Sensex gains; consumer goods stocks at record highs

The Reserve Bank of India's move to tighten gold imports again on Monday with an eye to cut a record current-account deficit is seen as a broader positive for equities, dealers say.

Consumer goods companies continue to make record highs as funds opt for traditionally defensive stocks in an uncertain environment underscored by the rupee's volatility.

ITC Ltd (ITC.NS) is up 1.5 percent after touching an all-time high of 375.25 rupees while Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HLL.NS) rose 2.4 percent after touching a record high of 720 rupees.

Blue chip bank stocks gain on value buying after recent sharp falls, with a 6.4 percent fall in NSE's banking sub-index last week.

ICICI Bank Ltd (ICBK.NS) gains 1.7 percent, while HDFC Bank Ltd (HDBK.NS) edges up 0.7 percent.

Yes Bank Ltd (YESB.NS) gains 4.25 percent a day ahead of its quarterly results.

Shriram Transport Q1 net profit at Rs3662.70mn

Total Income has increased from Rs. 15996.90 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 to Rs. 20034.60 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd has posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit/(loss) of associates of Rs. 3662.70 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 as compared to Rs. 3420.80 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.
Total Income has increased from Rs. 15996.90 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 to Rs. 20034.60 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2013

Titagarh Wagons spurts on acquiring 100% stake in Titagarh FreightCar

Titagarh Wagons is currently trading at Rs. 90.00, up by 1.00 points or 1.12% from its previous closing of Rs. 89.00 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 93.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 93.00 and Rs. 89.40 respectively. So far 10242 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 392.95 on 13-Dec-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 87.50 on 10-Jul-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 94.35 and Rs. 88.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 180.43 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.13% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 11.95% and 34.92% respectively.

Titagarh Wagons has acquired 100% stake of the foreign partner in Titagarh FreightCar (TFPL) on pursuant to the agreement entered into between the joint venture partners.  Accordingly TFPL has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company with the effect from July 19, 2013.

Titagarh Wagons is engaged in manufacturing of railway wagons, bailey bridges, heavy earth moving and mining equipment, steel and SG iron castings of moderate to complex configuration. It also manufactures special wagons, shelters and other engineering equipment for the Indian defence establishment.

BSE Sensex gains around 150 points; banks rise

The BSE Sensex is up 0.8 percent after hitting its highest intraday level in two months while the Nifty also gains 0.87 percent.
The Reserve Bank of India's move to tighten gold imports again on Monday with an eye to cut a record current-account deficit is seen as a broader positive for equities, dealers say.
Blue chip bank stocks gain on value buying after recent sharp falls, with a 6.4 percent fall in NSE's banking sub-index last week.

ICICI Bank Ltd (NSI:ICICIBANK.NS - News) gains 1.3 percent while HDFC Bank Ltd (NSI:HDFCBANK.NS - News) is up 1 percent.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd (NSI:HEROMOTOCO) is flat a day ahead of April-June results.
Titan Industries Ltd (NSI:TITAN.NS - News) is trading up 5.6 percent, after slumping as much as 6.6 percent, after the Reserve Bank of India moved to tighten gold imports.

L&T rises on plan to raise Rs 1000 crore for financing Hyderabad Metro Project

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is currently trading at Rs. 906.45, up by 4.50 points or 0.50% from its previous closing of Rs. 901.95 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 906.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 922.50 and Rs. 887.30 respectively. So far 557689 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1146.33 on 29-Oct-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 872.00 on 27-Jul-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 990.55 and Rs. 899.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 83711.23 crore.

The institutions and non-institutions held 52.81% and 44.04% stake in the company, respectively.

L&T incorporated Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) is reportedly planning to raise Rs 1000 crore for financing its Hyderabad Metro Project. The company is in talks with IIFCL and is planning to achieve this through the ECB route, which would help the company avail long term finance for a period of 25 years and at a lower interest rate saving around 5%.

L&T was awarded the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project by Government of Andhra Pradesh. The company then incorporated a SPV to implement the Project on Design, Built, Finance Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.

Further, a consortium of 10 banks led by the State Bank of India has sanctioned the entire debt requirement of the project. The bankers, in total have lent Rs 11,400 crore in debt, of which Rs 750 crore has been deployed by L&T.

Vakrangee standalone Jun '13 sales at Rs 401.95 crore

Vakrangee Software has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 401.95 crore and a net profit of Rs 33.09 crore for the quarter ended Jun '13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 5.84 crore.
For the quarter ended Mar 2013 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 466.08 crore and net profit was Rs 31.58 crore, and other income Rs 3.55 crore.
Vakrangee shares closed at 79.20 on July 22, 2013 (NSE) and has given 18.12% returns over the last 6 months and 100.00% over the last 12 months.

Vakrangee Software

Vakrangee Software has reported a standalone sales turnover of Rs 401.95 crore and a net profit of Rs 33.09 crore for the quarter ended Jun '13. Other income for the quarter was Rs 5.84 crore. For the quarter ended Mar 2013 the standalone sales turnover was Rs 466.08 crore and net profit was Rs 31.58 crore, and other income Rs 3.55 crore. Vakrangee shares closed at 79.20 on July 22, 2013 (NSE) and has given 18.12% returns over the last 6 months and 100.00% over the last 12 months. Vakrangee Software Standalone Quarterly Results -------- in Rs. Cr. -------- Jun '13 Mar '13 Dec '12 Sales Turnover 401.95 466.08 388.92 Other Income 5.84 3.55 1.30 Total Income 407.79 469.64 390.22 Total Expenses 292.82 357.99 286.46 Operating Profit 109.13 108.09 102.46 Profit On Sale Of Assets -- -- -- Profit On Sale Of Investments -- -- -- Gain/Loss On Foreign Exchange -- -- -- VRS Adjustment -- -- -- Other Extraordinary Income/Expenses -- -- -- Total Extraordinary Income/Expenses -- -- -- Tax On Extraordinary Items -- -- -- Net Extra Ordinary Income/Expenses -- -- -- Gross Profit 114.97 111.64 103.76 Interest 21.85 23.66 21.07 PBDT 92.29 88.32 82.69 Depreciation 41.33 42.41 41.10 Depreciation On Revaluation Of Assets -- -- -- PBT 50.96 45.91 41.59 Tax 17.87 14.33 8.87 Net Profit 33.09 31.58 32.72 Prior Years Income/Expenses -0.82 0.33 -- Depreciation for Previous Years Written Back/ Provided -- -- -- Dividend -- -- -- Dividend Tax -- -- -- Dividend (%) -- -- -- Earnings Per Share 0.66 0.63 0.65 Book Value -- -- -- