Sensex skids 3.04% in Q4

Key benchmark indices surged amid choppy trade on the last trading session of March 2013. High volatility was witnessed on the bourses as traders rolled over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month March 2013 series to April 2013 series. The March 2013 F&O contracts expired today, 28 March 2013. The barometer indices, the S&P BSE Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, attained their highest closing level in over one week. The Sensex jumped 131.24 points or 0.7%, off close to 50 points from the day's high and up about 270 points from the day's low. The market breadth was positive. Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC extended intraday gains in late trade. Another index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower in choppy trade. Bank stocks rose. Capital goods stocks rose on bargain hunting after recent losses. Metal stocks surged in late trade. Indian stocks edged higher for the second straight trading session today, 28 March 2003 From a recent low of 18,681.42 on 25 March 2013, the Sensex has gained 154.35 points or 0.82% in two trading sessions. The Sensex shed 25.77 points or 0.13% in March 2013. The Sensex declined 590.94 points or 3.04% in Q4 March 2013. The Sensex has gained 1,431.57 points or 8.22% in the year ending 31 March 2013 (FY 2013). The Sensex has declined 590.94 points or 3.04% in calendar 2013 so far (till 28 March 2013). From a 52-week high of 20,203.66 on 29 January 2013, the Sensex has declined 1,367.89 points or 6.77%. From a 52-week low of 15,748.98 on 4 June 2012, the Sensex has surged 3,086.79 points or 19.59%. Coming back to today's trade, the market edged lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. The market extended initial losses to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, hit its lowest level in more than 17 weeks. The 50-unit CNX Nifty hit lowest its level in almost 18 weeks. The market trimmed losses in mid-morning trade. Intraday recovery on the bourses gathered steam in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices hovered in negative zone in mid-afternoon trade. The market moved into positive zone later. The Sensex surged in late trade. The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on Tuesday, 26 March 2013. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 538.27 crore on Tuesday, 26 March 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. The stock market remains shut tomorrow, 29 March 2013, on account of Good Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 131.24 points or 0.7% to settle at 18,835.77, its highest closing level since 20 March 2013. The index surged 178.01 points at the day's high of 18,882.54 in late trade. The index fell 136.10 points at the day's low of 18,568.43 in morning trade, its lowest level since 26 November 2012. The CNX Nifty advanced 40.95 points or 0.73% to settle at 5,682.55, its highest closing level since 20 March 2013. The index hit a high of 5,692.95 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,604.85 in intraday trade its lowest level since 23 November 2012. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.46% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.32%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3086 crore, higher than Rs 1661.57 crore on Tuesday, 26 March 2013. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,625 shares rose and 1,149 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 stocks rose while rest of them fell. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) dropped 0.7% at Rs 777.90. The scrip hit high of Rs 784 and a low of Rs 765. The telecom department early this month cleared a proposal to allow companies with Internet permits to also offer basic mobile telecom services by paying a one-time license-conversion fee. RIL's telecom unit, Reliance Jio Infocomm, has frequencies to provide broadband Internet across India. Under the new rule, RIL will have to pay about Rs 1658 crore to also provide voice services. The Finance Minister said in his speech while presenting the Union Budget 2013-14 on 28 February 2013 that the oil and gas exploration policy will be reviewed to move from profit sharing to revenue sharing contracts. The natural gas pricing policy will be reviewed and uncertainties regarding pricing will be removed. NELP blocks that were awarded but are stalled will be cleared. A policy to encourage exploration and production of shale gas will be announced. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 1.11% to Rs 309.50. The scrip hit high of Rs 310 and a low of Rs 304.70. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 310.75 on 4 February 2013. The government raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14 which was unveiled on 28 February 2013. Auto stocks edged lower ahead monthly sales volume data for March 2013. Auto companies will start unveiling monthly sales volume data for March 2013 from Monday, 1 April 2013. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) dropped 0.24%. The company on 19 March 2013 said that as part of aligning production with sales requirements, the company will be observing no production days at its tractor plants located at Jaipur for five days and Rudrapur for two days during the period from 24 March 2013 to 31 March 2013. The management does not envisage any adverse impact on the availability of tractors in the market due to adequacy of tractor stocks to serve the market requirements, M&M said in a statement. Tata Motors dropped 2.16%. The company's British luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on 12 March 2013 said its sales rose 3% to 26,855 units in February 2013 over February 2012. Sales were up in almost every major market in February 2013, JLR said. But, sales declined 22% in China on year on year basis in February 2013, reflecting the Chinese New Year falling in February this year and January last year, JLR said. Sales of Jaguar jumped 27% to 4,595 units in February 2013 over February 2012, with increased sales of the XF (up 37%) and the XJ (up 15%), reflecting new smaller engines and all-wheel drive options as well as the XF Sportbrake, JLR said. Sales of Land Rover declined slightly on year on year basis in February 2013, reflecting the Chinese New Year holiday period, JLR said. Sales of Freelander jumped 26% year on year in February 2013 and that of Range Rover jumped 46% year on year in February 2013, JLR said. Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.04% in choppy trade. Maruti Suzuki India on 15 March 2013 said it has appointed Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in place of Mr. Shinzo Nakanishi with effect from 1 April 2013 on the latter having attained the age of retirement. Two wheeler makers also declined. Bajaj Auto dropped 0.02%. The company on 4 March 2013 said its total sales fell 3% to 3.32 lakh units in February 2013 over February 2012. Motorcycles sales fell 4% to 2.91 lakh units February 2013 over February 2012. Sales of three wheelers declined 2% to 41,090 units in February 2013 over February 2012. The company's total exports rose 10% to 1.35 lakh units in February 2013 over February 2012. Hero MotoCorp declined 1.95%. Hero MotoCorp on 1 March 2013 said total sales declined 4.23% to 5.01 lakh units in February 2013 over February 2012. Hero MotoCorp's scooters -- Pleasure and Maestro -- clocked close to 54,000 unit sales in February 2013. The company is now scaling up its scooter production to over 60,000 units a month. Titan Industries rose 1.91% to Rs 256.50. Two block deals of 1.93 crore shares each were executed in the counter at the onset of the trading session on BSE. The first block deal was executed at Rs 252.05 and the second deal was executed at Rs 250.10. The block deals constituted 4.34% of Titan Industries' equity. Telecom stocks were mostly higher. Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) and Reliance Communications gained by 1.1% to 8.02%. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) rose 1.1%. The company on Monday, 25 March 2013, said that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 25 March 2013 approved the proposal for raising non convertible debentures (in the form of bonds) worth Rs 3000 crore for a period of 10 years guaranteed by the Government of India. But, Bharti Airtel fell 1.77%. The company on 26 March 2013 announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V. has successfully raised $500 million notes (the Additional Notes) in addition to the recently concluded transaction of $1 billion 5.125% Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Guaranteed 144A/Reg S Notes due 2023. The Additional Notes were issued at a premium and priced at 100.625% to yield 5.044% and will be consolidated and form a single series a long with the $1 billion 5.125% Guaranteed Senior Notes due 2023 issued on 11 March 2013. Following the highly successful recent inaugural US dollar bond transaction on 4 March 2013, the bonds of Bharti Airtel had witnessed a strong rally in the secondary market and additional notes were issued to tap the unsatisfied investor demand through a follow-on issuance, Bharti Airtel said. The transaction drew an order book of approximately $2 billion with participation from 140 high quality investor accounts. In terms of geographic distribution, 50% of Additional Notes were distributed in the United States, 32% in Europe and 18% in Asia. The Notes were distributed to high quality fixed income accounts across fund managers, banks, sovereign wealth funds/ insurance companies and private banks, Bharti Airtel said. IT stocks gained on renewed buying. Software major TCS added 0.93%. The company on 26 March 2013 said that it has bagged a contract from Southern Water to implement a customer services and revenue transformation programme for the latter. The programme will combine front and back-end technology deployments with internal process redevelopment. Southern Water will benefit from enhanced customer service capabilities, improved cash collection and debt management, and will see a reduction in operating expenditure, TCS said a statement. Wipro gained 0.31%. Wipro Technologies, the Global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing business of Wipro on 15 March 2013 announced that it has been appraised at Capability Maturity Model Integration CMMI-DEV 1.3 Level 5. This assessment validates Wipro's process capability based on the CMMI standards that measure process improvements, Wipro Technologies said in a statement. An assessment at maturity Level 5 indicates that the organization is performing at an "optimizing" level. At this level, an organization continually improves its processes based on a quantitative understanding of its business objectives and performance needs. The organization uses a quantitative approach to understand the variation inherent in the process and the causes of process outcomes. HCL Technologies gained 2.69% to Rs 795.95. The stock had hit record high of Rs 804.50 in