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Market Radar May 30 2012

2012-05-29T23:08:00.002-07:00

The markets had opened on a positive note tracking minor gains made in the Asian space and thereafter moved up making good gains in the morning session. In the second part of the day we saw markets slipping from the highs to finally close for the day on a flat to positive note. The US futures and European markets were trading with gains which helped markets to remain in green most of the day. The market breadth was positive with 1,360 shares advancing and 1,307 shares declining. Weakness in rupee against dollar towards the end of the day weighed in on the sentiments leading to minor correction from the highs in the equity markets.
The government today said it cleared 25 foreign direct investment proposals, including that of AIF III of Mauritius and Mumbai based Microqual Techno, worth Rs 2,973.40 crore, which is a positive move on the policy clearing side. Nifty is having resistance at 5034 and 5050 while the support is there at 4974, 4959 and 4936 levels. On the sectoral front, we saw buying in IT, technology, realty and PSU stocks while selling was seen in FMCG, consumer durable, healthcare and capital goods.

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Top-Quality Assets Dollar Shrink 42%

2012-05-29T22:49:00.002-07:00

The dollar is proving scarce, even after the Federal Reserve flooded the financial system with an extra $2.3 trillion, as the amount of the highest-quality assets available worldwide shrinks.
From last year’s low on July 27, the greenback has risen against all 16 of its major peers. Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s Dollar Index surged 12 percent, higher now than when the Fed began creating dollars to buy bonds under its extraordinary stimulus measures at the end of 2008.
The dollar is proving scarce, even after the Federal Reserve flooded the financial system with an extra $2.3 trillion, as the amount of the highest-quality assets available worldwide shrinks.
From last year’s low on July 27, the greenback has risen against all 16 of its major peers. Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s Dollar Index surged 12 percent, higher now than when the Fed began creating dollars to buy bonds under its extraordinary stimulus measures at the end of 2008.

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Facebook Shares Below $29

2012-05-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

Facebook shares fell to a new low, extending losses from the worst-performing large initial public offering during the past decade to more than 24 percent.
The stock fell 9.6 percent to $28.84 in New York, below the prior low of $30.94 on May 22. Facebook debuted on May 18 after underwriters sold shares at $38. Facebook options trading began today, with volume for puts exceeding calls by 1.2-to-1, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 200,000 puts giving the right to sell traded.
fell to a new low, extending losses from the worst-performing large initial public offering during the past decade to more than 24 percent.
The stock fell 9.6 percent to $28.84 in New York, below the prior low of $30.94 on May 22. Facebook debuted on May 18 after underwriters sold shares at $38. Facebook options trading began today, with volume for puts exceeding calls by 1.2-to-1, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 200,000 puts giving the right to sell traded.

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Tata Motors Q4 net doubles on growth at JLR, tax credit

2012-05-29T10:30:00.002-07:00

Tata Motors fourth quarter consolidated net profit more than doubled year-on-year to Rs 6,234 crore as continued strong growth at luxury Jaguar Land Rover unit coupled with an exceptional gain helped cushion domestic speed bumps.

The company had tax credit of Rs 1,826 crore in Jan-March in its subsidiary company. Tata Motors' profit before exceptional items and tax surged 68% to Rs 4,596 crore in the quarter.

Its consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter was up 44% to Rs 50,908 crore.

Analysts on average were expecting a net profit of Rs 4,200 crore on revenue of Rs 50,400 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll.

JLR sold 98,021 units in Jan-March, up 48% from a year ago, driven by new products like Evoque SUV, which has sold 60,217 units till March-end.

It is also seeing strong sales in new markets like China, which accounted for 19% of the total volumes in Q4, said Ralph Speth, JLR's CEO.

India Q4 GDP growth seen flat at 6.1%, YoY: Reuters poll

2012-05-29T10:29:00.001-07:00

India's annual economic growth probably held steady in the January-March quarter at 6.1% and the global economic slowdown, government policy paralysis and a record low currency suggest little chance of a pick up in the current quarter.

A poll of 31 economists produced a median forecast of 6.1%, unchanged from the growth of the October-December quarter. Forecasts ranged from 5.5% to 7.3%.

While 6.1% would be the envy of most developed nations, it is the lowest growth rate for India in almost three years. Growth slowed for seven successive quarters through the three months ended December 2011.

"Growth is constrained because of three main factors," said Leif Eskesen, economist at HSBC.

"Lax affects of monetary tightening, the spillover to domestic sentiment because of the weak global economic backdrop which is also hurting exports. And thirdly the persistence of policy paralysis is also hurting investor sentiment and that is of course hurting the investment cycle."

ONGC Q4 net more than doubles to Rs 5644c

2012-05-29T10:28:00.001-07:00

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today reported more than doubling of its net profit in March quarter as rupee depreciation helped offset a steep rise in fuel subsidy outgo.

Net profit in January-March quarter rose to Rs 5,644 crore from Rs 2,791 crore a year ago, ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Sudhir Vasudeva told reporters.

