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Wednesday, January 06, 2010
US stocks in search of direction
Pending home sales data weighs on stocks
US stocks lacked direction for almost the entire day on Tuesday, 05 January 2009. Stocks started the day in the red. But with the help of a late rally, two of the three major indices managed to finish in the green. Economic data that checked in for the day were mixed in nature. The dollar pared early losses and reversed its course following disappointing housing data.
At the end of the day on 05 January, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 11.94 points at 10,572.02. Nasdaq ended higher by 0.29 points at 2308.71. S&P 500 ended higher by 3.53 points at 1136.52. Dow was trading lower by almost 46 points earlier during the day.
Six of the ten economic sectors ended higher for the day led by materials, energy, and financial sectors. Utilities and healthcare sectors lagged. Technology sector remained almost unchanged. Alcoa was a main Dow laggard while Kraft was a major Dow gainer.
Leadership from the broader financial sector helped stocks recover from some midmorning pressure that arouse from the home sales data.
In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.2% following disappointing home sales data. Earlier, dollar index was down by almost 0.2%.
The Commerce Department in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that U.S. factory orders increased in November, 2009. Factory orders increased 1.1% in November, greater than the 0.8% expected by the market. This was the seventh increase in the past eight months. Excluding transportation goods, factory orders rose 1.9%. Excluding defense goods, orders rose 1.1%.
The report detailed that core capital equipment orders rose 3.6% in November. Orders for machinery rose 3.3%. Orders for electronics rose 3.1%. Orders for nondurable goods rose 1.8% led by petroleum products.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that pending home sales plunged a seasonally adjusted 16% in November 2009 from October 2009. The pending sales index, which had risen nine months in a row before falling in November, was 15.5% higher than in November 2008. October's increase was revised higher to 3.9% from 3.7% previously reported.
The federal tax credit for first-time buyers was set to expire on 30 November, 2009. But the same was ultimately extended through the first half of 2010, and it was also expanded to repeat buyers.
Kraft shares got a major boost today after the company announced that it has opted to sell its North American pizza business to Nestle in order to offer cash as part of its bid for Cadbury. Meanwhile, Kraft's proposal to issue stock to help it acquire Cadbury received criticism from Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, who suggested that Kraft's shares constitute an expensive currency. Berkshire reportedly owns less than 10% of Kraft's outstanding shares.
Crude prices ended little higher at Nymex on Tuesday, 05 January 2010 after it pared most of its gains as dollar reversed its course. Prices also went up as traders anticipate tomorrow's weekly inventory report to show drop in crude and gasoline stockpiles.
On Tuesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for February delivery closed at $81.77/barrel (higher by $0.26 or 0.3%). Yesterday, crude had settled above $81 for the first time in two months. Prices have now risen for nine consecutive sessions and have gained 13% in that stretch.
Traders are anticipating that tomorrow's weekly inventory report by energy department will show crude and gasoline stockpiles to have dropped by 0.2 million and 0.5 million barrels last week respectively.
Barring Tata Motors, all the Indian ADRs registered healthy gains today. VSNL and MTNL were the largest gainers soaring 5.6% and 10.6% respectively. Tata Motors skid by almost 1%.
For tomorrow, there are a few economic and earning reports expected. The job cut and ADP employment reports are the economic ones expected.
DB Corp may see rousing start on debut
Shares of print media company DB Corp will debut on the stock markets on Wednesday, 6 January 2010. The company had fixed the issue price at Rs 212 per share, at the top end of the Rs 185-212 per share price band.
Tata Steel's sales from its Indian operations rose 73% to 636,000 tonnes in December 2009 over December 2008. India sales for the Q2 December 2009 quarter rose 49% to 1.60 million tonnes. Sales of flat products, used in automobiles and consumer durables, surged 90% in December, while sales of long products, primarily used in construction, rose 56%. The company's crude steel production in India rose 21% for the month.
Indian mobile operator Aircelhas signed a pact with Infosys Technologies to offer a range of mobile phone applications. Under the agreement, Infosys will implement its new application platform called Flypp for the Aircel project. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Infosys launched Flypp, which mobile operators can use as a technology platform to offer a wide spectrum of applications, in December 2009.
