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Friday, February 13, 2009

Madhucon Projects


Madhucon Projects

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Feb 13 2009


Deal Date Scrip Code Company Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
13/2/2009 524412 AAREY DRUGS CHAMPAKLAL C SHAH B 47000 20.58
13/2/2009 524412 AAREY DRUGS NITABEN B BHAVSAR S 30000 20.33
13/2/2009 513149 ACROW INDIA PRITI KRISHNAGOPAL CHANDAK B 9443 69.50
13/2/2009 505216 ALFRED HERBE NIMBARAM DHARMAJI PRAJAPATI B 9000 95.90
13/2/2009 505216 ALFRED HERBE RAMKISHORE MAHESHWARI B 9000 89.00
13/2/2009 505216 ALFRED HERBE NIMBARAM DHARMAJI PRAJAPATI S 9000 89.00
13/2/2009 505216 ALFRED HERBE RAMKISHORE MAHESHWARI S 9000 95.90
13/2/2009 590024 FERT CHEM HITESHSHASHIKANTJHAVERI B 46310 29.14
13/2/2009 530945 GANGOTRI I&S MS. ADVANCE FINSTOCK B 70011 7.96
13/2/2009 530945 GANGOTRI I&S SPJSTOCK S 70000 7.95
13/2/2009 505840 JAIPAN INDUS KAILASH CHHAPARWAL B 32522 31.89
13/2/2009 532518 JKAGRI GENET PRITI KRISHNAGOPAL CHANDAK B 24200 135.90
13/2/2009 516078 JUMBO BAG LT SMRITI GHIYA B 50000 20.93
13/2/2009 531784 KADAMB CONST ALLIANCE INTERMEDIATERIES AND NETWORK LTD S 17500 29.81
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N ADROIT FINANCIAL SER PVT. LTD. B 80459 154.32
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 98483 152.71
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N MANSUKH SEC. AND FINANCE LTD. B 125597 154.26
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N PRABHUDAS LILLADHER PVT. LTD. B 81758 154.22
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N ADROIT FINANCIAL SER PVT. LTD. S 80459 154.16
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 98483 152.90
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N MANSUKH SEC. AND FINANCE LTD. S 125597 153.63
13/2/2009 522259 KALIN RAIL N PRABHUDAS LILLADHER PVT. LTD. S 81758 154.35
13/2/2009 531602 KOFF BR PICT JINESH BHATT B 900000 3.50
13/2/2009 531366 KOHINOOR BRO S V ENTERPRISES B 1713394 3.71
13/2/2009 531366 KOHINOOR BRO S V ENTERPRISES S 1587876 3.72
13/2/2009 511728 KZLEASING AMARBHAI H DAVE B 25000 40.66
13/2/2009 512047 NATRAJ FIN SANJAY KUMAR B 55000 31.42
13/2/2009 502587 RAMA PUL PAP PRITI KRISHNAGOPAL CHANDAK B 49000 4.90
13/2/2009 531952 RIBA TEXTILE NITABEN SHAILESHBHAI PATEL B 35000 34.14
13/2/2009 531952 RIBA TEXTILE KUMKUM STOCK BROKER PVT LTD S 81400 33.78
13/2/2009 532966 TITAGARH WAG OPG SECURITIES P LTD B 125982 245.50
13/2/2009 532966 TITAGARH WAG OPG SECURITIES P LTD S 125982 245.72
13/2/2009 526775 VALIANT COMM* ENGAGE COMMUNICATIONS PRIVATE LIMITED S 200000 27.00
13/2/2009 532893 VTM LTD NEIL FINSTOCK PVT.LTD B 24755 38.75
13/2/2009 532893 VTM LTD PRAGYA EQUITIES PVT.LTD B 25000 44.76
13/2/2009 532893 VTM LTD NEIL FINSTOCK PVT.LTD S 24755 44.80
13/2/2009 532893 VTM LTD PRAGYA EQUITIES PVT.LTD S 25000 38.74
13/2/2009 531249 WELL PACK PA VIMLESH.SHAHRA B 50000 63.50
13/2/2009 514162 WELSPUN INDI THE WESTERN INDIA TRUSTEE AND EXECUTOR CO LTD INDIA ADV F 2 S 782263 13.29

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GMR Infrastructure

FirstSource Solutions


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Deccan Chronicle


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Hanung Toys


Hanung Toys

NSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Feb 13 2009


Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
12-FEB-2009,AUROPHARMA,Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.,TOP CLASS EDUCATION FACILITIES & SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,394894,140.00,-
12-FEB-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,BUY,105208,1909.83,-
12-FEB-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,DEUTSCHE SECURITIES MAURITIUS LIMITED,BUY,138000,1870.71,-
12-FEB-2009,HELIOSMATH,Helios And Matheson Infor,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,144437,27.29,-
12-FEB-2009,HEXAWARE,Hexaware Technologies Lim,OM INVESTMENTS,BUY,807051,34.01,-
12-FEB-2009,RICOAUTO,Rico Auto Industries Ltd,NEO SECURITIES LTD.,BUY,700000,9.00,-
12-FEB-2009,RICOAUTO,Rico Auto Industries Ltd,SWARN K. KHOSLA,BUY,700000,9.00,-
12-FEB-2009,EDUCOMP,Educomp Solutions Limited,C D INTEGRATED SERVICES LTD,SELL,105208,1910.89,-
12-FEB-2009,GEOMETRIC,Geometric Limited,HDFC MIDCAP OPPURTUNITY FUND,SELL,809000,18.30,-
12-FEB-2009,HELIOSMATH,Helios And Matheson Infor,BP FINTRADE PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,143401,27.10,-
12-FEB-2009,HEXAWARE,Hexaware Technologies Lim,CITIGROUP GLOBAL MKTS MAURITIUS PVT LTD- SELL CODE,SELL,1090000,33.86,-
12-FEB-2009,HEXAWARE,Hexaware Technologies Lim,OM INVESTMENTS,SELL,807051,34.06,-
12-FEB-2009,NIITLTD,NIIT Limited,FNIL A/C. COPTHALL MAURITIUS INVESTMENT LTD.,SELL,1462000,22.41,-
12-FEB-2009,RICOAUTO,Rico Auto Industries Ltd,NEO SECURITIES LTD.,SELL,700000,9.00,-
12-FEB-2009,RICOAUTO,Rico Auto Industries Ltd,SWARN K. KHOSLA,SELL,700000,9.00,-

Post Session Commentary - Feb 13 2009


Strong buying over the ground led the Indian market to close the day with handsome gains. Rally in the domestic bourses was mainly contributed by the hopes from the interim budget with measures to stimulate the economy, due to be presented on 16th Feb 2009. Up to now government had announced two stimulus packages including tax cuts and the capital injections for banks. Sustained buying since initial bell got a boost after the announcement of the interim railway budget for 2009-10 by the Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Along with this positive signs from the markets worldwide also added to the optimistic sentiments.

The domestic market today opened higher ahead of interim Railway Budget today along with tracking positive cues from the global markets. The US stock market on Thursday closed mixed after rebounding 3% from the day’s low on the back of a report that the U.S. government is considering a new plan to subsidize mortgage payments for homeowners. Further, benchmark indices continued to gain ground with holding initial gains as all sectors responded positive to interim Railway Budget. Firm cues from the domestic arena along with all over the world, contributed to the healthy closing of the market. BSE Sensex ended above 9,600 mark and NSE Nifty closed around 2,950 level. From the sectoral front, most of the indices ended in green. Among those, most of the buying was seen in Metal, Auto, Capital Goods, Bank, Power, Oil & Gas and Reality stocks. Midcap and Smallcap stocks also went up during the trading session. However, Pharma stocks remained out of favor.

