Market may open flat to slightly higher; Maruti Suzuki India in focus

Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a gain of 4 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks were mostly lower.

Maruti Suzuki India announced on Saturday, 29 October 2011 that net profit fell 59.8% to Rs 240.44 crore on 14.36% fall in total income to Rs 7949.36 crore in Q2 September 2011 over Q2 September 2010. The board of directors of the company granted approval to purchase land in district Mehsana, Gujarat for the future expansion of manufacturing facilities.



Wipro announced before market hours today that consolidated net profit rose 1.24% to Rs 1300.90 crore on 18.2% rise in total income to Rs 9305.80 crore in Q2 September 2011 over Q2 September 2010.

The company expects revenues from IT Services business to be in the range of $1,500 million to $1,530 million for the quarter ending 31 December 2011.

Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro, commenting on the results said – “Macroeconomic sentiments continue to remain uncertain. We have seen growth momentum build up in our IT Business with healthy volume growth. Our focused investment strategy will get the business to a higher growth trajectory. ” Suresh Senapaty, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said – “We are continuing to see incremental progress in our client mining strategy with 5 customers contributing more than $100 million of revenues and our top customer hitting a revenue run rate upwards of $200 million. We had an impact on operating margins in the quarter due to salary increases.” T K Kurien, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, IT Business, said – “We have had a strong quarter with Revenues ahead of the upper end of the guided range. We continue to build differentiation and business value through our focus on key themes – Variabilization, Consumerization, Performance Analytics and Innovation in a world of constraints.”

Among prominent corporate results, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Dabur India, Colgate Palmolive (India), Bank of Baroda, NMDC and BPCL unveil Q2 results today, 31 October 2011

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank said on Sunday it raised its saving bank interest rate and base rate, following a deregulation in savings deposit rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bank revised the savings bank interest rate for deposits above 100,000 rupees to 6% per annum and that for up to Rs 100,000 to 5.50% per annum, it said in a statement. The current savings bank interest rate was 4 percent per annum, it said. Kotak Mahindra Bank also raised the base rate by 25 basis points to 10% per annum from Nov. 1 from the present 9.75% per annum and revised prime lending rates upwards by 25 basis points.

European Union leaders' efforts to contain the euro zone debt crisis and data showing the US economy grew in the third quarter at its fastest pace in a year stoked appetite for riskier assets with Indian bourses being no exception. Key benchmark indices surged to hit 11-1/2 week closing highs on Friday, 28 October 2011. The BSE Sensex was up 515.97 points or 2.98% to 17,804.80, its highest closing level since 3 August 2011.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 2166.21 crore on Friday, 28 October 2011 as per provisional figures on the stock exchanges.

Stock-specific activity may dominate trade in the near-term as earnings flow in. Investors will closely watch the management commentary at the time of announcement of Q2 September 2011 results, which will provide cues on futures earnings outlook.

Cement majors ACC and Ambuja Cements, Punjab National Bank, HPCL and Aditya Birla Nuvo unveil quarterly results on 1 November 2011. Sun TV Network, Ashok Leyland and TVS Motor report Q2 results on 3 November 2011. ONGC, Bharti Airtel and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals unveil quarterly results on 4 November 2011.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company and ABB unveil results on 8 November 2011. Ranbaxy Laboratories, Indian Oil Corporation, GMR Infrastructure and Power Finance Corporation unveil quarterly results on 9 November 2011. Tata Steel, Hindalco and Mahindra Satyam unveil Q2 results on 10 November 2011. Jet Airways (India) and Tata Chemicals unveil Q2 results on 11 November 2011. Coal India and Shipping Corporation of India report Q2 results on 12 November 2011. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and India Cements unveil Q2 results on 14 November 2011. Tata Power unveils Q2 results on 15 November 2011.

RBI announced a 25 basis points hike in its key policy rate viz. the repo rate to 8.5% after half-yearly review of the monetary policy on Tuesday, 25 October 2011. The central bank cut its GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal year through March 2012 to 7.6% from 8% earlier. But it retained its March-end inflation projection of 7%. RBI said the projected inflation trajectory indicates that the inflation rate will begin falling in December 2011 (January 2012 release) and then continue down a steady path to 7% by March 2012. It is expected to moderate further in the first half of 2012-13. This reflects a combination of commodity price movements and the cumulative impact of monetary tightening. Further, moderating inflation rates are likely to impact expectations favourably. RBI said that economic growth is moderating on account of the cumulative impact of past monetary policy actions as well as some other factors.

The central bank said that the likelihood of a rate action in the December mid-quarter review is relatively low. Beyond that, if the inflation trajectory conforms to projections, further rate hikes may not be warranted, the central bank said in a statement. However, as always, actions will depend on evolving macroeconomic conditions, it added.

