Market ekes out small gains

Key benchmark indices edged higher on the first trading session of the week after global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Services on Saturday, 19 January 2013, retained its Baa3 sovereign rating on India with a stable outlook. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty, both, attained their highest closing level in more than two years. The Sensex, advanced 62.78 points or 0.31%, off 61.56 points from the day's high and up 45.36 points from the day's low. Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) jumped after the company said that the Delhi Airport Metro line will resume commercial operations tomorrow, 22 January 2013. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged higher after the company reported strong Q3 results after market hours on Friday, 18 January 2013. Another index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC extended Friday's gains triggered by good Q3 results. Shares of commercial vehicles and utility vehicles makers dropped on concerns higher diesel prices will hit sales adversely as the government on 17 January 2013 allowed PSU OMCs to change diesel prices by a small margin from time to time. Housing finance major HDFC edged lower in choppy trade after Q3 results. UltraTech Cement reversed initial losses triggered by weak Q3 results. Other cement stocks were mixed. The market breadth was negative. IT stocks were mostly higher. Capital goods stocks rose on renewed buying. NTPC declined after Q3 results. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) gained after the company said it has achieved a significant milestone in Africa with the successful commissioning of its first Steam Turbine Generator (STG) Unit in Ethiopia. Bhushan Steel declined after poor Q3 results. Indian stocks rose for the third day in a row today, 21 January 2013. From a recent low of 19,817.63 on 16 January 2012, the Sensex has gained 284.19 points or 1.43% in three trading sessions. The Sensex has risen 675.11 points or 3.48% in this month so far (till 21 January 2013). From a 52-week low of 15,748.98 on 4 June 2012, the Sensex has surged 4,352.84 points or 27.64%. Coming back to today's trade, the Sensex edged higher in early trade after global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Services on Saturday, 19 January 2013, maintained its Baa3 sovereign rating at on India with a stable outlook. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit their highest level in more than two years at the onset of the trading session. The market held firm in morning trade. The Sensex retained positive zone in mid-morning trade. The market retained positive zone in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices pared intraday gains in afternoon trade. The market regained strength in mid-afternoon trade. The market was range bound in late trade. The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained buyers of Indian stocks on Friday, 18 January 2013. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 1198.20 crore from the secondary equity markets on Friday, 18 January 2013, as per data from Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The BSE Sensex advanced 62.78 points or 0.31% to settle at 20,101.82, its highest closing level since 6 January 2011. The index rose 17.42 points at the day's low of 20,056.46 in afternoon trade. The index jumped 124.34 points at the day's high of 20,163.38 at the onset of the trading session. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 17.90 points or 0.3% to 6,082.30, its highest closing level since 4 January 2011. The index hit high of 6,094.35 and low of 6,065.10 in intraday trade. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2355 crore, lower than Rs 2578 crore on Friday, 18 January 2013. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,514 shares declined and 1,370 shares rose. A total of 137 shares were unchanged. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 rose while the rest of them fell.. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2.35% to Rs 920.10 on strong Q3 results. The stock pared gains after hitting 52-week high of Rs 954.80 in early trade today, 21 January 2013. The stock hit low of Rs 918.15 in intraday trade. RIL after trading hours on Friday, 18 January 2013, said its net profit jumped 23.9% to Rs 5502 crore on 10.1% growth in turnover to Rs 96307 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. RIL's gross refining margin (GRM) surged to $9.6 a barrel in Q3 December 2012 from $6.8 a barrel in Q3 December 2011. RIL's outstanding debt as on 31 December 2012 was Rs 72266 crore, higher than Rs 68259 crore as on 31 March 2012. RIL had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 80962 crore as on 31 December 2012. These were in bank deposits and CDs, mutual funds and government securities/bonds. RIL is debt free on a net basis as at 31 December 2012, the company said in a statement. Commenting on the third quarter results, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries said: "RIL's performance has improved in this quarter with margin expansion in petrochemicals and record earnings in the refining business. We are investing over Rs 1 lakh crore by expanding our petrochemical