Among the Sensex pack 27 stocks ended in green territory and 3 in red. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained strong as 1484 stocks closed in green while 947 stocks closed in red and 100 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 168.91 points at 9,634.74 and NSE Nifty ended up by 55.30 points at 2,948.35. Broader market indices were in green as BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with gains of 44.84 points and 20.79 points at 3,012.95 and 3,395.58 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 9,695.59 and intraday low of 9,540.60.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are M&M Ltd (7.04%), RCom (5.33%), ACC Ltd (5.13%), Tata Steel (4.69%), BHEL (3.86%), Reliance Infra (3.51%), JP Associates (3.55%), ICICI Bank (3.10%), SBI (2.98%), Reliance (2.90%), DLF Ltd (2.78%) and L&T Ltd (2.77%).

Only three lossers from the BSE Sensex pack are Sun Pharma (3.45%), Ranbaxy Lab (0.33%) and Infosys Tech (0.29%).

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav presented the interim railway budget 2009-10 in the parliament today. In his Interim railway budget speech he said that the Indian Railways has earned a profit of Rs. 90,000 crores in the last five years. He also said that the average freight grew by 3-8% in the last five years and has claimed that the Railway has raised debt of USD 100 million at 4%. The budget announced a cut in AC and mail express trains by 2% and the introduction of 43 new trains. The freight rates kept unchanged. Further the Railways to spend Rs 23,000 crore in 2009-10.

On the global markets front, the Asian markets ended in green on Wall Street bounce back. Shares reversed three sessions of losses to gain today on hopes that government efforts worldwide, including talk of a U.S. subsidy for mortgage payments, would soften the blow of the global downturn. Shanghai Composite index and Hang Seng closed higher by 72.70 and 326.37 points at 2,320.79 and 13,554.67 respectively. Besides, Nikkei 225, Straits Times and Seoul Composite index ended down by 74.04, 20.68 and 12.6 points at 7,779.40, 1,705.64 and 1,192.44 respectively.

European markets which opened after the Indian market are also trading firm led by financials on news of the U.S. subsidy plan. FTSE 100 is trading higher by 63.50 points at 4,265.74 and the DAX index is trading up by 75.84 points at 4,483.40.

The BSE Metal stocks out performed the benchmark indices as ended up by (2.80%) or 143.76 points Nalco (5.82%), Tata Steel (4.69%), Jindal Steel (3.90%), Steel Authority (3.48%), JSW Steel (3.15%) and Sterlite Industries (2.44%).

The BSE Capital Goods index closed with increase of (2.48%) or 158.47 points at 6,547.42. Scrips that gained are SKF India (4.85%), Usha Martin (4.05%), BHEL (3.86%), Kalpat Power T (3.62%), Siemens Ltd (3.05%) and Suzlon Energy (2.97%).

The BSE Reality index ended higher by (2.29%) or 35.67 points to close at 1,592.36 on hopes the government would step up spending on infrastructure projects. Anant Raj (4.94%), DLF Ltd (2.78%), Unitech Ltd (2.41%), Housing Dev (2.04%), Pheonix Mill (2.00%) and Indiabull Real (1.87%) ended in positive territory.

The BSE Power index also ended higher by (2.28%) or 41.30 points at 1,852.78. Gainers are RPower (4.90%), BHEL (3.86%), GVK Power (3.76%), Reliance Infra (3.51%), Power Grid (3.14%) and Siemens Ltd (3.05%).

The BSE Auto index ended up by (2.24%) or 57.16 points at 2,612.22 on hopes the government may announce some tax sops to the automobile sector in the forthcoming interim budget. Main gainers are M&M Ltd (7.04%), Apollo Tyre (2.91%), Maruti Suzuki (2.62%), Exide Industries (2.20%) and MRF Ltd (1.99%).

The BSE Pharma index dropped by (0.43%) or 11.70 points to close at 2,711.56. Sun Pharma (3.45%), IPCA Lab (1.59%), Bil Care (1.30%), Wockhardt (0.88%) and Dr Reddy’s Lab (0.79%) ended in red.

Siemens ended higher by 3.05%. The company has received a Rs. 212 crore order from Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to provide a power distribution package at the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in Orissa. The order includes designing, engineering, supply, civil work, erection, testing and commissioning of transmission lines and substations.

Reliance Infra is closed up by 3.51% after announcing a program for buy-back of equity shares for an aggregate amount of up to Rs. 700 crore, as approved by the shareholders of the company. The buy back will remain open up to mid April 2009 and will be made up to a maximum price of Rs 700 per share, a premium of 27% to the current market price.

Market upbeat 169 points


The market held firm above 9600 levels for almost the entire session, as strong US and Asian markets created a perfect platform for the bulls to pursue buying.




Undeterred by the slowdown in foreign institutional investor inflows, Sensex resumed 75 points higher at 9541 and advanced further on substantial buying. While gains continued unabated, buying spree in heavyweights, capital goods, banking, metal, public sector units and auto stocks propelled the index to an intra-day high of 9696 in noon trades. Sensex finally wrapped the session 169 points up at 9635, while Nifty fell short of 2 points to breach the 2950 mark and ended at 2948, up 55 points.

The market breadth was positive. Of the 2,531 stocks traded on the BSE 1,484 stocks advanced, 947 stocks declined and 100 stocks ended unchanged. All sectoral indices bar BSE HC ended positive. BSE Metal index was the major gainer and soared 2.63% followed by BSE Auto (up 2.27%), BSE Metal (up 2.27%) and BSE Realty (up 2.21%) etc.

Front-line stocks once again led the rally. Mahindra & Mahindra was the front-runner amongst the heavyweights and vaulted 7.05% at Rs321. Among the other major gainers ACC rose by 6.06% at Rs582.50, TISCO surged 4.88% at Rs194.50, DLF advanced 4.13% at Rs162.70, Reliance Communications scaled up 3.68% at Rs178.80, Maruti Suzuki India flared up 3.32% at Rs634 and ICICI Bank jumped 3.32% at Rs434.60. Reliance Infrastructure, Bharat Heavy Electricals, JP Associates, Reliance Industries, Sterlite Industries, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro gained over 2% each. Ranbaxy Laboratories however lost ground and tumbled 0.82% at Rs211, while Tata Power, Infosys & Bharti lost marginally.

Over 1.30 crore shares of Cals Refineries changed hands on BSE followed by Spice Communications (1.27 crore shares), Hexaware Technologies (1.27 crore shares), Wire & Wireless India Ltd (1.25 crore shares) and Dish TV (1.20 crore shares).

Budget Preview


Budget Preview

Realty, banking stocks lead 3.6% Sensex surge


Stocks
rose on expectations the forthcoming interim budget will contain fiscal incentives to revive sagging growth after official estimates showed the economy expanded at its slowest pace in six years.

The Congress party-led coalition government will unveil a mini general budget on 16 February 2009. Because of general elections due by May this year, a full budget for the 2009/10 financial year that begins in April is expected only later.

