Sobha Developers IPO - Subscription Details

QIB - 168 .84 times

NII+HNI - 193.95 times

Retail - 20.68 times

Employees - 0.93 times

Total - 114.31 times

Sobha Developers Employees have lost it!

Good luck folks .. One hell of a issue .. Is it a record ?

Parsvnath Developers phenomenal debut

Parsvnath Developers was trading at Rs 550.10 on BSE in early trade, an 83.3% premium over the IPO price of Rs 300.

The scrip hit a low of Rs 481.50 and a high of Rs 579. As many as 40,400 shares changed hands in the counter on BSE.

NSE has also admitted the scrip for derivatives trading, at a market lot of 700 shares.

The company’s paid-up equity capital is Rs 181.60 crore, the face value per share being Rs 10.

The company had priced its IPO at the higher end of the Rs 250 - Rs 300 price band. The IPO had strong investors response. It was subscribed over 60 times, FIIs making a beeline for the public offer.

Parsvnath Developers derives most of its revenue from residential and integrated township projects in Harayana and Uttar Pradesh (UP). The company plans to diversify its revenue in terms of locations as well as projects.

Parsvnath Developers has acquired land/ development rights to develop 20 integrated townships, 27 commercial complexes including shopping malls, multiplexes, office space and a complete metro station and 25 residential projects. The company intends to construct 14 hotels and four information technology parks on commercial land acquired by it.

The track record of Parsvnath Developers includes 17 projects comprising nine housing projects and eight commercial complexes. The company had floated the IPO early this month, to finance 11 of the 90 projects on hand.

As of 15 October 2006, Parsvanth Developers directly owned or held development rights for an estimated 108.64 million square feet of sale worthy area.

In last five fiscals, Parsvnath Developers’s revenue has grown at a CAGR of 121% and net profit at a CAGR of 139%. On the flip side, Parsvanath Developers had a negative operating cash flow in the last two financial years. In the quarter ended June 2006, too, the operating cash flow was negative.

The company has obtained in principle approvals from the government for nine SEZs. As per provisions of sec 80-IAB of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, the company is eligible for 100% deduction of profit derived from developing an SEZ notified on or after 1 April 2005 under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, for 10 consecutive assessment years.

Indiainfoline - Supports & Resistances

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Indiainfoline - EMCO

EMCO Ltd CMP Rs711 BUY

EMCO Ltd., one of the leading players in the power and distribution transformers industry commanding about 12% market share ranking third after BHEL and Crompton Greaves. It is the market leader in special transformers like furnace and rectifier transformers. It has the widest range of oil filled transformers spanning from 500KVA/11kV to 315MVA/400kV with its presence in power, distribution, furnace, rectifiers and loco transformers. About 75% of the company’s revenues come from its transformer division of which distribution transformers contribute 60-70% and the remaining comes from the power transformers. The company also has its presence in the electronic meters and undertakes EPC projects too. It offers a range of metering solutions including automatic meter reading solution and prepaid meters for single phase and polyphase applications.

EMCO recently enhanced its transformer capacity to 10,000MVA during FY06 from 8,500MVA in FY05. It is debottlenecking its facility inorder to further enhance its capacity to 15,000MVA, which will come onstream by FY07. It also plans to add another 5,000MVA to this capacity by the end of FY08. It sells about 75% of its transformers to the SEB’s which have an in built escalation clause. Out of the remaining revenues from the division 15% is contributed via exports and the balance from sale to industrial clients like Tata Power, Suzlon, Siemens, L&T etc. In its efforts to derisk its business model the company plans to increase its share of exports to 30%.

The company has on order book of Rs8.1bn, which is to be executed over the next 12-18 months. The company is planning to venture into manufacturing of switchgears and setting up a power generation plant. It is working upon the funding mix for the same. The power plant will be under a separate entity EMCO Energy. We recommend a buy with a long term perspective.

