Inflation at 6.84%

New Delhi (IANS): India's annual rate of inflation dropped further to 6.84 per cent for the week ended December 6 from 8 per cent the week before, government data showed on Thursday.

The sharp drop was triggered largely by the drop in petrol and diesel prices, analysts said.

The inflation rate was 3.84 per cent during the corresponding week last year.

The official wholesale price index (WPI) for all commodities during the week declined by 1.1 per cent to 231.1 points from 233.6 points the week before.

Data on wholesale prices released by the commerce and industry ministry showed that the index for primary articles declined 0.4 per cent to 249 points, from 249.9 points the previous week.

The index for food articles declined by 0.5 per cent while that of non-food articles rose marginally to 234.6 points (provisional) from 234.4 points (provisional) during the week under review.

The index for fuels and lubricants also declined by 3.7 percent to 332.1 points (provisional) from 345 (provisional) the previous week.

The index for the manufacturing sector declined by 0.3 percent to 202.4 points (provisional) from 203.1 (provisional) for the previous week.

Courtesy: hindu.com

Cheers for Sensex - Close over 10000 mark

MUMBAI: Benchmarks were at day’s highs and around crucial support levels after more than expected decline in inflation lifted market sentiments. Interest rate sensitive sectors were in demand on expectations of a further cut in interest rates.

Wholesale price index rose 6.84 per cent in the 12 months to Dec 6, below the previous week's annual rise of 8 per cent. It was below a median forecast of 7.49 per cent in a poll of analysts.

At 2pm, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 10,009, up 293.95 points or 3.03 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 10,015.58 and a low of 9633.04.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 3032.25, up 2.64 per cent or 77.90 points. The 50-share index hit an intra-day high of 3040.30 and a low of 2922.65.

BSE Midcap Index was up 1.39 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.43 per cent up.

All the sectoral indices were in the green. BSE Realty Index was up 5.31 per cent, BSE Bankex moved 5.08 per cent higher and BSE Power Index jumped 4.08 per cent.

Satyam Computer Services (7.21%), DLF (6.20%), ACC (5.90%), State Bank Of India (5.89%) and ICICI Bank (5.87%) were the top Sensex gainers.

Sterlite Industries (-2.23%), Tata Steel (-2.10%), Hindalco Industries (-1.93%) and ONGC (-0.08%) were amongst the major Sensex losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1288 advances and 1021 declines.

Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sensex ends down 262 points, Satyam close at 4–year low

Mumbai - The BSE Sensex snapped its three-day winning streak, dropping 2.62 percent or 261.69 points on Wednesday to close down at 9715.29 on profit-taking even as tech major Satyam Computer Services slumped to a 4-year low on corporate governance issues.

The 30-share benchmark index opened higher on Wednesday at 10,073.10, tracking overnight Wall Street gains but after witnessing choppy trade during morning session, tumbled to the day's low of 9682.91 on profit taking even as Indian tech major Satyam Computer Services plummeted to a 4-year low on sudden news that it had abandoned a deal for two firms, sparking concerns abroad over corporate governance.

After Wednesday's decline, the market barometer is down about 50.8 percent, making it one of the worst performing markets in Asia.

Twenty-one components closed in the red, the biggest loser being Satyam Computer Services, which plunged 30.22 percent to a 4-year low of Rs.158.05 on overnight news that founder-chairman B. Ramalinga Raju had intended to use company funds to buy two of his firms floated by him and his sons for $1.6 billion. Satyam abandoned the deal after its shares were hammered down 55 percent in Nasdaq overnight but it was too late to stop its decline in the Indian market.

Private sector utility majors Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Power tumbled 13.73 percent and 5.92 percent to Rs.549.15 and Rs.702.95 respectively.

Telecoms majors Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel declined 13.36 percent and 4.73 percent to Rs.202.70 and Rs.709.65.

Real estate giant DLF slipped 8.64 percent to Rs.253.20.

Sensex heavyweight top listed Reliance Industries eased 2.64 percent to Rs.1350.15.

Other major losers were Jaiprakash Associates (down 12.11 percent at Rs.76.95), ACC (down 9.21 percent at Rs.486.30) and Sterlite Industries (down 5.16 percent at Rs.271.20).