Stocks also got a boost after the central bank suggested interest rates may drop. Central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Sunday, 8 February 2009, there is room to adjust interest rates further to spur the economy. Interest rates were left unchanged at the Reserve Bank of India's review meet on 27 January 2009, after they were lowered to a record in early January this year to shield India from the global slump.

Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) rose 4.39% in the year through 31 January 2009, much lower than previous week's annual rise of 5.07%, data released by the government on 12 February 2009, showed.

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on 9 February 2009, pegged India's projected GDP growth for the year ending March 2009 at 7.1%, the slowest in six years and below the previous year's 9%. The CSO said manufacturing output growth was estimated at an annual 4.1%, half of the expansion in 2007/08 while farm output is seen at annual 2.6%, much lower than 4.9% growth in last year.

FII outflow in 2009 totaled Rs 3922.40 crore (till 12 February 2009). FIIs had pulled out a massive Rs 52,998.70 crore in calendar year 2008, as against an inflow of a huge Rs 71,486.50 crore in calendar year 2007.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 333.88 points or 3.59% to 9,634.74 in the week ended 13 February 2009. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 105.25 points or 3.70% at 2948.35 in the week.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 130.15 points or 4.51% to 3,012.95 and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 116.34 points or 3.55% to 3,395.58 in the week.

The barometer index BSE Sensex is 11572.03 points or 54.56% below its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

Stocks rose on 9 February 2009, on buying by foreign funds and on gains in some other emerging markets such as China and Taiwan. The BSE 30-share Sensex jumped 283.03 points, or 3.04%, to 9,583.89. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 76.80 points, or 2.7%, to 2,919.90.

Key benchmark indices extended gains on 10 February 2009 on hopes an interim budget will contain fiscal incentives to revive sagging growth. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 63.58 points or 0.66% to 9,647.47. The S&P CNX Nifty gained up 14.60 points or 0.5% to 2934.50.

Media reports of the finance ministry is drafting a proposal to remove the securities transaction tax (STT) and news that the Centre has eased some foreign direct investment (FDI) norms triggered a solid intrday rebound on bourses on 11 February 2009. The market, however, ended in the red. The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 28.93 points or 0.3%, to 9,618.54. The S&P CNX Nifty ended down 8.8 points, or 0.3%, to 2,925.70.

Sustained selling in index pivotals kept the market depressed, with key benchmark indices trading in the negative zone throughout the day on 12 February 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 152.71 points or 1.59%, to 9,465.83. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 32.65 points or 1.12% to 2,893.05.

Expectations of further rate cuts by the central bank and hopes of stimulus package for the economy in the interim general budget on Monday, 16 February 2009, lifted the bourses on 13 February 2009.. The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 168.91 points or 1.78%, to 9,634.74. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 55.30 points or 1.91% to 2,948.35.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 3.53% in the week. The company is set to begin gas sales from its fields off India's east coast this quarter.

Real estate companies rose on expectations for a government stimulus to lift sagging home demand. Unitech (up 11.56%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (up 12.2%), and DLF (up 16.25%), soared. The BSE Realty index rose 12.55% in the week.

Investors were bullish on bank stocks, betting on a rate cut next week that would boost treasury income and boost demand. ICICI Bank (up 6.7%), State Bank of India (up 6.8%), HDFC Bank (up 5.2%), and Axis Bank (up 9.1%), galloped. The BSE Bankex rose 5.48% in the week.

The RBI, on 5 February 2009, eased credit availability, extending forex swap facility for banks until the end of 2009/10 and raised interest rate ceiling on foreign currency export credit.

Auto stocks rose on hopes the government may announce some tax sops to the automobile sector in the forthcoming interim general budget. Tata Motors was unchanged at Rs 137.85, while Ashok Leyland (up 1.5%), TVS Motor Company (up 4.9%), Hero Honda Motor (up 6%), and Maruti Suzuki (up 8.7%), flared up. The BSE Auto index rose 6.72% in the week.

India's largest tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra soared 17.1% in the week. The company said on Friday, 13 February 2009, its board had approved transfer of land systems business and naval systems business of its Mahindra Defence Systems division into separate companies.

Shares of companies associated with Indian Railways rose soared on hopes of favourable announcements in the interim rail budget on Friday, 13 February 2009. Titagarh Wagons (up 29.8%), Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers (up 11.6%), Texmaco (up 26.8%), and Kernex Microsystems (up 36.2%), soared.

Indian Railways will invest Rs 2.3 lakh crore during the financial year to March 2010, the union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said in his speech while presenting the railway budget for 2009/10 on Friday, 13 February 2009. He also added that railways will introduce new wagons of higher capacity.

Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest steelmaker, rose 4.30%. The company reportedly expects February sales from Indian operations to rise by 10%-15% over January 2009 on continuing demand from the construction sector.

Interim budget to set the tone


Interim general budget for 2009-2010 which the government will unveil during trading hours on Monday, 16 February 2009, will set the tone for the stock market next week. Global markets also hold key for the domestic bourses. A recovery of the world economy and a thaw in the global financial markets could boost domestic stock markets as Indian firms need large sums of money to fund their capital expenditure plan.

Large funding is also required to the infrastructure required to sustained economic growth at around 8% and help reduce poverty, for which foreign capital is crucial. After a tough 2008, global markets have yet to convincingly recover amid doubts about the economic outlook, despite multi-pronged efforts by policy makers worldwide that have included tax cuts and lower interest rates. The occasional signs of hope -- such as an unexpected rebound in sales at US retailers in January 209 have been tempered by many other indicators of just how tough things are getting with the world's main engines of growth mired in recession.

Investors will keep an eye on the outcome of this weekend's G7 meeting of financial leaders, though little in terms of actual policy is expected to emerge. Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Friday, 13 February 2009, joined a growing call for G7 finance heads to take steps this weekend to rescue the worsening global economy.

Closer home, any disappointment from the interim general budget on 16 February 2009 may spark a sell-off as the market has witnessed a decent rebound from a recent low on expectations the acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would offer tax sops and sector-specific stimulus package to revive economic growth.

Realty stocks have surged in the past few days on reports the interim budget may announce tax sops aimed at boosting the housing sector, which has been identified as a potential driver for the economy and job creation during a slowdown. As things stand, taxpayers are allowed to deduct up to Rs 1.5 lakh of interest paid on home loans from their taxable income. This limit could be raised to Rs 2 lakh. This, if it happens, will enable those who have bought a house for self-use to save up to Rs 68,000 in tax. At present, the maximum anyone can save through this deduction is Rs 51,000.

Auto stocks have gained on hopes the government may announce some tax sops to the automobile sector. While an across-the-board 4% cut in excise in December 2008 makes any drastic concessions difficult, excise duty on big cars with engine capacities of 1200 cubic centimeter (cc) or more in petrol is likely to get reduced to 16% from the existing 20%, reports suggest.

Engineering and power sector-related shares have surged on hopes the government would step up spending on infrastructure projects.

Metal, realty shares help Sensex reverse two-day losing streak


Key benchmark indices, reversed two-day falling trend, on buying in metal, realty and capital goods shares. However, profit taking capped gains. The BSE Sensex rose 168.91 points or 1.78%, off 60.85 points from the day's high. Expectations of further rate cuts by the central bank and hopes of stimulus package for the economy in the interim general budget on Monday, 16 February 2009, lifted the bourses. Strong global cues further bolstered the sentiment.