intraday trade on 18 March 2013. Infosys rose 1.25%. Infosys announces Q4 results on 12 April 2013. The company on 15 March 2013 announced that it has been selected by India Post to implement and manage a platform that will transform its rural operations. With this new agreement, Infosys will facilitate India Post's Rural Systems Integration (RSI) program. This initiative will increase adoption of the department's services, and enhance the reach of postal services to the country's rural population, streamlining the distribution of social benefits. As part of an earlier agreement, Infosys is also partnering with India Post to transform its financial services operations and end-user experience under the Financial Services System Integration program. The two projects are part of the 'India Post 2012' modernization program that aims to bring transparency, agility, flexibility and scalability to its business operations. The programs will empower employees to deliver services more efficiently to rural communities using the latest technology. They will also position India Post as a key agent in the Government of India's inclusive growth policies. Mahindra Satyam gained 1.39% and Tech Mahindra gained 1.77%. Mahindra Satyam on 25 March 2013 said that pursuant to Clause 28.1 of Scheme of Amalgamation and Arrangement of Venturbay Consultants and Satyam Computer Services and C&S Systems Technologies and Mahindra Logisoft Business Solutions and CanvasM Technologies with Tech Mahindra and their respective shareholders and creditors (the scheme), the board of directors extended the validity of the scheme by a further period of six months till 30 September 2013. GMR Infrastructure jumped 3.11%. The company said on Wednesday, 27 March 2013, that Homeland Mining and Energy SA Proprietary (HMESA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Homeland Energy Group, a company listed in Canada (HEG) in which GMR Energy has a majority shareholding has entered into an agreement to divest its 50% equity interest in Tshedza Mining Resource, which holds the license for the development of Eloff mines. The purchaser of the Homeland's interest in the Eloff mines is the company's current BEE partner, who already holds a 50% interest in the property. The consummation of transaction is subject to receipt of statutory approvals in South Africa. HMESA has also entered into an agreement for the sale of its entire shareholding of Ferret Coal (Kendal). The transaction will be subject to receipt of statutory approvals and HEG Shareholders approval. The Kendal mine is an operating mine and sells coal in domestic market while the Eloff mine is under development stage. Aditya Birla Nuvo rose 0.82% to Rs 978.80. The company said after market hours on Tuesday, 26 March 2013, that the Investor Relations & Finance Committee of the board of directors of the company has on 26 March 2013, by way of Circular Resolution, approved allotment of 66.80 lakh shares at a premium of Rs 900.86 each to the Promoter and Promoter Group Company on conversion of equivalent number of warrants issued to them on 10 May 2012. The existing warrants held by these holders shall stand extinguished to the extent of exercise of the option for conversion of shares, the company said. Metal stocks surged in late trade. Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Bhushan Steel, Tata Steel and Sail rose by 0.33% to 11.28%. Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) dropped 0.61%. The company said after market hours on Tuesday, 26 March 2013, that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 26 March 2013 has appointed Mr. Sushil Maroo, Director as Deputy Managing Director of the company with effect from 1 April 2013. The company also said that Mr. K. Rajagopal has joined the company as JSPL Group CFO & Director from 26 March 2013. GAIL (India) jumped 4.64%. The company on Monday, 25 March 2013, said it has set a target of marketing 84.05 million metric standard cubic metre per day (MMSCMD) and transmitting 110 MMSCMD of natural gas from domestic sources and through LNG route during FY 2013-14 under the Annual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for performance targets. The MoU also provides for an 'Excellent' production target of 430 TMT of Polymers (HDPE & LLDPE) and 1,310 TMT of Liquid Hydrocarbons. The excellent financial targets are pegged at Rs 49155 crore in gross sales and a gross margin of Rs 6160 crore. In addition to key physical and financial parameters, the company's performance will be assessed on the basis of various parameters related to core business streams out of which 32% is allocated to key parameters related to implementation of Pipeline, Petrochemicals, City Gas Projects, Capital Expenditure, Marketing, E&P, Mergers & Acquisitions, Safety etc besides, Corporate Governance, Research & Development, Human Resource Management (5%), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (8%) in line with the latest guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), GAIL (India) said in a statement. Bank stocks rose. ICICI Bank rose 2.73%. ICICI Bank on 16 March 2013 said that based on an internal enquiry following allegations of money laundering by branch level employees of the bank, no actual transactions have been found to have taken place in respect of the specific instances reported by online magazine Cobrapost on 14 March 2013. ICICI Bank said it has appointed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, a leading accounting and audit firm, to conduct a full, independent forensic enquiry into the reported statements and arrive at its findings in a time-bound manner and report to the Audit Committee of the bank. ICICI Bank also said that the bank has suspended 18 employees pending the completion of enquiry, in line with its commitment to high standards of governance and ensuring an independent enquiry. ICICI Bank also said that a review of the relevant systems and processes is being undertaken by the management. An audit of some of the branches and the corresponding back-end processes is also being undertaken, ICICI Bank said. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has also already taken similar steps to investigate the matter thoroughly, ICICI Bank said. ICICI Bank said that the management requires that all of its employees conduct the business of the bank at the highest level of compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. All employees are trained and required to adhere strictly to the Group Code of Conduct, including anti-money laundering and know-your-customer norms. ICICI Bank said that the management has demonstrated its commitment by following a zero tolerance policy towards any violations. HDFC Bank gained 2.05%. HDFC Bank on 16 March 2013 said that the bank is committed to the highest standards of compliance, corporate governance and ethics, and has in place systems and procedures to ensure that its business is conducted in compliance with laws and regulations. The bank said that after considering the nature of the alleged money laundering charges against the bank, it has appointed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, a leading accounting and audit firm, to carry out an independent forensic enquiry into the allegations and reported statements as made by Cobrapost representatives, when secretly taping bank officials. The bank has also appointed M/s. Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co to examine the breaches, if any of the bank's Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, by any bank officials, in association with the bank's internal departmental enquiry, commenced to verify the truth or untruth or correctness, as the case may be, in the reported tapings of bank officials. The bank has also decided to carry out special audit of some of its branches, where the reported videotaping was done. HDFC Bank said it is also proceeding to detail out the internal checks & balances and procedural safeguards already in place to report on the robustness of the compliance of regulatory guidelines and internal procedures, which would prevent, trap or enable pre-fact or post-fact discovery of violation of KYC norms and of money laundering activity. The bank is also detailing the efficacy of induction and ongoing training provided for ingraining ethical behaviour and conduct rules, as preventive and protective measures. The internal and external audits and inspections undertaken previously, and the action taken reports in this regard are being compiled and reviewed once again, to enable the bank to reiterate that the internal checks and balances and processes for ensuring compliance with KYC norms and for prevention and detection of, and protection against money laundering activity are robust and adequate, HDFC Bank said in a statement. Earlier, HDFC Bank has said on 14 March 2013 that the management is concerned about allegations of money laundering activities. The matter is being investigated on top priority, HDFC Bank had said. Axis Bank rose 0.44%. Axis Bank on 16 March 2013 said that a thorough internal enquiry is already underway following money laundering allegations and the findings are expected shortly. Pending the enquiry, the bank has advised 16 concerned employees to report to respective administrative offices. A senior level committee has been constituted to monitor and supervise the entire investigation process on a daily basis, Axis Bank said in a statement. State-run State Bank of India (SBI) gained 0.91%. SBI on 20 March 2013 said that the Executive Committee of the Central Board of the Bank, in its Meeting held on 20 March 2013, approved the issuance and allotment of 1.29 crore equity shares at Rs 2,312.78 per share to the Government of India (GoI) by way of preferential allotment. Among other PSU banks stocks, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda rose by 1.16% to 5.67%. Capital goods stocks rose on bargain hunting after recent losses. Thermax, Punj Lloyd and BEML gained by 4.66% to 21.27%. Shares of state run power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) gained 1.05%. Bhel today, 28 March 2013, said that the company has sold its entire equity stake in Udangudi Power Corporation (UPCL), the company's joint venture with Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) to TANGEDCO. UPCL was initially formed as a joint venture between Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and Bhel in November 2008 for setting up Udangudi Power Project. In 2010, TNEB was reorganized and the interest of TNEB in the Joint venture was transferred to TANGEDCO. Consequent upon TANGEDCO's request to undertake the Udangudi Project as a state government project only and accordingly, upon approval of Boards of Bhel, TANGEDCO and UPCL, BHEL has exited the Joint Venture by selling its equity stake in UPCL to TANGEDCO. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 2.32%. The company on 26 March 2013 said that the company, Generali Group and the Future Group have signed a non-binding term sheet for the merger of L&T General Insurance Company (LTGI) and Future Generali India Insurance (FGI). On completion of the merger, L&T will have 51% stake, Generali will hold 26% stake and Future Group hold the remaining 23% in the merged entity. The completion of the transaction is subject to satisfactory due diligence by both the parties, execution of mutually agreed definitive binding documents and requisite approvals from IRDA and other regulators and related corporate bodies, L&T said. LTGI achieved a GWP of Rs 118 crore for 9 months ended 31 December 2012. LTGI currently has 15 branches. LTGI has issued more than 1.5 lakh policies covering various products till date. FGI is a joint venture between Future Group and Generali Group. The company achieved GWP of Rs 855 crore for 9 months ended 31 December 2012. It has issued over 8.4 lakh policies and has settled over 1 lakh claims in FY 2013. FGI is currently active through 83 offices with about 5,900 agents. Siemens surged 4.51%. The company said during market hours today, 28 March 2013 that the High Courts of Bombay and Madras have approved the Scheme of Amalgamation of Winergy Drive Systems India with the company. The appointed date for the amalgamation is 1 October 2012. On the political front, the DMK on 19 March 2013 withdrew support to the Congress led UPA government at the Centre citing differences on the issue of atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka. All the five DMK ministers submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 20 March 2013. At a meeting of the DMK executives, the DMK Monday, 25 March 2013, decided not to extend even outside support to the UPA. After the withdrawal of support by the DMK to the UPA government on 19 March 2013, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on 20 March 2013 said the government was not a lame duck government and was stable. He said that no party has challenged the government for a floor test. The UPA has already been reduced to a minority government after Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the government in September last year. The Samajwadi Party (SP) along with its regional rival in Uttar Pradesh Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) provide outside support to the UPA government. SP has 22 MPs in Lok Sabha and BSP has 21 MPs. The Union Cabinet on 19 March 2013 cleared an ambitious food-security bill that would allow 67% of the population access to cheap food grains. The program would increase food subsidy costs and further bloat the government's fiscal deficit. Food subsidies account for more than 40% of India's total subsidy costs. Prices of the food grain to be supplied under the program would be frozen for three years from the date of implementation, expected in the second half of the year. Parliament's approval for the bill would permit the release of huge quantities of grain from the government's overflowing storage sites at near giveaway prices and is expected to become a big vote-winner for the Congress party-led coalition government, which faces a general election in early 2014. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% after a mid-quarter monetary policy review on 19 March 2013. The key macroeconomic priorities are to raise the growth rate, restrain inflation pressures and mitigate the vulnerability of the external sector, RBI said. Notwithstanding moderation in non-food manufactured products inflation, headline inflation is expected to be range-bound around current levels over 2013-14 in view of sectoral demand-supply imbalances, the ongoing corrections in administered prices and their second-round effects, the RBI said. Elevated food prices, including pressures stemming from MSP increases, and the wedge between wholesale and retail inflation have adverse implications for inflation expectations, the central bank said. Risks on account of the CAD remain significant notwithstanding likely improvement in Q4 over an expected sharp deterioration in Q3 of 2012-13. Accordingly, even as the policy stance emphasises addressing the growth risks, the headroom for further monetary easing remains quite limited, the RBI said. The RBI said it will continue to actively manage liquidity through various instruments, including open market operations (OMO), so as to ensure adequate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy. Reduction of promoter stake to meet the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mandated minimum public shareholding of 25% for private companies and 10% for state-run firms will result in supply of equity in the market over the next few months. As per the Sebi mandated minimum public shareholding rule, private-sector companies must cut founders' stake to adhere to the rules by 30 June 2013, while the deadline for state-run firms is 31 August 2013. PSU divestment will also add to share sale glut in FY 2014. The government has set a target of Rs 40000 crore from divestment of government stake in state-run firms and Rs 14000 crore from divestment of stake in non-government companies for FY 2014. The India Meteorological Department will issue its first forecast of 2013 southwest monsoon in April 2013. Moody's Investors Service on 18 March 2013 said that the current pace of food inflation in India is much faster than the global average and is negative for the country's credit rating as it hurts the government's finances. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 4 March 2013 said that the government will soon announce more measures -- including sops for exporters -- to boost economic growth. Some of these steps will be announced in parliament during the debate on the Budget, Chidambaram told industry representatives at a customary address held on 4 March 2013 after the budget announcement on 28 February 2013. The finance minister said that the fiscal deficit could turn out to be lower than the projected 5.2% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year ending 31 March 2013. The government aims to reduce the fiscal deficit to 4.8% of GDP in the year ending 31 March 2014. The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017. The government has set a target of Rs 40000 crore from divestment of government stake in state-run firms and Rs 14000 crore from divestment of stake in non-government companies for FY 2014. The target of divestment of government stake in state-run firms has been reduced to Rs 24000 crore for FY 2013 from the initial Rs 30000 crore. The government expects to mop up Rs 40847 crore from the sale of telecom bandwidth and fees in FY 2014. The government has substantially pruned the expected mop up from the sale of telecom bandwidth and fees to Rs 19440 crore from an initial target of Rs 58217 crore for FY 2013. The second half of the Budget session of the Parliament begins on 22 April 2013. The Budget Session of the Parliament ends on 10 May 2013. The government has lined up a number of key bills for consideration and passing during the Budget session of the parliament, which include The Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, The Pension Fund Regulator and Development Authority Bill, 2011, The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, The National Food Security Bill, 2011 and The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008. Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on 5 May 2013 and the counting of votes and results of the election will be declared on 8 May 2013. European stocks edged higher on Thursday as an unexpected pickup in German retail sales countered concern Europe's debt crisis will deepen. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK gained by 0.16% to 0.3%. German retail sales, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, gained 0.4% last month from January, the latest data showed. German unemployment unexpectedly rose in March as renewed tensions in financial markets increased concerns the euro region's recovery will falter. The number of people out of work increased a seasonally adjusted 13,000 to 2.94 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said today. Moody's Investors Service affirmed junk debt ratings for Ireland and Portugal today and said the outlooks on both were negative given the euro area's continued vulnerability to shocks. Cyprus's banks will open their doors to customers today for the first time in almost two weeks, with new rules curbing access to cash. They have been closed since 16 March 2013, when the European Union presented a plan to force losses on depositors in exchange for a 10 billion euro ($12.8 billion) bailout. Moody's Investors Service late Wednesday cut its assessment of the highest rating it can assign to a domestic debt issuer in Cyprus to Caa2, saying the move stems from increased risk the financially troubled country will exit as a member of the euro zone. An exit from the euro by Cyprus "would result in large losses to investors due to the redenomination of government debt and private debt securities issued under Cypriot law," said Moody's in a statement. "It would also lead to further severe disruption to the country's banking system and additional acute dislocations in the real economy." Data on Wednesday showed confidence in the euro zone economy fell more than expected in March after four straight months of gains, with other reports pointing to a slump in Italian manufacturing and retail sales and shrinking gross domestic product in France in the final quarter of 2012. Asian stocks fell Thursday on concern Europe's debt crisis is deepening and after pending US home sales fell, damping earnings prospects for Asian exporters. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan fell by 0.15% to 2.82%. South Korea's Kospi was flat. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 0.26%. China's financial system faces a number of issues, including the so-called shadow banking sector, lending to local-government vehicles, and a range of opaque wealth-management products. On Wednesday, China reportedly issued some rules to attempt to regulate the sector, demanding banks clearly link such products with specific assets. South Korea announced it will unveil a new stimulus package in April to spur the property market and revive an economy now predicted to grow less than forecast in 2013. A supplementary budget and details of the measures to encourage property sales will be unveiled over time, the Finance Ministry said in a statement in Sejong today. It said the economy will expand 2.3% this year, down from a 3% growth forecast made in December. The Australian, Hong Kong, Indonesian, New Zealand, Philippine, and Singapore markets will all be closed tomorrow, 29 March 2013, along with much of Europe and the US on account of Good Friday. Trading in US index futures indicated a flat opening of US stocks on Thursday, 28 March 2013. US stocks ended lower on Wednesday on euro zone debt worries as political parties in Italy remained deadlocked ahead of a deadline today, 28 March 2013, for forming a government.