Indiainfoline - How Market Fared

Market ends flat

The key indices ended on a flat note ahead of F&O expiry. The firm Asian Markets boosted the domestic bourses to bounce back and reverse its yesterdays losses, however after surging by almost 100 points in the opening trades the markets was unable to sustain at higher levels as profit booking was seen in scrip’s like ONGC, BHEL, Telecom major Bharti Airtel and IT front runner Infosys dragging the benchmark Sensex to hit a low of 13586.04. Finally, the BSE Benchmark Sensex added 14 points, to close at 13616. NSE Nifty was up 6 points to close at 3928.

Dr Reddy’s Lab advanced 1.6% to Rs734 after the company entered in to an agreement with Torrent Pharma for selling drug in Russia. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs750 and a low of Rs715 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on NSE.

Opto Circuit surged 3% to Rs333 as reports stated that the company is eyeing a French acquisition the deal size of which could be in the range of Euros 30mn to 35mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs339 and a low of Rs327 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.

AIA Engineering gained 1.4% to Rs1196 after the company announced that they would raise Rs1.25bn from select Investors for further expansion program. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1254 and a low of Rs1185 and recorded volumes of over 98,000 shares on NSE.

Jindal Saw surged 6.7% to Rs407 as the company posted a net profit of Rs475.68mn (up 97%) for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2006 and total income (net of excise) is up 98% at Rs11.40bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs415 and a low of Rs385 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.

Banking stocks were trading with smart gains. The Mid-Cap stocks led from the front PNB rose 1.7% to Rs545, Bank of India gained 1.5% to Rs200 and Bank of Baroda was up 1.35 to Rs265. However index heavy weights like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank ended lower.

Metal stocks were up on back of fresh buying. Tisco edged higher 0.4% to Rs477, Jindal Steel gained 0.9% to Rs2133, Hindustan Zinc was up 0.8% to Rs934 and Sterlite Industries added 0.2% to Rs544.

Technology stocks were a mixed bag. Again, Mid-Cap stocks were in demand NIIT Ltd gained 3.5% to Rs404, Mastek is up 1.5% to Rs322 and HCL Tech added 1% to Rs626. While bluie chips like Wipro and Infosys were among the major losers.

Auto stocks were in momentum as the Government is all set to cut fuel prices at the retail level according to reports, petrol will get cheaper by Rs2 per litre while diesel prices will cut by Re1 a litre. Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Hero Honda were among the major gainers.

Tyre stocks recorded smart gains. Ceat surged 4.1% to Rs132, Apollo Tyre advanced 4.2% to Rs359, JK Industry spurred 4.9% to Rs142 and MRF gained 3.3% to Rs4608.

Gems and Jewellery stocks also shined brightly. Gitanjali Gems was frozen at 10% upper circuit to Rs238.65, Classic Diamond surged 2.1% to Rs498 and Suashish Diamond gained 1% to Rs142.

Indiainfoline - STRATEGY INPUTS FOR THE DAY

Romancing the street!

Romance should never begin with sentiment. It should begin with science and end with a settlement – Oscar Wilde.

More than romancing, the bulls have been flirting around a bit too long changing their preferences while keeping the overall sentiment positive. The market is a combination of sentiment, science (can be read as signs also), art, history, geography and what have you. It's settlement time and bulls and bears may decide to smoothly rollover after all, though the usual volatility associated with F&O expiry will be there.

Global cues are positive, barring a spike in oil prices. Markets in the US ended higher while in Asia too key stock indices in Tokyo and Hong Kong have opened on a firm footing. The only cause of worry could be the higher crude oil prices, which are now trading above the $62 per barrel mark.

The FII outflows in the past couple of days may also prompt investors to remain cautious. Yesterday, foreign funds pulled out Rs2.41bn from the cash segment while on Tuesday they were net sellers to the tune of Rs3.35bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs2.69bn on the same day. On the F&O side, FIIs were net sellers of Rs3.98bn yesterday.

The government will announce the GDP figure for the second quarter today. Asia's fourth-largest economy is estimated to have grown by 8.9% in the July to September quarter, matching the advance in the first quarter. If this turns out to be the case, the bulls may get fired up all over again.