Opto Circuits (India)'s unit Eurocor GmbH secured the Communite European mark for its Taxcor Plus, a new drug eluting stent, that will allow its sale in the world markets, except US and Japan. Drug eluting stents are placed in narrowed or diseased coronary arteries where they slowly release medicine to clear the blockage.
Banks and lenders have reportedly agreed to restructure the Rs 6000 crore debt of Jindal Stainless. Bankers have allowed promoters of the firm to repay half the debt in foreign currency, reports added.
Dishman Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, the Ahmedabad-based leading player in the contract research and manufacturing services (Crams) space, is reportedly expecting growth of about 20 percent in the segment starting next fiscal. Crams refers to the outsourcing of activity to make active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or the drug itself.
State-owned Steel Authority of India (Sail) may reportedly pull out of a proposed joint venture (JV) with Shipping Corporation of India after the shipping ministry set conditions that make the JV unworkable.
Market may extend recent gains on positive Asian stocks; DB Corp lists today
The market may extend recent gains on positive Asian stocks. US stocks closed flat on Tuesday on a mixed set of economic data. Expectations that government to continue with loose monetary policy may further support stocks.
Indian industry on Tuesday urged the government to continue with the fiscal stimulus at least for six months, as withdrawing them could choke faster recovery of the economy. In the customary pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, industry representatives also damanded tax reforms through introduction of a Goods and Services Tax and reduction of the fiscal deficit. Leading industry bodies also wanted the easy monetary stance to continue. The Reserve Bank has already turned hawkish after food inflation neared 20 % by end of December
An adjustment in policy interest rates is not warranted for now but liquidity tightening may be needed, the prime minister's economic adviser C. Rangarajan recently said. Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser to the finance ministry, also said on Monday that no monetary policy tightening measures are expected now. Rangarajan said the inflation rate could rise above 6 % by the end of the fiscal year in March. The central bank's inflation projection stands at 6.5 % with an upward bias for end-March, while some private economists expect it to reach about 8 percent. Some policymakers have said recently that food prices may drop in coming months and ease the pressure on the central bank to hike rates.
Meanwhile, the latest data showed that the rate of growth in manufacturing rose for the first time in three months in December 2009, with activity reaching its highest since May 2009 on sharp rises in new work and output. The HSBC Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), based on a survey of 500 Indian companies, rose to 55.6 in December from 53.0 in November. The reading was the strongest since May's 55.7, which was the strongest in 2009.
Data last month showed that corporate advance tax payments for the October-December 2009 quarter shot up sharply, suggesting a higher profit growth in corporate sector in the third quarter (October-December) of the current fiscal. Corporate advance tax payments for the quarter were up 44% to Rs 48,300 crore against a 3.7% decline in April-June quarter and a 14.7% increase in July-September quarter. The company-wise break-up of advance tax collection suggests a broad-based recovery with automobiles, cement, metals and consumer goods, doing well.
Coroprate tax collections increased 44% in December, suggesting a smart recovery in corporate performance and increasing the possibility of the government exceeding the overall direct tax collections target for the entire year and making up for the shortfall in indirect tax collections. Higher corporate tax collections have boosted overall direct tax collections that rose by 8.5% during April-December 2009 to Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Shares of DB Corp will be listed on the bourses today. The company has set an issue price at Rs 212.
In global news, Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as Toyota Motor Corp.'s and Nintendo Co.'s U.S. sales reports boosted expectations demand in the world's biggest economy is recovering. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.07% to 0.56%.
In US markets, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Tuesday as better-than-expected factory orders and a surge in vehicle sales at Ford Motor Co provided more evidence of an economic recovery. But a big decline in pending home sales, which fell in November for the first time in nine months, increased concerns about the housing market, capping the broad market's gains and pushing the Dow industrials into the red a day after all three major US stock indexes finished the first trading day of 2010 at the highest levels in over a year. The Dow Industrials slipped 11.94 points, or 0.1%, to 10,572.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.53 points, or 0.3%, to 1,136.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.29 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,308.71.