There expectations of a government stimulus for the economy in the interim general budget
. The stock market expects the acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to offer tax sops and sector-specific stimulus package to revive growth when he presents the interim budget on Monday, 16 February 2009. The government has so far announced two stimulus packages including tax cuts and the capital injections for banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Thursday, 12 February 2009, it will continue to closely monitor the developments in the global and domestic financial markets and will take swift and effective action, as appropriate. Marketmen expect the RBI to cut policy rates further after the interim general budget

Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad presenting the interim railway budget 2009- 10 in the parliament today said the Railways will invest Rs 2.3 lakh crore in the year ending March 2010. Indian Railways generated a cash surplus of Rs 90,000 crore in the last five years. The Railway Minister announced fare cut in AC and mail express trains by 2% while keeping freight rates unchanged.

The railways posted a 13.17% increase in its total earning in April-January 2009 at Rs 64,876.34 crore, compared to Rs 57,327 crore in the corresponding period last year. While its freight revenue during this period jumped by 13.64% to Rs 44,016.26 crore, passenger revenue went up by 11.82% to Rs 18,042.82 crore.

Firm global markets aided gains in domestic stocks. European markets surged led by financials on news of a US plan to subsidise mortgage payments for troubled homeowners. Key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France were up by between 1.26% and 2.14%.

Asia-Pacific stocks surged on hopes that government efforts worldwide, including talks of a US subsidy for mortgage payments, would soften the blow of the global downturn. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and China rose by between 0.96% and 3.23%.

The All Ordinaries index in Australia surged 1.1% on approval of a A$42 billion ($27.4 billion) economic stimulus package.

US stocks rebounded nearly 3% from day's low in last one hour of trade to end mixed on Thursday, 12 February 2009, on reports the Obama administration was working on a new program to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.77 points, or 0.09% at 7,932.76. However the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.45 points, or 0.17% at 835.19 and the Nasdaq Composite index gained 11.21 points, or 0.73% to 1,541.71.

According to reports, the housing plan will use government money to help reduce interest rates for struggling borrowers, while asking lawmakers to approve more ways to modify mortgages. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner intends to announce the plan in coming days.

Meanwhile, US retail sales rose 1% in January 2009, for the first time in 7 months, beating economist's expectation of a decline. Another data showed, US Initial Jobless claims for the week ending 7 February 2009 fell 8,000 at 623,000, though they still remain near 26-year high.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 168.91 points or 1.78%, to 9,634.74. The Sensex opened points 74.77 higher at 9,540.60, also its day's low. At the day's high of 9,695.59, the Sensex gained 229.76 points in mid-afternoon trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty advanced 55.30 points or 1.91% to 2948.35. Nifty February 2009 futures were at 2940, at a discount of 8.35 points as compared to the spot closing.

Lingering worries about the slowing economy and disappointment from a US financial sector rescue plan had pulled the Sensex 1.88% lower to 9465.83 on 12 February 2009 from 9647.47 on 10 February 2009.

The barometer index BSE Sensex is down 12.57 points or 0.13% in the calendar 2009 from its close of 9,647.31 on 31 December 2008.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong on BSE with 1456 shares advancing as compared with 985 that declined. A total of 102 shares remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3088 crore, lower than Rs 3,212.26 crore on Thursday, 12 February 2009. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment rose to Rs 31,772.99 crore from Rs 31,424.42 crore on Thursday, 12 February 2009.

All sectoral indices on BSE logged gains except the BSE HealthCare index which fell 0.43%. The BSE FMCG index (up 0.43%), the BSE IT index (up 0.12%), the BSE PSU index (up 1.51%), BSE Teck index (up 1%), BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.18%), underperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Oil & Gas index (up 2.05%), BSE Metal index (up 2.80%), BSE Bankex (up 2.20%), BSE Realty index (up 2.29%), BSE Capital Goods index (up 2.49%), the BSE Auto index (up 2.24%), the BSE Power index (up 2.28%), outperformed the Sensex.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 24 advanced while the rest slipped. ACC (up 6.06%), Grasim (up 1.25%), and NTPC (up 1.11%), edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Ranbaxy (down 0.59%), Tata Power (down 0.47%), and Hindustan Unilever (down 0.02%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.

India's largest private sector company by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 2.69% to Rs 1388.10 on reports the company is lining up further $6 billion to develop nine satellite discoveries in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin.

India's largest oil exploration firm by sales Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 0.24% to Rs 696.50 on reports the company may offer a 15-20% stake in its planned petrochemical project in western India to GAIL (India). The stock came off day's high of Rs 714.35

Metal shares gained following rise in key base metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. India's largest private sector steel maker by sales Tata Steel jumped 4.88% to Rs 194.50 and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Tata Steel's managing director today said the company is not looking at new acquisitions as of now. He forecasts February 2009 sales to rise 10-15% over January 2009.

Hindalco (up 0.89%), Nalco (up 5.69%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.02%), Sesa Goa (up 2.03%), gained from the steel pack.

Sterlite Industries India gained 2.66% to Rs 276.10 after a block deal of 2.01 lakh shares constituting 0.03% of the company's equity was executed on NSE at Rs 276 per share.

Most IT pivotals gained on hopes that government efforts worldwide, including talk of a US subsidy for mortgage payments, would soften the blow of the global downturn. However, a firm rupee caped gained. TCS, India's largest software services exporter by sales rose 0.28%. India's third largest software services exporter, Wipro gained 0.31% after its ADR rose 2.55% on Thursday, 12 February 2009. However, India's second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies fell 0.19%.

IT firms derive a lion's share of revenue from exports. The rupee rose to 48.73/74 per dollar, from its previous close of 48.85/86, as gains in Asian stocks raised hopes of capital inflows to the domestic shares. A stronger rupee affects operating margin of IT firms negatively as they earn most of their revenues from exports.

India's top power equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) jumped 3.02% to Rs 1455 after its chairman said that the company expects to get a contract worth Rs 1000 crore from NTPC for a 500 megawatt power plant.

Investors were bullish on bank stocks, betting on a rate cut next week that would boost treasury income and boost demand. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 1.66% to Rs 947.25 as its ADR rose 2.68% on Thursday, 12 February 2009. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank gained 3.16% to Rs 434.60 on a 0.23% gain in its ADR on Thursday, 12 February 2009.

India's largest bank in terms of assets and branch network State Bank of India advanced 2.30% to Rs 1186.20.

Engineering, construction and power sector-related shares rose on hopes the government would step up spending on infrastructure projects. Lanco Infratech (up 2.46%), GVK Power & Infrastructure (up 3.76%), GMR Infrastructure (up 1.54%), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.14%), Jaiprakash Associates (up 3.01%), and IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects (up 5.70%), soared.

India's second largest private sector power generation firm by sales Reliance Infrastructure rose 3.19% to Rs 567.55 after it extended a share buyback plan. The company said it plans to spend Rs 700 crore to repurchase its shares at a price not exceeding Rs 700 a share. The buyback will start on 24 February 2009 and end on 16 April 2009. The earlier buyback, which ended 6 February 2009, was done at a price not exceeding Rs 1,600 a share.

Realty shares advanced on hopes the forthcoming interim budget may include sops to the housing sector. India's largest real estate firm by market capitalisation DLF rose 3.84% to Rs 162.25 despite reports the company has pulled out of its Rs 2800 crore satellite township project in West Bengal.

Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.17%), Anant Raj Industries (up 5%), and HDIL (up 2.15%), advanced.

As per reports, the government may announce tax sops aimed at boosting the housing sector, which has been identified as a potential driver for the economy and job creation during a slowdown. As things stand, taxpayers are allowed to deduct up to Rs 1.5 lakh of interest paid on home loans from their taxable income. This limit could be raised to Rs 2 lakh. This, if it happens, will enable those who have bought a house for self-use to save up to Rs 68,000 in tax. At present, the maximum anyone can save through this deduction is Rs 51,000.

Another possible sop for the housing sector could be reintroduction of Sec 80IA, under which corporates building dwelling units of less than 1,000 square feet area were exempted from tax on the profits from these units. This move may prompt developers towards constructing smaller houses, making houses more affordable for the lower segment of the market.

Auto stocks gained on hopes the government may announce some tax sops to the automobile sector in the forthcoming interim budget on Monday, 16 February 2009.

India's top tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 7.05% to Rs 321 and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Tata Motors (up 1.43%), Hero Honda Motors (up 1.75%), Maruti Suzuki (up 3.32%), gained.

While an across-the-board 4% cut in excise in December 2008 makes any drastic concessions difficult, excise duty on big cars with engine capacities of 1200 cubic centimeter (cc) or more in petrol is likely to get reduced to 16% from the existing 20%.

India's largest pharma firm by market capitalisation Sun Pharma slipped 3.67% to Rs 1065 on profit booking. The stock rose 5.44% to Rs 1105.55 in one week to 12 February 2009

India's largest cellular services provider Bharti Airtel fell 0.18% to Rs 649.25, off day's high of Rs 662. As per recent reports, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has sought clarification from Bharti Airtel for not declaring the income from bundling handsets along with connections as part of revenue, meant to be shared with the DoT.

Shares of companies associated with Indian Railways pared gains on profit booking post the announcement of the interim rail budget by the Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav today.

Hind Rectifiers (up 0.41% to Rs 36.90, off day's high of Rs 43.30), Container Corporation of India (down 0.80% to Rs 671.75, off day's high of Rs 705), BEML (down 1.49% to Rs 389 off day's high of Rs 417), Titagarh Wagons (down 7.36% to Rs 228.35 off day's high of Rs 268.55), Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers (down 3.19% to Rs 141.20 off day's high of Rs 165.70), Texmaco (up 9.67% to Rs 63.50 off day's high of Rs 67), and Kernex Microsystems (down 1.98% to Rs 84.05 off day's high of Rs 94.30).

Sugar shares surged after global ratings firm Fitch said yesterday evening said the sugar prices may extend gains because of a supply deficit. Bajaj Hindustan (up 5.01%), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 5.49%), and Shree Renuka Sugars (up 9.84%), advanced.

Production in the world's second-biggest producer India, may drop to between 17 million tonnes and 18 million tonnes in the year to 30 September 2009 from 26.3 million tonnes a year earlier, just short of meeting domestic demand, Fitch report said.

United Spirits was the top traded counter on BSE with a turnover of Rs 207.35 crore followed by Educomp Solutions (Rs 197.40 crore), Reliance Inudysries (Rs 138 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 136.40 crore) and Spice Communications (Rs 112.15 crore).

Spice Communications was the volume topper on BSE clocking volumes of 1.27 crore shares followed by Hexaware Technologies (1.27 crore), Wire & Wireless (1.25 crore), Dish TV (1.20 crore) and Unitech (1.18 crore).

Pre Session Commentary - Feb 13 2009


Today domestic markets are likely to open positive and bounce back as Asian markets have opened in green. The US markets have also showed some sign of recovery from its early losses as the US government is likely to come out with a plan to backup the mortgage industry. The inflation numbers were good as it fell further to 4.39% during the week ended January 31 from 5.07% a week earlier. As the railway budget is likely to create a feel good factor ahead of interim budget one may witness some trend in today''s trade.

On Thursday, the markets opened with a negative gap on the back of weak cues from other Asian markets, which was further dragged by the poor IIP data. The sentiments across the markets were not encouraging since the opening bell as investors were just waiting with sheer fear of the IIP data. After the IIP data was announced during the mid session, the markets were engulfed by the fire of pessimism and selling pressure. The IIP data for the month of December was worst than expected as it contracted by 2% against a 8% growth witnessed in December 2007. Manufacturing production fell by 2.5%. The WPI index for the week ended Jan 31 has relaxed to 4.39% as against 5.07% recorded in the previous year. Sectors like IT, Teck, Oil & Gas, CG and Bankex were brutally slaughtered as they lost 2.46%, 2.27%, 1.85%, 1.30% and 1.15% respectively. On the other hand Realty and Auto made remarkable gains of 1.30% and 0.94% respectively. Mid caps and Small caps managed to shield the heat as investors resorted to bottom fishing. The indices gained 0.10% and 0.71% respectively. During the session we expect the markets to be trading positive. The market will take further directions as the interim Rail budget is scheduled later today. Lalu Prasad Yadav is expected to present the railway budget, by slashing some passenger fares and announcing of some new trains.

The BSE Sensex closed low by 152.71 points at 9,465.83 and NSE Nifty ended with a loss of 32.65 points at 2,893.05. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with gains of 2.97 points and 23.82 points at 2,968.11 and 3,374.79 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 9,580.13 and intraday low of 9,445.54.

Thursday, the US stock markets bounced late in the session and closed in mixed on the back of a report that the U.S. government is considering a new plan to subsidize mortgage payments for homeowners, helping troubled banks such as Bank of America and Citigroup pare their losses. Further some better than expected economic reports and earnings results also led the markets to rally in the last hour of trading. US light crude oil for March delivery fell by $1.96 to settle at $33.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 6.77 points to close at 7,932.76. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index increased by 11.21 points to close at 1,541.71 and the S&P 500 (SPX) grew by 1.45 points to close at 835.19.

Indian ADRs ended mostly higher. In technology sector, Wipro ended up by 2.55% along with Infosys by 0.30%. Further, Satyam ended with decrease of 4.47% and Patni Computers closed down by 7.41%. In banking sector HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank gained 2.68% and 0.23% respectively. In telecommunication sector, MTNL and Tata Communication advanced by 1.89% and 3.18% respectively. Sterlite Industries increased by 0.92%.

Today major stock markets in Asia are trading up. Shanghai composite is higher by 16.3 points to 2,264.40, Japan''s Nikkei is also up by 113.60 points at 7,818.96. Hang Seng gained 193.84 points at 13,422.14, South Korea''s Seoul Composite is up by 4.28 points at 1,184.12 and Singapore''s Strait Times is higher by 16.26 points to 1,701.22.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net sellers in equity and net sellers in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 920.10 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 1,020.60 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 1,034.30 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 560.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs (114.20) Crore and Rs 460.60 Crore respectively.

On Thursday, the Indian rupee closed at 48.85/86, 0.3% weaker than its previous close of 48.69/70. The rupee depreciated as Dollar stood stronger than other currencies across the world and the domestic stock markets plummeted due to worse IIP data.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 34.83 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 3,212.26 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 68.09 Crore and total turnover was Rs 7995.29 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with 66039458 shares, DLF with 18571261 shares, Suzlon Energy with 14226360 shares, SAIL with total volume traded 11300421 shares followed by Reliance Comm with 10467244 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 712214 with a total turnover of Rs 9,560.62 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 868601 with a total turnover of Rs 8,149.89 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 883369 with a total turnover of Rs. 12,950.11 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 70520 and notional turnover was Rs 763.79 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 2,881 and resistance at 2,957 and BSE Sensex has support at 9,402 and resistance at 9,602.

