BSE Mid-Cap, Small-Cap indices outperform Sensex

Key benchmark indices settled marginally lower after intraday volatility. The market breadth was positive. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, was down 4.48 points or 0.03%, off 55.66 points from the day's high and up 99.47 points from the day's low. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) dropped. The Sensex has declined 1,100.99 points or 6.35% in May 2012 so far (till 25 May 2012). The Sensex has gained 762.90 points or 4.93% in calendar 2012 so far (till 25 May 2012). From a 52-week low of 15,135.86 on 20 December 2011, the Sensex has risen 762.90 points or 4.93%. From a 52-week high of 19,131.70 on 8 July 2011, the Sensex has lost 2,913.88 points or 15.23%. Coming back to today's trade, cigarette maker ITC was slightly lower as top line growth in Q4 March 2012 fell short of market expectations. Small-car maker Maruti Suzuki India declined for second running day on worries the latest steep hike in petrol prices may hit car sales. Reliance Infrastructure rose as the order book position of its EPC division remained strong. Adani group shares rose. Hindalco Industries rose after the company's US unit Novelis said that the management continues to expect a market recovery going forward and as a result expects FY 2013 adjusted EBITDA to be above FY 2012 level of $1.05 billion. Telecom stocks were up across the board. Shares of PSU OMCs fell after oil secretary G C Chaturvedi on Thursday, 24 May 2012, said that the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) meeting to decide raising diesel, kerosene and cooking gas rates is unlikely to be held on Friday, 25 May 2012. BPCL rose after the company's board recommended a liberal 1:1 bonus shares and good Q4 result. Auto, banking and software stocks were mixed. The market edged lower amid initial volatility. The market trimmed losses later. Intraday recovery witnessed in early trade proved short lived as key benchmark indices dropped to hit fresh intraday lows in morning trade. A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices cut losses after hitting fresh intraday lows in mid-morning trade. The market further came off lows in early afternoon trade. A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices slipped into the red once again after moving into the positive terrain from negative terrain in afternoon trade. Volatility continued as key benchmark indices regained positive zone in mid-afternoon trade as European stocks rose after the latest data showed stabilizing consumer confidence in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy. The BSE Sensex was down 4.48 points or 0.03% to 16,217.82. The index rose 51.18 points at the day's high of 16,273.48 in mid-afternoon trade. The index fell 103.95 points at the day's low of 16,118.35 in mid-morning trade. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 1 point or 0.02% to 4,920.40. The index hit a high of 4,935.80 and low of 4,889.35 in intraday trade. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1477 shares advanced and 1,242 shares declined. A total of 117 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.53%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 1783 crore, lower than Rs 1945.50 crore on Thursday, 24 May 2012. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 gained while the rest declined. Tata Steel (up 2.68%), L&T (up 1.46%), and DLF (up 2.16%) edged higher from the Sensex pack. Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.76%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.08%) and HDFC (down 0.99%) edged lower from the Sensex pack. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 0.78% to Rs 691. The company early this week said it has selected Phillips 66's E-Gas technology for its planned gasification plants at Jamnagar in Gujarat. The planned gasification plants at Jamnagar will be among the largest in the world and will process petroleum coke and coal into synthesis gas utilizing the E-Gas technology, RIL said in a statement. The synthesis gas will be used as a feedstock for a new chemical complex and will fuel the Jamnagar refinery's existing gas turbine power generation units, RIL said in a statement. RIL last week said that as of 15 May 2012, the company bought back 1.41 crore shares for a total consideration of Rs 1028.71 crore. Moody's Investors Service on 14 May 2012, said that the cut by RIL in its proven gas reserves estimate is credit negative for the company as it confirms the technical difficulties it faces in the exploration and production business from declining output and lower cash flows. RIL had last week revised downward its assessment of its proven natural gas reserves by 6.7% and its proven developed reserves by 36.2%. The revisions follow nearly two years of declining production at its largest gas field, KG-D6, a deep-sea gas field in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin on the east coast of India. PSU OMCs fell after oil secretary G C Chaturvedi on Thursday, 24 May 2012, said that the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) meeting