In economic data, pending-home sales tumbled 16% in November 2009, much steeper than the 5% drop expected and the 3.7% gain logged in October 2009. But factory orders rose 1.1% in November, more than double of what was expected.
Closer home, the key benchmark indices rose for the second straight trading day of 2010 tracking firm Asian stocks. Fears of an immediate hike in interest rates by the central bank receded following comments from government officials. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 127.51 points or 0.73% to 17,686.24, its highest closing since 28 February 2008 on that day.
As per provisional figures on NSE, foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 970.29 crore and domestic funds bought shares worth Rs 299.89 crore on Monday.
Upper Ganges Sugar
We recommend a buy in the stock of Upper Ganges Sugar and Industries from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that the stock found support in the range of Rs 76 and Rs 80 during early November 2009 and bounced. Subsequently, it resumed the longer-term uptrend that has been in place since the December 2008 low of Rs 29, forming higher peaks troughs. Following a short-term sideways consolidation around Rs 90, the stock made an upward breakthrough by gaining 5 per cent on January 4. The stock's bullish momentum prolonged and the stock is well above its21- and 50-day moving averages. We notice that there has been an increase in volumes over the past three trading sessions. The daily as well as weekly relative strength indices are featuring in the bullish zone. A sign of optimism is observed in the moving average convergence and divergence indicators. Considering that the stock's longer-term uptrend-line is in tact, we are bullish from a short-term horizon. We expect it to move up until it hits our price target of Rs 116. Traders with short-term perspective can consider buying the stock with Rs 99 as stop-loss.
via BL
Daily News Roundup - Jan 6 2010
US fund house TIAA-CREF has exited ONGC and other Chinese energy companies over their investments in war-torn Sudan. (BS)
BHEL says it bagged 11.2GW orders from independent power producers between April 09 and December 09, comprising 94% of the total order inflow during this period. (BS)
BHEL has seen order intake worth Rs350bn in the first nine months of the current financial year. (BL)
Mobile service provider Aircel has entered into a partnership with Infosys Technologies to launch mobile application store. (BL)
Bangladesh's telecom regulator has approved Bharti Airtel's proposal to buy a 70% stake in Warid Telecom for about US$300mn. (BL)
HPCL's Mumbai refinery has rolled out the first batch of Euro IV MS [petrol] for meeting their north and north-west needs. (FE)
Maruti Suzuki said that it aimed to jack up its total output by 50% to 1.5mn units in five years to defend its 50% market share. (BS)
The RBI has barred foreign institutional investors from buying Maruti Suzuki shares citing the investment limit under the portfolio investment scheme has been reached. (FE)
Sterlite Industries has put on hold its proposed Rs23bn copper smelter expansion project at Tuticorin in southern Tamil Nadu as a dispute related to the project is being fought in the court. (ET)
Maharashtra Electrosmelt, a subsidiary of SAIL, will invest Rs2bn to set up a furnace with capacity of 42,000tpa at its Chandrapur plant. (ET)
Sobha Developers plans to launch projects worth Rs28bn over the next 12-18 months covering 8mn square feet. (BS)
Axis Bank launched the ‘Power Advantage Home Loan’ scheme which offers housing loans at a fixed interest rate of 8.25% p.a. for the first two years and a floating rate of interest thereafter. (BL)
The Supreme Court issued a notice to Nestle India on the plea of the I-T department seeking adjudication on the issue of whether MAT falls within the meaning of ‘advance tax’ so as to enable the company to set off against tax payable in assessment year 1998-1999. (ET)
The government will examine Sun Pharma’s post marketing surveillance studies and clinical trials report of breast cancer medicine Letrox to decide whether the drug should be banned from being marketed. (ET)
Tel Aviv district court on Monday ruled in Taro's favour in one case filed by Sun Pharma. (FE)
IVRCL bagged Rs9.6bn worth of contracts in transportation, water and irrigation, buildings and power sectors. (FE)
Century Real Estate Holdings, the realty development arm of Century Group, plans to raise Rs7bn to expand its development initiatives. (BS)
MTNL is introducing VDSL2 (Very high speed digital subscriber line) service which will provide 100Mbps symmetrical traffic on short copper loops. (BL)