Stocks seen upbeat on firm Asian cues; Lalu's Railway Budget eyed


Key benchmark indices are likely to open higher on firm Asian markets today, 13 February 2009. Us markets staged a late pullback to end mixed overnight. The SGX Nifty futures for February 2009 series rose 33.50 points in Singapore. Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's Railway Budget will be the key event to watch out for the day.

Lalu Prasad, who managed to keep passengers fares in check for the last five years, is expected to announce populist measures in the form slashing passenger fares and announcing new trains, when he presents his sixth Railway Budget in Parliament at around 12:00 IST today, 13 February 2009.

Meanwhile hopes the finance minister will present a populist budget ahead of the general elections, in his interim budget for 2009-10 on 16 February 2009, loom large. Street expects the acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to offer tax sops and sector-specific stimulus package to revive growth. The government has so far announced two stimulus packages including tax cuts and the capital injections for banks.

Asian markets were trading higher tracking Wall Street cues. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei gained 113.60 points, or 1.47%, to 7,818.96, Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index went up 131.70 points, or 1%, to trade at 13,360, China`s Shanghai Composite rose 18.21 points, or 0.81%, to trade at 2,266.30, Taiwan`s Taiex index climbed 86.26 points, or 1.93%, to trade at 4,552.68, South Korea`s Kospi index fell 5.15 points, or 0.44%, to trade at 1,174.69 and Singapore`s Straits Times advanced 12.97 points, or 0.77%, to trade at 1,697.93.

US stocks staged a late rally to close mixed on Thursday, 12 February 2009, after reports the Obama administration was working on a program to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 6.77 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 7,932.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.45 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 835.19 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 11.21 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 1,541.71.

According to reports, the housing plan will use government money to help reduce interest rates for struggling borrowers, while asking lawmakers to approve more ways to modify mortgages. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner intends to announce the plan in coming days.

Back home, sustained selling in index pivotals kept the market depressed, with key benchmark indices trading in the negative zone throughout the day on Thursday, 12 February 2009. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 152.71 points or 1.59%, to 9,465.83 anf the S&P CNX Nifty shed 32.65 points or 1.12% to 2,893.05.

According to provisional data on NSE, FIIs were net sellers worth Rs 185.32 crore while mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 84.37 crore on Thursday, 12 February 2009.

Market may remain volatile


The market may witness cautious trend as US indices closed on a mixed trend yesterday and Asian indices are exhibiting firm note in the morning trades. Although the bias remains positive, investors should maintain caution as profit taking at higher levels may pull down the market. The market is likely to remain under pressure on account of unwinding of position ahead of February series derivative contracts. Among the local indices the Nifty could test 2850 and 2800 on the downside while on the upper side it may move up to 2950. The Sensex has a likely support at 9300 and may face resistance at 9600.

US indices remained flat on Thursday, influenced by the report that the Obama administration is putting together a plan to subsidize mortgages for troubled homeowners. While the Dow Jones lost 8 points to close at 7933, the Nasdaq advanced by 11 points at 1542.

Except Patni Computers & Satyam which fall with loss of over 4-7% all the Indian ADRs traded firm on the US bourses. MTNL, Wipro, Dr Reddy, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank & Rediff led the pack with gains of 2-3% each while VSNL, Infosys and ICICI Bank gained marginally.

In the crude oil front, the Nymex light crude oil for March 09 series lost by $1.96 to close at $33.98 per barrel. The bullion Comex gold for April delivery raised $4.70 to settle at $950 a troy ounce.

Daily Trading Calls - Feb 13 2009






Nifty (2893) Sup 2855 Res 2940

Buy Aban Offshore (444) SL 438 Target 454, 458

Buy Rel Infra (550) SL 544
Target 560, 563

Buy Hero Honda (916) SL 910
Target 930, 933

Buy CESC (233) SL 229
Target 240, 242

Sell Cairn (160) SL 163
Target 154, 153

Daily News Roundup - Feb 13 2009


RIL has written to petroleum ministry raising objection for sale of gas to NTPC. (ET)

The Satyam board has begun the formal procedure to invite bids from potential suitors for company. (BS)

RIL scales up its KG basin investment by US$6bn. (ET)

Cairn India calls off exploration in Ganga basin after failing to trace oil reserve. (FE)

Citi Financial shuts down 280 branches; it has further discontinued auto loan financing activity. (FE)

DLF has withdrawn from Rs50bn Dankuni township project in West Bengal. (ET)

Bharti Airtel signs agreements with Microsoft and Nivio to offer software solution to its customers. (ET)

Rithwik Projects and SEW Infrastructure, two Hyderabad based companies in race to buy Maytas Infra. (ET)

ONGC Videsh may forgo two highly prospective deep-sea oil blocks in Nigeria as it is unlikely to get government approval for the payment of US$485mn signing amount before the March 6 deadline. (BS)

Marico and Emami in race to acquire two premium soap brands Aramusk and Moloy. (FE)

Reliance Power is hopeful of achieving the financial closure for the 4,000MW Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh within a fortnight. (BS)

Reliance Power gets letter of intent for Tilaiya project. (BL)

Tata Communications announced a US$430mn strategic investment plan for the Asia-Pacific region to set up a new Internet Data Centre in Singapore and complete the main segments of its TGN Asia Cable System. (BL)

BEL’s order book grew around 4% to Rs100bn during the first 10 months of the current financial year-ended December 31, 2008. (BS)

BEML targets Rs1bn orders from offset business. (BS)

Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, Vishal Retail and other retailers might sell stake in subsidiaries to take advantage of the new foreign direct investment (FDI) norms. (BS)

Arvind has defaulted on its interest payments to lenders in January.

Apollo Tyres to lay off 1,500 casual employees. (BS)

Infotech Enterprises Japan KK, a subsidiary of Infotech Enterprises Ltd, has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to provide engineering services support. (BL)

Azim Premji invest fund is likely to bail out Subhiksha. (ET)

Renault is reviewing plans for its factory in Chennai and may even completely abandon the project. (BL)





IIP contracted 2% in December, 2008, compared to 8% growth in the year-ago month, falling into negative territory for the second time in the current fiscal. (BS)

The inflation rate for the week ended January 31 dropped to 4.39% as compared with 5.07% in the previous week. (BS)

Railway minister may slash AC-III and general fares by 10% in his interim budget. (ET)

Interim budget may hold out goodies for VCs, exporters and infrastructure companies. (ET)

Public sector banks seek right to appeal in tribunals and high courts in income tax cases. (BS)

Sugar output this year is estimated to nosedive to approximately 17mn tons as against the previous forecast of 18mn tons and last year’s output of 26.3mn tons. (BS)

MRTPC has ordered a probe into the sudden hike in air fares by domestic airlines. (ET)

National Housing Bank (NHB), the regulator for housing finance companies, has initiated a review of the books of the home loan providers under its ambit to assess the extent of real estate funding and the end-use of funds. (BS)

The division bench of the Karnataka High Court circuit bench has suspended the stay order granted by the court on granting lease for mining in forest area. (BS)

Popular Express chugs in


Everybody's private motto: It's better to be popular than right.