The market has taken a breather in the past couple of days. There may be a fresh bout of buying once the derivative settlement is out of the way. But, if the slowdown in FII inflows continues we may see some meaningful correction. In short, the short-term direction hinges on the foreign capital flows.

For today, the immediate outlook is bright on the back of a rally in global markets. Still, we would continue to advise caution. Fresh buying should be avoided at this stage unless one is willing to wait for 2-3 years. Select stock specific approach is the order of the day.

Parsvnath Developers' shares will get listed on the bourses today. The IPO of Sobha Developers has been subscribed 108.51 times. Bids have been received across the price band of Rs 550-640 per share. The company has offered 88,93,332 equity shares.

LT Overseas has offered a Daawat to invest. The company is entering the capital market with an IPO of 7,035,714 shares of Rs10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book-building process. The issue price has been fixed between Rs50 and Rs56 per share. The issue closes today. Read interview

ICSA (India), Lakshmi Energy and Foods, ANG Auto, CESC, CREW B.O.S. Products, AZTEC Software and Sujana Universal Industries could rise as the RBI has approved the plan to hike the investment limit for FIIs. Meanwhile, in DCB and K Sera Sera, the central bank has curbed immediate buying by FIIs, as their investment has reached the permissible limit.

US stocks had their biggest gain in three weeks on Wednesday after the world's largest economy expanded at a faster pace last quarter than initially estimated without stoking inflation.

Exxon Mobil and other energy producers advanced as crude rose to a two-month high, lifting the S&P 500 Energy Index to a record. Tiffany & Co. jumped after raising its full-year earnings forecast. AT&T led telephone companies higher as Fitch Ratings said they will gain Internet subscribers.

The S&P 500 climbed 12.76, or 0.9%, to 1399.48. The Dow Jones added 90.28, or 0.7%, to 12,226.73. For both measures, it was the largest rally since Nov. 6. The Nasdaq advanced 19.62, or 0.8%, at 2432.23.

GDP in the US grew at 2.2% annual rate in the third quarter versus an initial estimate of 1.6%. Economists had forecast a GDP growth of 1.8%.

A separate report showed that the pace of new home sales in the US slowed at a faster-than-expected rate in October. But the average price of a new home jumped.

US light crude oil for January delivery jumped $1.47 to settle at $62.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil jumped after the weekly oil inventories report showed a surprise dip in crude, gas and distillate supplies. The front-month contract was quoting 17 cents higher at $62.29 a barrel in extended trading in Asia this morning.

Treasury bond prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.52% from 4.50% late on Tuesday. In currency trading, the dollar bounced back versus the euro and the yen after the GDP report. COMEX gold fell $1.90 to settle at $641.80 an ounce.

Among the Indian ADRs, Infy was up 1.6%, Satyam gained 1.8%, Dr. Reddy's jumped 2.5%, HDFC Bank advanced 2.2%, ICICI Bank rose 1.2% and MTNL was down 1.8%.

Asian stocks rose on Thursday morning, hitting a six-month high, after the US economy grew at a faster pace last quarter than an earlier estimate and South Korea's government increased its 2006 forecast for exports.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index gained 0.8% to 135.33 as of 12:05 p.m. in Tokyo, its highest since May 17.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 96 points to 16,173 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 193 points at 18,974. Markets around the region rose. Singapore's Straits Times Index climbed to a record.

European shares broke a five-session losing streak on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke supported the dollar and as drug stocks got a boost from cost cuts at Pfizer.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 1.3% to 354.19. The German DAX Xetra 30 closed up 1.3% at 6,363.80, the French CAC-40 increased 1.4% to 5,381.25 and the UK's FTSE 100 rose 1% to 6,084.40.

Emerging markets also closed sharply higher yesterday. Russia's RTS index was up 2% at 1765 while the Bovespa in Brazil surged by 2.26% to 41,970, and the IPC index in Mexico climbed 1.8% to 24,777.