Indian shipping companies, such as Great Offshore, Chowgule Ports and Infrastructure and Bharati Shipyard, are investing in creating repair facilities, a market pegged at around Rs20bn annually. (ET)
Uttam Galva Steels, one of the leading manufacturer and exporter of value added steel, increased prices of its products by Rs3,000/ton. (BL)
L&T Infotech bagged two turnkey ERP projects from the Indian Railways for automating the maintenance of its wagon fleet and diesel locomotives. (BL)
The Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Big Pictures which is distributing the movie is planning to add new screens in the third week of the movie's release buoyed by the response of the audience. (BL)
Rising raw material prices will result into FMCG companies increasing prices or reduce grammage per pack over the next one or two quarters. (BS)
Mukesh Ambani and Anand Jain promoted Mumbai SEZ Ltd has suspended its land acquisition for the MahaMumbai SEZ in coastal Raigad for an indifinite period. (BS)
Karnataka government has granted in-principle approval to ArcelorMittal’s and Posco’s proposal to invest Rs300bn and Rs323bn respectively for setting up a steel plant. (BS)
Infinite Computer Solutions plans a public issue to raise around Rs1.9bn at the upper end of the price band of Rs155-165/share. (BL)
TCG Lifesciences, the Rs4bn clinical research organisation (CRO), has entered into an exclusive collaboration with the US-based pharma giant, Pfizer, to develop a portfolio of pre-clinical molecules for discovery of new drugs. (ET)
A healthy increase in corporate tax receipts pushed direct tax collections in December 09 to Rs664.1bn, up 24.5% from Rs533.5bn collected in the month a year ago. (BS)
Indian industry has urged the government to continue the stimulus package till the middle of the next financial year to help the economy achieve robust growth. (BS)
The center announced sops for the food processing industry including separate policy at the state level, thrust on contract farming and making the sector tax-free. (BS)
Medium and small scale drug manufacturing units in Madhya Pradesh have alleged that they are being ignored in the new drug manufacturing policy of the state government, likely to be effective from March this year. (BS)
Union Minister of State for Textiles said the domestic textile sector was recovering from recession and is showing positive growth. (BS)
Political disturbance over the demand for a separate Telangana state is forcing information technology companies to shift. (BS)
India has dropped projects located in Arunachal Pradesh from its list of projects to be funded by the Asian Development Bank in 2010. (BS)
The power ministry is seeking an over 56% increase in the gross budgetary support for its planned outlay, at Rs144.3bn, for 2010-11 primarily for the R-APRDP and RGGVY programmes. (BS)
The Union minister for New and Renewable Energy said the government is negotiating ethanol prices at Rs26-27/litre and is likely to be finalised this month. (ET)
The Planning Commission has asked the finance ministry for a substantial hike in the budgetary support for Central ministries and departments for the coming fiscal to meet the expansionary aspirations’’ in various sectors, especially education, a government official has said. (ET)
Pension regulator PFRDA will launch a low-cost pension scheme on April 1 to provide social security cover to economically weaker sections. (ET)
Not many worries as yet!
Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.
The bulls seem to be a happy lot; they don’t have many issues to deal with for now (except perhaps a round of profit-booking soon). The good news is that money is still flowing into Indian stocks, both from overseas and local investors. Risk appetite seems to be intact despite some worries on valuations and uncertainty over the prospects for the year. So far we’ve not got any real bad news from any corner of the world.
If the current positive trend persists, the Nifty can comfortably pierce the 5300 milestone today. Beyond that it could face resistance at 5310 and 5360. The bull camp is talking about levels of 5500-5600 in the medium term, provided there are no nasty surprises. But, this is just the beginning of 2010.
A subdued recovery in matured economies could possibly drag the market down. Dollar’s movement is another key variable that might swing the pendulum either way. For now though it looks like policymakers are likely to maintain status quo on various stimulus steps. Any unwinding of stimulus measures would be done in a gradual manner.