ONGC paid Rs 14,170 crore for subsidising diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene as against Rs 12,136 crore outgo in Q4 last fiscal.

The subsidy outgo was made good by rupee depreciation - from Rs 47.95 to a US dollar in Q4 2010-11 to Rs 50.29 to a US dollar in same period of 2011-12 fiscal.

"Every rupee depreciation against US dollar, increases our topline by about Rs 1,600 crore," ONGC Director (Finance) A K Banerjee said.

ONGC gets paid for both crude oil and natural gas it produces in US dollar and rupee depreciation is a bonanza for it.

Morgan Stanley downgrades RComm, Idea Cellular

2012-05-29T10:25:00.003-07:00

Morgan Stanley has downgraded its view on India's telecom sector to "in-line" from "attractive", citing increased regulatory risks tied to the spectrum auction, and "relatively weaker" 3G outlook.

The brokerage has cut its rating on Reliance Communications to "underweight" from "equalweight", and slashed its target price to Rs 51 from Rs 109, citing a weaker balance sheet and saying the company faced the highest regulatory risk.

Morgan Stanley has also cut Idea Cellular to "equalweight" from "overweight", while reducing its target price to Rs 87 from Rs 134, citing its smaller balance sheet and a 32% outperformance in the last twelve months.

Hexaware will become a billion dollar company

2012-05-29T10:24:00.003-07:00

The mid-tier technology services companies, which have largely lived in the shadows of the large tier-1 services providers look set to break free now. Recent performance by companies like Hexaware Technologies, a mid-tier player, points to a growth trajectory that could potentially outstrip industry body Nasscom's muted guidance for the year. In an e-mail interview with ET, Atul Nishar, chairman, HexawareTechnologies, talks about scaling up the business, client concentration risks and more. Edited excerpts:

What kind of demand do you see in the market? Post-recession, what kind of changes do you see in client requirements?

Hexaware is a multi-niche service provider and not a generalist. We continue to see good traction in our areas of strength pertaining to both verticals and horizontals.

Rupee's fall will not last long Prime Minister

2012-05-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

Dismissing any comparison with the 1991 external debt crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that the fall of rupee is a matter of concern but was confident that it will not last very long.

He said that the rupee depreciation was taking place against the backdrop of the global economic problems and the Euro zone debt crisis and expressed optimism that solutions will emerge at the G-20 Summit in Mexico next month.

Market status

2012-05-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

The frontline Indian equity benchmarks are trading near their best levels for the session in the afternoon trade, spurred by sustained strength in select index heavyweights. The NSE Nifty is trading just above 5,000 while the BSE Sensex is hovering around 16,500. The gains in the Indian equities are continuation of the spurt seen in the past few sessions after a fall below 4,800 in the Nifty.

Also, the undertone is being fueled by healthy gains in other Asian markets. There is speculation that China will take steps to boost growth in the world’s second-largest economy. China’s finance ministry said that it will allocate as much as 2 billion yuan ($317 million) every year to support purchases of energy-efficient cars.
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African Billionairs

2012-05-29T01:30:00.001-07:00

Forbes magazine's latest listing of billionaires reveal the facts about African millionaires/billionaires.

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Religare Q4

2012-05-28T19:35:00.001-07:00

Religare’s fourth quarter and full year (FY12) make for some interesting reading. The financial services firm which is into broking, investment banking, advisory, and lending, reported a net profit of Rs 101.32 crore for the March quarter, even though the bottomline for the full year continued to bleed (Rs 149 crore loss vs Rs 294 crore loss). Religare’s fourth quarter performance was driven mainly by its NBFC business. That has been the case with most brokerage firms, which now earn a big chunk of revenues from their lending operations. But while Religare’s peers have chosen to go a bit slow on growing their loan book, Religare has taken a different approach. Its loan book grew 35% to Rs 10,700 crore, with loans to small and medium enterprises growing 45% to 8400 crore.

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Cipla medicine rate cut

2012-05-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

Cipla 's shocking 75% price cut of three cancer drugs on Thursday is unlikely to have a major impact on the pharma major's earnings, analysts say.

Cipla cut price of its kidney cancer drug Sorafenib, which is sold under brand name Nexavar by multi-national Bayer to Rs 6,840 for a month's supply, from around Rs 28,000 earlier. Its lung cancer drug Gestinib, which is sold under brand name Iressa by AstraZeneca will cost Rs 4,250, versus Rs 10,200 earlier, and price of Temozolamide used to treat brain tumour, has been reduced by Rs 15,000 to Rs 5,000.

Cipla medicine rate cut

Tata Nano Diesel

2012-05-28T19:31:00.004-07:00

Tata Nano diesel launch may still be far away despite possibility of being launched in 2012, reports Swati Khandelwal Jain of CNBC-TV18.

Tata Motors is facing hurdles as far as their vendor support is concerned and this is clearly because vendors have taken a hit on profitability on account of their supplies on petrol variant and they are not too upbeat about diesel.

