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Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Infy


Infy

Aditya Birla Nuvo


Aditya Birla Nuvo

Federal Bank


Federal Bank

Battery Sector


Battery Sector

Pratibha Industries


Pratibha Industries

BL Kashyap


BL Kashyap

IL&FS Transportation IPO opens on 11 March 2010


Price band fixed at Rs 242-Rs 258

IL&FS Transportation Networks, an infrastructure development player with a focus on road projects, is looking to raise Rs 700 crore from an initial public offer.

The offer opens for subscription on Thursday, 11 March 2010 and closes on Monday, 15 March 2010. IL&FS Transportation Networks has set Rs 242-Rs 258 per share price band for the initial public offer (IPO).

The offer consists of a fresh issue of equity shares by the company and an offer for sale of 42.78 lakh shares by Trinity Capital

The company intends to use the IPO proceeds for repayment of loan and to support its growth plans. The company has debt totaling Rs 1000 crore.

The company currently has an order book of Rs 10,300 crore in road and railway projects with a total of 19 projects in its portfolio of which 8 have been completed. It wishes to further diversify into the airport and urban mass transit space.

Nifty March 2010 futures at discount


Turnover declines

Nifty March 2010 futures were at 5,093, at a discount of 8.50 points over spot closing of 5,101.50. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 52,434.16 crore, lower than Rs 59,633.67 crore on Monday, 8 March 2010.

Tata Motors March 2010 futures were at discount at 773.30 compared to the spot closing of 777.85.

Sesa Goa March 2010 futures were at discount at 431 compared to the spot closing of 438.90.

ICICI Bank March 2010 futures were at discount at 918.25 compared to the spot closing of 925.95.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty fell 22.50 points or 0.44% at 5,101.50.

DQ Entertainment IPO


DQ Entertainment IPO

Essar Oil


Essar Oil

NMDC FPO Analysis


A pricey commodity stock

The company's high P/E already captures substantial rise in iron ore prices over the next few years and EV /tonne of iron ore reserves is at significant premium to global peers

NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation), incorporated in 1958, is a public sector company controlled by the Government of India (GoI). The company has been conferred "Navaratna" status. It has access to significant reserves of high grade iron ore, predominantly greater than 64% Fe content and iron ore production accounted for approximately 13% of India's total iron ore production (according to the Indian Bureau of Mines). The company is also one of the lowest cost producers of iron ore, resulting in strong margins.

NMDC was the largest iron ore producer by volume in India during the last three fiscals (according to a certificate of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, dated February 8, 2010) and produced 28.5 million tonnes of iron ore in FY 2009. The company's principal operations include its three iron ore mining complexes at Kirandul and Bacheli in Chhattisgarh and Donimalai in Karnataka, each of which consists of several iron ore mines. Core operation is iron ore mining and iron ore sales, representing approximately 99% of its consolidated income from operations for FY 2009 and for the nine months ended December 31, 2009.

As on 1 January 2010, as per the assessment of Behre Dolbear (in accordance with the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) code), total reserve stood at 1360.6 million tonnes (proven reserve 977.5 million tonnes, probable reserve 182.2 million tonnes and mineral resources 201.0 million tonnes), predominantly greater than 64% Fe content. The company's producing mines are open cast and primarily fully mechanized. It is planning a number of projects to meet demand by enhancing the production capabilities of its existing mines and also by opening new mines.

Going forward, NMDC has guided for a volume guidance of around 50 million tonnes p. a. by 2014. However, most of the volume growth will be back-ended. The management also expects the actual reserves to be higher than the reported reserves. The company also has a healthy balance sheet with cash of Rs 12078.25 crore and is actively exploring options of acquiring iron mines in countries like Brazil, Australia and Senegal.

NMDC sells most of its high-grade iron ore production to the Indian domestic steel market on long-term sales contracts. In FY 2009, exports constituted approximately 15% of consolidated total sales volume, primarily to Japan and South Korea. The company sells its core products, iron ore fines, lump and slimes, through the sales and marketing function. In FY 2009, approximately 92% of the iron ore domestic and export sales volumes were on long-term contracts. The remaining 8% was sold in the spot market at negotiated prices.

Most long-term contracts are for five years. Around 96% of the current agreements for domestic sales are due to expire in 2010 and all current agreements for exports are due to expire in 2011 Till now, NMDC was varying the price in line with changes in global benchmark rates. In view of the crumbling benchmark system, it has appointed a consultant to re-look its pricing structure on long-term contracts and develop a new pricing mechanism. NMDC expects to receive the report soon.

As NMDC is one of the lowest cost producers of iron ore globally, it enjoys very high OPM, which has been consistently above 75% from FY 2007 to FY 2009). As per the company, domestic margins are higher than export margins. For exports, the company has to bear additional costs of export duties, royalty rates, and transportation cost from mine to the port (export sales are on a FOB basis). For domestic sales, royalty charges and transportation costs are borne by customers.

In addition to iron ore operations, NMDC also operates a diamond mine at Panna in Madhya Pradesh, one of the largest diamond mines in Asia, and owns a wind power facility with seven towers with a total capacity of 10.5 MW in Karnataka. The company has the clearance for producing 1,00,000 carats of gem and industrial diamonds per annum. Further more, it expects to complete its acquisition of Sponge Iron India, a company primarily involved in the production of sponge iron, early 2010.

NMDC's key expansion plans include development of steel mill, beneficiation pellet plants, etc. Over the next five years, the company has chalked out a capex plan of Rs 26500 crore. A major part of the capex is to be back ended. Of this, a bulk of the capex (around Rs 15500 crore) would be for steel expansion. The rest would be spent on the pellet plant, development of mines, etc. The company plans to start value-added projects such as steel production and has signed an MOU with the government of Chhattisgarh to develop a steel plant with a capacity of three mtpa at Jagdalpur. It also has plans to develop a steel plant in Karnataka. MMDC is planning to diversify and has been allotted two coal blocks. It is also looking overseas to acquire rock phosphate/potash mines and has secured a prospecting license for gold in Tanzania

NMDC is coming out with a follow-on issue, which is an offer for sale of 332243200 equity shares by the GoI, representing 8.38% of the outstanding equity share capital of the company as part of the decision of GoI to divest part of its shareholding in the company. Being an offer for sale, the company will not receive any proceeds of this offer. All the proceeds will be received by the seller of shares.

Strengths

Iron ore is a key input required in steel making. During the recent global financial market turmoil, India and China were the only two bright spots. In calendar year 2009, among the major steel producers in the world, India and China experienced a growth in steel output, while most others reported a fall. This indicates that the demand for iron ore has remained relatively firm. Furthermore, NMDC caters mainly to the domestic market, which augurs well. The National Steel Policy (NSP) has set a steel production goal of 110 million tonnes by 2019-20. This requires an availability of 190 million tonnes of iron ore for domestic consumption. Currently, domestic iron ore consumption is estimated at around 90 million tones in FY 2009.

NMDC is one of the lowest cost producers of iron ore across the globe and has been able to keep the operating expenses in check, giving the company a competitive edge. While the EBIDTA has increased sharply from US$ 13.4 per tonne in FY 2005 to around US$ 51.3 per tonne in FY 2009, the operating expenses (based on consolidated audited financial statements excluding selling expenses) have increased from US$ 6.1 per tonne in FY 2005 to around US$ 7.6 per tonne in FY 2009.

NMDC's 92% of iron-ore sales are on long-term contract and the balance 8% on spot basis. As a result, the current performance is reflective of the long-term contractual iron ore pricing, which is at a steep discount to spot price. However, going forward, there are proposals to move the contract prices near to the spot rates next year. This would have a positive impact on its iron ore realization. Strong spot prices coupled with indication by global majors to seek settlement close to the spot rates augur well for the company. NMDC has appointed a consultant to look at various possible pricing mechanisms available to realise higher iron ore price once the benchmark system is changed.

Weaknesses

Most major domestic steel companies have applied for captive iron ore mines and their application is in different stages of approval. Allocation of mines to steel companies may affect the demand prospects of NMDC over a longer time frame.

The mining operations are located in geographically remote areas, some of which are at risk of attacks by rebel groups. Such attacks have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on NMDC's operations. For example, the slurry pipeline owned and operated by Essar Steel, used to transport NMDC's iron ore from the Kirandul complex to Essar's facility in Vizag, was damaged by Naxalite rebels in May 2009, adversely impacting the revenue and profitability of NMDC. In addition to disruptions in state-owned railway lines, the company's supplies through rail (KK Line) from the Kirandul and Bacheli complexes to the Vizag port have been restricted from time to time due to security concerns of terrorist activities of Naxalite rebels operating in the area. Further more, time overruns have been experienced at the Bailadila Iron Ore Project Deposit 11B due to Naxalite activity in Chhattisgarh.

NMDC generates a significant portion of its revenue from certain key customers. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and Essar Steel together accounted for 37% and 37% of iron ore sales revenue in FY 2009 and in the nine months ended December 2009, respectively.

For the next few years, the primary driver of NMDC's earnings will be the increase in iron prices as no significant volume growth is expected (except for the recovery from the temporary dip in the current year).

The company's capacity to execute and operate large steel projects planned is untested.

