

The seven-day September rally came to a halt but not without some swings which were missing in recent times. The flush of funds so far has led to Indian indices performing relatively better to their global peers.



The start today may be flat to positive but it’s that point in time where you need to take a pause and have a closer look at your individual portfolio. Asian markets are in the green helped by a weaker yen, which improved sentiment for the export firms. The Nikkei is up close to a percent and the Topix is also showing similar strength. The US markets, which were in the red most of the time managed to end flat. Oracle has posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter; IT stocks could get a fillip.

For the fifth time this year, the RBI hiked key rates in the war against inflation. Deposit rates are expected to rise but lending rates may take a while to increase. Food inflation, based on the annual WPI rose 15.10% while the fuel price index climbed 11.48% during the week ended September 4. Remember, these numbers come under a new series with different base year, constituents and weights. The consumer price index figures will be announced today.

Reliance Industries is reportedly considering investing in a Chesapeake Energy Corp. shale-gas asset. Resurgere Mines will consider the allotment of bonus shares today. Mukat Pipes will announce quarterly results. Sagar Cement could be in focus ahead of a possible merger of Amareswari Cements with itself. The board will consider the same on Monday.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs11.2bn in the cash segment on Thursday (provisionally), according to the NSE web site while local funds were net sellers of Rs11bn.

Gold futures for December delivery rose to a record intraday high of $1,279.50 an ounce on Thursday. Local gold prices rose to a record high level of Rs19,363 per ten gram in futures trading. The dollar fell against the euro and the Japanese yen. Oil futures for October delivery fell $1.45 to settle at $74.57 a barrel.

In other news, SBI has sort finance ministry nod for raising Rs200bn from the market. Government cleared 11 new SEZ proposal including those of Infosys and Wipro. India added over 13.5mn new GSM mobile subscribers in August, with Bharti Airtel adding a little over 2mn users to achieve close to 30% market share. REC plans to raise US$500mn by issuing bonds in November.

Among orders received, Ashok Leyland has bagged an order for 2,850 buses from the Institute for Road Transport, Tamilnadu. IVRCL Assets and Holdings Ltd won an order worth Rs15bn for extension of the Pune-Mumbai expressway. Shriram EPC bags order worth Rs10bn. Ispat Industries could see action after Stemcor Holding picked up 10% stake in the company.