Technical Breakout:
Maruti has given a break out after giving a close above Rs920. One can consider buying the scrip for short-term period for a price target of around Rs950-960 with an appropriate SL of Rs902. The scrip has given Rounded Bottom breakout, indicating a possible reversal of the current downtrend to a new uptrend.

Major Bulk Deals:
Templeton MF has sold Simplex Infra; Emerging Markets has sold Astra Microwave; Birla Sun Life MF has bought Gayatri Projects; Macquarie Bank and Morgan Stanley have picked up International Hometex; BNP Asset Management and HSBC Financial have sold Milkfood; UBS has bought Pioneer Embroideries; Reliance MF has purchased Raipur Alloy; Morgan Stanley has sold SREI Infra.

Insider Trades:
Matrix Laboratories Limited: Mr. K R V Subrahmanian, Director has sold in open market 12500 equity shares of Matrix Laboratories Limited on 23rd November, 2006.

Tech Mahindra Limited: Vineet Nayyar, Managing Director has sold in open market 5000 equity shares of Tech Mahindra Limited on 20th November, 2006.

IL&FS Investsmart Limited: Mr. Ramesh Bawa, Managing Director & CEO has sold in open market 7000 equity shares of IL&FS Investsmart Limited on 23rd November, 2006.

Market Volumes:
The turnover on NSE was down by 2.1% to Rs80.83bn.The BSE FMCG index was the major gainer and gained 1.47%. BSE Metal index (up 0.67%), BSE Auto index (up 0.60%), BSE Consumer Durable index (up 0.55%) and BSE Capital Good index (0.26%) were the other major gainers. However, BSE Oil & Gas index lost 0.74%.

Volume Toppers:
Lanco Infratech, Unitech, Torrent Power, Voltas, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, R Com, Hindalco, IVRCL Infra, ACE, Ashok Leyland, Info Edge, CEAT, ITC, Karnataka Bank and Jyoti Structures.

Delivery Delight:
Apollo Tyres, Assam Company, Bajaj Auto, BEML, Birla Corporation, CEAT, Cummins India, Dena Bank, Escorts, Gammon India, Gitanjali Gems, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Havells India, Infotech Enterprises, IVRCL Infrastructures, J K Cements, Jyoti Structures, Maruti, Matrix, MRF, Nagarjuna Construction, Shaw Wallace, SBI, Unitech and Voltas.

Brokers Recommendations:
Reliance Industries – Accumulate at Edelweiss
Indotech Transformers – Buy from Sharekhan

Long Term Investment:
Voltamp Transformers

Major News Headlines:

TCS signs 7-year, $65mn deal with Somerfield
AIA Engineering to raise Rs1.25bn from select investors
Praj Industries secures contract from Belgium
Unitech to sell shares in unit in London: reports
Dr Reddy's, Torrent Pharma in accord for selling drugs in Russia
IOC to give 4 shares for every 37 shares of Bongaigaon
NIIT inks pact with Egypt Govt for building manpower
L&T JV wins Rs4.56bn order from NTPC
Abu Dhabi Energy to invest up to $1bn in power plants
Cummins India to invest $13mn in High Horse Power unit
Bajaj Hindusthan to consider fund raising plan on Dec 6

Market may open positive

The gains in overnight US indices and strong ongoing asian indices help domestic market to witness further uptrend on the back of a bullish sentiment. The Nifty could rise further to 3960-3970 level on the upside while it has a crucial support at 3910 on the downside. The Sensex has resistance at 13625 and support at 13560.

US indices registered gains, while the Dow Jones closed above the level at 12227, up 90 points, while the Nasdaq moved up by 19 points to close at 2432.

Indian floats, too, were upbeat on strong domestic and US markets. Except MTNL, other Indian ADRs ended at higher levels. Dr Reddy led the upmove and surged 2.49% while HDFC Bank gained 2.18%, Infosys, Satyam, VSNL, Patni, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank gained over 1% each.