The day's top gainer was ICICI Bank, which surged 2.43 percent to Rs.431.80. Smaller HDFC Bank climbed 1.83 percent to Rs.1002.05.

Tech majors Infosys Technologies and Wipro advanced 1.51 percent and 1.50 percent to Rs.1139.80 and Rs.243 respectively as investors moved to reallocate their portfolio of sector stocks.

Auto makers Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki rose 1.25 percent and 0.27 percent to Rs.303.95 and Rs.509.65 respectively.

Top consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever soared 1.27 percent to Rs.251.25.

Other gainers were Grasim Industries (up .55 percent at Rs.1234.40) and ONGC (up 0.39 percent at Rs.716.50).

All the sectoral indices declined, the major losers being Realty (down 7.36 percent), TECk (down 5.02 percent), Power (down 4.44 percent), Metal (down 4.36 percent) and IT (down 4.04 percent).

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indexes tumbled 3.33 percent and 2.60 percent to close at 3136.17 and 3678.56 respectively.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1569 losers outpaced 956 gainers while 72 closed unchanged.

Elsewhere, the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 2.87 percent or 87.40 points down at 2954.35.

According to market traders, Indian shares lost steam midway, after rallying on overnight news that the US Federal Reserve has moved to slash its key interest rate to historic lows, and surrendered their gains with Satyam donning the villain's role of the day.

Wall Street gained overnight after the Fed cut its target rate for loans between banks to a range of 0-0.25 percent and pledged to use "all available tools" to heal the US economy.

All traders agreed that Satyam's decision reflected poorly on corporate governance in Indian companies and could dent their credibility and future earnings.

"There has been some healthy profit booking after two weeks of gains. But this was triggered by Satyam, which has raised a lot of corporate governance issues," said Amitabh Chakraborty, president (equities), Religare Securities.

"We woke up to the cancellation of acquisition deal between Satyam Computers and its subsidiaries. But investors felt cheated and the scrip took a beating," said Arun Mewawalla, AVP, Alternate Research, ULKJ Securities.

"By announcing such a deal, which was wiping off the entire cash in the balance sheet, the (Satyam) management has given a bad impression," Paras Bothra, research head, Ashika Stock Brokers, said.

"It's an overall hit for market sentiment. It reflects poorly on corporate governance in Indian companies, and it's an issue that investors are now faced with," said Nikunj Doshi, investment manager at Envision Capital.

"The global developments are baffling, and institutional investors continue to remain risk averse. The market (in India) has been showing some strength, of late, but I think a better strategy would be to keep putting money gradually," said Arun Kejriwal of KRIS.

However, traders are optimistic that the market may look up on Thursday as market players are expecting a rate cut from the central bank on the back of cooling inflation.

Meanwhile, global crude prices dropped $3 on Wednesday to their lowest levels in more than four years after OPEC announced a record supply cut that dealers said may fail to offset slumping world energy demand.

US crude oil prices fell $3.40 to $40.20 a barrel by 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT), the lowest since July 2004, while London Brent fell 80 cents to $45.85 per barrel after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), eager to push prices back up, announced on Wednesday an agreement to cut 2.2 million barrels per day of output starting January 1, the biggest single reduction on record.

Elsewhere in Asia, the markets closed in the green, boosted by overnight Wall Street gains and on hopes of revival of US auto bailout plan.

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.52 percent to 8612.52; Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.18 percent to 15,460.52; China's Shanghai Composite moved up 0.09 percent to 1976.82; Taiwan's Taiex advanced 0.67 percent to 4648.02; and South Korea's Kospi soared 0.71 percent to 1169.75.

However, bucking the trend, Singapore's Straits Times eased 0.16 percent to 1779.29.

Courtesy: in.ibtimes.com

Satyam's promoters lose Rs. 597 crore in a day

NEW DELHI: The failed move to buy Maytas Infra through Satyam has cost the Rajus dearly. As per an analysis by ETIG, the Raju family (B Ramlinga Raju, chairman, Satyam Computers, Rama Raju Jr, promoter of Maytas Properties and B Teja Raju, vice-chairman, Maytas Infra) lost nearly Rs 597 crore in a day due to a fall in the stock value of Maytas and Satyam on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). While the Rajus lost nearly Rs 397 crore of their shareholder wealth in Satyam, they lost another Rs 200 crore due to crash in the Maytas scrip.