Valuation

Operationally as well financially, NMDC is on a strong footing. However, its FPO represents an exceptional case whose current share price does not give a true picture of its value because the pre-issue floating stock is just 1.62% (64054620 equity shares). Total Institutional holding is 1.38%, leaving very little float for public holding. The stock also has been very volatile. After recently hitting a closing high of Rs 556.05 (closing price as on 19 January 2010), it has corrected by 28% (closing price of Rs 400.60 as on 8 March 2010). Due to low floating stock, the scrip was enjoying high valuation. But with the increase in floating stock after the current issue, valuation will come down.

In FY 2008, NMDC's total iron ore production stood at 30 million tonnes, while in FY 2009, it was around 28.5 million tonnes. In the nine months ended December 2009, iron ore production stood at 17.2 million tonnes. The nine months ended December 2009 were relatively lower partly due to damage to the Essar Steel slurry pipeline, which was not operational since May 2009 and was restored recently.

The stock is offered at a price band of Rs 300 – Rs 350 (without considering the 5% discount being offered to retail individual bidders and eligible employees), which is in a range of 13%-25% discount to the closing price of Rs 400.60 on 08 March 2010. P/E at the offer price band is at 27.3x- 31.9x times consolidated FY 2009 EPS of Rs 11.0 and 37.3x - 43.6x times the consolidated annualised nine months ended December 2009 EPS of Rs 8.0. So even the lower price band already factors in the substantial rise in iron ore prices in the near term as only the rise in iron ore prices will be the key earnings driver over the next few years,

At the price band of Rs 300 – Rs 350, the EV (Enterprise Value) per tonne of iron ore reserve works out to be in the range of US$ 20.2 per tonne to US$ 23.9 per tonne. The EV/tonne of iron ore reserve of comparable player in the sector, Sesa Goa, is around US$ 22.7 per tonne (based on the closing price on 8 March 2010). Notably in last one month, the Sesa Goa scrip is up 23%. However, on the basis of EV/tonne of iron ore reserves both the Indian players are trading at significant premium to the global peers.

Commodity stocks like NMDC track actual and expected changes in commodity (iron ore for NMDC) prices, which are very sensitive to global economic and liquidity factors and are likely to continue to be highly volatile.

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - March 9 2010


Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
09-MAR-2010,AUSTRAL,Austral Coke & Projects L,CROSSLAND TRADING CO,BUY,1687822,9.64,-
09-MAR-2010,AUSTRAL,Austral Coke & Projects L,HI-GROWTH CORPORATE SERVICES PVT. LTD.,BUY,1656657,9.56,-
09-MAR-2010,DIGJAM,Digjam Limited,RICH APPARELS/ (PRO)MANOJ MEHTA,BUY,1117264,11.61,-
09-MAR-2010,DIGJAM,Digjam Limited,SUMAN,BUY,715278,11.41,-
09-MAR-2010,EVEREADY,Eveready Industries India,RAINART ENTERPRISES PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,372436,65.04,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,AASHKA CONSTRUCTION PVT LTD,BUY,168667,153.62,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,176980,154.48,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,RASHI INVESTMENT,BUY,200000,152.50,-
09-MAR-2010,INFINITE,Infinite Computer Sol Ltd,MANISH VRAJLAL SARVAIYA,BUY,245545,210.71,-
09-MAR-2010,RAJTV,Raj Television Network Li,DB (INTERNATIONAL) STOCK BROKERS LTD.,BUY,141023,73.74,-
09-MAR-2010,RAJTV,Raj Television Network Li,TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,BUY,97887,74.00,-
09-MAR-2010,SHARRESLTD,SHARYANS RESOURCES LTD,PAT Financial Consultants Pvt Ltd,BUY,147500,84.00,-
09-MAR-2010,SYNCOM,Syncom Healthcare Ltd,FRONTIER TRADERS PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,108310,116.18,-
09-MAR-2010,VAKRANSOFT,Vakrangee Softwares Limit,ABHIRATI TRADING PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,150000,77.12,-
09-MAR-2010,ZYDUSWELL,Zydus Wellness Limited,HDFC TRUSTEE CO.LTD A/C MONTHLY INCOME PLAN-LONG TERM PLAN,BUY,550000,331.03,-
09-MAR-2010,AUSTRAL,Austral Coke & Projects L,CROSSLAND TRADING CO,SELL,1687822,9.65,-
09-MAR-2010,AUSTRAL,Austral Coke & Projects L,HI-GROWTH CORPORATE SERVICES PVT. LTD.,SELL,1656657,9.58,-
09-MAR-2010,DIGJAM,Digjam Limited,ARCIL BIRLA VXL LIMITED TRUST,SELL,1450883,11.16,-
09-MAR-2010,DIGJAM,Digjam Limited,RICH APPARELS/ (PRO)MANOJ MEHTA,SELL,1117264,11.47,-
09-MAR-2010,DIGJAM,Digjam Limited,SUMAN,SELL,715278,11.20,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,AASHKA CONSTRUCTION PVT LTD,SELL,247895,155.89,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,175966,154.68,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,SARIKA GARG,SELL,166100,154.04,-
09-MAR-2010,HANUNG,Hanung Toys and Textiles,TCG STOCK BROKING LTD,SELL,271507,152.31,-
09-MAR-2010,INFINITE,Infinite Computer Sol Ltd,MANISH VRAJLAL SARVAIYA,SELL,245545,210.71,-
09-MAR-2010,MAHINDFORG,Mahindra Forgings Limited,KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LIMITED,SELL,1755000,121.83,-
09-MAR-2010,RAJTV,Raj Television Network Li,DB (INTERNATIONAL) STOCK BROKERS LTD.,SELL,141023,73.72,-
09-MAR-2010,RAJTV,Raj Television Network Li,TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD.,SELL,97887,73.88,-
09-MAR-2010,SHARRESLTD,SHARYANS RESOURCES LTD,PASHA FINANCE PVT LTD,SELL,147500,84.00,-
09-MAR-2010,STAR,Strides Arcolab Limited,ZENITH PHARMACEUTICALS LTD.,SELL,400000,329.02,-
09-MAR-2010,SYNCOM,Syncom Healthcare Ltd,FRONTIER TRADERS PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,108310,114.23,-
09-MAR-2010,ZYDUSWELL,Zydus Wellness Limited,DALI LIMITED,SELL,537302,330.03,-