Populist measures may be signaled off today with the interim railway budget doling out some stuff to keep voters on track. At the same time, the Government will incorporate further stimulus measures to accelerate economic growth during the vote-on-account on Monday. There may be some sops for sectors like Housing, Infra, IT, Auto and export-centric industries. Some tinkering with indirect taxes may also be on the cards to bolster spending. As a result, the market may turn a little higher after this week’s setback.

We expect the key indices to pull back after Thursday’s fall. The US market erased losses and turned higher late in the session on reports that the Obama regime was preparing a plan to subsidize mortgages of troubled home owners. European indices fell for a third straight day on Thursday. The good thing for India is that most Asian markets are up smartly this morning.

However, the overall mood still remains glum and any advance is unlikely to sustain for long. For now ride the Popular Express but don’t forget to get off when you reach your destination.

US stocks reversed most of their losses and turned higher in late session on Friday amid market talk that the Obama administration was firming up a new rescue plan to help troubled home owners.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6 points, or 0.1%, to close at 7,932.76, closing below 8,000 for the third straight session. The Dow had lost as much as 245 points in the afternoon, hitting its lowest level since Nov. 21 - considered by many to be the low of the bear market.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished flat, up a measly 0.2%, at 835.19. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 11 points, or 0.7%, to end at 1,541.71.

Questions about the bank bailout plan and economic stimulus bill dragged on US stocks throughout the session on Thursday. The selling gained steam after the release of a bleak report on home prices.

But stock benchmarks erased losses and the Nasdaq turned higher after reports surfaced that the Obama administration is working on a plan to modify home loans, a move that could help stabilize the flailing industry.

US stocks had risen on Wednesday, finding momentum at the end of a choppy session, after lawmakers announced that the Senate and House had reached a compromise deal on a $789bn economic stimulus package. The bill is expected to be voted on by the two houses on Friday, meeting President Obama's goal of having it on his desk to sign by on Monday, Presidents Day.

Thursday morning, the National Association of Realtors said that home prices fell 12.4% in the fourth quarter of last year. The decline left prices at the lowest level since 2003.

Another report showed that unemployment claims fell last week, but remained near a 26-year high. The government reported that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell by 8,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 623,000.

The Commerce Department released its January retail sales report. Retail sales rose 1% after falling for six straight months, fueling skepticism from economists. Economists thought sales would fall 0.8% in the month. Sales, excluding volatile autos, rose 0.9% versus forecasts for a drop of 0.4%.

Investors continued to react to the Obama administration's bank bailout plan announced earlier in the week, which was seen by critics as lacking details. On Wednesday, Geithner testified before the Senate Budget Committee, but was vague on details. Also on Wednesday, executives at eight of the largest financial institutions testified before a House committee regarding how they are using the bailout money they've already been given.

Big bank shares cut losses, but remained in the red on Thursday, despite the broad market turnaround. The KBW Bank Sector index fell 2.8%. General Electric (GE) shares continued to trade in tune with the financial sector, as investors focused on the prospects for its GE Capital unit.

A bright spot was Dow component Coca-Cola which rallied after it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, thanks to strong global sales. Its shares rose 7.6%.

Select technology shares gained, lifting the Nasdaq, including Qualcomm, Dell and Apple.

Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.78% from 2.79% on Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Lending rates were unchanged. The 3-month Libor rate held steady at 1.23%, according to Bloomberg.com. The overnight Libor rate held steady at 0.30%. Libor is a bank lending rate.

US light crude oil for March delivery fell $1.96 to settle at $33.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices rose 1.2 cents to a national average of $1.952 a gallon.

The dollar gained against the euro and the yen. COMEX gold for April delivery rose $4.70 to $949.20 an ounce.

Friday's economic report of note is the University of Michigan's February consumer sentiment index. The index is expected to have weakened to 60.2 from 61.5 in the previous month, according to a consensus of economists.

European shares fell for the third session in a row, with downbeat results from top firms like BT Group, Capgemini and EdF contributing to a bearish view over the global economy.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 1.3% to 190.64, bringing 12-month losses to 41%.

The economic difficulties were underlined with data showing euro-zone industrial output dropped 12% in December.

The French CAC-40 index declined 2.1% to 2,964.34, falling back under the 3,000 level, Germany's DAX 30 index dropped 2.7% to 4,407.56 and the UK's FTSE 100 index fell 0.8% to 4,202.24.

It was second straight trading session where markets ended in the red. Weak global cues coupled with poor Industrial Production numbers dragged the Indian bourses lower. Even, a sharp fall in inflation figures failed to prop up the sentiments on Dalal Street.

The IT, telecom, oil & gas and capital goods stocks were under pressure. However, on the other hand, the realty and auto stocks were demand.

Finally, the Sensex marginally slipped 168 points to close at 9,465 and the Nifty slipped 32 points to close at 2,893.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 22 stocks ended in the negative terrain and 8 stocks ended in the green. The major losers in the Sensex were JP Associates, Ranbaxy, Bharti, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Maruti.

Shares of Patni slipped by 2.7% to Rs109. The group posted a flattish net profit of Rs4380.10mn for the Year ended December 31, 2008 as compared to Rs4836.30mn for the Year ended December 31, 2007.

Total Income increased from Rs27750.30mn for the Year ended December 31, 2007 to Rs32476.10mn for the Year ended December 31, 2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs116 and a low of Rs108 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Archies and Vintage cards attracted buying interest ahead of Valentines Day on 14th February.

Archies pared early gains and ended flat at Rs49.4, the stock had hit an intra-day high of Rs53.8 and recorded volumes of over 55,000 shares on BSE. While, Vintage Cards advanced by 2.5% to Rs14.5 and recorded volumes of over 8,000 shares on the BSE.

Shares of Dhanus Technologies surged by over 3% to Rs18. The company announced that it promoters pledge 39.82% stake. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs18.3 and a low of Rs17.5 and recorded volumes of over 65,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Tata Power slipped by 1.5% to Rs797. According to reports, the company announced that it would import 7mn ton coal for its proposed power plants. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs809 and a low of Rs792 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.

Shares of Spice Tele sky rocketed on Thursday not withstanding market regulator SEBI’s move to probe the unusual price movement in the stock in the recent trading sessions.

The stock shot up by over 50% to Rs78.8 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs83 and an intra-day low of Rs49 recording volumes of 10mn shares on the BSE.

Another shocker was the unusual price surge seen in Hexaware. The stock shot up by over 65% at Rs33 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs42 and a low of Rs20 and recorded volumes of over 10mn shares on BSE.

Shares of Power Grid Corp surged by voer 5% to Rs91 after the MSCI announced that it add Power Grid to the emerging market index from February 27.

On the other hand, Satyam Computers would be excluded fro the MSCI index, however it would be added to the emerging market small-cap index, the stock fell 1.5% to Rs46.1.