Crude oil prices in the international market gained further, with the Nymex crude oil for January delivery advanced by $1.47 to close at $62.46 a barrel and in the commodity segment, the Comex gold lost $1.90 to settle at $641.80 respectively.

Volatility may remain high due to derivatives expiry

The market is likely to open on a firm note taking cue from firm global markets. However, volatility may remain high as investors square off or roll over November 2006 derivatives contracts to December 2006 series. The November derivatives contracts expire today.

Mutual funds may remain active in the market today to support their month-end net asset values (NAVs).

FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 335 crore on Tuesday (28 November). This was their biggest daily inflow this month. As per provisional data, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 241 crore on 29 November. They were net buyers to the tune of Rs 291 crore in index-based futures on 29 November. They were net sellers to the tune of Rs 730 crore in individual stock futures on that day. Weakness in index heavyweights restricted Sensex’s gain on Wednesday (29 November) to 15 points.

Asian shares rose on Thursday, led by exporters and resource stocks, after upbeat US growth data eased concerns about the health of the economy in Asia's biggest export market. Japanese shares rose to their highest in nearly two weeks, South Korean stocks hit a six-month high and Singapore's benchmark index notched up a record peak.

US stocks jumped on Wednesday after the government raised its estimate for economic growth and a surge in oil prices lifted energy stocks, helping major indexes recover most of the ground they lost from a big sell-off early in the week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.28 points, or 0.74 percent, to finish at 12,226.73, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 12.76 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 1,399.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 19.62 points, or 0.81 percent, to end at 2,432.23.

US oil futures dipped, but still remained near a two-month high after weekly U.S. inventory data showed a surprise decline in heating fuel stocks in the world's biggest consumer. NYMEX crude for January delivery fell 17 cents to $62.29 a barrel.

Edelweiss - Simplex

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FII: - Rs 335 cr & MF - Rs 269 cr

FII Gross purchases Rs 1895 Cr Gross Sellers Rs 2230 Cr Net Sellers Rs 335 Cr
MF Gross Purchases Rs 404 Cr Gross Sellers Rs 673 Cr Net Sellers Rs 269 Cr

Provisional figures Net negative 241. Clearly there is selling happening and the euphoria is being used by the FIIs to takeprofits. This does not indicate that markets have turned..its just that money should be taken off the table. Markets may tend to be choppy on FNO closing..

Close: Profit selling continues..!

Moving away from the trend seen yesterday the market opened on strong positive note with global cues being positive. Sensex moved swiftly in the early hours of trade but then profit booking was seen across the day. Markets traded ranged ahead of the FNO expiry and ended in green but flat. Cement stocks played vital role helped by the announcement of cut in diesel prices, Sensex closed in positive territory. Apart from cement, buying was seen in sectors like Chemicals, and Tyres. Heavy Buying was seen in Small Caps. Asian markets ended strong while European markets are trading firmly in the positive territory.

Sensex ended up by 15 points at 13616.73. It was helped up by gains in ACC (1146,+4 percent), Grasim (2789.8501,+3 percent), ITC (184.15,+2 percent), Guj Ambuja (146.15,+2 percent) and Dr Reddys (734.65,+2 percent). Restricting the gains were Cipla (248.95,-3 percent), ONGC (856.5,-1 percent), Bharti Tele (621.1,-1 percent), BHEL (2474.3,-1 percent) and NTPC (148.8,-1 percent).

It was however a day for the mid caps. The advance decline was 2 shares advancing for 1 declining. Interest is shifting towards value. Some more gains possible on cards.

Steel prices are expected to soften going forward as news have been making rounds that steel companies are likely to cut prices in December. Depending upon various categories the reduction would be in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 800 per ton. There has been a plunge in international prices of steel and due that the difference between the domestic and the international price is currently around US$ 30 to US$ 40 per ton. Besides shortages of steel in the global markets are reducing as the availability of steel has increased in the domestic market. Steel Authority traded firm.. Tisco was weak.