Another bout of weakness in the dollar lent further support to commodities and the global equity rally on Tuesday. But, the US currency turned higher against the euro and pared declines against other rivals, after a steep drop in pending home sales fueled demand for the greenback as a safe-haven currency.
The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a trade-weighted basket of six major rivals, rose to 77.63, up from 77.503 late on Monday and 77.34 earlier in the session. The greenback had initially extended session losses after reports showed a bigger-than-expected gain in factory orders in November.
Meanwhile, copper dipped on Tuesday after hitting a 16-month high in the previous session, but crude oil maintained its upward momentum and sugar prices extended their record-breaking run. Surge in risk appetite and renewed hopes on an economic recovery was also in play.
Ratings agencies cut their views for Iceland, after the country's president vetoed legislation that would have repaid the UK and the Netherlands for bailing out depositors of a failed Icelandic bank, potentially imperiling rescue loans for the embattled country.
US stocks ended nearly flat after a choppy session as investors considered a volatile dollar, a slew of auto sales and reports on pending home sales and factory orders. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 12 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 index added 3 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq was barely changed.
After the three leading indexes climbed to fresh 15-month highs on Monday, a weak dollar on Tuesday initially gave a push to dollar-traded commodities and select stocks that do business overseas. But the dollar turned mixed by the late afternoon, diluting its impact.
A late-session advance in the influential banking sector helped the market find its footing late in the session, with the KBW Bank index adding 2.2%.
US stocks had a strong year, in which the broad S&P 500 managed to gain over 23% despite touching a more than 12-year low in March. Between that March 9 low point and year end, the S&P 500 gained 65%.
The trend in 2010 will likely remain up, but that the gainers will be a more selective bunch than last year, when most areas of the market advanced. There is still a lot of money on the sidelines, which could make way into the market if corporate earnings are good.
Homebuyers signed 16% fewer sales contracts in November than in December, according to a National Association of Realtors report released in the morning. Economists had expected the report to show that pending home sales fell 2% in November after rising for 9 straight months. Still, sales were up 15.5% from November 2008.
The November setback reflected the near-expiration of the government's first-time homebuyers tax credit. Buyers jumped in when the credit was expected to expire on Nov. 30. But once it was announced that it was being extended through June, the buying frenzy lost momentum.
Another report showed that factory orders increased by 1.1% in November after climbing 0.8% in October. Economists thought orders would grow by 0.5%.
A third report showed that severe unemployment worsened in big cities in November. The government reported that 17 of 372 metropolitan areas surveyed had unemployment rates of at least 15% in November up from 15 areas in October.
Kraft Foods sweetened its $16.4 billion hostile takeover offer for British chocolate maker Cadbury, providing a partial cash-alternative to its already announced deal. The funding would come from Kraft's sale of its frozen pizza business to Swiss food company Nestle for $3.7 billion in cash, a deal announced early on Tuesday.
Separately, Nestle said that it won't bid for Cadbury. But Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by influential investor Warren Buffett and Kraft's largest shareholder, said that it is voting "no" on Kraft's request to issue as many as 370 million shares to help finance the bid for Cadbury.
Berkshire said that allowing this would essentially be giving Kraft a blank check.
Kraft extended its deadline for the Cadbury offer to Feb. 2. Kraft shares rallied nearly 5%.
Google released its Nexus One smartphone, the first mobile device entirely designed by the company. Previously, Google had designed mobile software such as Google Maps and also released its Android operating system.
Also, Apple said on Tuesday that the number of iPhone applications downloaded from its App store has topped 3 billion. Late on Monday, a Wall Street Journal report said that Apple will ship its much-anticipated tablet computer in March, following a January unveiling.
US automakers reported improved December sales at the end of their worst year in decades.
Ford Motor's US sales jumped 34% in December versus a year ago and over 50% versus the previous month. But Ford's sales for the full year fell 15%. Rival General Motors said that sales fell 6% in December versus a year ago, but said that sales rose 38% from November. For the full year, GM said that sales fell 30%.