capacities and adding value to our refining business. These investments will secure a significant change in RIL's earning capacity on commissioning of these projects. It will also provide employment opportunity for thousands of young Indians and support India's economic growth". RIL said its subsidiary, Infotel Broadband Services (Infotel), which has emerged as a successful bidder in all the 22 circles of the auction for Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India is in the process of setting up a world class broadband network using state-of-the-art technologies and finalizing the arrangement with leading global technology players, service providers, infrastructure providers, application developers, device manufacturers and others to help usher the 4G revolution into India. Infotel plans to provide end-to-end solutions that address the complete digital value chain across various digital services in key domains of national interest such as education, healthcare, security, financial services, government-citizen interfaces, entertainment and working on building the requisite parts of this customers' experience which fundamentally change the lives of millions of Indians, RIL said. Reliance Industries on Saturday, 19 January 2013, said that the company's buyback program has closed on 19 January 2013. Cairn India rose 1.1% ahead of its Q3 results today, 21 January 2013. FMCG major, Hindustan Unilever rose 0.81% ahead of its Q3 results tomorrow, 22 January 2013. Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC rose 1.24% to Rs 290.60, with the stock extending gains for the second straight day on strong Q3 results. The stock hit high of Rs 291.80 and low of Rs 286.30. ITC during trading hours Friday, 18 January 2013, said its net profit rose 20.62% to Rs 2051.85 crore on 22.41% growth in total income to Rs 8041.90 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in October 2012 notified new pictorial health warnings to be depicted on tobacco product packs which will come into effect from 1 April 2013. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on 22 October 2012 that three sets of warnings each have been notified for smoking as well as smokeless forms of tobacco product packages. The well-designed health warnings and messages are part of a range of measures to communicate health risks due to tobacco use. Pictorial health warnings communicate health risks in a visible way, provoke a greater emotional response and increase the motivation of tobacco users to quit and to decrease their tobacco consumption, the ministry's statement said. Graphic warning labels have a greater impact than text-only labels and can be recognized by low-literacy audiences and children, the statement added. Asian Paints shed 0.75%. After market hours today, 21 January 2013, Asian Paints reported 30.51% growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 335.23 crore on 19.38% growth in total income to Rs 3083.83 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. Reliance Communications (RCom) galloped 6.91% to Rs 89. RCom last week said it has awarded a multi-year contract valued at more than $1 billion to Alcatel-Lucent to manage its network. The network managed services contract aims at delivering world-class, seamless voice and data communications services to RCom customers in Eastern and Southern India upto 2020. Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) jumped 4.06%. The company through its Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAMEPL), today, 21 January 2013, announced that the Airport Metro line would resume commercial operations at its regular timing of 5:30 IST tomorrow, 22 January 2013. This line initially started its commercial operation on February 23, 2011. However, keeping in view passenger safety issues arising due to defects in civil structures, the services had to be suspended in July 2012. These defects have since been rectified by DMRC and the line was offered for re-inspection to the Commissioner Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) in December 2012. The line was inspected by CMRS on 15th and 16th January, 2013 and a formal clearance for commercial operation was received on January 18, 2013, RInfra said in a statement. Reliance Metro's Airport Express Line would run daily from 5.30 AM to 11.30 PM at a frequency of 15 minutes. Airport Express Line, India's first high speed Metro developed under Public Private Partnership provides world class connectivity from New Delhi Railway Station to Indira Gandhi Airport (T3) terminating at Dwarka Sector 21. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise fell 1.29%. The company during market hours today, 21 January 2013, announced its plans to establish a Proton Therapy Center in India, the first of its kind across South East Asia, Africa and Australia. The launch that marks the beginning of the next wave of advancement in radiation therapy in India is worth approximately Rs 400 crore, which covers the equipment and services supplied by IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) to help establish the Apollo Proton Therapy Center including the long term operation and maintenance contract, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise said in a statement. NTPC fell 1.13%. The company's net profit rose 21.89% to Rs 2596.76 crore on 1.76% increase in total income to Rs 16529.55 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The result was announced during trading hours today, 21 January 2013. JSW Energy jumped 6.49% to Rs 73.80. The company will unveil Q3 results on 23 January 2013. Housing finance major HDFC fell 1.13% to Rs 813.05. The stock hit high of Rs 828.05 and low of Rs 808. HDFC today, 21 January 2013, said its net profit rose 16.18% to Rs 1140.10 crore on 17.49% growth in income from operations to Rs 5145.70 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The company earned profit of Rs 96.32 crore on sale of investments in Q3 December 2012, higher than Rs 87.99 crore in Q3 December 2011. HDFC said its loan book stood at Rs 1.6 lakh crore as on 31 December 2012, as against Rs 1.31 lakh crore in the previous year. This is after considering the loans sold during the preceding 12 month amounting to Rs 5264 crore. HDFC's consolidated net profit jumped 27.55% to Rs 1705.83 crore on 58.75% growth in total income to Rs 10128.58 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011 UltraTech Cement rose 0.67%, with the stock reversing initial losses. The company's net profit fell 2.6% to Rs 600.81 crore on 6.4% growth in net sales to Rs 4857.40 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. UltraTech Cement said the cement demand was subdued in Q3 December 2012. The company's domestic cement sales growth of grey cement remained flat at 9.62 MnT in Q3 December 2012. Sales of white cement and wall care putty rose 6.5% to 2.62 LmT in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The company announced the Q3 results on Saturday, 19 January 2013. On the cost front, the raw materials and logistics cost rose due to increase in railway freight and hike in diesel prices, UltraTech Cement said in a statement. Energy cost, i.e. imported coal remained at $100/tonne levels, the company said. The benefit of softening in coal prices was partly offset by the depreciation in rupee, UltraTech Cement said. Throwing light on its capital expenditure (capex) plans, UltraTech Cement said the on-going capex towards setting up of additional clinkerisation plants at Chhattisgarh and Karnataka is on track. These projects are expected to be operational by early FY 2014, the company added. The expansion will augment the company's cement capacity by 9.2 mtpa bringing it to a total of 62 mtpa, UltraTech Cement said in a statement. With regard to future business outlook, the company said the long term cement demand is likely to see an 8% growth, with housing, infrastructure and allied spending being the key value drivers. However, cement glut is expected to continue over the next three years, UltraTech added. Input costs are likely to increase in line with general inflation, with margins remaining range bound, UltraTech Cement said in a statement. Other cement stocks were mixed. Ambuja Cement (up 0.78%), JK Lakshmi Cement (up 1.14%), India Cement (up 0.82%) and Birla Corporation (up 2.66%) gained. ACC (down 0.74%) and Madras Cement (down 2.31%) declined. Shree Cement dropped 2.42%. After market hours today, 21 January 2013, the company reported 267.35% surge in net profit to Rs 217.44 crore on 20.39% growth in total income to Rs 1460.33 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. Hindustan Zinc rose 0.54%. The company's net profit rose 26.61% to Rs 1612.54 crore on 15.52% growth in total income to Rs 3684.29 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. Segment-wise results showed that operating profit margin at the company's zinc and lead mining operations declined sharply in Q3 December 2012. The revenue and profit of the company's silver mining operation surged in Q3 December 2012. The growth in Hindustan Zinc's bottom line in Q3 December 2012 was aided by a sharp surge in non-operational income and sharp fall in taxation provision. The company announced the results during trading hours Friday, 18 January 2013. The company said that based on long-term evaluation of assets and in consultation with mining experts, the company has finalised the next phase of growth plan, which will involve sinking of underground shafts and developing underground mines. The plan comprises of developing a 3.75 mtpa underground mine at Rampura Agucha and expanding Sindesar Khurd mine from 2 mtpa to 3.75 mtpa, Zawar mines from 1.2 mtpa to 5 mtpa, Rajpura Dariba mine to 1.2 mtpa and Kayad mine to 1 mtpa. It will also involve opening up of a small new mine at Bamnia Kalan in Rajpura Dariba belt. The growth plan will increase the company's mined metal (MIC) production capacity to 1.