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - March 9 2010


Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
9/3/2010 517356 ACI Infocom ALOK GUPTA S 60000 21.43
9/3/2010 530901 ACIL Cot Inds AKASH KUMAR S 65000 27.10
9/3/2010 511706 Action Fin SACHIN DHIRAJ GALA HUF B 50000 20.30
9/3/2010 530135 Akanksha Fin BINA ATUL CHAUHAN B 20000 15.00
9/3/2010 530135 Akanksha Fin SATELLITE EXIM PRIVATE LIMITED S 20000 15.00
9/3/2010 533163 ARSS INFRA SMART EQUITY BROKERS PRIVATE LIMITED B 112455 803.62
9/3/2010 533163 ARSS INFRA SMART EQUITY BROKERS PRIVATE LIMITED S 112455 803.95
9/3/2010 512535 Asahi Infra BASMATI SECURITIES PRIVATE LIMITED S 3505224 1.10
9/3/2010 532989 Bafna Pharma SASIKALA BAFNA B 102950 29.73
9/3/2010 531591 Bampsl Sec PRAKASH CHAND GUPTA B 430198 1.25
9/3/2010 590059 Bihar Tubes JAIPUR ENGINEERING & ELECTRICALS LIMITED B 265786 94.65
9/3/2010 590059 Bihar Tubes UMESH PURUSHOTTAM CHAMDIA S 250000 94.56
9/3/2010 511607 Birla Shloka ARIHANT SEC & INVESTMENT B 212765 64.58
9/3/2010 511607 Birla Shloka ARIHANT SEC & INVESTMENT S 212765 65.53
9/3/2010 511607 Birla Shloka SARSWATI VINCOM LTD S 131764 63.21
9/3/2010 590076 Camson Bio SANATAN HERBAL AND NATURALS LIMITED S 175000 125.64
9/3/2010 530457 Cinerad Comm INDIA EMERGING CAPITAL PVT LTD B 31811 7.68
9/3/2010 513353 Cochin Mnrl SURYAKANT DALMIA B 50000 71.50
9/3/2010 513353 Cochin Mnrl DALMIA SECURITIES PRIVATE LIMITED S 50000 71.50
9/3/2010 532760 Deep Inds ARCADIA SHARE & STOCK BROKERS PVT. LTD S 131961 114.61
9/3/2010 503796 Digjam RICH APPARELS PRO MANOJ MEHTA B 355125 12.22
9/3/2010 503796 Digjam SUMAN DEVI B 645336 11.69
9/3/2010 503796 Digjam SUMAN DEVI S 645336 11.54
9/3/2010 503796 Digjam RICH APPARELS PRO MANOJ MEHTA S 355125 11.63
9/3/2010 517973 DMC Intl CENTENARY SOFTWARE PVT LTD B 174742 22.22
9/3/2010 517973 DMC Intl BHARAT GUPTA B 160224 21.76
9/3/2010 517973 DMC Intl CENTENARY SOFTWARE PVT LTD S 174815 21.91
9/3/2010 532768 FIEM Inds PARAM COMMODITIES PVT.LTD. B 100750 103.55
9/3/2010 532768 FIEM Inds MANMOHAN DAMANI S 100000 103.55
9/3/2010 532139 G Tech Info JIGNESH CHANDRAKANT SHAH S 546300 5.64
9/3/2010 531904 Globus Corp ANUJ SHANTILAL BADJATE S 400000 1.54
9/3/2010 524314 Gujarat Terce ROHNIL BORADIA B 30453 18.76
9/3/2010 524314 Gujarat Terce PRIYA CHANDRAKANT JALGAONKAR B 80631 18.99
9/3/2010 524314 Gujarat Terce KETA NIRAVBHAI SHAH B 25000 18.92
9/3/2010 524314 Gujarat Terce ROHNIL BORADIA S 30202 18.51
9/3/2010 524314 Gujarat Terce NATVARBHAI PURSHOTTAMDAS PRAJAPATI S 100001 19.02
9/3/2010 526307 Hind Inds EQUITY INTELLIGENCE INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED B 100000 29.19
9/3/2010 526307 Hind Inds LITTY THOMAS S 84637 29.25
9/3/2010 517571 IMP Powers PERCEPT FINANCIAL SER. P. LTD S 50400 104.68
9/3/2010 509684 India Foils ESS DEE ALUMINIUM LTD S 226265 7.47
9/3/2010 522165 Indsil Hydro BAKLIWAL FINCOM PRIVATE LIMITED B 56494 72.24
9/3/2010 531447 Insutech India ABSOLUTE LEASING & FINANCE PVT LTD S 37358 26.06
9/3/2010 517250 INTEGRA IND SHARAD SHAH B 8301 399.25
9/3/2010 523467 Jai Mata Glass KOSHISH INVESTMENT AND TRADING PVT LTD B 100000 3.63
9/3/2010 523467 Jai Mata Glass SANJAY KUMAR SAREEN B 150000 3.61
9/3/2010 523467 Jai Mata Glass ARVIND SHAH S 100000 3.64
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds KAILASH RAM GOPAL CHHAPARWAL B 42344 28.61
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds MOTILAL OSWAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD B 37299 28.90
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds SANJAY AGARWAL S 71952 29.08
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds RAMESH AGARWAL S 57418 28.91
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds SONU SINGH S 46771 29.30
9/3/2010 505840 Jaipan Inds KAILASH RAM GOPAL CHHAPARWAL S 58045 28.97
9/3/2010 507981 Jindal Hotels HASINA KASAMBHAI SHEKH B 17888 50.18
9/3/2010 507981 Jindal Hotels HASINA KASAMBHAI SHEKH S 17888 54.33
9/3/2010 533155 JUBL FOOD SMART EQUITY BROKERS PRIVATE LIMITED B 393317 300.51
9/3/2010 533155 JUBL FOOD SMART EQUITY BROKERS PRIVATE LIMITED S 393317 300.75
9/3/2010 531784 Kadamb Constr JAYSHREE SOMANI S 250000 41.63
9/3/2010 531784 Kadamb Constr SAMYAK INTERNATIONAL LTD S 89400 42.00
9/3/2010 530955 Kailash Ficom BIKASH SUREKA B 74000 26.30
9/3/2010 530955 Kailash Ficom GOODNESS TRADING PRIVATE LIMITED B 71600 26.30
9/3/2010 530955 Kailash Ficom ABHIJAI INVESTMENT B 71500 26.30
9/3/2010 530955 Kailash Ficom ACME PVT. LTD. S 100000 26.30
9/3/2010 530955 Kailash Ficom SHREE BAHUBALI INTERNATIONAL LTD S 55482 26.30
9/3/2010 523810 Kaleidoscope Films ZAHER ZENUDIN MERCHANT B 486665 5.55
9/3/2010 523810 Kaleidoscope Films PRAKASH DHEBAR S 500000 5.55
9/3/2010 530255 KAY Power BAMPSL SECURITIES LTD B 59000 17.50
9/3/2010 530255 KAY Power BAMPSL SECURITIES LTD S 97937 17.51
9/3/2010 530255 KAY Power GIRRAJ PRASAD GUPTA S 70000 17.50
9/3/2010 530745 LN Polyesters KETAN MEHTA S 165999 19.42
9/3/2010 530745 LN Polyesters CHINTAN SHAH S 127330 19.67
9/3/2010 500259 Lyka Labs HARESH SHANTICHAND JHAVERI B 109000 28.20
9/3/2010 500259 Lyka Labs SHANTAV SUBRAMANIAN S 109279 28.20
9/3/2010 501209 Maestros Med JUGALKISHORE MOHANLAL MAHESHWARI B 30000 60.00
9/3/2010 501209 Maestros Med SAROJ JUGAL MAHESHWARI B 63341 60.00
9/3/2010 501209 Maestros Med PINNACLE TRADES AND INVESTMENTS S 60000 60.00
9/3/2010 500264 Mafatlal Inds MANISHA RAO B 46000 149.72
9/3/2010 514450 Mahalaxmi Rub MUKESH KUSHIRAM WADHWANI B 62835 82.82
9/3/2010 514450 Mahalaxmi Rub MUKESH KUSHIRAM WADHWANI S 62835 81.29
9/3/2010 531515 Mahan Inds RENUKA GUNTURU S 400000 5.54
9/3/2010 524232 Maharashtra Poly Ankita Financial Services Pvt. Ltd B 100000 155.57
9/3/2010 524232 Maharashtra Poly HITESH MULCHAND PITHADIA S 93000 155.06
9/3/2010 524232 Maharashtra Poly FORT SHARE BROKING PVT LTD. S 200151 155.60
9/3/2010 532756 Mahindra Forg KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK LIMIT S 1029230 121.94
9/3/2010 532724 Mounteverest Trd MUKUND MOTOR PARTS PVT LTD S 13043 125.90
9/3/2010 511535 NDA Securities PRABHA SOMANI B 87150 12.05
9/3/2010 511535 NDA Securities BDA FINCAP PRIVATE LIMITED S 87150 12.05
9/3/2010 531791 Novagold Petro NILESH KRUSHNA PALANDE S 98225 4.39
9/3/2010 531996 Odyssey Corp RANISATI DEALER PRIVATE LIMITED B 42100 71.05
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas ARVIND KASHMIRILAL PUNJABI B 70000 60.75
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas PRAKASH KUMAR DEVSHILAL SHETH B 28000 60.50
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas BHUTIYA HITESH KANABHAI B 25000 60.53
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas VISHAL M RAMNANI S 25000 60.53
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas JHAVERI TRADING & INVESTMENT PVT LTD S 30000 60.50
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas VIJAYKUMAR KASHMIRILAL PUNJABI S 35000 60.75
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas GAGAN O ARORA S 35000 60.75
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas FALGUNIBEN MAHAVIRBHAI GOHIL S 30278 60.83
9/3/2010 531496 Omkar Overseas MANISH SURESH JOSHI S 26000 60.51
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm SHIVA INVESTMENT B 7000 203.99
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm PATEL SHAILESH JIVANLAL B 18000 207.88
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm NIMAI AGENCIES PRIVATE LIMITED B 12839 207.76
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm PRADIPBHAI RAMBHAI PATEL B 15000 204.00
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm NIMAI AGENCIES PRIVATE LIMITED S 10239 207.11
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm UPENDRA SOMCHAND BHATT S 4800 206.00
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm ASHLESH GUNVANTBHAI SHAH S 5300 204.59
9/3/2010 512097 Oregon Comm PARESH RAMJIBHAI CHAUHAN S 5000 205.30
9/3/2010 517195 ORG Informatics HARINAM BALAL CHOKSI S 125000 13.00
9/3/2010 530923 Passari Cellu DAKSHA BAI S 30000 68.29
9/3/2010 524136 Pee Cee Cosma SHARAD K SHAH B 13000 70.00
9/3/2010 531273 Radhe Dev SHITALBHAI PRIYASHARAN SHAH S 2228000 3.83
9/3/2010 532826 Raj Television DB (INTL) OWN TRADING B 95356 73.59
9/3/2010 532826 Raj Television TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. B 79461 73.59
9/3/2010 532826 Raj Television TRANSGLOBAL SECURITIES LTD. S 79461 73.79
9/3/2010 532826 Raj Television DB (INTL) OWN TRADING S 95356 73.68
9/3/2010 532826 Raj Television KANCHAN CHHABRA S 71104 73.01
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp MAHIPAT IWDARMAL MEHTA B 586264 37.73
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp RAVI BRIJKISHORE SAXENA B 78619 37.44
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp OM PARKASH GUPTA B 69212 37.60
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp MUNISH HANDA B 41174 37.44
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp RAJNEESH KANT SHRIVASTAVA B 39316 37.39
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp RAJNEESH KANT SHRIVASTAVA S 39316 37.43
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp ASHU FARMS PVT LTD S 161450 37.82
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp OM PARKASH GUPTA S 69212 37.75
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp RAVI BRIJKISHORE SAXENA S 63455 37.58
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp MAHIPAT IWDARMAL MEHTA S 523667 37.63
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp AMITA KAUSHIK SHAH S 40194 37.57
9/3/2010 502587 Rama Pulp MUNISH HANDA S 41174 37.48
9/3/2010 590077 Ranklin Sol VIJAY KUMAR TUMMALA B 34797 55.07
9/3/2010 590077 Ranklin Sol SATYANARAYANA VARAPRASAD GARIKIPATY S 36300 55.08
9/3/2010 590077 Ranklin Sol RAMESH KUMAR TUMMAPALA S 31301 55.59
9/3/2010 530271 Rich Capital SCOPE VYAPAR PRIVATE LIMITED B 75925 83.05
9/3/2010 512359 Rotam Comm PRADIPBHAI RAMBHAI PATEL B 20000 114.65
9/3/2010 512359 Rotam Comm RAJU KUMAR MAHIPAL HUF S 6600 114.65
9/3/2010 531569 Sanjivani Par BLOSSOM INVESTMENTS PVT. LTD. B 49718 51.37
9/3/2010 531569 Sanjivani Par NEELU AND M A MERCHANT TRUST S 49718 51.37
9/3/2010 532900 SE Investments KUVERA CAPITAL PARTNERS LLP A/C KUVERA FUND LIMITED B 407440 400.00
9/3/2010 532900 SE Investments SHRI RADHE GOVIND ICE AND COLD STORAGE PRIVATE LIMITED S 265500 400.01
9/3/2010 532900 SE Investments GAUPAL PRODUCTS PRIVATE LIMITED S 145000 400.01
9/3/2010 524540 Secunderabad Health CHERUKURI SIRISHA B 20000 17.98
9/3/2010 526510 Shakti Metdor SURYANARAYANA PENUBOLUSURYANARAYANA B 25000 172.00
9/3/2010 526510 Shakti Metdor MAMIDIPUDI VENKATA RAMAMOHAN S 17000 172.00
9/3/2010 511754 Shalibhadra Fin CHOICE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED B 50000 20.90
9/3/2010 532793 Shree Ashtavina SUMAN DEVI B 1663926 12.29
9/3/2010 532793 Shree Ashtavina TRANS FINANCIAL RESOURCES LIMITED B 3059287 12.53
9/3/2010 532793 Shree Ashtavina TRANS FINANCIAL RESOURCES LIMITED S 2650798 11.96
9/3/2010 532793 Shree Ashtavina SUMAN DEVI S 1663926 12.22
9/3/2010 531645 Southern Ispat ARCADIA SHARE & STOCK BROKERS PVT. LTD S 56881 24.45
9/3/2010 502465 Speciality Pap DKG SECURITIES PVT. LTD. B 98062 20.00
9/3/2010 502465 Speciality Pap DRB SECURITIES PVT LTD B 150000 20.00
9/3/2010 502465 Speciality Pap JAY MERCHANDISE & MARKETING PVT LTD S 250344 20.00
9/3/2010 526827 Spice Islands SHRI PARASRAMHOLDING PVT LTD B 38320 33.14
9/3/2010 532531 Strides Arco GOLDMAN SACHS INVESTMENTS MAURITIUS I LTD B 310000 328.17
9/3/2010 532531 Strides Arco ZENITH PHARAMACEVTICALS LIMITED S 350000 328.21
9/3/2010 590047 Sunderam Multi TANNAVI ANIL BHAYANI S 527102 43.22
9/3/2010 526133 Supertex Inds JIGESH AMRUTLAL HIRANI B 643449 3.21
9/3/2010 526133 Supertex Inds JIGESH AMRUTLAL HIRANI S 645679 3.16
9/3/2010 500570 Tata Motors CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS MAURITIUS PRIVATE LIMITED B 4653518 752.41
9/3/2010 500570 Tata Motors TATA SONS LIMITED B 4000000 750.00
9/3/2010 500570 Tata Motors DAIMLER AG-FDI A/C S 25596476 751.67
9/3/2010 532284 TCFC Finance GREENSTONE INVESTMENT PVT LTD. B 100845 30.27
9/3/2010 532284 TCFC Finance RRB SECURITIES LTD S 100000 30.25
9/3/2010 590005 Tide Water STANDARD GREASES AND SPECIALITIES PVT LTD B 20000 5028.60
9/3/2010 590005 Tide Water VICTORY RETAIL MARKETING PVT LTD S 20000 5028.60
9/3/2010 511431 Vakrangee Soft ABHIRATI TRADING PRIVATE LTD B 150000 77.13
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers PANDYA YAMINIBEN M B 24783 473.15
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers RAMESHBHAI V PARMAR B 25090 475.01
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers SHOBHNABEN R PARMAR B 25171 473.23
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers PANDYA YAMINIBEN M S 30309 471.52
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers SHOBHNABEN R PARMAR S 32000 470.05
9/3/2010 531249 Well Pack Papers DIPIKA DINESH KANKARIA S 25500 471.53
9/3/2010 531396 Women Networks NARENDRA KUMAR SURANA B 30500 21.80
9/3/2010 531396 Women Networks CHAMPION TIE UP SERVICES PVT LTD S 30000 21.80
* B - Buy, S - Sell