Currently, the total sales of petrol Nano stands at 7,000 units a month compared to anticipated 25,000 units. After this setback vendors are taking diesel launch in a more sensible manner. Vendors don’t want to set up their capacity, which Tata’s according to our sources are expected to do about 2.5 lakh units per annum

Bail for Loop-Essar accused, hearing on 27-28 Jul: 2G case

2012-05-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Vikas Saraf has been named as the main accused in Loop-Essar case. The court framed charges of Section 420 against Saraf, and those relating to Section 120 were framed against the rest. Meanwhile all five individuals accused were granted bail, reports CNBC-TV18's Malvika Jain.

Charges have been framed against all the eight accused who have been named in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI in the 2G scam case. Saraf has been charged with a substantive offence under section 420 on charges of cheating. He has also been charged with criminal conspiracy. So, he has been charged with 120 B read with section 420.

Experts tell you what to buy or sell now?

2012-05-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Indian market recovered today after a very poor performance last week. The market gained some strength today on an improved global risk sentiment and some buying in financial stocks such as top lender State Bank of India.

The BSE Sensex rose 199.02 points to close at 16416.84 while the Nifty ended at 4,985.65 gaining 65.25 points.

The gainers of the day are SBI (up 4.8%), ICICI Bank (up 2.6%), while Reliance Industries ended up 1.42%.

Rupee fall won't hurt India's ratings: Moody's

2012-05-28T05:45:00.002-07:00

Moody's Investors Service says the depreciating rupee will only have a "limited" impact on India's sovereign ratings, as only 7% of total government debt is placed overseas, comprising 5% of gross domestic product.
The bigger pain would come in the private sector, Moody's said in a weekly credit report out on Monday, given that a falling rupee will raise the cost of paying back foreign currency borrowings.

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Bulls batting...enjoy the match

2008-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are,.

More exciting than the market would be today's 20-20 cricket match between Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians and Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders. The bulls seem to have been inspired by Sanath Jayasuriya’s blazing knock the other evening and stocks like RIL did manage to send many a bears to the fence.

But then it is that day of the week again, when Inflation jitters seem to make the bulls nervous. Hopefully, most of the bad news on this front has already been factored in by the market with expectations that inflation may even hit 8%. So it can’t get worse than it. Though oil prices remain at highly elevated level, the Government is not even talking about a price hike due to political compulsions. On the contrary, the Finance Minister has reportedly refused to increase the quantum of oil bonds to oil PSUs. The Centre has also forced steel and cement companies to cut prices to rein in inflation.

These three sectors are likely to bear the brunt of the Government's inflation-fighting efforts. Aviation is another sector where Government apathy has dragged the sector into deep losses. Most sectors are facing increasing number of challenges amid high interest rates, soaring inflation, currency fluctuations, slowing economic growth and uncertain market conditions. This may reflect in their performance over the next few quarters.

Coming to the market, the outlook for the day appears to be brighter after Thursday’s strong finish and firm global cues. Inflation figures may not hurt that much, and the bulls might just decide to extend their gains into a third straight day. However, one should look to reduce one's holdings at every rally as the key indices will face some resistance at higher levels. The near-term outlook continues to be one of cautious optimism.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs7.07bn (provisional) in the cash segment yesterday while local institutions poured in Rs3.63n. In the F&O segment, foreign funds were net buyers of Rs5.22bn. On Wednesday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs2.58bn while Mutual Funds too were net buyers of Rs1.33bn.

Key Results Today: Bank of India, Bongaigaon Refinery, Edelweiss Capital, Emkay Share, HT Media, NMDC, Redington, Saksoft, Shriram EPC, SAIL, Stone India and Texmaco.

Asian stocks rose for a fifth day, led by commodity producers and shipping companies, on renewed speculation that China is seeking a stake in BHP Billiton and after the price of transporting freight jumped to a record.

BHP shares climbed to a high in Sydney after the Australian newspaper reported that Chinese interests want to team up with an Australian fund to purchase a 9% stake in the mining giant. Mitsui OSK Lines, Japan's largest shipping company, rose to a six-month high.

Mizuho Financial Group rallied in Tokyo after forecasting profit will almost double this year.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.8% to 153.32 as of 10:55 a.m. in Tokyo, set to complete its longest winning streak since October 3. The index is headed for a 3% advance this week. About four stocks rose for every three that declined.

All Asian benchmark indexes advanced. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.2% to 14,276.08. The country's economy grew faster than economists estimated last quarter as exports to Asia and emerging markets helped the nation weather the US slowdown.

US stocks rose on Thursday, with technology leading the way. The S &P 500 Index touched a four-month high, as analysts said chipmakers will benefit from rising global demand and energy shares are cheap relative to crude prices.

Intel and Nvidia led semiconductor shares to their highest level of the year on a Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. report that orders are improving. Exxon Mobil helped push the S&P 500 Energy Index to a record after UBS said the oil industry is notably inexpensive.

