Market seen halting four-day gains; RIL, Cairn India results eyed

Weak Asian markets are likely to derail a four-day 2.39% rally in the BSE Sensex. Trading of S&P CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates a fall of 32 points at the opening bell. RIL announces Q4 results while Cairn India reports FY 2012 results today, 20 April 2012.

ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank have reportedly cut their deposit and lending rates by 25 basis points.

Hindalco Industries reportedly plans to raise Rs 3000 crore in 10-year bonds at 9.55%.

Ambuja Cement reported a 23% fall in net profit to Rs 312 crore on 19% rise in net sales to Rs 2633 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2012 over the quarter ended 31 March 2011.



Aviation stocks may be in demand on reports the finance ministry on Thursday has announced policy changes for the airline industry, allowing them to raise additional low-cost capital through external commercial borrowings (ECBs). Now, airline companies can borrow through the ECB route up to $300 million each with a maximum ceiling of up to $1 billion for the entire sector.

Key benchmark indices gained for the fourth straight day on Thursday, 19 April 2012 to settle at highest level in more than two weeks as firm European stocks supported domestic bourses. The BSE Sensex was up 111.32 points or 0.64% to 17,503.71, its highest closing level since 3 April 2012.

India's exports grew by 21% to $303.7 billion in the year ended March 2012 over the year ended March 2011, while imports shot up by 32.1% to $488.6 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $184.9 billion. This is the highest trade deficit and is a serious concern, the report released on Thursday, 19 April 2012 said.

A report citing union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Wednesday, 18 April 2012 reiterated that there was no irregularity in allotment of coal blocks and said the UPA government had followed the standard set by the previous NDA regime in making the allotments. Jaiswal said there were 54 blocks up for auction. Of them, 12 are for commercial mining, two for steel and 16 for power. Remaining 24 mines will be auctioned. The report added that the coal minister expects auction would be completed within two months to make the process of allotment more transparent and facilitating more producers in the field. He denied any scam in the allotment of coal blocks and said the irregularities were noticed in the past.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, 18 April 2012, issued a notification to reduce the bank rate or the interest the banks and financial institutions pay to the central bank on borrowed funds to 9% from 9.5% with effect from 17 April 2012. The cut in bank rate follows the announcement made by RBI governor D Subbarao in the annual credit policy 2012-13 which was unveiled on Tuesday, 17 April 2012.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual monetary policy for 2012-13 on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 cut repo rate, by a sharper-than-expected 50 basis points to give a boost to flagging economic growth. The RBI, however, warned that there is limited scope for further rate cuts. The RBI left unchanged the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the share of deposits that banks must hold with the central bank, at 4.75%, in line with expectations, after cutting it by 125 basis points since January 2012 to ease tight market liquidity. The RBI said its baseline expectation for GDP growth in the fiscal year that ends in March 2013 is 7.3%, compared with an expected 6.9% in the year ended March 2012. It expects headline inflation to end the year at 6.5%, with little deviation expected during the year. The RBI had raised rates 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 as it struggled to contain price pressures.

Retail inflation spurted to 9.47% in March 2012 because of higher prices of milk, vegetables, protein-based items and edible oil products, as per the government data released on Tuesday, 18 April 2012. Retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 8.83% in February. Inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 8.79% and 10.30% respectively in March 2012. According to the revised data, the inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 8.36% and 9.45% respectively in February 2012.

Data released on Monday, 16 April 2012 showed wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased to 6.89% in March 2012 compared to the previous month's 6.95% and 9.68% during the corresponding month of the previous year. The government also revised upwards the January inflation number to 6.89% from the earlier 6.55%.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 102.46 crore on Thursday, 19 April 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Investors are closely watching India Inc's Q4 March 2012 and year ending March 2012 (FY 2012) earnings. Focus is on the guidance provided by the management for the year ending March 2013 (FY 2013) to gauge the earnings outlook.

TCS unveils FY 2012 results on 23 April 2012. Sesa Goa unveils Q4 results on 24 April 2012. Wipro and Sterlite Industries India unveil their Q4 results on 25 April 2012.

ICICI Bank unveils FY 2012 results on 27 April 2012. Axis Bank Jindal Steel & Power and Siemens unveil quarterly results on the same day. Maruti Suzuki India unveils FY 2012 results on 28 April 2012. FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever unveils FY 2012 results on 1 May 2012. Housing finance major HDFC announces FY 2012 results on 7 May 2012. Ranbaxy Laboratories will declare its Q1 March 2012 results on 9 May 2012. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces FY 2012 results on 11 May 2012.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted by media on Tuesday as saying that the monetary policy announcement should help revive investment and strengthen business sentiment. He also promised that in coming weeks additional steps would be taken to reinforce the focus on growth. But, Mukherjee vowed there would be no slippage on the fiscal deficit front.

Asian markets fell on Friday as disappointing US economic data reignited fears about the strength of recovery while the return of the euro zone debt crisis also kept riskier assets under pressure. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by between 0.01% to 1.28%. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.08%.

The Spanish Treasury on Thursday sold €2.54 billion ($3.33 billion) in bonds dated 2014 and 2022, which was more than expected, but its borrowing costs rose. The Treasury had been targeting a range of €1.5 billion to €2.5 billion for the auction. The yield on the 10-year auction rose to 5.74% from 5.403% at a prior auction of similar paper in January.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) offered a cautiously optimistic view on global growth and raised its 2012 global growth forecast to 3.5% from 3.3%, citing improved activity in the United States and receding worries about Europe's sovereign debt crisis. But it said on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 risks remain high and the situation is very fragile. The IMF also warned it did not see Spain meeting its deficit goals this year or next.

US stocks declined on Thursday as macro economic data showed more signs of weakness. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.65 points, or 0.53%, to 12,964.10. The S&P 500 index dropped 8.22 points, or 0.59%, to 1,376.92. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 23.89 points, or 0.79%, to 3,007.56