OVL (ONGC Videsh) the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has won an oil exploration block in Brazil. OVL paid $6,80,000 for the offshore S-M-1103 block in the Santos basin. (S-M-1103) has potential for natural gas and light oil. The company was among the host of global energy giants that were awarded six blocks in Brazil's eighth annual auction of oil and gas concessions. OVL has started producing 4 MT of oil out of which 3 MT coming from its Sudan block. The company has 25 properties spread across 14 countries. It will be beneficial it will increase the share of OVL in the overall production levels of the group. ONGC ended lower by 1% on the back of cut in fuel prices. The subsidy will continue to bog this one down.

Technically Speaking: Market was ranged as it started positive and rallied between the channel of 13711 - 13586 level. Volumes were good at 4388 cr. However, the breadth had been in the favor of Advances as they were 1.77 times the Decliners. The Resistance lies at 13760 - 13683 while Support at 13558 -13509 levels.

Technical Trends - Nov 30 2006

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Thanks Vishesh

Sweet Land of Liberty

Back in 2001, when Indian Hotels Corporation Limited (IHCL) was implementing Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM) and the Kaizen approach across its properties, it benchmarked with the Ritz Carlton on customer satisfaction measurements in luxury hotels. Just five years later, IHCL has signed an agreement to acquire the Boston-based Ritz-Carlton hotel, a luxury property in operation since May 19, 1927, for about $170 million. With the deal scheduled to close mid-January, this will be the second us hotel to be acquired by the Tata Group company (which owns the Taj chain of resorts and hotels), after it took management control of The Pierre, a luxurious landmark hotel on New York's 5th Avenue, for $50 million. Clearly, Indian Hotels is morphing from being a leading Asian chain of luxury hotels into a global one with presence in the gateway cities of the world. In five years, it aims to have a third of its revenues from overseas operations-and the US would account for a fair share of those sales.

Indian Hotels is not the only company for which the US is a key fragment of a globalisation blueprint. According to a CRISIL report titled "Creating the Indian MNC", acquisitions by Indian companies overseas have touched $7.3 billion in the April 2005-September 2006 period. A little over a quarter of these target companies are in the US, with the total deal value amounting to a cool $1.9 billion. Tata Tea's $677-million acquisition of a 30 per cent stake in the Glaceau, an enhanced water company, is till date the largest us acquisition by an Indian company and skews the us share substantially in 2006-07 to 52.7 per cent, but the us was the #1 destination even in 2005-06 with an 18.3 per cent share of all overseas acquisitions.

Whilst niche American buyouts have been taking place for some time now-it services majors like TCS, Wipro and Satyam have been particularly busy as has a clutch of pharma majors-a handful of Indian corporations are now beginning to make us acquisitions for sheer size and scale. Rain Calcining Ltd, Asia's largest manufacturer of calcined petroleum coke (CPC), acquired a 20 per cent stake in GLC Carbon Corporation and is reportedly looking to acquire full control. If successful, Rain will emerge the world's largest producer of CPC. Rain has the capacity to manufacture 480,000 tonnes per annum of CPC, while GLC, with its four facilities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Argentina, is about four times the size with an annual capacity of 2.3 million tonnes. Clearly, scale is an important factor in influencing the decision for Rain Calcining as market leadership brings with it the ability to influence pricing, especially in a commodity industry.

For other manufacturers with global ambitions, the US is one land that they just can't ignore. When last June, Bharat Forge, the second largest forgings firm in the world, purchased Federal Forge Inc., a company engaged in the design and manufacture of complex forged steel components, for $9.1 million, it gained an immediate foothold in the us passenger car and light truck market; and most importantly, a manufacturing base close to some of Bharat Forge's largest customers.

Access to markets has been a key driver of these acquisitions and the US being the largest market in the world, has been a big draw. Says Sunil Alagh, Chairman, SKA Advisors, a Mumbai-based marketing and branding consultancy: "The level of importance of entering the us markets depends on the product. Indian companies should enter any market and more specifically the US, from a position of strength, that is in sectors like it, textiles, specialty teas, Indian cuisine-based foods, etc. It will be of little importance in areas like soaps, cosmetics, confectionery or air conditioners. Entering the us market should not be a 'fashion' but 'opportunity-based'."