Tiffany advanced to the highest level since November after the second-largest luxury-jewelry retailer boosted its dividend by 13 percent.

The S&P 500 added 14.91, or 1.1%, to 1,423.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 94.28, or 0.7%, to 12,992.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 37.03, or 1.5%, to 2,533.73.

Market breadth was positive and volume was moderate. More than five stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

US indices struggled to rise in the morning amid rising oil prices, mixed economic reports and a string of M&A news. But the tone turned positive in the late morning, despite volatile oil prices.

US stocks have been rising over the past two months as investors bet that the worst of the credit market crisis is behind them and the world's biggest economy appears to be stabilizing.

US light crude oil for June delivery fell 10 cents to settle at $124.12 a barrel in New York following a volatile session.

Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to a record $3.776 from $3.758 the previous day, according to AAA. It was the eighth record in a row.

COMEX gold for August delivery rose $13.30 to settle at $884.10 an ounce. The dollar rose versus the euro and slipped versus the yen. Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield to 3.83% from 3.90% late on Wednesday.

Yahoo shares climbed 2.3%. Activist shareholder Carl Icahn launched a campaign to overthrow Yahoo's board as part of an effort to restart deal talk with Microsoft.

Media giant CBS said it would buy CNet Networks for a 45% premium in a move to expand its reach further onto the Web. Also on the online front, Comcast said it is buying social networking site, Plaxo, and IAC/Interactive will acquire Lexico Publishing Group.

GE has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to seek buyers for the sale of its appliances business, which could be worth between $5- $8bn. GE shares inched lower.

JC Penney reported weaker quarterly results that beat forecasts. The retailer also said second-quarter earnings would come in just ahead of analysts' forecasts, but that full-year conditions will be difficult amid the tougher consumer spending environment. Shares gained more than 4%.

Thursday's economic news was mixed. Jobless claims rose a bit, New York-area manufacturing worsened and Philadelphia-area manufacturing weakened less than had been expected. Industrial production and capacity utilization declined more than expected in April and homebuilder confidence fell again in May.

Friday brings economic reports on housing starts, building permits and consumer sentiment.

Stocks in Europe closed higher thanks to a late-afternoon rally. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index, down about 10% this year, finished 0.4% higher at 328.41, with advancing stocks outpacing those declining roughly 3 to 2.

The UK's FTSE 100 ended up 0.6% at 6,251.80. The German DAX 30 finished nearly unchanged at 7,081.05 and the French CAC-40 finished virtually unmoved at 5,057.51.

Most emerging markets closed higher. The Bovespa in Brazil was up 2% at 71,492 while the IPC index in Mexico climbed 0.7% at 31,542. The RTS index in Russia gained 0.25% to 2411 while the ISE National 30 index in Turkey rose 0.4% to 52,599.

HOW MARKET FARED

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Can bulls maintain tempo

Bulls had a stellar session as bears were shrugged of the bourses amid firm global cues and all round buying in the scrips across the sectors. Bulls completely dominated the whole session. A sudden bout of buying in the index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Infosys, L&T and RCom lifted the Nifty index to close above the 5,100 mark and the benchmark Sensex closed above the 17,300 mark.

The Capital Good, Realty, Oil & Gas, Banking and Power stocks were in demand. However, the FMCG stocks were slightly under pressure. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 375 points higher to close at 17,353 and the Nifty index gained 103 points to close at 5,115.

Overall about 1,771 stocks advanced; 909 stocks declined while 74 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 39 stocks ended in green and 11 stocks ended in red.

PNB surged by over 5.5% to Rs537 after the company announced its results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2008. The Bank posted a net profit of Rs5437.6mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 as compared to Rs2377mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Total Income increased from Rs37127.9mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 to Rs44170mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

The Bank posted a net profit of Rs20487.6mn for the year ended March 31, 2008 as compared to Rs15400.8mn for the year ended March 31, 2007. Total Income increased from Rs129665.4mn for the year ended March 31, 2007 to Rs162625.8mn for the year ended March 31, 2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs540 and a low of Rs503 and recorded volumes of over 6,00,000 shares on NSE.

Torrent Power gained by 2% to Rs132 after the company announced its results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2008. The company posted a net profit of Rs504.6mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 as compared to Rs443.2mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Total Income increased from Rs7762mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 to Rs9483.8mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

The company posted a net profit of Rs2112.4mn for the year ended March 31, 2008. Total Income is Rs37220mn for the year ended on March 31, 2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs136 and a low of Rs132 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on NSE.

MLL rose over 14% to Rs114 after country’s fourth biggest shipping company by market value quadrupled earnings for the quarter ended March 31 to Rs740.4mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs117 and a low of Rs102 and recorded volumes of over 81,00,000 shares on NSE.

Reliance Industries gained momentum towards the fag end of the trading session. The scrip performed like the ‘Mumbai Indians’ the IPL team which won in handsome style against the ‘Chennai Super Kings’ on Wednesday. The scrip ended higher by over 3.5% to Rs2622 and touched an intra-day high of Rs2633 and a low of Rs2535 and recorded volumes of over 6,00,000 shares on NSE.