DQ Entertainment IPO fully bid


Gets bids for 1.49 crore shares compared to 1.32 crore shares on offer

The initial public offer of Hyderabad based animation and entertainment production house DQ Entertainment (International) (DQE) received bids for 1.49 crore shares compared to 1.32 crore shares. The IPO was subscribed 1.13 times by 16:00 IST on day two of the issue, NSE data showed. The public issue closes on Wednesday 10 March 2010.

The company has fixed the price band of Rs 75-80. The issue includes a reservation of up to 3.21 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each for eligible employees. The issue would constitute 20.24% of the post issue paid-up capital of the company and the net issue will constitute 19.84% of the post issue paid up capital of the company.

Late last week just before the opening of the issue DQE placed 28.3 lakh shares with anchor investors at Rs 80 per share, at the top end of the Rs 75-Rs 80 per share price band. The anchor investors include IDFC Small and Midcap Equity Fund, T Rowe Price International Discovery Fund, Birla Sunlife Equity Fund, Birla Sun Life MIP II - Savings 5 Plan, Morgan Stanley ACE Fund, Axis Tax Saver Fund and Axis Equity Fund.

DQE had earlier completed a pre-IPO placement for Rs 25.69 crore through a placement of 37.70 lakh equity shares, or 5.97% of the pre-issue share capital of the company, with IDFC Investment Advisors (IDFC) and other corporate and high net worth individuals.

The company will utilise the IPO proceeds of the issue towards co-production, IP content creation, development of office premises and production facilities.

RIL leads decline


The key benchmark indices lost ground as profit taking emerged after recent strong gains. The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 50.06 points or 0.29%, off close to 80 points from the day's high and up close to 20 points from the day's low. European markets reversed early gains. US index futures were trading lower.

The market breadth was weak in contrast to a positive breadth earlier in the day. Auto and banking stocks saw mixed trend. Metal stocks slipped after commodity prices declined on the London Metal Exchange on Monday, 8 March 2010. IT stocks extended Monday's gains triggered by strong US job data. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) declined in volatile trade. Tata Motors declined more than 3% on huge volume after Germany's Daimler AG today sold all of its 5.34% stake in the auto firm.

The market moved in a narrow range in the first two hours or so of trade. The market recovered from lower level in afternoon trade after junior finance minister Namo Narain Meena said the government will continue with economic reforms to strengthen the economy. But the intraday recovered proved short-lived. The market once again slipped into the red in mid-afternoon trade. Sustained selling pressure kept the market depressed in late trade.

India VIX, a volatility index based on the S&P CNX Nifty index option prices, rose 0.34% to 20.80. The index has witnessed a steep fall in the last few trading sessions after the government tabled the Union Budget for 2010-2011 in the parliament on 26 February 2010. India VIX is a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the next 30 calendar days. Typically, volatility surges ahead of a major event such as the Budget. It falls after the event.

On the political front, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday put the historic Women's Reservation Bill that reserves 33% of legislative seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women to vote. In a dramatic sequence of events after the house reconvened at 15:00 IST, Chairman Hamid Ansari – despite protests from the suspended RJD and SP MPs – carried out a voice vote seeking consent for the adoption of the motion for voting on the bill. After the motion was adopted, the Chairman put the bill to vote.

However, as it is a Constitution Amendment (108th) Bill, it can be only cleared after four rounds of voting in its favour. A Constitution amendment needs a two-thirds majority in voting requiring the support of 155 MPs in Rajya Sabha for its passage. The bill has clear backing of at least 165 MPs in the House with an effective strength of 233.

Earlier, the errant SP, RJD and LJP MPs were marshalled out of the House as Chairman Hamid Ansari called for a vote on the Bill. Before that Ansari suspended seven MPs belonging to SP, RJD and LJP for the remaining part of the Budget session for their unruly behaviour in the House over the Bill.

Earlier in the morning, Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who are opposing the Women's Reservation Bill, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and informed the PM of their differences towards the bill. The Women's Reservation Bill, which was blocked in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, seeks to reserve a third of the seats in parliament and state legislatures for women.

In overseas markets, European stocks reversed early gains to trade lower. Key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France were down by between 0.52% to 0.64%.

Investors were cautious ahead of a meeting of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou with US President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy later in the global day. Papandreou has said he is seeking support from the Obama administration to rein in the type of market speculation he blames for driving up Greece's borrowing costs, while traders are also watching whether the Greek prime minister says anything new about his nation's debt troubles.

Meanwhile, the Portugal government launched its own budget cuts to shore up its public finances. The plan includes slashing the budget shortfall to 2.8% of gross domestic product in 2013 from 9.3% of GDP last year.