The Maytas stock fell by 25% to Rs 388.25 on the BSE on Wednesday compared to its previous close of Rs 485.30 on Tuesday. On the other hand, the Satyam stock fell to its 52-week low on the BSE to Rs 158.05, a fall of 30% from its previous day’s close of Rs 226.50. Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju had announced the deal after closing of the markets on Tuesday.

The ETIG analysis is based on the direct shareholding of the Raju family in Maytas and Satyam, as on September 30, 2008, which incidentally remains the same as of today. Promoters’ holding in Maytas Infra stands at 36.6% while it’s pegged at 8.6% in Satyam.

Interestingly, besides the 36.6% promoter holding in Maytas, some shareholders who appear to be related to the Raju family hold another 17% but do not figure among the promoters.

They include B Rama Raju, son of Satyam chief B Ramalinga Raju, who figures among both promoters and public shareholders. He holds 8.74% as part of public shareholding, besides being part of promoters with a shareholding of 2.52% in Maytas Infra.

If we include the holding of these three large shareholders, B Rama Raju, Radha Raju Byraju and B Suryanarayana Raju, with the promoters stake, the Rajus have lost another Rs 100 crore as part of their shareholding in Maytas Infra. This takes their total erosion in wealth to around Rs 700 crore($140 million).

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Satyam ADR closed at $5.7, registering a fall of 55% on Nasdaq, post announcement of the buyout. The ADR has, however, recovered to $8.05, post the company calling off the deal.

Interestingly, the Maytas Infrastructure stock has been trading in the range of Rs 355–518, in the past six months. On the other hand, other infrastructure stocks like IVRCL Infra, Gammon, Nagarjuna, HCC, have crashed up to almost 80% in the same period.

Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Brokers want Government to suspend STT to boost Markets

Faced with increased volatility and dwindling volumes on bourses, stock brokers are suggesting suspension of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) the collection for which has shrunk by more than 15 per cent during the first eight months of the current financial year.

"The government should at least suspend securities transaction tax for a year. This will encourage market participants to take their position aggressively. The sentiment of the market will improve as the volume will increase," Bonanza Portfolio President Research P K Agarwal said.

The STT, levied on share transactions at 0.125 per cent of the total value, declined to Rs 4,156 crore during April-November 2008, down 15.42 per cent during the corresponding period last year, mainly on account of reduced capitalisation in the India securities market.

Indian stock markets have suffered immensely on account of withdrawal of funds by the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) with Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex declining from a high of over 21,000 to less than 8,000 points.

The turmoil in the market had an adverse impact on the turnover from the national stock exchange. It reduced to Rs 1,73,123 crore in November from Rs 4,47,138 crore in January, when the market was at its peak.

The total equity turnover from the Bombay Stock Exchange also declined to Rs 63,571.11 crore in November from Rs 1,85,622.78 crore in January.

"Removal of securities transaction tax will be a very good option but even if the government goes back to the earlier position (when it was used for tax deduction rather than as expense at the current level), it will be a big boost to the market," SMC Global Securities VP and head research Rajesh Jain said.

Courtesy: business-standard.com

Indian Rupee Strong on Fed rate cut hope

The MCX-SX INR December futures opened stronger on dollar weakness and expectation of Fed rate cut. Asian markets were mixed in the morning and Indian stock markets opened slightly higher and moved in a range bound manner.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key rate by 50 basis points to 0.5. One-month offshore Non-Deliverable Forward contracts were quoting at 48.07/22 per dollar, weaker than the onshore spot rate, indicating a bearish near-term outlook for the rupee.

Indian stock markets opened slightly higher and closed around 1.2% higher. Strength seen in stock markets coupled with lower oil prices could support rupee in the near term. Strength seen in stock markets could see some fresh foreign capital inflows in coming days. FII’s have been net buyers of about $380 million shares in December. Oil prices around $45 could see larger supply cut by OPEC at Dec 17 meeting.

Crude oil dropped 4% yesterday on persistent worries of a deepening slump.Dollar weakness across the currency basket on expectation that US Federal Reserve will cut interest rate to near zero saw support being provided to rupee.

Fed rate cut would be a positive sign for rupee and it could prompt a further upside. Key interest rates in the country could continue to ease in the coming time, due to the softening of inflation, resulting in the possibility
of more credit injection to the economy.