Madras Aluminium surged by over 9% to Rs894 after the company said that they would consider stock split on May 16, 2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs897 and a low of Rs790 and recorded volumes of over 71,000 shares on NSE.

Syndicate Bank gained by over 3% to Rs77. According to reports, the company repriced its bulk deposits. The company also on Wednesday announced its Q4 results with PAT rising over 21% to Rs1263mn. However, the company’s revenues for the fourth quarter fell by 6.8% to Rs5,626mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs77 and a low of Rs75 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.

Neyveli Lignite gained by over 4.5% to Rs142 after the company announced that they would develop 1000MW coal based power plant and would spend Rs49.1bn to develop the power project. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs142 and a low of Rs137 and recorded volumes of over 90,00,000 shares on NSE.

Flawless Diamond gained by 3% to Rs68 after the company said that they secured Rs670mn order from Hong Kong’s M/s Jewelmax Company and Fine Jewellery. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs71 and a low of Rs66 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.

Update

2008-05-14T21:10:00.001-07:00

MARKET OPEN FLAT TO POSITIVE
NIFTY SUPPORT 4970-4918 RESISTENCE 5054-5088
NIFTY FUT SUPPORT 4981 RESISTENCE 5036-5089
BUY LT ABOVE 2850 SL 2828 TRFT 2900
BUY IFCI 60 SL 58.10 TRGT 65
TITANIUM CALL BUY RUCHI SOYA IND. SL 99 TRGT 131
HIND ZINC SL 641 ST TRGT 949

STRATEGY INPUTS FOR THE DAY 15/05/08

2008-05-14T21:08:00.001-07:00

With little action left in the markets, it makes sense to do just a little these days. The bulls managed to ward off the challenge from the bears on Wednesday, with the key indices ending sharply higher. Buying in IT and metals helped lift the Nifty past the 5,000 mark. Select consumer discretionary and auto shares too advanced while PSU and banking stocks ended lower. However, one should not read too much into Wednesday's pullback, as both traded volume as well as turnover fell sharply from the previous day.

For the day, we expect a better opening as most global markets are up. Intra-day gyrations are a given these days. Remain careful and selective while dabbling in fresh purchases. Pick up small quantities at lower levels to rebuild a long term portfolio.

The market breadth was only marginally positive, indicating that the bulls are still lacking in confidence. The small-cap and mid-cap indices were also subdued, meaning that strength in select large caps propped up the main indices. The market remains in a consolidation phase, and will continue to see alternate bouts of buying and selling. No clear trend is visible at this juncture, as negatives still outweigh the positives (if there are any).

Delivery volumes have taken a sharp dip, which underscores the current uncertainty and anxiety among the bulls on future direction of the market. FII inflows have slowed down considerably this year, which is proving to be a major stumbling block for the bulls. Inflation remains a formidable challenge as does the slowdown in the overall economy. India Inc's facing several headwinds on the cost front. As a result, the market is likely to remain sideways and rangebound in the near term.

Key Results Today: Chambal Fertilizers, Chennai Petroleum, Morepen Labs, Nelco, OCL India, PNB, Tamil Nadu Petroproducts, Torrent Power, Voltas, Zuari Industries and Zylog Systems.

Mercator Lines has reported strong results for Q4 and full year. The company has posted almost a 3-fold jump in net profit for FY08 at Rs3.7bn, supported by growing fleet, buoyant shipping demand and firm freight rates in dry carriers segment.

Cement stocks could be under pressure after companies pledged to cut prices, joining steelmakers in the government's efforts to curb inflation.

BASF SE, the promoter of BASF India has announced a voluntary Open Offer to purchase up to 6,289,591 shares (constituting 22.3% of the issued share capital of BASF India) at Rs274 per share for a total consideration of Rs1.72bn (assuming full acceptances are received in the Offer).

Maxwell Industries' Board will meet today to discuss the inter-se-transfer of shares among the promoters of the company. According to a financial daily, the Reddy family - a co promoter - is likely to sell its entire holding of 32% to other promoter, the Pathare family.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs851.2mn (provisional) in the cash segment yesterday while local institutions poured in Rs3.1bn. In the F&O segment, foreign funds were net sellers of Rs2.55bn. On Tuesday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs1.86bn while Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs3.05bn.

Asian stocks rose the most in two weeks, led by technology companies, after Sony and NEC Electronics forecast higher-than-expected profit.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1% at 151.52 as of 10:51 a.m. in Tokyo, poised for its largest advance since May 2. Almost four stocks rose for each that declined today.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 1% at 14,258.45. All other Asian benchmark indexes rose, apart from New Zealand and the Philippines.

Sony shares surged the most in more than two years in Tokyo after the consumer electronics giant's Q1 results surpassed market expectations. NEC posted its steepest advance in 10 months.

Coca-Cola Amatil, Australia's biggest soft-drinks maker, jumped after saying net income will rise this year. Nippon Steel climbed the most in two months after a newspaper said Toyota agreed to pay more for the alloy.