Among other companies reporting, Chrysler said that sales in December fell 4% versus a year ago and up 36% from November. Chrysler also dropped 36% for the year and sold fewer than a million vehicles, its worst year since the early 1960s.
The dollar gained versus the euro and fell against the yen.
COMEX gold for February delivery gained 40 cents to settle at $1,118.70 an ounce. Gold closed at an all-time high of $1,218.30 an ounce last month.
US light crude oil for February delivery rose 26 cents to settle at $81.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since October 2008.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.75% from 3.82% late on Monday.
European stocks ended a choppy session virtually unchanged, giving up early gains as Cadbury fell in the wake of Nestle's decision to take itself out of the running for the UK chocolate maker. After a 1.8% gain in the first trading session of the year on Monday, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 finished the day down 0.06 point at 257.59.
Novartis shares fell for a second day, losing 1.8%, following the company's $39 billion plan to buy the rest of Alcon it didn't already own.
The UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.4% to close at 5,522.50, as the Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 10.3% to rally for a second day and as Barclays gained 6.3%.
Bulls extended gains on Tuesday ending on a new closing high. The rally was led by metals and realty stocks. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks also healthy attracted buying. Strong manufacturing data, favorable comments from Fed officials and overnight gains in the US and Asia had an overall positive effect.
The BSE Sensex advanced 128 points to end at 17,686 after touching a high of 17,729 and a low of 17,578. The Nifty advanced 46 points to end at 5,278.
Equity markets in Asia were positive. The Nikkei in Japan was up 0.25%, while Australia's S&P/ASX ended higher by 1%. The Shanghai SE Composite gained 1.25% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2%.
In Europe, stocks were trading flat. The DAX in Germany was down 0.2% and the CAC 40 index in France was down 0.2%. The FTSE in the UK was flat.
Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the Metals index was the top gainer, adding 4%, followed by the Realty index that was up 1.2% and the BSE Teck index was up 1%. Even the BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.2% while the BSE Small-Cap index was up 1%.
Among the 30-components of Sensex, 23 stocks ended in the positive terrain and 7 ended in the red. Hindalco, JP Associates, Sterlite Industries, RCom and Grasim were among the top gainers.
On the other hand, among the major losers were Maruti, Tata Motors, ACC, NTPC and Reliance Industries.
Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were MTNL, Gujarat NRE Coke, SCI, CESC and Tata Communication. On the other hand, losers included Videocon Ind, Central Bank, Fortis Health and Indian Hotels.
Bharti Airtel's US$300mn initial investment proposal for acquiring 70% stake in Warid has been approved by the Bangladesh telecom regulator.
Chairman Zia Ahmed of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) was quoted as saying "We have approved Bharti Airtel's plan to buy the Warid stake".
"We hope Airtel investment would cross US$1bn within the next few years," Ahmed said. He further added, "Whatever price Airtel is going to pay for Warid stake, as per law, 5.5% of the deal amount must go to BTRC".
Shares of Bharti Airtel gained by 1.6% to end at Rs330. The scrip opened at Rs325 it touched an intra-day high of Rs332 and a low of Rs325 and recorded volumes of over 1mn shares on BSE.
Maruti Suzuki announced that it plans to create a new segment with the launch of its new 7 seater family car, MD & CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi was quoted as saying. The company showcased its new MPV Multi Purpose Vehicle at the auto show in Delhi.
Nakanishi said that Maruti Suzuki hopes to maintain sales growth in calendar 2010 despite rising raw material costs, inflation and the rise of the yen against the rupee.
"This is not an easy job this year with so many new cars being launched," he said, when asked if Maruti will be able to maintain its 50% market share. "We have to make preparations for this," he added.
Separately, the company’s finance head Ajay Seth was quoted as saying that Maruti Suzuki will decide later this month on a proposal to expand capacity.
The company has cash reserves of Rs50bn and will utilize that for the expansion, he said. Maruti has no plans to take loans, Seth said.