to decide raising diesel, kerosene and cooking gas rates is unlikely to be held on Friday, 25 May 2012. HPCL (down 1.85%) and Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.97%) declined. "There is no EGoM meeting on Friday," Chaturvedi told reporters on Thursday putting rest the market speculation that the ministerial panel would raise prices of regulated fuels from Friday. Chaturvedi said PSU OMCs were incurring huge revenue losses due to high international crude oil prices and depreciation or the rupee and the ministerial panel would meet soon to consider revising rates of regulated fuel products. "No date has been fixed as yet," he said. State-run oil marketing firms raised petrol prices by Rs 7.50 per litre to Rs 73 per litre effective midnight 24 May 2012. It was the steepest ever increase in petrol prices. The revision in petrol prices was due to a setback in rupee against the dollar which led to jump in oil import bill for state-run oil refining-cum-marketing firms. A weak rupee makes imports costlier. Both BJP and Left have reportedly called for a Bharat Bandh on 31 May 2012 to protest against the steep hike in petrol prices. The Uttarakhand state government on Thursday decided to waive off VAT on the increased amount, providing a relief of Rs 1.87 per litre to the people of the state. The Congress led UDF government in Kerala has also waived the sales tax on the latest petrol price hike, saying it was committed to bringing some relief to the people affected by the latest increase. BPCL rose 0.28% at Rs 729.60 after the company announced strong Q4 March 2012 results and its board recommended a 1:1 bonus issue of shares during trading hours today, 25 May 2012. BPCL reported 323.75% spurt in net profit to Rs 3962.83 crore on 42.85% increase in net sales to Rs 64642.18 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Cigarette maker ITC shed 0.56% as top line growth in Q4 March 2012 fell short of market expectations. The counter clocked volume of 9.32 lakh shares, higher than an average daily volume of 4.64 lakh shares in the past two weeks. During market hours today, 25 May 2012, the company reported 25.97% growth in net profit to Rs 1614.36 crore on 16.91% growth in income from operations (net) to Rs 6954.64 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The top line growth fell short of market expectations of about 20% growth. Power generation firm NTPC shed 0.32%. During market hours today, 25 May 2012, NTPC said that unit 5 of 500 megawatt of Rihand super thermal power project has been commissioned today, 25 May 2012 at 14:29 IST. With this, the total capacity of NTPC group has become 38,014 megawatt. The company also said that the unit 2 of 660 megawatts (MW) of Sipat Super Thermal Power Station Stage-I is declared for commercial operation with effect from midnight, 25 May 2012. With this the commercial capacity of Sipat Stage-I is 1,320 megawatts and that of NTPC group is 36,014 megawatts. NHPC surged 7.73%. After market hours today, the company reported 25.63% rise in net profit to Rs 802.07 crore on 25.54% rise in total income to Rs 1669.15 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Small-car maker Maruti Suzuki India lost 2.79% to Rs 1113.25, with the stock extending Thursday's 0.78% decline triggered by worries the latest steep hike in petrol prices may hit car sales. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack. India's largest tractor and utility vehicles maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) fell 1.73%. Auto major Tata Motors rose 0.77% to Rs 269.05. Tata Motors Group global sales, including Jaguar Land Rover, remained flat at 87,377 units in April 2012, Tata Motors said on 15 May 2012. Global sales of all commercial vehicles -- Tata, Tata Daewoo and the Tata Hispano Carrocera range -- were 38,008 units in April 2012, lower by 8%. Global sales of all passenger vehicles were at 49,369 units in April 2012, higher by 7%. Global sales of Tata passenger vehicles and the distribution offtake in India of Fiat cars were at 24,226 units in April 2012, lower by 9%. Global sales of Jaguar Land Rover in April 2012 were at 25,143 vehicles, higher by 29% over April 2011. Jaguar sales for the month were 3,603 units, higher by 17%, while Land Rover sales were 21,540 units, higher by 32%. Shares of two-wheeler makers were mixed. India's largest motorcycle maker by sales Hero MotoCorp rose 1.14%. Bike maker Bajaj Auto shed 0.03%. Banking stocks were mixed. India's largest commercial bank in terms of branch network State Bank of India (SBI) rose 2.14%. The state-run bank, last week, reported 19297.84% spurt in net profit to Rs 4050.27 crore on 27.97% growth in total income to Rs 33959.54 crore in the Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The massive rise in SBI's net profit in the fourth quarter was due to base effect. It may be recalled that SBI had made massive one-time provisions in Q4 March 2011 on account of counter cyclical provisioning buffer, provisions for the teaser home loans and provision for deferred tax. This has resulted in low base effect for year-on-year comparison in Q4 March 2012. SBI's net profit jumped 41.65% to Rs 11707.29 crore on 24.33% growth in total income to Rs 120872.90 crore in the year March 2012 over year March 2011. SBI said it made an additional provision of Rs 1350 crore against certain non-performing domestic advances in the year ended March 2012. The bank's provision converge ratio stood at 68.10% as on 31 March 2012, higher than 64.95% as on 31 March 2011. SBI's board proposed a dividend of Rs 35 per share for the year ended 31 March 2012. SBI's consolidated net profit jumped 43.59% to Rs 15343.10 crore on 19.74% growth in total income to Rs 177032.80 crore in the year ended 31 March 2012 over the year ended 31 March 2011. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank declined 0.35%. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank gained 0.49%. Karur Vysya Bank vaulted 4.65% after net profit rose 27.32% to Rs 146.79 crore on 52.33% growth in total income to Rs 1059.27 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The bank's net profit rose 20.72% to Rs 501.72 crore on 53.92% growth in total income to Rs 3820.52 crore in the year ended 31 March 2012 over the year ended 31 March 2011. The private-sector bank announced the results during trading hours today, 25 May 2012. Software pivotals were mixed. India's largest software services exporter by revenues Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell 0.1%. India's third largest software services exporter by revenue, Wipro rose 0.77%. India's second largest software services exporter by revenue, Infosys slipped 0.05%. HCL Technologies rose 0.08%. Before market hours today, the company said UBM Canon, the leading B2B media and communications group focused on the advanced manufacturing sector, announced that it has signed an agreement with HCL Technologies to deliver advanced technologies for rapid and optimized content delivery for a best-in-class audience engagement experience spanning web, digital products, mobile and print environments. As part of the partnership, HCL Technologies will provide its latest Production and Content Management Service Platform called POMS (Production Operations as a Service) to enable establishment of a more dynamic and robust channel required for creating, producing and delivering content across UBM Canon's product portfolio. "To keep our customers ahead of the game, we are enabling them to support new business models, foster innovation and achieve content monetization," said Karan Puri, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Consumer Services, HCL Technologies. Hindalco Industries rose 1.22%, with the stock reversing initial losses after company's US unit Novelis said that the management continues to expect a market recovery going forward and as a result expects FY 2013 adjusted EBITDA to be above FY 2012 level of $1.05 billion. In addition, it expects FY 2013 free cash flow before capital expenditures to be between $600-700 million and capital expenditure of approximately $650-700 million primarily focused on its global expansion projects in Brazil, South Korea, China and the United States. Novelis reported a net loss of $107 million attributable to common shareholders for the quarter ended 31 March 2012 as against net profit of $50 million during the quarter ended 31 March 2011. Net sales declined 11.89% to $2.608 billion in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Novelis said adjusted EBITDA declined 16.78% to $233 million in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The decrease in EBITDA for the quarter and the year were primarily driven by weaker demand, partially offset by higher conversion premiums, Novelis said in a statement. "As expected we saw demand recovery from the third quarter and expect this trend to continue into fiscal 2013," said Steve Fisher, Chief Financial Officer for Novelis. India's largest listed telecom services provider by subscribers Bharti Airtel gained 0.07%, with the stock extending Thursday's 5.62% surge triggered by the firm signing an agreement with Qualcomm to acquire an interest in Qualcomm Asia Pacific's Indian BWA entities. Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm on Thursday, 24 May 2012, announced that they have signed an agreement for Bharti to acquire an interest in Qualcomm Asia Pacific's (Qualcomm AP) Indian BWA entities. Under the agreement, Bharti has made an initial investment of approximately $165 million to acquire 49% interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities that hold BWA licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala partly by way of acquisition of 26% equity interest equally held by Global Holding Corporation and Tulip Telecom, and the balance by way of subscription of fresh equity in those entities. The agreement contemplates that once commercial operations are launched, subject to certain terms and conditions, Bharti would assume complete ownership and financial responsibility for the BWA entities by the end of 2014. Among other telecom stocks, Reliance Communications (up 2.87%), MTNL (up 3.87%), Idea