Most Asian stocks were trading higher on Tuesday, reversing initial decline. The key benchmark indices in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Indonesia, were up by between 0.05% to 1.17%. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended 0.17% lower

US markets ended slightly lower on Monday, 8 March 2010. American International Group Inc inked a deal to sell its unit American Life Insurance Company, better known as Alico, to MetLife Inc for about $15.5 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 11.79 points, or 0.11%, to 10,554.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.14 point, or 0.01%, to 1,138.56. But, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.39 points, or 0.23%, to 2,331.74.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 32 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 9 March 2010.

Closer home, Rajan Bharti Mittal, the newly elected president of industry body FICCI said on Monday there's no room for hardening of interest rates and the Reserve Bank of India should maintain status quo on the rates to allow the industry to make fresh investments. He added that fresh investment announcement have begun across sectors and further increase in interest rates will only hamper economic growth.

The government will announce the industrial output data for the month of January 2010 on Friday, 12 March 2010. Industrial output grew 16.8% in December 2009.

Meanwhile, the fourth and the last installment of advance tax by India Inc due on 15 March 2010 will give a broad indication of fourth quarter earnings.

Going ahead, the key triggers for the stock market are structural reforms such as decontrol of petrol and diesel prices, targeting of food subsidies, and financial sector reforms such as increase in foreign direct investment in insurance sector.

The government said on Friday it will seek parliamentary approval to spend an extra Rs 31780 crore for the fiscal year to end-March 2010, which it plans to fund through savings.

There is no risk that the government will borrow more than planned to fund supplementary spending, Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra said on Friday. Of the additional spending, Rs 12000 crore would be spent on oil subsidy, Rs 8000 crore on fertiliser subsidy and Rs 2459 crore on food subsidy, among others.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday the economy would grow by at least 8% in the year through March 2011. Asia's third largest economy would expand 7.2-7.5% in 2009-10, he told parliament. Singh said prospects for the winter-sown crop are 'very encouraging'. He also said the government must pay good prices to farmers to ensure higher farm production. The prime minister said the government will take all practical measures to bring down food prices.

He said the government will continue commitment to pubic and private investment in agriculture. The prime minster said there is need to find ways and means to stabilise the sugar economy.

A good harvest is likely to bring down food inflation, which accelerated to nearly 18% in late February. The government, facing mounting criticism for rising food prices, is struggling to meet conflicting aims of controlling food inflation and trying to please farmers by paying them attractive prices.

Food prices will be keenly watched in coming weeks for the second and third round impacts of the recent fuel price rise. Market men see a 25 basis points hike in the repo and reverse repo rates each by the RBI at the April 2010 policy review.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier ruled out rolling back a price hike in fuel prices despite pressure from his main allies, saying populist policies would hurt the economy in the long-term. Petrol prices rose about 6% and diesel prices by 7.75% after the government increased factory-gate taxes and import duties on the fuels as part of last week's 2010-11 union budget 2010-11, which stressed fiscal prudence to cut a wide deficit

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao on Monday, 8 March 2010, said inflation should moderate in the coming months. He said the central bank will ensure that interest rate levels do not have a negative impact on the competitiveness of the economy. Should India need to manage inflationary expectations, the central bank could turn to its traditional mix of policy tools including use of both liquidity and cash reserve requirements, he said.

Subbarao said the government's plans to reduce the fiscal deficit this year and in 2011 would help to manage inflationary expectations and facilitate demand for private credit. The government's borrowing program is likely to proceed smoothly over the next financial year, he said. The government has set its gross market borrowing target for 2010/11 at a record Rs 4.57 lakh crore, up by 1.3% percent from the previous year, a move that has pushed bond prices lower as investors have anticipated a flood of fresh debt supply. Asked if he anticipated a sharp rise in levels of yields in 10-year government bonds, he said that yields had risen slightly this year but would be managed over the coming 12 months.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's budgetary proposals last week offered a progressive cut in fiscal deficit over the next three fiscal years, changed personal tax rates lifting disposable incomes in the hand of individuals and reduced surcharge on corporate tax for domestic companies to 7.5% from 10%.

The Finance Minister in his budget speech on Friday, 26 February 2010 said the government aims to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and implement the direct tax code from 1 April 2011.

The fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.5% of GDP for 2010-2011, lower than an estimated 6.8% for the current fiscal year. The finance minister said the government also aimed to reduce the deficit further to 4.8% of GDP in the year starting 1 April 2011, and to 4.1% in the year from 1 April 2012. He said there is a need to review stimulus and move towards fiscal consolidation and review public spending.

A thrust on the infrastructure sector augurs well from a long-term growth perspective. The Finance Minister has provided Rs 1.73 lakh crore for infrastructure development in 2010-2011, which accounts for over 46% of the total plan expenditure for the year.

The stock market has applauded the Union Budget 2010-2011 due to its thrust on infrastructure development, government's pledge to reduce fiscal deficit over the next three years, a smaller-than-expected 2% hike in excise duties, and reduction in taxes for individuals which will boost disposable income. The Finance Minister has assumed a modest GDP of about 8% and inflation of about 4.5% for 2010-2011.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 said India's economic recovery is still being driven by public spending and is not yet broad-based, further clouding the debate on the timing of rate hikes by the central bank.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 50.06 points or 0.29% to 17,052.54,. The index rose 28.23 points at the day's high of 17,130.83 in mid-afternoon trade. The Sensex lost 71.39 points at the day's low of 17,031.21 in late trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty fell 22.50 points or 0.44% to 5101.50. Nifty March 2010 futures were at 5,093, at a discount of 8.50 points over spot closing of 5,101.50. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment was Rs 52,434.16 crore, lower than Rs 59,633.67 crore on Monday, 8 March 2010.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 1826 shares declined as compared with 1084 that advanced. A total of 60 shares remained unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 7532 crore, higher than Rs 5112 crore on Monday, 8 March 2010. The turnover was boosted by a huge block deal in Tata Motors in opening trade.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 19 declined while the rest gained.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.72% and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.71%. Both the indices underperformed the Sensex.

The BSE IT index (up 0.85%), the BSE Teck index (up 0.41%), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.08%), the BSE FMCG index (down 0.09%), the BSE Bankex (down 0.15%), outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Metal index (down 1.56%), the BSE PSU index (down 1.43%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (don 1.25%), the BSE Realty index (down 1.09%), the BSE Auto index (down 0.9%), the BSE Power index (down 0.85%), the BSE Capital goods index (down 0.84%), the BSE HealthCare index (down 0.44%), underperformed the Sensex.

Auto stocks saw mixed trend. India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors slumped 3.24%. Germany's Daimler AG said Tuesday it sold all of its 5.34% of the ordinary shares of Tata Motors to various groups of investors in bulk deals. Daimler will receive a cash inflow of approximately 300 million euros ($408 million) from the sale.

India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra rose 0.09%. India's largest bike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors fell 2.03% to Rs 1874.70. The stock declined on profit booking after striking an all-time high of Rs 1,921 on 8 March 2010.

India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India gained 1.52%. As per reports, Suzuki Motor Corporation has raised its stake in Maruti Suzuki to 55%, triggering speculation about the Japanese firm's intentions for its Indian subsidiary. Suzuki raised its stake in Maruti by 0.8% through secondary market purchases recently and is set to increase its stake further, reports indicated.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) declined 1.49% to Rs 990.20. As per reports, global petrochemicals major LyondellBasell has reportedly rejected a multi-billion dollar takeover offer from Indian giant RIL, preferring its own restructuring plan to exit bankruptcy. RIL had reportedly made a $12.5 billion bid to acquire controlling stake in the global major and later raised the bid to over $14 billion.

India's largest bank by net profit and branch network State Bank of India (SBI) dropped 1.28%. A bill seeking to reduce Centre's shareholding in the SBI from 55% now to 51% and to allow the bank to raise more capital from the market through preference shares, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The amendment bill seeks to provide for enhancement of the capital of SBI by issue of preference shares, to enable it to raise resources from the market by public issue or preferential allotment or private placement. The bill also aims to provide for flexibility in the management of the bank

Other banking shares rose. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 0.22%. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank gained 1.75%.

Metal stocks slipped after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, declined 0.49% on Monday, 8 March 2010.

Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel fell by between 0.69% to 2.56%.

NMDC tumbled 6.23% to Rs 375.65 after the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Monday pegged the price band for the follow-on public offer (FPO) of the company at Rs 300-350 a share, at a discount of 12.6% to 25.11% to Monday's closing price of Rs 400.60 on BSE. The government will offload 8.38% stake in NMDC through the FPO which remains open for bidding between 10 and 12 March 2010.

IT stocks extended Monday's gains triggered by upbeat US jobs data. US is the biggest market for Indian IT firms. India's largest software services exporter by sales Tata Consultancy Services gained 1.12%.

India's third largest software services exporter by sales Wipro rose 0.47% after the company secured an order from Financial Intelligence Unit, a unit of ministry of finance to develop an information technology network to track all irregular financial transactions. The company announced the new order win after market hours on Monday, 8 March 2010. India's second largest software services exporter by sales Infosys was up 0.92%

Economic data released on 7 March 2010 showed US employers cut a net total of 36,000 jobs in February 2010, after jobs fell by 26,000 in January 2010. That was short of the expected 68,000 jobs lost, according to a consensus of economists. Also the unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, held steady at 9.7%, versus forecasts for a rise to 9.8%.

