The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.
The bulls have been basking in the sunshine in recent times but as we have been reminding you, the concerns still remain. While inflation remains high, US oil futures crossed the $120 per barrel in New York for the first time on Monday amid supply concerns in Nigeria.
After a higher opening yesterday, the key indices lost ground in the afternoon to end marginally lower. The sell-off was restricted to the large caps. The BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices bucked the negative trend, rising by 0.3% and 0.85%, respectively. The breadth was positive mainly due to strength outside the Sensex and the Nifty. Volume of shares traded was also up from Friday, though the turnover was down.
The recent rally saw the Nifty bounce back above the 200 day moving average (DMA). Whether the Nifty stays above the 200 DMA level remains to be seen in the face of weak global cues.
We expect the market to open in the red owing to some softening across the globe. Thereafter things will be rangebound and sideways due to lack of triggers. Investors may cash out at every as there are still several concerns, like the health of the US economy, high commodity prices, rising local inflation, and moderation in economic growth as well as earnings expansion. One should adopt a stock centric approach and refrain from aggressive purchases.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs2.37bn (provisional) in the cash segment yesterday while the local institutions pumped in Rs4.57bn. In the F&O segment, they were net buyers of Rs897mn. On Friday, foreign funds were net buyers of Rs7.2bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs762mn on the same day.
Asahi India, DCB, Eveready Industries and Torrent Pharma will declare their results today.
Asian stocks declined for the first time in three days, led by financial companies, after Kookmin Bank and St. George Bank reported lower profit amid turmoil in credit markets. Kookmin and Shinhan Financial Group, South Korea's two largest banks, retreated after reporting lower net income.
St. George Bank, Australia's fifth-largest, dropped after posting its first profit decline in six years on higher bad debts. BHP Billiton advanced after crude oil prices surpassed a record $120 a barrel and copper futures gained.
The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index lost 0.1% to 498.38 as of 9:29 a.m. in Hong Kong, halting a two-day, 2% rally. Financial shares fell 0.8%, the biggest decline among the regional benchmark's 10 industry groups.
Japan's markets are closed for a holiday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.7%. Benchmarks also retreated in China, New Zealand and Singapore.
US stocks slumped as oil prices touched a record $120 a barrel, Microsoft abandoned its Yahoo bid and analysts speculated that Bank of America could renegotiate or drop its proposed deal to buy Countrywide Financial.
Macy's led chain stores to their biggest decline in five weeks after crude jumped above $120 a barrel. Yahoo slid 15% as analysts advised selling the shares. Lower-than-forecast earnings at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sent 22 of 24 insurance companies in the S &P 500 Index lower.
The S&P 500 dropped for the first time in three days, losing 6.41 points, or 0.5%, to 1,407.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 88.66 points, or 0.7%, to 12,969.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 12.87 points, or 0.5%, to 2,464.12.
Market breadth was negative. Four stocks retreated for every three that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
After a strong April and start to May, Wall Street was hit with the possible dissolution of several big proposed mergers, raising worries about the health of Corporate America amid the economic slowdown.
Microsoft said on Saturday that it was abandoning its sweetened deal for Yahoo and would not pursue a hostile takeover. The talks fell apart over the weekend after Yahoo rejected Microsoft's higher offer.
Wall Street also worried about the outlook for Bank of America's proposed $4 billion bid for Countrywide Financial after two brokerage firms hinted that the deal could either fall through or may get done at a lower price. BofA shares fell 2% and Countrywide shares lost over 10%.
Investors also reacted to record oil prices above $120 a barrel and a retreat in the dollar after the greenback had showed some strength last week.
Stocks briefly rose following the morning release of the April ISM services sector index, which rose to 52 from 49.6 versus forecasts for a drop to 49.1. A reading over 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
US light crude oil for June delivery jumped $3.65 to set a settlement record of $119.97 per barrel in New York. Oil - which was up on renewed supply concerns - touched an intraday record of $120.30 a barrel earlier, the first time it has surpassed the $120 mark.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas slipped to $3.611 from the previous day's price of $3.614, according to AAA. Last week, gas prices hit a record of $3.623, after hitting all-time highs for 17 straight days.
COMEX gold for June delivery rose $16.10 to $874.10 an ounce. The dollar fell versus the euro after rising against it over the past week. The greenback also slipped versus the yen. Treasury prices dipped, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.86% from 3.85% late on Friday.