Cellular (up 0.77%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.80%), edged higher. Reliance Infrastructure rose 1.75% on strong revenue visibility for EPC business. The company's EPC order book stood at Rs 17280 crore as on 31 March 2012, 1.56 times its EPC revenue of Rs 11048 crore in FY 2012. During market hours today, 25 May 2012, the company reported 0.14% growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 411.46 crore on 89.90% growth in total income to Rs 7136.31 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Adani group shares were in demand. Adani Power (up 0.60%), Adani Ports (up 1.47%) and Adani Enterprises (up 6.86%) gained. During market hours on Wednesday, 23 May 2012, Adani Enterprises in a clarification to a media report of Sebi inquiry on HSBC Bank regarding HSBC's alleged role in Adani Group companies' stock price manipulation, said that the promoters of Adani group have not pledged any shares with HSBC or any of its subsidiaries. Further, the company or its promoters did not have any financial arrangement/transaction, direct or indirect, with HSBC on this, Adani Enterprises said. Crompton Greaves fell 1.43% after consolidated net profit fell 60.1% to Rs 100.32 crore on 4.18% growth in total income to Rs 3077.67 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Crompton Greaves' consolidated net profit fell 57.96% to Rs 373.59 crore on 11.84% growth in total income to Rs 11300.98 crore in the year ended 31 March 2012 over the year ended 31 March 2011. The company announced the results during trading hours today, 25 May 2012. Voltas jumped 12.03% after consolidated net profit rose 2.7% to Rs 103.81 crore on 5.8% decline in net sales to Rs 1573.46 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The result was announced after trading hours on Thursday, 24 May 2012. SBI was the top traded counter on the BSE with turnover of Rs 134.55 crore followed by Jubilant FoodWorks (Rs 46.98 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 45.38 crore), BPCL (Rs 40.35 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 38.23 crore). Alok Industries was the volume topper on the BSE notching volume of 1.10 crore shares followed by Cals Refineries (95.39 lakh shares), DCW (45.67 lakh shares), Lanco Infratech (41.14 lakh shares) and Avance Technologies (34.82 lakh shares). On the macro front, if the government raises diesel and cooking gas prices, the price hike will help lift some pressure over its weak finances, which are strained by high food and fuel subsidies. In Union Budget 2012-13 unveiled in parliament in mid-March 2012, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the government intends to bring down subsidy to 1.75% of GDP in the next 3 years. The government has proposed to keep the subsidy bill under 2% of GDP in 2012-13, he had said at that time. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 105.73 crore on Thursday, 24 May 2012, as per provisional figures. Monsoon rains arrived over the Andaman Sea on Wednesday, 23 May 2012, after a delay of about three days, according to the India Meteorological Department. Conditions are favorable for a further advance of the southwest monsoon into more parts of the Bay of Bengal and remaining parts of the Andaman Sea during the next two to three days, the weather department said. The monsoon usually reaches the Andaman Sea by 20 May 2012, but this time rainfall was slightly delayed due to erratic weather patterns. After arriving over the southern state of Kerala, the monsoon gradually covers most of the central and northern grain- and oilseed-producing regions by July. Last month, the weather department forecast that rainfall this year would be normal. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in a report released on Tuesday, 22 May 2012, suggested that it would be prudent for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to wait for clear signs that inflation is falling back to more comfortable levels before reducing interest rates. The OECD report said the government needs to narrow its fiscal deficit to support monetary policy and ensure a sustained drop in inflationary pressures. The government's privatization program is way behind target and is now being held back by softening business confidence and falling equity prices, the report said. The report said India's economic growth is likely to remain subdued given the weakening global economy. In a White Paper on Black Money released by the government on Monday, 21 May 2012, the government said that money shifted out of India over the years through illicit outflows might have returned to India through foreign direct investment (FDI), participatory notes (PNs) and by way of misuse of global depository receipts (GDRs). Moody's Investors Service on 14 May 2012 downgraded to Baa3 from Baa2 the foreign currency insurance financial strength rating of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) -- India's biggest domestic institutional investor. The rating outlook is now stable. This revision takes place in the context of an ongoing global review affecting financial institutions whose ratings are higher than the rating of the government where they are domiciled, Moody's said. The consumer price inflation accelerated in April to 10.36% from 9.47% in March. The annual consumer price index (CPI) was launched in February and measures retail prices in major food groups, fuel, clothing, housing and education across rural and urban India. The RBI's monetary policy "has to act" even if inflation is driven by food prices, D Subbarao, the central bank governor, said on 16 May 2012. Inflation accelerated in April as prices of most commodities rose. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose a faster-than-expected 7.23% in April from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher food prices and manufactured items, data released by the government on Monday, 14 May 2012, showed. However, there was a slowdown in price rises in the manufacturing sector -- a proxy for measuring price pressures excluding volatile food and fuel prices. The Reserve Bank of India next reviews monetary policy on 18 June 2012. The central bank will have May inflation, April industrial output and Q4 March 2012 GDP data to study before then. The Q4 March 2012 earnings season is drawing towards a close. Investor focus is on the guidance provided by the management for the year ending March 2013 (FY 2013) to gauge the earnings outlook. Coal India announces FY 2012 consolidated results on 28 May 2012. Tata Motors, ONGC, Steel Authority of India and Power Grid Corporation of India announce FY 2012 results on 29 May 2012. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries announces Q4 results on 29 May 2012. DLF and GAIL (India) unveil Q4 results on 30 May 2012. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Jaiprakash Associates unveil FY 2012 results on the same day. European stocks were mixed on Friday after data showed stabilizing consumer confidence in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy. Key benchmark indices in UK and France fell 0.18% and 0.43%. Germany's DAX rose 0.55%. Consumer confidence in Germany is expected to remain steady in June, Nuremberg-based research firm GfK said Friday. The German consumer confidence index was steady in May at 5.7, with the overall indicator forecasting an identical reading for June, GfK said. "The consumer climate is therefore stable once again and is in a strong position for the onset of summer," GfK said. The closely watched German Ifo business climate index on Thursday fell more sharply than expected to a six-month low, reflecting increased concern among business managers over the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis. Greek voters return to the polls on 17 June 2012 after the splintered results of a May 6 parliamentary election left no party able to put together a government. Strong support for anti-austerity parties has stirred fears that Greece won't meet pledges it made in return for its second bailout, potentially leading to its exit from the shared-currency project. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti reportedly said on Thursday that Greece would probably remain in the euro zone, and also expressed optimism that the region was moving towards joint issuance of euro bonds. The G8 world leaders on Saturday, 19 May 2012 affirmed they want Greece to remain in the euro zone. At a summit of the Group of Eight major economies at the US, G8 leaders failed to reach an agreement on how to calm the escalating economic crisis in Europe, though the meeting's final statement did affirm that leaders wanted Greece to remain in the euro zone. Also in the joint statement, leaders said that they would take steps to boost their economies. Asian stocks were mixed on Friday amid uncertainty over the European debt crisis and the future path of Chinese growth. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Indonesia, China and Taiwan were down by 0.74% to 2.07%. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea rose by 0.20% and 0.53%. China's manufacturing activity contracted at a faster pace in May 2012 than in April 2012 as conditions for exporters worsened during the month, the preliminary findings of a survey by HSBC showed Thursday. The "flash" reading of the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 48.7 in May 2012 from a final print of 49.3 in April 2012, HSBC said. Hongbin Qu, chief economist for China at HSBC, said the soft data call for more aggressive policy easing, but added that Beijing has been and will further step up "easing efforts to stabilize growth." The World Bank on Wednesday, 23 May 2011, cut its economic growth forecast for China this year to 8.2% from its prediction of 8.4% growth in its November report. Risks faced by China include the slowing domestic housing market and a sluggish global economy that offer little promise for a pick up in international trade, the World Bank said in a report released today, 23 May 2012. China is the world's second biggest economy after the US. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 17 points at the opening bell on Friday, 25 May 2012