MCX-SX INR December’08 futures prices closed stronger towards 47.99. MCX-SX INR December’08 futures moved in a range of 48.30 and 47.892 during the day. Supports are at 47.50/47.40 followed by 47.10/47. Resistances are at 48.20/48.30 followed by an important 48.90/49 range. MCX –SX futures registered a volume of 877.74cr all contracts put together.

MCX-SX INR January’09 futures closed towards 48.14 and registered a decrease in volume by 26.38%. The MCX-SX INR January’09 futures printed an open interest of 17601.

Spot rupee immediate Supports are at 47.4/47.50 levels being a rising channel support followed by 46.70/46.80 Resistance is at 48/48.10 followed by crucial resistance at 48.50/48.60.

MCX-SX INR futures active December contract registered volume decrease of around 9.60% over the previous session.

Courtesy: commodityonline.com

Sensex tests 10000 mark

MUMBAI: The Indian stock market rallied across the board Tuesday outperforming global markets yet another day. Indices opened on a dull note tracking lacklustre Asian markets while second rung stocks maintained upward march as advance tax numbers trickled in. However, in the last one hour of trade frontline stocks gained momentum led by Reliance Industries and ONGC.

“Indian oil companies were left behind when shares of global oil companies were moving higher. So they are just playing a catch up game,” said Deepak Sawhney, research head, Networth Stock Broking.

This rally helped the indices to cross psychological levels. Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended at 9,976.98, up 144.59 points or 1.47 per cent. The index managed to cross the crucial 10,000 level in intra-day trade. It zoomed to a high of 10,009.21 from a low of 9,790.31.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty managed to close above the psychological level of 3000. It ended 2.03 per cent or 60.55 points higher at 3,041.75. The broader index hit a high of 3052.55 and a low of 2963.30.

“Since the beginning of this month Sensex has been outperforming the world markets while discounting bad news. We seem to be close to the end of last leg of recent pull-back rally. If the world market tilts towards negative, Indian market is likely to outperform on the downside as well,” added Sawhney.

Secondline stocks continued their run for a third consecutive day, outperforming bluechips. BSE Midcap Index closed 2.50 per cent up and BSE Smallcap Index ended 3.21 per cent higher.

“Midcaps were beaten down too much. With the rally in the frontline getting narrower, investors with cash were cherry picking in B-group companies which are expected to report better than expected quarterly results,” he said.

Significant gains in ONGC (6.07%), Grasim Industries (4.59%), ACC (4.34%), Tata Motors (4.33%), HDFC Bank (4.1%), and NTPC (3.5%) propped up the Sensex.

Losers comprised Sterlite Industries (-7.07%), HDFC (-4.13%), Reliance Infrastructure (-2.53%), Reliance Communications (-2.11%), and Larsen & Toubro (-1.23%).

There was some stock specific action also. Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Natural Resources fell after reports that these two Anil Ambani owned companies were involved in fraudulent banking activities overseas. Shares of RNRL ended 2.21 per cent lower and Reliance Infrastructure slipped 2.97 per cent.

HCL Technologies rose after the firm said it has signed over $1 billion in contracts during Oct-Dec. This is the highest ever in a single quarter, helped by its purchase of British software firm Axon. HCL, on Monday, completed the largest overseas buy by an Indian IT firm spending 441 million pounds for Axon, topping a bid by larger rival Infosys Technologies. The HCL Tech scrip surged 18.49 per cent.

Suzlon Energy has revised the payment schedule agreed upon by the company and the Martifer Group of Portugal for Martifer's 22.4 percent stake in REpower Systems AG, Germany. As per the new terms, Suzlon will pay Martifer around Euro 65 million in December 2008, Euro 30 million in April 2009 and final tranche of Euro 175 million in May 2009. Upon completion of this transaction, Suzlon will reach ownership level of 91 per cent in REpower. The stock advanced 6.52 per cent.

Shares of airline companies were in demand on reports of a further 11 per cent cut in ATF prices after a steep decline in international crude oil prices. Kingfisher Airlines closed 5.41 per cent up and Jet Airways ended 3.95 per cent higher.

Market breadth on BSE remained extremely strong with 1,866 advances against 648 declines.