While the impact of past monetary actions is still unfolding, it is necessary to persist with the anti-inflationary stance, RBI said. The stance of the monetary policy is intended to maintain an interest rate environment to contain inflation and anchor inflation expectations. The stance of the monetary policy is also intended to stimulate investment activity to support raising the trend growth. The stance of the monetary policy is also intended manage liquidity to ensure that it remains in moderate deficit, consistent with effective monetary transmission.

RBI said that several factors--structural imbalances in agriculture, infrastructure capacity bottlenecks and distorted administered prices of several key commodities and the pace of fiscal consolidation--have combined to keep medium-term inflation risks in the economy high. These risks can only be mitigated by concerted policy actions on several fronts, RBI said. In the absence of progress on these, over the medium term, RBI's monetary policy stance will have to take into account the risks of inflation surging in response to even a moderate growth recovery.

Food inflation has accelerated to a six-month high, propelled by soaring vegetable prices and highlighting limitations of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary intervention after it raised rates for the 13th time in 19 months recently. Data released by the government on Thursday showed food inflation rose to 11.43% year on year for the week to October 15, compared with 10.6% in the preceding week, driven by a 25% jump in vegetable prices even as prices of food articles increased 0.25%.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 19 October 2011 said that the government is concerned about the volatility of FII flows. Mukherjee said loose monetary policies adopted by central banks in advanced economies have added to global liquidity, driving investments into better off emerging economies and fueling inflation in these countries.

The falling rupee could bloat India's already mammoth import bill and further strain government finances as the fuel subsidy burden swells, Finance Secretary R.S. Gujral said Friday, 21 October 2011. The rupee hit a near 30-month low below 50 against the dollar on 21 October 2011. Elevated crude oil prices are likely to push the government to spend an additional Rs 40000 crore on fuel subsidies in the current year.

Meanwhile, the new takeover code regulations notified by the market regulator Sebi last month became effective from Saturday, 22 October 2011. With these rules coming into force, both promoter and public shareholders of a listed company would now get the same price for their shares being purchased by an acquirer. At the same time, an acquirer would have to make an open offer for purchase of a minimum 26% stake from public shareholders, as against 20% earlier.

The new rules would also help the listed companies to get more investment from private equity players and other investors who are not interested in a takeover, as the trigger point for an open offer has been raised to 25%, from 15% earlier. Now, an entity needs to make an open offer only if its holding reaches threshold limit of 25%, as against 15% earlier. The new regulations replace the takeover rules that were in force since 1997

Given the lackluster initial FII response to the government's sharply raising the ceiling of FII investment in long-term corporate bonds issued by the companies in the infrastructure sector in March 2011, the government on 12 September 2011, further relaxed the norms on FII investment in such bonds. Sebi had in early August 2011 allowed Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) to subscribe to Mutual Fund Debt Schemes which invest in the infrastructure sector subject to a total overall ceiling of $3 billion within the total ceiling of $25 billion.

The government has raised its borrowing target for the current fiscal year by Rs 52800 crore, fueling worries that it may even overshoot the new estimate because of muted revenue growth amid a slowing economy and swelling subsidies. The government will borrow Rs 2.2 lakh crore during October 2011-March 2012 period, or the second half of the fiscal year, compared with the target of Rs 1.67 lakh crore announced in budget in February 2011. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council on 29 September 2011 said it is going to be difficult to achieve fiscal deficit target of 4.6% of GDP for the year ending March 2012.

The government's new borrowing programme may crowd out private borrowers who come into the market in the second half of the year. Credit growth normally picks up after October every year when the busy season starts.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 approved a national manufacturing policy, the first of its kind in the country, to increase manufacturing's share of national output as it aims to create millions of jobs and add capacity to sustain brisk economic growth through the next decade. The policy targets raising the share of manufacturing to 25% of gross domestic product by 2022 from the current 16% -- a level that has remained stagnant since 1980.

The new policy proposes developing National Investment and Manufacturing Zones, or mega-industrial parks, that will reduce the compliance burden on industry, the government said in a statement. The policy also aims to create 100 million additional jobs over the next decade, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said. The government has identified seven locations across India to set up such industry parks, the government statement said.

Under the policy, a special company will be established that will be a one-stop shop for all clearances for businesses interested in setting up operations in the industry parks, the statement said. Small- and medium-sized companies will be offered tax breaks to entice them to the parks.

Asian shares fell on Monday, taking a breather from a nearly 10 percent rally last week after Europe laid out a basic framework to tackle its debt crisis. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by between 0.08% to 0.7%. Key benchmark indices in China and Japan rose by between 0.13% to 0.51%.

U.S. stocks closed out a fourth week of gains in quiet fashion on Friday, edging higher as the market took a breather after rallying 3% on Thursday on Europe's deal to stem its debt crisis. Economic data on Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment improved in October for the second month in a row as consumers felt more upbeat about the economy's prospects.