Markets may consolidate
Firm global cues coupled with buying momentum in the early trades lifted the markets to start off on a positive note. However, after trading in green for major part of the day, Sensex pared most of its gains in the last hour of the trading session led by selling pressure in the Auto, IT and the Telecom stocks.
On the other hand, bucking the negative trend were the Small-Cap, Mid-Cap and select Realty stocks. Both the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap indices added half a percent each. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 109 points lower to close at 17,490 and the Nifty index lost 35 points to close at 5,192.
Overall about 1,634 stocks advanced; 1,104 stocks declined while 38 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 39 stocks ended in red and 11 stocks ended in green.
Among the BSE Sectoral indices, BSE Consumer Durable index (down 2.2%), BSE IT index (down 1%) and BSE Teck index (down 1%). The BSE Mid-Cap index was the leading gainer (up 0.85%), others like BSE Realty and Pharma indices added nearly half a percent each.
UCO Bank rallied by over 13% to Rs50 after the company announced that its Q4 net profit at Rs859.9mn (up 178%) and Q4 Int. Income at Rs17.8bn (up 22.7%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs51 and a low of Rs44 and recorded volumes of over 65,00,000 shares on BSE.
JSW Steel slipped by 2% to Rs898. The company announced its Q4 net profit at Rs4.61bn (up 11.6%) and net sales at Rs41.9bn (up 67.66%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs931 and a low of Rs883 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.
Century Textile was down by over 3.5% to Rs842. The company announced its FY08 net profit at Rs2.79bn (up 2.1%) and FY08 revenue at Rs35.1bn (up 9.3%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs879 and a low of Rs826 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on BSE.
L&T edged lower by 0.2% to Rs3133. The company announced that it secured Rs3.44bn transmission line orders from Power Grid. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs3262 and a low of Rs3112 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.
Bharti Airtel ended at Rs893 losing half a percent. India's largest mobile-phone operator may bid for South Africa-based MTN Group Ltd, reports said. There were also reports stating that Bharti Airtel formed a joint venture with IFFCO to offer customized mobile services to farmers. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs909 and a low of Rs896 and recorded volumes of over 5,00,000 shares on BSE.
TTML advanced by 5% to Rs37 after reports stated that the company plans to invest around Rs1.65bn in Gujarat on expansion. The company plans major expansion in the rural areas of the state.
To improve the network, the company will also be using the investment to set up more number of base stations in Gujarat. Currently it has 700 base stations in Gujarat and by the end of the financial year, the company intends to take the number to 1,000-odd," report added. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs38 and a low of Rs35 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,00,000 shares on BSE.
IVRCL Infrastructure advanced by over 4% to Rs467 after the company announced that it secured order worth Rs4.69bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs493 and a low of Rs448 and recorded volumes of over 5,00,000 shares on BSE.
A leading infrastructure project development company C&C Constructions gained by over 2% to Rs224 as the company was awarded Rs3.44bn project for the rehabilitation and construction of the Gardez Khost Road in Afghanistan. This will be the company’s single largest order received in Afghanistan. The Company had previously bagged an EPC contract worth Rs5.74bn from JP Associates for the construction of a road from Zirakpur to Parwanoo in north India. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs234 and a low of Rs209 and recorded volumes of over 55,000 shares on BSE.
Ram Informatics was frozen at 20% upper circuit to Rs17.90 after the company announced that it received an order from Chief Electoral Officer, Government of Andhra Pradesh for Election Photo Identity Cards for the district of Srikakulam. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs17.90 and a low of Rs16 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.
ACC edged higher by 0.5% to Rs757. The company announced its April cement sales at 1.73mn tons (down 0.57%). However, its April cement output rose 1.1% to 1.79mn ton. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs769 and a low of Rs749 and recorded volumes of over 91,000 shares on BSE.