The Indian textiles industry has been trying something similar-to make inroads into the $30-billion (Rs 1,35,000-crore) US and EU home textiles market by aligning its low-cost manufacturing base with us-based brands. Companies like GHCL have chosen to grow via the inorganic route-it acquired Dan River, the third largest player in the us home textiles market, the owner of the brand 'Bed in a Bag' and preferred supplier to large retailers like JC Penny and Linen & Things, Wal-Mart and Bed, and Bath & Beyond. GHCL Joint Managing Director R.S. Jalan says: "The acquisition provides us the opportunity to quickly move into the us market with a ready customer base and infrastructure in place." S. Kumars, too, is reportedly bidding for one of the largest American home furnishing manufacturing and distribution companies, America Pacific, and the deal size is rumoured to be in the range of $100-120 million (Rs 450-540 crore). America Pacific supplies bedding, bath and window products to many us brands, including Nautica, Dockers and Liz Claiborne. It also makes and markets home linen under its own brand.

So, how much of an imperative is penetrating the us-the final frontier in some ways-for Indian companies with MNC ambitions? Rama Bijapurkar, an independent market strategy expert, explains that America shouldn't be blindly pursued because it's potentially the most lucrative market. Rather, the importance of a country must be based on how feasible it is to build a decent sized, profitable, and competitive position. "So, if that is better done in Africa or Uzbekistan or UK, why not?" asks Bijapurkar. That may explain why some Indian companies have made big-ticket acquisitions in less likely regions-Suzlon in Belgium, Aban Loyd Chiles in Norway and Gail in Bermuda.

Crude to trade firm

Crude oil: Firm prices
The cold weather in the USA has lifted crude back above $61 a barrel amid concerns that OPEC might trim production if oil prices continue to fall. The remarks by Bernanke further confirmed that energy inflation is still looming large and posing a threat to the economy. Expect the prices of crude to stay firm and any surprise draw down in the inventory would further support crude.

Bullion: US GDP to give direction
Existing home sales bouncing back saw some profit taking in gold ahead of the Federal Reserve chairman's speech. However, the durable goods numbers dropped and consumer confidence fell, which supported gold from its initial slide. Further, Bernanke’s comments that there was inflationary risk supported the precious metals.

Today, the US Q3 gross domestic product numbers should dictate the market direction. Initial forecasts are dollar positive, but any surprises would see huge volatility in the evening. We continue to reiterate that gold should be accumulated on dips.

Soybean: Bird flu in South Korea
Soybean prices declined sharply on the news of an outbreak of bird flu in South Korea. The outbreak could disrupt Indian soy meal exports in the short term. As per trade estimates, India exported around 600,000 tonne of soy meal to South Korea in 2005-06 (October 2005-September 2006), up from around 204,000 tonne a year ago. The situation would be clearer in the coming days.
Soy oil: External factors at play
Soy oil prices declined in conjunction with soybean prices on reports of an outbreak of the bird flu. The weakness in palm oil futures also added to the decline. The counter saw some profit booking after a huge rally in the last few days. If the weakness in soybean continues then the soy oil prices too could come under pressure.

Mustard: Affected by soy
Mustard prices ended lower in tandem with the prices of soybean and soy oil. The counter too witnessed profit booking after a sharp rally. The demand at higher levels has not been encouraging. NAFED has decreased its selling price by Rs10 to Rs1,870 per quintal. The off take by the processors has also decreased in the last few days.

Wheat: Range-bound
Imported wheat is available in some south Indian states. The total quantity of piled up wheat now stands at 3.5 lakh tonne. Due to the poor stock position the FCI has not been selling wheat to millers since the last couple of months, reducing the supply in the market.

Apollo Sindhoori - Closing Notes

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