Maruti Suzuki expects sales this fiscal year (FY10) to reach a record 1 million units, Nakanishi said in New Delhi today.
Shares of Dr. Reddy’s Labs surged by over 3% to end at Rs1177 after the company along with Rheoscience announced that their Balaglitazone diabetes drug has met its primary target in the first of its phase 3 clinical trials.
Balaglitazone reduced blood glucose levels over a period of time in the study conducted on 409 patients, D. Reddy’s said in a statement.
Opto Circuits announced that Eurocor GmbH the Company's wholly owned subsidiary has received the CE (Communite European) Mark approval for marketing and sale of its novel Drug Eluting Stent-Taxcor Plus in world markets (sans US and Japan).
Taxcor Plus is on a Cobalt Chromium platform with Stent struts of 0.0025", which is one of the thinnest struts available in the industry. The stent is coated with Paclitaxel (1 pg/mm 2).
The stock shot up by over 4.5% to end at Rs237. The scrip opened at Rs230 it touched an intra-day high of Rs239 and a low of Rs228 and recorded volumes of over 0.46mn shares on BSE.
Shares of Sadbhav Engineering advanced by over 2% to end at Rs1235 after the company announced that it won project worth Rs13.50bn of "4 laning of Rohtak to Panipat Section of NH-71A from km 0.000 (Km 63.30 of NH-10) to km 80.858 (Km 83.50 of NH-1) in the state of Haryana on BOT basis under NHDP Phase-III." from The General Manager (Tech)-P&H, National Highways Authority of India (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) G-5&6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075.
The Concession Period of the project is 25 (Twenty Five) years inclusive of construction period of 910 Nine Hundred Ten) days from Appointed Date.
Shares of Viceroy Hotels were locked at 10% upper circuit at Rs54.35 after the company announced that the board of directors will meet on January 07, 2010, to consider and approve the raising of long term resources for the company
through issue of fresh equity shares.
To consider and approve the additional sanctions of Rs1.13bn to part finance the Bangalore Hotel Project from Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Allahabad bank and Lakshmivilas Bank and authorise the MD to execute the necessary loan agreements and also to consider the proposal to re-structure the Company's hotel assets.
Copper witnesses little gains
Codelco workers sign wage agreement and reduce supply concerns
Copper prices ended little higher at Comex on Tuesday, 05 January 2010. A wage accord being signed by management and workers of Codelco reduced concerns about the impending strike. Price dropped at LME.
At USA, copper futures for March delivery ended higher by 0.75 cents (0.2%) to 3.4135 a pound. It was the seventh straight session rise for copper. Copper ended FY 2009 higher by 140%.
At LME, copper for delivery in three months ended lower by $36 (0.5%) at $7,464. On 3 July, 2008, prices had touched an all time intra day high of $8,940.
As per latest reports, workers at Codelco's Chuquicamata mine and management at Altonorte signed a wage accord after reaching agreement on terms late yesterday. Codelco offered to increase wages by 4% and boosted a bonus payment to 12.1 million pesos.
Copper ended substantially higher last year on expectations of revived global economic growth along with a decline in the dollar. The metal was also pushed higher by record first-half imports to China, the world's largest user.
Also in China, an industry report showed that manufacturing in China, the world's biggest metals user, expanded last month by the most since April 2004.
In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.2% following disappointing home sales data. Earlier, dollar index was down by almost 0.2%.
The U.S. buys about 13% of the 17 million metric tons of copper sold annually and China buys about 20%.
In FY 2008, copper prices dropped by 54%. Prior to 2008, copper prices ended FY 2007 with a gain of mere 5.5% after a whopping 44% gain in FY 2006. The price of copper gained every year since 2002 as global economic growth boosted demand for the metal used in pipes and wires.
At the MCX, copper for February delivery closed unchanged at Rs 347.35/Kg. Prices rose to a high of Rs 348/Kg and fell to a low of Rs 344.25/Kg during the day's trading.
Among other metals traded in the LME on Tuesday, lead dropped marginally to end at $2,478 a ton and zinc shed 0.8% to end at $2,554 a ton. Nickel shed 1.8% to end at $18,727. Aluminium rose 0.6% to end at $2,280 a ton.