Realty shares declined on profit taking after the recent upmove. The Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2010-11 on 26 February 2010 said pending projects will be allowed to be completed within a period of five years instead of four years for claiming a deduction on profits. The norms for built-up area of shops and other commercial establishments in housing projects is also proposed to be relaxed to enable basic facilities for their residents. Unitech, DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate and Phoenix Mills fell by between 0.66% to 4.3%.

Cals Refineries clocked the highest volume of 7.01 crore shares on BSE. Tata Motors (4.38 crore shares), Greenearth Resources (1.5 crore shares), Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision (1.4 crore shares) and Sanraa Media (0.85 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.

Tata Motors clocked the highest turnover of Rs 337.69 crore on BSE. Jubilant Food Organosys (Rs 204.34 crore),ARSS Infra (Rs 121.30 crore), State Bank of India (Rs 91.05 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 84.09 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.

Base metals stay steady


Prices end marginally higher as dollar fluctuates

Base metal prices ended almost unchanged at Comex on Monday, 08 March 2010. Prices ended marginally higher as the dollar fluctuated throughout the day.

At USA, copper futures for March delivery ended marginally higher by 0.1 cent at $3.4 a pound. In February, copper ended higher by 7.1%. Copper ended FY 2009 higher by 140%.

At LME, copper for delivery in three months ended higher by 1.1% at $7,628. On 3 July, 2008, prices had touched an all time intra day high of $8,940.

Copper ended substantially higher last year on expectations of revived global economic growth along with a decline in the dollar. The dollar index had dropped almost 4.2% last year. The metal was also pushed higher by record first-half imports to China, the world's largest user.

The U.S. buys about 13% of the 17 million metric tons of copper sold annually and China buys about 20%.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar had been down roughly 0.4% at its session low earlier in the day but it ended the day with a 0.4% gain. The dollar earlier fell against the euro after French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated over the weekend that Greece's euro-zone partners stood ready to provide help if needed to avoid a default.

The metal reached a seven-week high earlier last week after an earthquake disrupted mining in Chile, the world's largest producer. The price has climbed 6.3% in three sessions.

In FY 2008, copper prices dropped by 54%. Prior to 2008, copper prices ended FY 2007 with a gain of mere 5.5% after a whopping 44% gain in FY 2006. The price of copper gained every year since 2002 as global economic growth boosted demand for the metal used in pipes and wires.

Among other metals traded in the LME on Monday, lead ended 1.8% higher at $2,270 a ton and zinc ended 1.5% higher at $2,385 a ton. Nickel ended 1.1% higher to end at $22,630. Aluminum ended 0.8% higher at $2,247 a ton.

Bullion metals pare earlier gains


Prices drop as dollar heads up

Precious metal prices pared earlier gains and ended lower on Monday, 08 March, 2010. Prices fell as the dollar, which oscillated between gains and losses for the entire day ended higher at the end decreasing precious metal's appeal against an alternate investment. The dollar rose in reaction to Greece's plans to control its deficit and traders' outlook on US economy.

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 Monday, gold for April delivery ended at $1,124 an ounce, lower by $11.2 (1%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, gold rose to a high of $1,138 and fell to a low of $1,118.5. Last week, gold gained 1.4%. In FY 2010, gold touched a high of $1,154 in January.

On Monday, May Comex silver futures ended lower by 9 cents (0.6%) at $17.26 an ounce. Last week, silver ended higher by almost 8%.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar had been down roughly 0.4% at its session low earlier in the day but it ended the day with a 0.4% gain. The dollar earlier fell against the euro after French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated over the weekend that Greece's euro-zone partners stood ready to provide help if needed to avoid a default.

Gold had ended FY 2009 higher by 24%. Silver futures had ended 2009 up 50%. The dollar index had lost 4.2% against its counterparts last year.

Last year, after hitting a low at $807.30 per ounce on 15 January 2009, gold futures rallied almost 51% to hit an all-time high at $1217.40 per ounce during early December of 2009 but fell from those levels at the end. Silver futures had hit a low at $10.42 on 15 January 2009 and hit a high at $19.30 per ounce on 2 December 2009. Like gold, silver also ended lower than its all time high level.

Crude ends higher


Prices rise as traders smell faster global recovery

Crude prices ended modestly higher on Monday, 08 March 2010. Prices rose on anticipation of global recovery in the coming month. But prices ended off their session highs. Prices pared gains partly as the dollar was lifted up later in the day.

On Monday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for April delivery closed at $81.87/barrel (higher by $0.37 or 0.4%). Prices rose to a high of $82.47 during intra day trading. Prices gained 2% last week.

Crude prices rose 9.3% in February as supply-and-demand issues began to take hold in a market for months dominated by moves in the dollar. Prices have ranged between $69 and $84 a barrel since October.

In the currency market on Monday, the dollar had been down roughly 0.4% at its session low earlier in the day but it ended the day with a 0.4% gain. The dollar earlier fell against the euro after French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated over the weekend that Greece's euro-zone partners stood ready to provide help if needed to avoid a default.

Among other energy products on Monday, gasoline for April delivery rose 1.9 cents to $2.29 a gallon, while heating oil for the same month rose to $2.11 a gallon from $2.10 a gallon.

Also on Monday, natural gas for April delivery fell 6.6 cents, or 1.4%, to $4.53 per million British thermal units.

Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Oil prices had reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 45% since then. Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

Flat-to-positive opening likely on mixed global cues


The market is likely to see a flat-to-positive opening amid mixed global markets. Asian markets were trading lower today after US markets ended on a mixed note on Monday, 8 March 2010. The S&P CNX Nifty futures for March 2010 expiry were up 11.50 points in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday morning over the Women's Reservation Bill, which was blocked in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The bill seeks to reserve a third of the seats in parliament and state legislatures for women. The members of RJD and SP were leading the opposition against the bill and were successful in blocking it in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Shares of Tata Motors will be in spotlight on reports German carmaker Daimler is selling its 5.34% stake in the company through block deal on Tuesday to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore. Daimler was offering 2.56 crore shares in Tata Motors between Rs 737.40 and Rs 761.30 each, a discount of 4 to 7% below the stock's closing price on Monday of Rs 796.75.

NMDC may hog limelight after the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Monday pegged the price band for the follow-on public offer (FPO) of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) at Rs 300-350 a share. The government will offload 8.38% stake in NMDC through the FPO which remains open for bidding between 10 and 12 March 2010.

Asian stocks declined Tuesday as commodity companies edged lower. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, China and Japan were down by between 0.07% to 0.55%.

US markets ended slightly lower on Monday, 8 March 2010. American International Group Inc inked a deal to sell its unit American Life Insurance Company, better known as Alico, to MetLife Inc for about $15.5 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 11.79 points, or 0.11%, to 10,554.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.14 point, or 0.01%, to 1,138.56. But, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.39 points, or 0.23%, to 2,331.74.

Back home, selling pressure in second half of the day's trade curtailed strong initial gains on the domestic bourses on Monday, 8 March 2010 triggered by strong global cues. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 108.11 points or 0.64% to 17,102.60 and the S&P CNX Nifty rose 35.30 points or 0.69% to 5124.

As per provisional figures on NSE, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 1132.01 crore and domestic funds sold shares worth Rs 568.63 crore on Monday, 8 March 2010.

Rajan Bharti Mittal, the newly elected president of industry body FICCI said on Monday there's no room for hardening of interest rates and the Reserve Bank of India should maintain status quo on the rates to allow the industry to make fresh investments. He added that fresh investment announcement have begun across sectors and further increase in interest rates will only hamper economic growth.

The government has estimated Rs 40000 crore from disinvestment for FY 2010-11. In the Union Budget on 26 February 2010 the government said it would raise Rs 25,958 crore through disinvestment in the fiscal to March 2010.

The government will announce the industrial output data for the month of January 2010 on Friday, 12 March 2010. Industrial output grew 16.8% in December 2009.

Meanwhile, the fourth and the last installment of advance tax by India Inc due on 15 March 2010 will give a broad indication of fourth quarter earnings.

Going ahead, the key triggers for the stock market are structural reforms such as decontrol of petrol and diesel prices, targeting of food subsidies, and financial sector reforms such as increase in foreign direct investment in insurance sector.

The government said on Friday it will seek parliamentary approval to spend an extra Rs 31780 crore for the fiscal year to end-March 2010, which it plans to fund through savings.

There is no risk that the government will borrow more than planned to fund supplementary spending, Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra said on Friday. Of the additional spending, Rs 12000 crore would be spent on oil subsidy, Rs 8000 crore on fertiliser subsidy and Rs 2459 crore on food subsidy, among others.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday the economy would grow by at least 8% in the year through March 2011. Asia's third largest economy would expand 7.2-7.5% in 2009-10, he told parliament. Singh said prospects for the winter-sown crop are 'very encouraging'. He also said the government must pay good prices to farmers to ensure higher farm production. The prime minister said the government will take all practical measures to bring down food prices.

He said the government will continue commitment to pubic and private investment in agriculture. The prime minster said there is need to find ways and means to stabilise the sugar economy.