US stocks ended higher on Wednesday, buoyed by a milder-than-expected consumer price inflation data and falling oil prices. But a late-session sell-off in technology shares checked further gains.

Financial and consumer discretionary stocks gained following the benign CPI report, while a smaller-than-expected loss posted by mortgage lender Freddie Mac helped ease credit-market jitters.

Off a triple-digit rise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 12,898.38, up 66.20 points, or 0.5% from the last close. All but five of its 30 components closed the day in positive turf, with HP and Verizon leading the blue-chip advance. Caterpillar and McDonald's lost the most ground, each down more than 1%.

The S&P 500 gained 6.52 points, or 0.4%, to end at 1,408.66. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.58 points, less than 0.1%, to 2,496.7. Nine of ten industry groups in the S&P 500 rose as the Labor Department's April inflation report gave the Federal Reserve more leeway to stimulate the economy.

Macy's helped spark a rise among retailers, with the department-store operator maintaining its full-year profit forecast, while reporting a first-quarter loss. Freddie Mac, the second-largest US mortgage-finance company, rallied the most in six weeks after reporting a smaller loss than analysts estimated.

Market breadth was positive. Seven stocks advanced for every five that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CPI rose 0.2% in April, versus forecasts for a rise of 0.3%. Stripping out food and auto sales, CPI rose 0.1%, versus expectations for a rise of 0.2%. Food prices played a big role in the rise in prices, posting the biggest jump in 18 years.

US light crude oil for June delivery fell $1.58 to settle at $124.22 in New York, despite a weaker-than-expected weekly inventories report. On Tuesday, crude hit a record trading high of $126.98 a barrel during the session.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to a record $3.758 from $3.732 the previous day, according to AAA. It was the seventh record in a row.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $2.90 to $871 an ounce. The dollar firmed up a bit versus the euro and the yen. Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield to 3.90% from 3.92% late on Tuesday.

Thursday brings the weekly jobless claims report, readings on manufacturing in the New York and Philadelphia areas, and earnings from JC Penney.

M&A speculation, earnings and a better-than-expected reading on core US inflation lifted stocks in Europe. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index turned higher in a volatile session, to finish up 0.5% at 327.20.

The French CAC-40 climbed 1.1% to 5,055.24, while the UK's FTSE 100 closed up 0.1% at 6.216.00 and the German DAX 30 rose 0.3% to 7,083.24.

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil was down 0.7% at 70,026 while the IPC index in Mexico climbed 1.45% to 31,336. The RTS index in Russia surged 2.8% to 2406 while the ISE National 30 index in Turkey jumped 1.9% to 52,392.

HOW MARKET FARED

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Bulls may be tested again

Markets started off the day with a negative bias mirroring overnight losses in the US markets. However, as the day progressed key indices gradually gained momentum on back of positive cues from the Asian markets. The momentum was further carried as the IT and Metal stocks attracted buying which saw the Nifty index close above the crucial 5k mark. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 225 points higher to close at 16,948 and the Nifty index gained 53 points to close at 5,011.

Overall about 1,417 stocks advanced; 1,245 stocks declined while 88 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 37 stocks ended in green and 13 stocks ended in red.

Strides Arcolab surged by over 3.5% to Rs182 after the company announced receipt of ANDA approval for Flumazenil Injection USP. 0.1 mg / ml multiple dose vial. The product is licensed to Akorn-Strides, LLC, which is a joint venture that was funned in 2004 by Akorn, Inc and Strides Arcolab Ltd. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs195 and a low of Rs175 and recorded volumes of over 95,000 shares on NSE.

Sun Pharma Advanced gained by over 2% to Rs95 after the company announced its Q4 net profit at Rs144.7mn (up 190.5%) and the revenue was at Rs245.1mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs100 and a low of Rs93 and recorded volumes of over 14,00,000 shares on NSE.

LITL rallied by over 10% to Rs513 after the company announced that it secured Rs80bn International terminal project in Kerala. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs526 and a low of Rs446 and recorded volumes of over 17,00,000 shares on NSE.

JSW Steel surged by over 4% to Rs996 after the company announced that it posted 14% growth in crude steel production in April' 2008 including production of Salem works for corresponding period on comparable basis. JSW Steel also registered a 12% growth in Rolled flat product (HR Coils & Plates) & 33% growth in Rolled long products segments. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1044 and a low of Rs950 and recorded volumes of over 5,00,000 shares on NSE.

The IT stocks were in momentum as the Indian rupee further depreciated to Rs42.45 per dollar. IT bellwether Infosys gained by over 4.5% to Rs1826, Satyam gained by a percent to Rs501, Wipro advanced by 2% to Rs503 and i-Flex added over 4.5% to Rs1386.

Apollo Tyres ended flat to Rs42, there were reports stating that Apollo Tyres partly owned by Michelin & Cie. would spend Rs10bn this year to raise capacity. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs43 and a low of Rs42 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.

SCI rallied by over 6% to Rs258 after the board of directors of the company said it will consider bonus issue proposal. The board of directors of the company would meet on May 20, 2008 to consider the proposal. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs264 and a low of Rs249 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.

Market view on 15/5/08 Thursday

2008-05-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

Cues for the day
Markets closed near the day’s high led by gains in Metal, IT and Telecom
stocks. Positive cues from the global markets proved to be the
sentiment driver, lifting the Nifty index to close above the crucial 5k
mark. Oil stocks suffered after the government’s move to share lower
subsidy of 50% than indicated earlier. Oil now becomes the latest
causality after steel and cement.
Today, we expect the indices to open in the green. However, strong
resistance at higher levels given the low trading turnover may result in
profit booking. In the coming week, the market will bias towards a
downward trend with no major triggers.
Sensex intra-day Sensex price volume
16,600
16,700
16,800
16,900
17,000
17,100
9:55 11:19 12:43 2:07 3:31
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Sep-06 Mar-07 Sep-07 Mar-08
Volume
(Rs bn)
11,000
13,000
15,000
17,000
19,000
21,000 Sensex
Source: Bloomberg
Index movements
% change
Last
close 1 day 1 mth 3 mth
Sensex 16,978 1.3 5.1 (6.3)
Nifty 5,012 1.1 2.7 (5.5)
BSE S. Cap 6,798 0.4 4.9 (5.8)
BSE Bankex 8,597 (0.1) 7.4 (21.0)
BSE IT 4,427 3.8 14.6 14.1
BSE Metal 16,435 4.4 17.2 1.7
BSE Oil 10,917 0.1 (3.7) (3.1)
BSE Realty 7,778 0.4 6.0 (25.9)
BSE Auto 4,719 1.0 5.7 (1.0)
Dow Jones 12,898 0.5 4.3 4.5
Nasdaq 2,497 0.1 9.2 7.5
Support/Resistance levels
Close Support Resistance
Nifty 5,012 4,970 5,075
Sensex 16,978 16,500 17,600
Institutional activity
(Rs cr) Cash F&O MTD YTD
FIIs 186.3 (254.9) 9.6 (11,231.5)
MFs (305.4) 7,702.5 15.5
FIIs Prov. 85.1
MFs Prov. 310.4
Daily trade value
(Rs cr) %chg
Cash NSE 12,732 (10.8)
Cash BSE 6,417 (3.1)
Derivatives 32,920 (13.6)
Stock movement
(Nos) Adv Dec Unch
A 140 63 1
B 905 790 59
S 211 222 19
Total 1,102 1,593 51
FII open interest
(Rs cr) %chg
Index futures 18,722 0.1
Index options 18,530 4.4
Stock futures 19,801 1.0
Stock options 949 0.4
Commodity, Currency & Debt
% change
1 day 1 mth 3 mth
Crude ($/Bbl) 123.7 (0.5) 8.7 29.6
Gold ($/OZ) 863.8 (0.3) (6.9) (4.3)
Silver ($/OZ) 16.5 (0.0) (7.4) (3.2)
Re/US$ 42.5 0.0 (5.7) (6.6)
Yen/US$ 105.1 0.0 (3.1) 2.6
10yr G. Bond 7.8 0.0 - -
News snippets
~ Secondary steel makers to cut prices by Rs4,000 per tonne. (BS)
~ Cement firms agree to cut prices ranging between Rs3.5-7 per
bag. (BS)
~ Tata group plans to up stakes in globally active subsidiaries by 3-
4% this year. (BS)
~ Bharti and MTN in talks for 50:50 cash-share deal. (BS)
~ Lafarge buys L&T’s concrete business for Rs1,480cr. (BS)
~ Consortium led by Lanco Infratech wins Rs8,000cr Kerala port
project. (Mint)
~ Kotak Mahindra Bank to raise US$1.2bn. (Mint)
~ Punj Lloyd plans to offer onshore oil rigs to Libya’s National Oil
Corporation. (Mint)
~ Supreme Court stays order against Tata-BEST power pact. (Mint)
~ Satyam loses appeal barring its moves to block the online mobile
payment company Upaid’s fraud and forgery claims against it in
Texas. (Mint)
~ GHCL eyes US furnishing firm Linens ’N Thing. (ET)

Nifty support and resistance

2008-05-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

NIFTY STRONG SUPPORT 4940-4918 RESISTENCE 5033-5054
VERY VERY STRONG SUPPORT 4777-4620

Sensex support and resistance

2008-05-13T21:10:00.001-07:00

the SENSEX may face resistance around 16900, 17000, 17080, 17140. While falling, the SENSEX may take support around 16690, 16600, 16550, 16450

Bulls hold on to strong gains

2008-05-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

At 12:44 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 196 points at 17,058 and NSE Nifty was up 42 points at 5,055.

Markets continue to hold on to their early gains following a positive start in the equity markets across Europe. The CAC index in France was up 0.75% and the DAX index was up by half a percent. Constant buying in scrips across the sectors have held the markets around its days high.