European markets bounced back on expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. US markets were likely to open higher ahead of the FOMC meet. Dow Jones futures were up 0.68 per cent, S&P 500 futures moved 0.86 per cent higher and Nasdaq futures gained 1 per cent.

Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Sensex ends 100 points down at 8739

MUMBAI: Benchmarks staged sharp recovery in the afternoon but still ended in the red after traders covered short positions in realty, power and banking space.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended at 8716.42, down 123.45 points or 1.40 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 8745.23 and a low of 8467.43.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 2662, down 0.78 per cent or 20.90 points. The 50-share index hit an intra-day high of 2672.90 and a low of 2570.70.

BSE Midcap Index was down 1.67 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index fell 1.54 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE FMCG Index closed 0.80 per cent, BSE Realty Index was up 0.41 per cent, BSE Power Index ended 0.13 per cent up.

BSE Auto Index ended 2.81 per cent lower, BSE IT Index slipped 2.51 per cent and BSE Oil & gas Index fell 2.51 per cent.

Gains in Reliance Infrastructure (5.6%), Bharti Airtel (3.2%), Jaiprakash Associates (2.93%), NTPC (2.66%), DLF (2.24%) and ITC (2.24%) helped indices close off lows.

Mahindra & Mahindra (-8.1%), Maruti Suzuki (-5.26%), Tata Consultancy Services (-4.9%), Larsen & Toubro (-3.28%) and Tata Steel (-3.16%) ended with significant losses.

Market breadth on BSE remained weak with 1283 declines outnumbering 796 advances.

(All the figures are provisional)

Courtesy: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Indian Rupee closes at record low of 50.29/$

The currency extended a three-week decline after India’s deadliest terrorist attacks in 15 years that lasted almost for four days.

Rupee closed at a record low as a slide in equities fueled concern investors will increase sales of local shares. The currency extended a three-week decline after India’s deadliest terrorist attacks in 15 years that lasted almost for four days.

Sensex slid 2.8% today, taking this year’s loss to 56.4%. The rupee dropped 0.4% to close at 50.29 per dollar, according to the reports. It fell as low as 50.355 in intraday trading.

FIIs sold Indian equities worth a record US$13.7bn more than they bought this year, according to the SEBI data.

Courtesy: indiainfoline.com

Indian economy grows by 7.6% in Q2, FM terms it satisfactory

New Delhi, (PTI) Services and construction sectors helped the Indian economy expand at 7.6 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, prompting government to term the growth as "healthy and satisfactory" even though it was the lowest in any three-month period in the last four years.

The economic growth, as measured by expansion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), may be seen as slowing down as it clocked a 9.3 per cent a year ago, but it was much better than expected by many analysts, given the global financial meltdown.

"This is a satisfactory and healthy growth rate having regard to global slowdown," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters.

For the second half, the economy registered a 7.8 per cent growth rate, compared with 9.3 per cent a year ago, much in line with official projections for 7-8 per cent for the fiscal.

However, analysts said services, which came to the aid of the economy, are expected to slow down in the coming quarters and the Reserve Bank (RBI) and the government must come out with some stimulating measures to perk up the economy.

"Going forward the services sector is likely to slow down, particularly the hotel construction and transport," Crisil Principal Economist D K Joshi said.

Moody's economy.Com said the government and the RBI should come out with stimulating measures to induce growth.

While construction sector grew by 9.7 per cent in the second quarter from 11.8 per cent a year ago, services sectors displayed similar pattern of high growth, though slightly slower than last year.

However, manufacturing grew by just five per cent in the second quarter from 9.2 per cent a year ago and halved to five per cent in the second half from robust 10.9 per cent.

Chidambaram admitted that manufacturing sector remains a problem area.PTI

Courtesy: ptinews.com

Tina Ambani with her sons

Tina Ambani

Tina Ambanias a part of the Mumbai marathon

Tina's Team  When family friend Tina Ambani organised a senior citizens’ marathon, as a part of the Mumbai marathon, the predictable cheerleader was Abhishek Bachchan. While husband Anil has become a mascot for the marathon, making sure he runs through the city everyday, Bachchan roped in his Bunty aur Babli costar Rani Mukherji, to flag off the event. The star presence drew the cameras—a perfect coup for Tina and her initiative.