SGX Nifty Live Update - Feb 13 2009


SGX Nifty at 2,917.0 and is trading +30.5 points

HEG


We recommend a buy in the stock of HEG from a short-term trading perspective. It is apparent from the charts of HEG that after encountering resistance at around Rs 293 in August 2008, it resumed its downtrend. Since then, the stock was on an intermediate-term downtrend till it found support at Rs 102 in late January 2009. A significant long-term support is present at Rs 100 for the stock. We observe the formation of a falling wedge pattern, spanning the period from late October. The stock is currently testing the upper resistance level of the pattern. The daily moving average convergence and divergence indicator is displaying positive divergence. The weekly relative strength index also is displaying a prolonged positive divergence. Moreover, the price rate of change indicator is rising in the positive territory indicating buying interest. We are bullish on the stock from a short-term horizon. We anticipate it to penetrate the upper resistance level and move up until it hits our price target of Rs 119. Traders with short-term perspective can buy the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 101.

via BL

Gold moves up again


Gold rises for third straight day while silver drops marginally

Gold prices went up substantially for the third straight day on Thursday, 12 February, 2009. Anticipation that the bailout plan for banks and stimulus package for overall economy will increase inflation continued to increase the appeal of the precious metals as alternate investment. Prices rose to almost seven month high. Silver prices ended little lower today.

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 Thursday, Comex Gold for February delivery rose $4.7 (0.5%) to close at $948.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose to a high of $952.8 earlier during the day. The more active April contract rose to a high of $949.2 today. Last week, gold prices ended down by 1.5%. For January, 2009, gold had gained 3.9%. Year to date, gold prices are higher by 7.1%.

On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce. But prices have dropped significantly (13%) since then.

On Thursday, Comex silver futures for March delivery fell marginally to end at $13.51 an ounce. Year to date, silver has climbed 19% this year. For 2008, silver had lost 24%.

There was a mixed batch of economic reports on Wall Street on Thursday. While, the number of first time jobless claims registered a drop last week after a long time, on the other hand, retailers registered an increase in sales after quite a long time on a yearly basis.

In Washington, final touches continued to be given to the $789 billion stimulus plan which is supposed to go for vote in the weekend.

In 2008, gold prices ended higher by 5.5%. The dollar index had gained 12% that year.

Last year, the weakening dollar and higher global demand for raw materials had led to records for commodities including gold. Gold reached a record in March 2008 as a U.S. housing slump and credit crisis spurred the Federal Reserve to slash borrowing costs. In the last move, the Federal Reserve has cuts its target bank lending rate to 0.25% from 5.25% in September, 2007. The Fed did it in nine steps.

Prior to 2008, gold had witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007 as lower interest rates had sent the dollar tumbling, and crude-oil prices rose to a record. Silver had climbed 16% in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed higher by Rs 95 (0.64%) at Rs 14,785 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 14,824 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 14,580 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for March delivery closed Rs 128 (0.6%) higher at Rs 21,314/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 21,176/kg and rose to a high of Rs 21,575/Kg during the day's trading.

Crude continues to plunge


Prices end lower for fifth straight day

Oil prices ended lower for fifth consecutive day on Thursday, 12 February, 2009. Prices ended lower as Energy Department had yesterday reported larger than expected build up in crude inventories for the last week. Prices also fell as US stocks slipped today during earlier part of the day.

On Thursday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery closed at $33.98/barrel (lower by $1.96 or 5.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has shed 17% in the last five sessions.

Prices reached a high of $147 on 11 July, 2008 but have dropped almost 77% since then. Year to date, in 2009, crude prices are lower by 26.3%. On a yearly basis, crude prices are lower by 67%.

EIA had reported yesterday that crude inventories excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve gained 4.7 million barrels to 350.8 million barrels in the week ended 6 February, 2009. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose to 34.9 million, the highest level on record.

As per the report, total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 19.8 million barrels per day, down by 1.3% compared to the similar period last year. Meanwhile, U.S. refineries operated at 81.6% of their operable capacity last week, the lowest in four months. EIA had also reported that gasoline stockpiles fell by 2.6 million barrels while distillate fuels, which include diesel and heating oil, declined by 1 million barrels.

In the stocks marker today, US stocks were steeply down earlier during the day before recovering in the final hour. Stocks regained momentum after news hit the wires that Obama administration is working on a plan to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners.

Paris based, IEA had reported yesterday that this year's global oil demand will fall by 1 million barrels a day, or 1.1%, from last year. If realized, it will be the biggest yearly drop since 1982. The IEA cited a worsening economic outlook across all regions as the reason for the weakness in oil demand.

Crude prices had ended FY 2008 lower by 54%, the largest yearly loss since trading began at Nymex.

OPEC has been trying to cut production consistently in order to step up prices from their current low levels. OPEC agreed to reduce production by a record amount of 2.2 million barrels a day, starting from 1 January, 2009 adding to previous cuts of 2 million barrels. Overall, the reduction is equal to about 5% of the world's oil demand.

Against this background, March reformulated gasoline lost 0.9% to $1.2583 a gallon while March heating oil gained 0.4% to $1.3218 a gallon.

March natural-gas futures fell 2.2% to $4.432 per million British thermal units.

At the MCX, crude oil for February delivery closed at Rs 1,713/barrel, lower by Rs 107 (5.9%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for February delivery closed at Rs 219.2/mmbtu, lower by Rs 6.3/mmbtu (2.8%).

Valuations, HT Media, HPCL, BPCL, IOC, Real Estate


Valuations, HT Media, HPCL, BPCL, IOC, Real Estate

Sterlite Industries, Pantaloon Retail, India Telecom, Banking, Valuations, Consumer Products


Sterlite Industries, Pantaloon Retail, India Telecom, Banking, Valuations, Consumer Products

OnMobile Global, ACC


OnMobile Global, ACC

Top 50 Pledging Promoters


Top 50 Pledging Promoters

Pantaloon promoters pledge shares


Future Group firm Pantaloon Retail today said 12 of its promoters, including Managing Director Kishore Biyani, have pledged 3.10 crore shares representing a 19.49 per cent stake in the firm.

In a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Pantaloon said Biyani, who is also CEO of Future Group, has pledged 11.30 lakh shares or 0.71 per cent stake in the retail entity.

Another promoter group firm Pantaloon Industries, has pledged 5.70 per cent stake consisting 90.76 lakh shares in the company.

At the end of December quarter, 15 promoters held a total of 46.50 per cent stake in Pantaloon Retail, including Kishore Biyani's 5.15 per cent, as per information on the BSE website.

Further, 10 other promoters -- including Gopikishan Biyani (1.32 per cent), Vijay Biyani (1.73 per cent), Sunil Biyani (1.41 per cent), PFH Entertainment (2.67 per cent) and Manz Retail (2.51 per cent)-- have pledged the remaining 13.08 per cent stake to the lenders.

Calculated on today's market price of Pantaloon Retail, the pledging would have fetched the promoters about Rs 547 crore.

Shares of Pantaloon Retail closed at Rs 176.30, up 7.47 per cent on the BSE.

Leela promoters pledge shares


Hotel Leelaventure today said its two promoters have pledged 7.88 crore shares representing 20.87 per cent stake in the company.

In a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Hotel Leelaventure said its two promoters -- Leela Lace Holdings and Leela Scottish Lace -- have pledged 7.88 crore shares.

Leela Lace Holdings has pledged 6.02 crore shares, whereas Leela Scottish Lace pledged the remaining 1.86 crore shares, the company said.

Meanwhile, in a separate filing to the BSE, the hotel chain firm said it has bought back 1 per cent euro foreign currency convertible bonds worth 8.25 euro (nearly Rs 51.76 crore).

Shares of Hotel Leelaventure today closed at Rs 19.70, up 2.34 per cent on the BSE.