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). The company currently has metal production capacity of over one million tonnes per annum. The mines will be developed using best-in-class technology and equipment and in consultation with leading global mine experts, ensuring highest level of productivity. The projects will be completed in six years and benefit of growth projects will start flowing in from third year, even as projects will continue till FY 2018-19, Hindustan Zinc said. The annual capital expenditures for these projects will average $250 million a year over next six years, the company said in a statement on Friday, 18 January 2013. Hindalco Industries shed 0.08%. Hindalco Industries Friday, 18 January 2013, said it has finalized its arrangement for acquiring alumina refinery and bauxite mines from Novelis Do Brasil Ltda., a wholly owned subsidiary of Novelis Inc. Novelis Inc. is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries. The agreement has been executed between Novelis Do Brasil Ltda., Novelis Inc. and AV Minerals (Netherlands) B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindalco Industries. The alumina refinery, with a capacity of 145 KTPA, situated in the city of Ouro Preto, State of Minas Gerias, Brazil, has mining rights of over 50 million tones of bauxite reserves, Hindalco said in a statement. In June 2009, Novelis Do Brasil Ltda. had suspended the production of alumina at this refinery, Hindalco said. The latest corporate reorganization will allow the new company, with its sole focus on mining and alumina business, to create value out of the moth-balled assets for all the stakeholders, while Novelis Do Brasil Ltda. will continue to focus on its core downstream aluminum rolling business, Hindalco said. Bhushan Steel declined 0.09% to Rs 432.50. The stock fell in volatile trade after poor Q3 results. The company on Saturday, 19 January 2013, said its net profit fell 20.03% to Rs 221.20 crore on 4.7% growth in total income to Rs 2532.72 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. Bhushan Steel also said that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 19 January 2013 has considered and approved setting up of a 0.35 million tons per annum (MTPA) capacity Cold Rolling cum Electrical Steel (CRNGO) Complex at estimated project cost of Rs 1560 crore and reaffirming the proposal to set up a 1.8 MTPA capacity Pickling Line coupled with Tandem Cold Rolling Mill (PLTCM) at estimated cost of Rs 6000 crore, at Meramandali plant in Orissa. IT stocks were mostly higher. Wipro rose 0.06%. The company before trading hours Friday, 18 January 2013, said its net profit as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) rose 18% to Rs 1716 crore on 10% growth in total revenue to Rs 11025 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. Non-GAAP adjusted net profit rose 17% to Rs 1709 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. IT Services Revenue was $1.577 billion in Q3 December 2012, a sequential increase of 2.4% and year on year (YoY) increase of 4.8%, Wipro said. Non-GAAP constant currency IT Services Revenue in dollar terms was $1.571 billion in Q3 December 2012. IT Services Revenue in rupee terms was Rs 8602 crore in Q3 December 2012, an increase of 13% YoY. IT Services Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) was Rs 1792 crore ($327 million) in Q3 December 2012, an increase of 13% YoY. Operating Income to Revenue for IT Services was 20.8% in Q3 December 2012, up 0.1% sequentially. Wipro expects revenues from IT Services business at $1.585 billion to $1.625 billion in Q4 March 2013. TCS declined 1.49%. The company last week said it has entered into a long-term agreement with Nokia, a global leader in mobile communications, to help transform its IT landscape. As a part of this engagement, TCS will work with Nokia in realizing its future IT roadmap, driving consolidation, rationalization and simplification of applications and also enabling business transformation across the core portfolios, TCS said in a statement. India's second largest software services exporter by revenues Infosys rose 0.37%. The company's CEO and Managing Director S. D. Shibulal said at the time of announcement of the company's Q3 December 2012 results on 11 January 2013 that the management continues to gain confidence from a strong pipeline of large deals. Infosys won 8 large outsourcing deals amounting to $731 million of total contract value in Q3 December 2012. HCL Technologies (HCL) gained 2.13%. The company today, 21 January 2013, said that the Enterprise Application Services (EAS) division of the company has signed a transformational engagement with D+M Group (D&M Holdings, Inc.) to provide services in support of the deployment of SAP solutions. Under the agreement, apart from reconfiguring D+M Japan's implementation of financial solutions from SAP and other related applications and helping to align the company's code structure, HCL will also consolidate the company's financial data. HCL Tech last week said its consolidated net profit as per US accounting standards rose 9.7% to $177 million on 3.6% growth in revenue to $1.154 billion in Q2 December 2012 over Q1 September 2012. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 5.5% to $260.6 million in Q2 December 2012 over Q1 September 2012. EBITDA margin edged up to 22.6% in Q2 December 2012 from 22.2% in Q1 September 2012. The company said TCV of deals won aggregate $1 billion. HDFC Bank fell 1.01% to Rs 656. The stock dropped for the second day in a row as the bank's gross NPA ratio rose on sequential basis in Q3 December 2013. The bank's ratio of gross NPA to gross advances stood at 1% as on 31 December 2012, higher than 0.91% as on 30 September 2012 and lower than 1.03% as on 31 December 2011. HDFC Bank's ratio of net non-performing assets (NPA) to net advances stood at 0.2% as on 31 December 2012, unchanged compared with 0.2% as on 30 September 2012 and 0.2% as on 31 December 2011. The bank's net profit rose 30.04% to Rs 1859.07 crore on 23.01% increase in total income to Rs 10,606.51 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The result was announced during trading hours on Friday, 18 January 2013. Provisions and contingencies fell 6.68% to Rs 307.24 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The NPA coverage ratio as on 31 December 2012 stood at 80% Total restructured loans (including applications received and under process for restructuring) were at 0.3% of gross advances as of 31 December 2012. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank rose 0.43% to Rs 1,180.25. The stock had hit 52-week high of Rs 1,209.70 in intraday trade on 15 January 2013. Shares of banking giant State Bank of India (SBI) were unchanged at Rs 2,491. The stock had struck 52-week high of Rs 2,550 in intraday trade on 10 January 2013. SBI said on Saturday, 19 January 2013, that its board approved a capital infusion of Rs 3004 crore by the government through preferential allotment of shares in the current fiscal year ending March 2013. The funds will be used to support local and international banking operations, and the bank is seeking separate approvals from the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise its issued capital, SBI said in a statement to the Punjab National Bank fell 0.38%. The state-run bank during market hours today, 21 January 2013, said that the Government of India (GoI) has decided to infuse Rs 1248 crore in the bank. Funds will be raised through preferential allotment of equity shares to GoI. IDBI Bank shed 1.01% after Q3 results. The bank said after market hours on Friday, 18 January 2013, its net profit rose 1.7% to Rs 416.76 crore on 12.5% growth in total income to Rs 7070.19 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. IDBI Bank also said after market hours on Friday, 18 January 2013, the board of directors of the bank at its meeting held on January 18, 2013, has approved the proposal for Preferential Issue of equity capital to Government of India of Rs 555 crore and other QIBs, if any, aggregating upto Rs 2500 crore subject to approval from shareholders and other Statutory/Regulatory approvals, if any. Shares of commercial vehicles and utility vehicles makers dropped for the second straight day on concerns higher diesel prices will hit sales adversely as the government on 17 January 2013 allowed PSU OMCs to increase diesel prices by a small margin from time to time. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) hiked diesel prices by 45 paise a liter from Friday, 18 January 2013. The three state-run fuel retailers -- IOC, BPCL and HPCL -- raised diesel prices for bulk buyers by more than Rs 9 a liter from Friday, 18 January 2013, as they stopped subsidizing bulk sales of the fuel. Tata Motors declined 1.37%. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) fell 0.41%. The company on 14 January 2013 announced that it has hiked the capacities of its three best selling brands viz. the Quanto, XUV500 and Rexton with immediate effect. This has been necessitated due to the overwhelming demand for the Quanto, XUV500 and Rexton across the country, M&M said. With the increase in capacity for these three products, Mahindra hopes to bring down the waiting period for these popular products and thereby facilitate its customers in getting early deliveries of their products, M&M said. In addition, the bookings for these brands have been opened across more centres in India, M&M said. Quanto has garnered bookings of more than 12,000 units within the first two months of its launch while deliveries for the XUV500 areas per schedule, M&M said. The company's premium SUV, the SsangYong Rexton which has over 1,500 bookings across 9 cities is now poised to be launched in additional cities starting this month, M&M said. The capacity for the Quanto has been raised to 3,500 units, XUV500 to 4,500 units and the Rexton to 500 units per month, respectively so as to effectively deliver the vehicles in the shortest Possible time to customers, M&M said. Ashok Leyland rose 0.38% in volatile trade. Capital goods stocks rose on renewed buying. Siemens, BEML, Punj Lloyd, and L&T gained by 0.12% to 2.12%. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) gained 2.36% after company today, 21 January 2013, said it has achieved a significant milestone in Africa with the successful commissioning of its first Steam Turbine Generator (STG) Unit in Ethiopia. Significantly, this is also the company's first STG set to be commissioned in the African continent, Bhel said in a statement. The STG set of 12 MW capacity, is the first unit of the 2x12 MW project to be commissioned at the Finchaa Sugar Factory for cogeneration application. The plant will supply process steam and power to the sugar factory and the excess power will be supplied to the Ethiopian Electricity Power Company. Bhel also said that the company is taking a number of strategic business initiatives to fuel further growth in its overseas business. This includes firmly establishing itself in target export markets, positioning