A good harvest is likely to bring down food inflation, which accelerated to nearly 18% in late February. The government, facing mounting criticism for rising food prices, is struggling to meet conflicting aims of controlling food inflation and trying to please farmers by paying them attractive prices.

Meanwhile, the recent hike hike in petrol and diesel prices will further increase headline inflation. Higher inflation will put further pressure on interest rates which in turn may impact corporate and consumer confidence. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently tried to allay fears of fuel price hike stoking inflation. He said the direct effect on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) will be no more than 0.4%.

Food prices will be keenly watched in coming weeks for the second and third round impacts of the fuel price rise. Market men see a 25 basis points hike in the repo and reverse repo rates each by the RBI at the April 2010 policy review.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reportedly signaled her support for a move to raise taxes on fuel in last year's Budget. The Congress president has reportedly praised finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for a well-balanced budget and said growth is the engine of the Budget

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier ruled out rolling back a price hike in fuel prices despite pressure from his main allies, saying populist policies would hurt the economy in the long-term. Petrol prices rose about 6% and diesel prices by 7.75% after the government increased factory-gate taxes and import duties on the fuels as part of last week's 2010-11 union budget 2010-11, which stressed fiscal prudence to cut a wide deficit

The government has set its gross market borrowing target for 2010/11 at a record Rs 4.57 lakh crore, up by 1.3% percent from the previous year, sending bond yields into a tizzy and sparking fresh worries on liquidity.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's budgetary proposals last week offered a progressive cut in fiscal deficit over the next three fiscal years, changed personal tax rates lifting disposable incomes in the hand of individuals and reduced surcharge on corporate tax for domestic companies to 7.5% from 10%.

The Finance Minister in his budget speech on Friday, 26 February 2010 said the government aims to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and implement the direct tax code from 1 April 2011.

The fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.5% of GDP for 2010-2011, lower than an estimated 6.8% for the current fiscal year. The finance minister said the government also aimed to reduce the deficit further to 4.8% of GDP in the year starting 1 April 2011, and to 4.1% in the year from 1 April 2012. He said there is a need to review stimulus and move towards fiscal consolidation and review public spending.

A thrust on the infrastructure sector augurs well from a long-term growth perspective. The Finance Minister has provided Rs 1.73 lakh crore for infrastructure development in 2010-2011, which accounts for over 46% of the total plan expenditure for the year.

The stock market has applauded the Union Budget 2010-2011 due to its thrust on infrastructure development, government's pledge to reduce fiscal deficit over the next three years, a smaller-than-expected 2% hike in excise duties, and reduction in taxes for individuals which will boost disposable income. The Finance Minister has assumed a modest GDP of about 8% and inflation of about 4.5% for 2010-2011.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 said India's economic recovery is still being driven by public spending and is not yet broad-based, further clouding the debate on the timing of rate hikes by the central bank.

Bulls may slow down


Headlines for the day

Essar Energy plans London listing to raise $3 billion - Business Standard

L&T targets 5,000 mw by 2015 - DNA Money

Events for the day

Major corporate action

Ex-date for Bonus Issue of Sterlite Technologies Ltd. in the ratio of 1:1

Ex-date for Stock Split from Rs5/- to Rs2/- of Sterlite Technologies Ltd.

Ex-date for Stock Split from Rs10/- to Rs2/- of Atco Corporation Ltd.

Pre-market report

Global signals

European stocks closed lower on Monday, with chemicals weaker and drugmakers down after AstraZeneca's cancer drug failed in trials, offsetting gains in oils and telecommunication firms.

US stocks closed flat on Monday, led by BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Cisco Systems.

In today's trade, all the Asian indices are trading in red. At the time of writing of this report SGX Nifty trades 5.50 points higher.

Indian markets

Domestic markets expected to open flat on the back of mixed signals that are coming from the global markets. As Nifty and Sensex continues to remain on the strong position in 5000 and 17000 mark respectively. Markets trend to remain positive, but investors to be cautious at higher levels.

Commodity cues

In the commodity space, the Crude oil prices recorded loss after the three straight session gains, with the Nymex light crude oil for April series down by $0.35 per barrel, whereas in the metals space, Comex Gold for April series and Comex Silver for May series declined by $10.70 and $0.11 to a troy ounce respectively.

Daily trend of FII/MF investment in equities

On March 05, 2010, FIIs were the net buyers of the Indian Stocks in the tune of Rs692.20, whereas the Domestic mutual funds, on March 04, 2010, were also the net sellers of the stocks in the tune of Rs351 crore.

NMDC - Grey Market Premium


Company Name

Offer Price

(Rs.)

Premium

(Rs.)

Kostak

(Rs. 1 Lac Application)

NTPC (FPO)

201

--

Texmo Pipes

90

20 to 21

--

Man Infraconst.

252

84 to 86

--

REC (FPO)

203

--

United Bank of India

60 to 66

9.25 to 9.50

-

DQ Entertainment (Inter.)

75 to 80

38 to 40

1800 to 2000

NMDC (FPO)

300 to 350

70 to 75

1900 to 1950

Pradip Overseas

100 to 110

12 to 14

1900 to 2000

IL&FS Transportation

242 to 258

31 to 32

2000 to 2100

Morning Notes - March 9 2010


Morning Notes - March 9 2010

Infosys Technologies


Infosys Technologies

Aries Agro


Aries Agro was among the top gainers on Monday as the stock surged 10 per cent higher. This spike was accompanied by volume that was the highest in the past three months. Monday's rally has also aided the stock to record its highest close in the past 17 months (called a ‘break-out' in technical parlance). Oscillators in the daily chart continue to show strength though the 14-day relative strength index has moved above 70, denoting that the stock is slightly overbought from a short-term perspective. Other oscillators such as the rate-of-change oscillator and the moving average convergence-divergence oscillator continue to signal a buy.

The intermediate-term uptrend that began from a March 2009 low halted at Rs 103 in January and the stock was in a gentle decline since then. However, the fact that the stock corrected less than 20 per cent from this peak implies that buyers are eager to buy the stock at every decline. The near-term trend will stay positive as long as the stock holds above Rs 100. Short-term investors can therefore buy the stock with a stop at Rs 100, with the target of Rs 118.

via BL

India Real Estate - Service Tax


India Real Estate - Service Tax

JSW Steel


JSW Steel

Daily News Roundup - March 9 2010


Daimler to sell 5.34% stake in Tata Motors, plans to raise around Rs19.5bn from the share sale. (BS)

The government introduced the State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill in Parliament to give SBI more leeway to raise capital from the market through preference shares, bonus shares and private placement of shares. (BS)

Essar Energy plans London listing to raise US$3bn. (BS)

Caraco Pharmaceuticals, the troubled US subsidiary of Sun Pharma, got a temporary reprieve after its banker, RBS Citizens, agreed to suspend the conditions on a term loan of US$18mn till October 6. (BS)

The Union government fixed the price band for NMDC’s follow-on public offer (FPO) at Rs300-350 a share. (BS)

Nissan ropes in Ashok Leyland to take on Volkwagen’s small cars. (BS)

Exide Industries plans to raise ~Rs5.4bn through sale of 50mn equity shares priced at Rs107.9per share to QIB. (ET)

India Cements to raise over Rs11bn via QIP route. The funds would be used for setting up captive power plants. (ET)

SAIL plans to setup a technology joint venture with a Japanese partner to make higher value products amid surging demand. (BS)

Axis Bank plans to spin off its private equity (PE) business as a separate entity. (BS)

Telecom operator Uninor, which offers its services in eight of the 22 circles in the country, will soon start the exercise of raising debt to the tune of Rs94bn. (BS)

L&T has begun work for setting up a 1,320MW thermal plant of the total target of 5,000MW at Rajpura, Punjab. (BL)

Nagarjuna Construction has secured new orders aggregating Rs12.2bn, including a Rs6.5bn deal from the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Ltd, for the construction of Access Controlled Expressway. (BL)

Suzuki Motor has raised its stake in Maruti Suzuki to 55%, triggering speculation about the Japanese firm’s intentions for its Indian subsidiary and whether the move is part of a larger plan to take full control of the country’s top carmaker. (ET)

Indian Oil has completed the Rs37bn capacity augmentation and product quality improvement projects at Haldia refinery. (BL)

MAN Industries has bagged a Rs9.5bn order from Kuwait for the supply of 1,70,000 tons of large diameter pipes in both LSAW as well as HSAW segments. (BL)

Jet Airways has abandoned its US$200m fund raising plan. (ET)

WIPRO Infotech, India and Middle East IT business of Wipro has won a turnkey project from the Financial Intelligence Unit - India, ministry of finance. (ET)

Zee Learn has earmarked over Rs700m investment to scale-up its chain of schools under Kidzee brand during the current calendar year.(ET)

Tata Motors has launched a customer service initiative Christened Tata Motors Service Edge. The initiative is constructed on three core services—Response in minutes, resolve in hours; Service with unmatched reliability and Assured value for money. (ET)

The Government has approved Rs44bn for setting up 1,100 MW grid-connected solar power plants under the first phase of the National Solar Mission. (ET)

States are demanding that Central Government double the compensation proposed by the Finance Commission to implement the already delayed Goods and Services Tax as the `Grand Bargain’’ is leading to stiffer demands. (ET)

No Oscar performance here!


Winning is not everything but wanting to win is.