At 12:44 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 196 points at 17,058 and NSE Nifty was up 42 points at 5,055.

Aishwarya Telecom has surged by over 6.5% to Rs105 after 11.5% of its equity changed hands in two trades. ~5,14,570 shares were traded at Rs103 per share. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs106 and a low of Rs96 and has recorded volumes of over 31,00,000 shares on NSE.

Bharti Airtel is trading lower by half a percent to Rs833. According to reports the company is expected to submit revised bid to acquire South Africa’s MTN as Dubai based Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) joins the race. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs845 and a low of Rs825 and has recorded volumes of over 11,00,000 shares on NSE.

Bajaj Holdings has gained by 1.5% to Rs693 as the company on Monday announced that it would sign a formal agreement with Renault and Nissan in June 2008 for making their proposed small car in India, scheduled to be launched by 2011. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs697 and a low of Rs686 and has recorded volumes of over 18,000 shares on NSE.

Videocon Industries has surged by over 3% to Rs365 following reports that the company is planning to enter into hospitality and hydropower businesses. The company is in talks with the Uttarakhand government for various projects. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs371 and a low of Rs355 and has recorded volumes of over 99,000 shares on NSE.

Jindal Stainless has advanced by 2.5% to Rs144 after reports stated that the company signed a joint venture agreement with the Indonesia-based PT Antam Tbk to develop a nickel smelting and stainless steel facility in North Konawe, South East Sulawesi at an investment of about Rs29bn. Antam will hold 55% stake in the project. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs145 and a low of Rs143 and has recorded volumes of over 40,000 shares on NSE

Markets may remain under pressure

2008-05-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Markets may remain under pressure in the coming days as the Nifty index continues to stay under the 200 DMA. So it would be advisable to stay in the sidelines and be cautious.

Markets slipped into the red in the last hour of the trading session as selling in Oil & Gas and select IT and Telecom stocks dragged the Nifty index below the 5k mark again. The sentiments were further dampened as European markets also were trading lower. However, the metal, FMCG, banking and realty stocks attracted buying interest.

Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 108 points lower to close at 16,752 and the Nifty index gained 54 points to close at 4,957.

Overall about 1,410 stocks advanced; 1,305 stocks declined while 69 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 32 stocks ended in red and 18 stocks ended in green.

Mphasis rallied by over 10% to Rs242 after Hewlett-Packard (H-P) and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) confirmed that they were in advanced discussions to strike a deal whereby H-P could acquire the technology services giant. The deal could be wroth up to US$13bn, the Wall Street Journal reports citing unnamed sources close to the matter.

H-P said it would have no further comment regarding a possible business combination involving the two companies, until either a deal is reached or talks are broken off. The acquisition would be HP's biggest since its $19bn acquisition of Compaq in 2002. Shares of EDS rose nearly 28%, taking its market value to about US$12bn. HP shares fell nearly 5% amid some skepticism that slow-growing EDS, still considered in turnaround mode, would provide more than a one-time boost, and might not be worth a premium of as much as 37%.

SBI gained by a half a percent to Rs1668 after the company said that they would expand into general insurance biz. The bank tied up with Insurance Australia where, SBI would hold 74% and Insurance Australia would hold 26% in the venture. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1690 and a low of Rs1651 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.

Jindal Stainless advanced by 0.5% to Rs142 after reports stated that the company signed a joint venture agreement with the Indonesia-based PT Antam Tbk to develop a nickel smelting and stainless steel facility in North Konawe, South East Sulawesi at an investment of about Rs29bn. Antam will hold 55% stake in the project. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs145 and a low of Rs142 and recorded volumes of over 26,000 shares on BSE.

Sita Shree Food slipped 2.6% to Rs46. The company announced that it received export orders worth Rs100mn from Vietnam, Pakistan, UAE, KSA and turkey. Moreover the company executed export orders worth Rs83mn during april- may'08. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs49 and a low of Rs45 and recorded volumes of over 13,00,000 shares on BSE.

Philips Carbon fell by 2.3% to Rs184. There were reports stating that, the company doubled investment commitment to Rs3bn from Rs1.5bn in its Vietnam joint venture, as the capacity for the plant has been raised to 1 lakh tons from 50,000 tons planned earlier. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs194 and a low of Rs181 and recorded volumes of over 12,000 shares on BSE.

RCom slipped by a percent to Rs545. According to reports the French-US equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent has formed a joint venture with RCom to offer managed-net-work services to domestic as well as international telecom operators. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs559 and a low of Rs541 and recorded volumes of over 11,00,000 shares on BSE.

GAIL India slipped by 2% to Rs408. The company announced its Q4 results with net profit at Rs7.22bn (up 6%) and net sales at Rs49.35bn (up 27%). The company also said that they plan to invest Rs34.13bn this fiscal year, they would also invest Rs25.65bn on pipelines and Rs5bn in exploration and production. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs422 and a low of Rs405 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.