of Bhel as a regular EPC contractor in the global market, both in the utility and IPP segments, and exploring various opportunities for setting up overseas joint ventures and marketing offices, etc. NHPC gained 1.15%. The company announced after market hours Friday, 18 January 2013, that unit-2 of Teesta Low Dam Project, Stage-III has been synchronized with grid on 16 January 2013. Mukta Arts jumped 10.12% to Rs 41.90 after the company said it has entered into a contract with Zee Entertainment Enterprises for the assignment of satellite and other electronic rights of its 35 films for 5 years from the dates on which current satellite rights expire. The Deal is for Rs 25 crore plus applicable taxes. The entire deal amount is being paid during the calendar year 2013, Mukta Arts said. Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises were down 1.09% Bharti Airtel was the top traded counter on the BSE with turnover of Rs 130.80 crore followed by RIL (Rs 108.39 crore), United Breweries (Rs 74.28 crore), SpiceJet (Rs 68.69 crore) and Reliance Communications (Rs 55.44 crore). Sigrun Holdings was the volume topper on the BSE with volume of 3.01 crore shares followed by SpiceJet (1.49 crore shares), Cals Refineries (98.86 lakh shares), Reliance Communications (63.59 lakh shares) and Unitech (45.75 lakh shares). The government's move to raise diesel prices is positive, but it must keep up the momentum of economic reforms for there to be a material impact on its fiscal position, Moody's Investors Services said on Saturday, 19 January 2013. The diesel price hike is another signal that the government is willing to take some long-delayed, politically difficult decisions, said Atsi Sheth, Moody's sovereign analyst for India. While the diesel price hike will have a fairly small impact on the actual budget deficit, the fiscal position would improve if fuel subsidies continue to be reduced over time, Ms. Sheth said. She also said Moody's maintains its sovereign rating at Baa3 for India, with a stable outlook. The focus on the stock market is currently on Q3 December 2012 results. Investors and analysts will closely watch the management commentary that would accompany the result which could cause revision in their future earnings forecast of the company for the current year and or next year. Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank will unveil Q3 results tomorrow, 22 January 2013. L&T and Sesa Goa unveil Q3 results on Thursday, 24 January 2013. Maruti Suzuki India unveils Q3 results on Friday, 25 January 2013. Reliance Infrastructure announces Q3 results on 28 January 2013. Sterlite Industries (India) announces Q3 results on 29 January 2013. ICICI Bank, Lupin, Grasim Industries and Punjab National Bank unveil Q3 results on 31 January 2013. Siemens will unveil its Q1 December 2012 results on 31 January 2013. IDFC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Bharti Airtel announce Q3 results on 1 February 2013. Bank of Baroda unveils Q3 results on 4 February 2012. ACC and Ambuja Cement announce Q4 December 2012 results on 7 February 2012. Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindalco Industries unveil Q3 results on 8 February 2013. Tata Power Company unveils Q3 results on 11 February 2013. BPCL announces Q3 results on 13 February 2013. The Ministry of Finance on 14 January 2013 said that the government has decided to defer the implementation of the General Anti Avoidance Rules or GAAR by two years until 1 April 2016 and that it has accepted major recommendations of the Parthasarathi Shome Committee on GAAR with some modifications. The provisions of GAAR will apply to only those foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who seek to take advantage of the double taxation avoidance treaties India has with different countries. The rules won't apply to the non-resident individual investors who put money with the FIIs. Any investments made before 30 August 2010 won't be examined under GAAR. Finance Minister Mr. Chidambaram said that the GAAR provisions strike a balance between the government's need for revenue generation and investors' interests. Chidambaram early this month said attracting foreign funds to India has become an economic imperative. Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Mr. Anand Sharma on 9 January 2013 said that the Joint Working Group on Indo-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC), which is scheduled to meet in February 2013, would be able to take the deliberations forward. The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The deficit target is 5.3% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year through March, 4.8% in the next fiscal year, and 3% by the end of the year through March 2017. The government on 17 January 2013 allowed PSU OMCs to increase diesel prices by a small margin from time to time, a decision aimed at reducing the government's oil subsidy burden and fiscal deficit and improving the government's finances. Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet that there was an earlier proposal to deregulate diesel prices, and in pursuance of that, oil companies have been authorised to make price corrections from time to time. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 17 January 2013 said the government will factor in the reduction in subsidies and its impact on the deficit once the retailers say how much they intend to increase prices by. The government on Thursday, 17 January 2013, also said it has increased the limit of subsidized cooking-gas cylinders to nine per year a family from six now. Mr. Moily said that the raising of the cap will cost the government about an additional Rs 10000 crore a year. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati slammed the UPA government for its decision to deregulate diesel prices and said that it would affect prices and hit common man badly. She, however, ruled out the possibility of withdrawing BSP's support to the government, saying she did not want to destabilise it as the general election is not too far. BSP provides outside support to the Congress led UPA government which has already been reduced to a minority government after Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the government in September last year. Increase in diesel price will stoke inflation pressures as most of India's trucks and trains run on diesel. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao on 15 January 2013 refused to lower his guard on inflation despite some recent softening, saying price pressures remain quite high. The comments come a day after government data showed that wholesale price index based inflation, India's main inflation gauge, rose at its slowest pace in three years in December 2012. Inflation based on the All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) edged up to 11.33% in December 2012 from 10.31% in November 2012, data released by the government today, 21 January 2013, showed. Inflation based on food index of CPI-AL stood at 11.59% in December 2012. Inflation based on the All-India Consumer Price Index for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) edged up to 11.31% in December 2012 from 10.47% in November 2012. Inflation based on food index of CPI-RL stood at 11.9% in December 2012. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) undertakes Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2012-13 on 29 January 2013. RBI kept its key policy rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 8% after mid-quarter monetary policy review on 18 December 2012. RBI said it is closely monitoring the evolving growth-inflation dynamic and will update the formal numerical assessment of its growth and inflation projections for 2012-13 as part of the third quarter review in January 2013. The Election Commission on 11 January 2013 said that assembly polls will be held in Tripura on 14 February 2013. Assembly polls in two other states viz. Meghalaya and Nagaland will be held on 23 February 2013. The counting of votes for assembly elections held in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland will take place on the same day on 28 February 2013. European stocks edged higher on Monday, 21 January 2013, with oil firms and food retailers leading the charge north. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK rose by 0.23% to 0.63%. Euro-area finance ministers, gathering in Brussels today, will begin talks on how to channel firewall funds directly to banks. Policy makers are likely to clash over how and when the 500 billion-euro ($666 billion) European Stability Mechanism can bypass governments. An assessment of Spain, Cyprus and Greece is also expected to feature. Germany's center-right coalition parties narrowly lost an election in the state of Lower Saxony. The defeat came ahead of general elections expected in September 2013. Most Asian stocks fell on Monday, 21 January 2013, with Japanese shares sliding back from last week's multi-year peaks as a two-day meeting at the Bank of Japan got underway. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan shed by 0.05% to 1.52%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore and China rose 0.31% to 0.48% respectively. The Bank of Japan's two-day meeting on interest rates in Japan got underway today, 21 January 2013. Market expectations are that the Japanese central bank will further ease its accommodative policy stance to boost the economy. US stocks ended Friday's session, with the S&P 500 index closing the day at a five-year high. Investors were cheered by earnings from industrial heavyweight General Electric Co., as well as signs of progress on a debate over the US borrowing limit. US markets are closed today, 21 January 2013, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day meeting on interest rates in the United States on 29 and 30 January 2013. President Barack Obama took the official oath for his second term on Sunday at the White House in a small, private ceremony that set a more subdued tone compared to the historic start of his presidency four years ago. Gathered with his family in the Blue Room on the White House's ceremonial main floor, Obama put his hand on a Bible and recited the 35-word oath that was read to him by US Chief Justice John Roberts. Obama, who became the first African-American US president four years ago, will be sworn in publicly for his second term on Monday in a much bigger ceremony before an audience of as many as 800,000 people outside the US Capitol.