Like in the stock market, the favourites don’t always win the races. Record breaking sci-fi flick Avatar lost out to The Hurt Locker at the Academy Awards, which was a low-grosser. In another first, a woman won the Best Director Oscar, which coincided with the Women’s Day. In contrast, the long-pending Woman’s Reservation Bill received another setback back home as the famous Yadavs resorted to vandalism in Parliament. The ruckus may continue in Parliament over a whole host of issues in the coming days.

Coming to the market, we expect ‘The Weary Kind’ at start as it is expected to be subdued due to indecisive global cues. Most Asian shares are flat this morning after a mixed performance overnight on Wall Street. European stocks too finished nearly unchanged. We see the key indices being on ‘The Blind Side’ and listless today amid lack of fresh catalysts.

Stock centric action will persist though with some stocks seeing ‘Up’ movement. Small-cap and Mid-cap shares might continue to remain ‘The New Tenants’ on street but do your due diligence before putting you ‘Precious’ money into this space. Else you find yourself in a situation like the ‘Crazy Heart.

Thermax may make a corporate announcement related to the Power and Energy sector on Wednesday.

Maruti will be in focus as reports suggest Japanese parent Suzuki will increase stake in the Indian arm. Maruti will also be in spotlight as Ford launches the Figo - its new compact car in India.

Daimler AG plans to sell 5.34% stake in Tata Motors through a block deal, which will be executed on Tuesday, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the Government has fixed a price band of Rs300-350 for the follow-on public offer (FPO) of mining giant NMDC, and will raise between Rs 9,900-11,550 crore depending on the cut-off price.

The issue will open on Wednesday. The upper end of the price band translates into a 12.6% discount to Monday’s closing price of Rs 400.60, while at the lower end, the discount works out to 25%.

The Government has abandoned the French auction route for the NMDC offering and will use the conventional book-building process.

FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Monday at Rs11.32bn on a provisional basis while the local funds were net sellers of Rs5.68bn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers of Rs9.48bn.

US stocks ended little changed on Monday, although the Nasdaq managed to close at an 18-month high, as investors weighed corporate deals, a stronger dollar and weaker commodity prices ahead of key economic news due later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 14 points, or 0.1%, to 10,552.52. The S&P 500 index finished flat at 1,138.50. Both ended the previous session at their highest levels since Jan. 20. The Nasdaq Composite added 6 points, or 0.3%, at 2,332.21, ending at its highest point since Sept. 2, 2008.

The dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

US light crude oil for April delivery rose 37 cents to settle at $81.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for May delivery fell $10.90 to settle at $1,124.60 per ounce.

Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.71% from 3.68% late on Friday.

Market breadth was positive.

Between March 9 and the 2010 rally high hit on Jan. 19, the S&P 500 gained 70%, the Dow gained 64% and the Nasdaq gained 44%.

Stocks rallied on Friday after a government report showed the economy lost fewer jobs in February than economists had expected. But stocks drifted on Monday as investors looked to a host of economic news due later in the week.

MetLife agreed to buy troubled insurer AIG's American Life Insurance unit, known as Alico, in a $15.5 billion cash-and-stock deal. The deal was a positive, but not a surprise, as MetLife had confirmed last month that it was in talks with AIG.

It was AIG's second major sale in a week as the government-owned company looks to pay back over $100 billion in bailout money it took during the financial crisis.

MetLife will pay $6.8 billion in cash, with the remainder in company stock. The deal leaves AIG as Met's second-biggest shareholder, with a stake of over 20% in the company. Met shares gained 5% and AIG shares gained 3.6%.

In other deal news, Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina have made a bid to buy Australia's Arrow Energy for $3 billion in cash and stock. Royal Dutch already owns a 10% stake in Arrow.

McDonald's said that February same-store sales rose 4.8%, as strength in overseas markets offset weakness in the United States. Same-store sales is a retail metric that refers to sales at stores open a year or more. Shares of the Dow component rose 2.3%.

Tuesday brings the one-year anniversary of what many consider to be the bear-market low. On that day, the Dow and S&P 500 closed at 12-year lows and the Nasdaq closed at 6-year lows.

European shares ended slightly lower after failing to break out of a tight range, with weakness in drug stocks offsetting more signs of support for Greece. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed 0.1% lower at 256.87, after moving between small gains and losses through the session.

Germany's DAX index fell 1.45 points to close at 5,875.91 and the French CAC-40 index declined 0.2% to end at 3,903.54. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.1% to settle at 5,606.72.

Further signs of European support for Greece emerged over the weekend. French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that a number of countries were ready to rescue the nation if necessary, while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested the possibility of creating a European fund modeled on the International Monetary Fund.

The Greek ASE Composite index rose 0.3% to 2,087.45. Still, in a sign that worries about the more peripheral countries in Europe haven't gone away, Portuguese stocks were weaker, with the PSI 20 index falling 0.6% to 7,917.36.

Indian markets recorded smart gains but ended off their intra-day’s high on Monday. The benchmark Sensex reclaimed the 17,000 levels and the NSE Nifty ended above the 5100 thanks to positive global cues. US stocks ended with gains following an encouraging jobs report and Asian markets also ended on a positive note.

The Auto and the Banking stocks were among the top gainers, while the Realty and Consumer Durables stocks were under pressure. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap index remained in demand, yet again outperforming the benchmark indices.

The breath on the BSE Sensex was positive, out of the total 2946 stocks, 1752 advanced as against 1107 declines and 87 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 20 stocks ended in the positive and 10 ended in the red.

The BSE Sensex gained 108 points to end at 17,102 after touching a high of 17,187 and a low of 17,050. The NSE Nifty added 35 points to end at 5,124.

In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan ended with smart gains, adding 2.1%, while Australia's S&P/ASX gained 0.9%. Shanghai SE Composite ended higher by 0.8% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 2%.

In Europe, stocks were trading flat. The DAX in Germany was flat; the CAC 40 index in France was almost unchanged and the FTSE in the UK was flat as well.

Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the Auto index was the top gainer, adding 2%, followed by the Banking index that was up 1.1% and the BSE Pharma index was up 0.9%. Even, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.7% and BSE Small-Cap index was up 1%.

Among the losers were BSE Realty index down 0.5% and BSE Metals index down 0.3%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were Essar Oil, LITL, Allahabad Bank, Aban Offshore and Sterling Bio. On the other hand, losers included NMDC, OBC, Union Bank and Max India.

NMDC plans to come out with its public issue of over 330mn equity shares or 8.38% stake. The issue would open on March 10 and close on March 12. The company to offer its shares at a discount of up to 30% on the current market price.

Shares of NMDC slipped 3.5% to end at Rs400. The scrip opened at Rs405 it touched an intra-day high of Rs418 and a low of Rs383. Total traded quantity of over 1.2mn shares on BSE.

SAIL gained 1.2% to end at Rs237 as the company is reportedly planning to join rivals in forging a technology JV with a Japanese partner to make higher value products amid surging demand.

The company is reportedly in talks with a Japanese company to set up a factory in eastern India, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh was quoted as saying. The factory may be located in the cities of Bokaro or Bhilai where SAIL operates plants and has large areas of spare land, Singh added.

Shares of Essar Oil surged by over 6.5% to end at Rs149 as the Essar Group is reportedly planning plans to raise Rs$3bn overseas to fund acquisitions and expand its oil, power and steel businesses.

The money may be raised via debt or sale of equity in Essar Energy Ltd which is a holding company for the group’s energy businesses. A decision on the fund-raising may be taken in six weeks, reports added.

Nagarjuna Construction secured new orders aggregating Rs12.21bn from Hyderabad Growth Corridor Ltd, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd, NHPC Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Director and National Institute of Technology, Tripura.

Shares of Nagarjuna Const advanced by 3% to end at Rs163. The scrip opened at Rs161 it touched an intra-day high of Rs165 and a low of Rs161 and recorded volumes of over 0.2mn shares on BSE.

Shares of HT Media advanced by 1% to end at Rs147 after reports stated that its unit’s plan to raise Rs3bn through an IPO. HT media’s unit, Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., filed a draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for the initial stock sale.

The scrip opened at Rs158 it touched an intra-day high of Rs169 and a low of Rs146 and recorded volumes of over 0.18mn shares on BSE.

Man Industries secured order worth Rs9.5bn from Kuwait for supply of 170000 tons of large Dia meter pipes in both LSAW as well as HSAW segments. The order has to be executed in next financial year.

Shares of Man Industries shot up by over 7.5% to end at Rs64. The scrip opened at Rs61 it touched an intra-day high of Rs66 and a low of Rs60 and recorded volumes of over 1.4mn shares on BSE.

Shares of Bank of Rajasthan slipped 2.2% to end at Rs66.8 after reports stated that the bank has been ordered to get its accounts audited by the Reserve Bank of India following investigations into irregular dealings. The scrip opened at Rs70.9 it touched an intra-day high of Rs70.9 and a low of Rs66.5 and recorded volumes of over 0.6mn shares on BSE.

Shares of Jagran Prakashan gained by 3% to end at Rs122. ~ about 21.3mn equity shares or 7.1% of its equity, changed hands in two block deals on BSE, NSE. The scrip opened at Rs120 it touched an intra-day high of Rs128 and a low of Rs112 and recorded volumes of over 15.9mn shares combined on BSE.