Yellow metal pares almost all its gains
Silver manages to end substantially higher
Bullion metal prices rose on Tuesday, 05 January 2010. However, gold actually pared most of its gains after dollar went up following mixed economic data.
Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies and also vice versa.
On Tuesday, gold for February delivery ended at $1,118.7 an ounce, higher by $0.40 (0.03%) an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. During intra day trading, it rose to a high of $1,129.6.
Gold ended FY 2009 higher by 24%. In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%.
Last year, after hitting a low at $807.30 per ounce on 15 January 2009, gold futures rallied almost 51% to hit an all-time high at $1217.40 per ounce during early December of 2009 but fell from those levels at the end.
On Tuesday, March Comex silver futures ended higher by 33.7 cents (1.9%) at $17.8 an ounce.
Silver futures had ended 2009 up 50%. Silver futures had hit a low at $10.42 on 15 January, 2009 and hit a high at $19.30 per ounce on 2 December, 2009. Like gold, silver also ended lower than its all time high level.
In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.2% following disappointing home sales data.
The National Association of Realtors in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that pending home sales plunged a seasonally adjusted 16% in November 2009 from October 2009. The pending sales index, which had risen nine months in a row before falling in November, was 15.5% higher than in November 2008. October's increase was revised higher to 3.9% from 3.7% previously reported.
Among other economic data expected for the day, the Commerce Department in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that U.S. factory orders increased in November, 2009. Factory orders increased 1.1% in November, greater than the 0.8% expected by the market. This was the seventh increase in the past eight months.
At the MCX, gold prices for February delivery closed higher by Rs 3 (0.01%) at Rs 16,833 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 16,939 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 16,814 per 10 grams during the day's trading.
At the MCX, silver prices for March delivery closed Rs 393 (1.44%) higher at Rs 27,638/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 27,300/kg and rose to a high of Rs 27,688/Kg during the day's trading.
Crude ends little higher
Price rises for ninth consecutive session
Crude prices ended little higher at Nymex on Tuesday, 05 January 2010 after it pared most of its gains as dollar reversed its course. Prices also went up as traders anticipate tomorrow's weekly inventory report to show drop in crude and gasoline stockpiles.
On Tuesday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for February delivery closed at $81.77/barrel (higher by $0.26 or 0.3%). Yesterday, crude had settled above $81 for the first time in two months. Prices have now risen for nine consecutive sessions and have gained 13% in that stretch.
Crude ended FY 2009 higher by 78%, the highest yearly gain since 1999. It reached a high of $82 earlier in October 2009 and hit a low of $33.98 on 12 February 2009. Oil prices had reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 45% since then.
A year before, crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.
Traders are anticipating that tomorrow's weekly inventory report by energy department will show crude and gasoline stockpiles to have dropped by 0.2 million and 0.5 million barrels last week respectively.
In the currency market on Tuesday, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of dollar against the basket of six other currencies rose by almost 0.2% following disappointing home sales data. Earlier, dollar index was down by almost 0.2%.
The National Association of Realtors in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that pending home sales plunged a seasonally adjusted 16% in November 2009 from October 2009. The pending sales index, which had risen nine months in a row before falling in November, was 15.5% higher than in November 2008. October's increase was revised higher to 3.9% from 3.7% previously reported.
Among other economic data expected for the day, the Commerce Department in US reported on Tuesday, 5 January 2009 that U.S. factory orders increased in November, 2009. Factory orders increased 1.1% in November, greater than the 0.8% expected by the market. This was the seventh increase in the past eight months.
Among other energy products on Tuesday, February gasoline rose 1 % to $2.125 a gallon and February heating oil added 0.2% to $2.1941 a gallon.
Also on Tuesday, February natural gas lost 4.2% to $5.637.
At the MCX, crude oil for January delivery closed higher by Rs 3 (0.07%) at Rs 3,769/barrel. Natural gas for January delivery closed lower by Rs 7 (2.6%) at Rs 263.6/mmbtu.
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