Corporate News
Bharti Airtel is in talks to acquire South Africa’s MTN. (ET)
State Bank of India has hiked the interest rates on FCNR (B) deposits in different currencies and on NRE (rupee) term deposit across varying maturities, with effect from May 1, 2008. (BL)
The Supreme Court has directed Reliance Industries to pay Rs500mn within two weeks to BPCL for the price difference in naphtha supplied by BPCL to RIL plant in Raigad. (DNA)
Nineteen companies, including Welspun India, Bombay Dyeing and Alok Industries, have expressed interest to form joint ventures to run government-owned National Textiles Corporation's (NTC) 12 mills. (BS)
Patel Engineering has bagged the US$280mn Taum Sauck Upper Reservoir Dam reconstruction project in USA. (ET)
Leela Hotels has acquired seven acres of land near the Taj Mahal for building a five star deluxe hotel with 300 rooms. (ET)
M&M to set up a tractor plant in Tamil Nadu to make 50,000 tractors a year. (Mint)
L&T plans to look for orders for constructing passenger cruise ships at its proposed facility at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu. (Mint)
Sesa Goa has stepped up efforts to expand and add iron ore prospecting and mining leases as also increase third party mining opportunities. (BL)
To overcome the rise in raw material cost, JSW Steel has been scouting for more mine ores even as many of them will go on stream by end of 2009. (BL)
VF Corp looking to buy out 40% stake held by Arvind Mills in Indian JV VF-Arvind brands. (ET)
Ranbaxy is set to fight a prolonged battle with the Government and NPPA for fixing price of one of its key antibiotic brands. (ET)
Perlecan Pharma, the integrated drug development company set up by Dr. Reddy’s has dropped second more new drug plan. (DNA)
Punj Lloyd is looking to divest its stake in its telecom and broadband business, Spectranet. (Mint)
ADAG is planning to apply for modernization project of Prague airport, for which bids are shortly to be invited. (BS)
Sterling Urban Developments, a joint venture floated by HDFC Property Fund and Bangalore-based Sterling Developers will take up development of 150 acres in Whitefield at a cost of Rs40bn. (BS)
Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank have increased interest rates on short-term deposits to raise resources and manage asset-liability mismatch. (BS)
Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering conglomerate, is looking to set up a manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh to manufacture steam turbines and generators needed for the power sector. (BL)
Coal India is looking to partner with private sector companies such as Reliance Power to acquire coal blocks overseas. (Mint)
UCO Bank has received Government approval for capital restructuring. (BL)
Kesoram Industries has lined up Rs8.4bn expansion programme at its Uttarakhand tyre complex. (BS)
UTV Software Communications will invest Rs8bn in its businesses in FY09. (DNA)
American formal wear giant Hartmarx is inking a deal with Arvind Mills for tapping India’s premium-to-luxury segment. (ET)
Finolex Industries plans to sell off its SEZ land in Pune for Rs4bn. (DNA)
Secondary steel makers including Bhushan Steel and Uttam Galva, have decided to cut the prices of cold-rolled coils and galvanized sheets by ~Rs500/ton. (ET)
HPCL officers to go on indefinite nationwide strike starting May 6, 2008. (ET)
Reliance Infra, an ADAG company, is set to begin work on the country’s first greenfield central business district. (BL)
HCL Infosystems has acquired Jaipur-based niche banking software product firm, Natural Technologies for Rs83.9mn. (ET)
NDTV Imagine is entering movie production business and its first project is likely to go on floor in two to three months. (BL)
BNP Paribas and Geojit Financial Services have worked out a plan to overcome the regulatory hurdle that has come in the way of the French banking group picking up the majority stake in the Kerala-based broking firm. (BL)
Murugappa group intends to spend Rs13bn on capacity expansions in 2008-09. (BL)
The Hinduja’s are planning investments of ~US$50bn in the next five years in India and abroad. (DNA)
Nirmal Lifestyle is in talks with PE funds to raise US$800mn. (ET)
Aircel plans to raise US$1.6bn debt and to come out with an IPO in a year. (ET)
Genpact, a pioneer in the actuarial process outsourcing (APO) business, which has been largely dependent on the US and UK has tapped five insurance clients in Australia. (FE)
Maxis Communications, Malaysia plans to invest US$4-5bn by 2009-10 to expand its network in India. (DNA)
Generic Electric is planning to manufacture windmills and gas turbines in India. (ET)
Bangalore-based Manipal Health Systems has plans to build a 200-bed to 250-bed hospital in Mysore. (BS)
Shell is closing down temporarily 15 of its retail outlets in south India from May 7, 2008. (BS)
Nissan Motor will soon launch its premium SUV Murano in India. (ET)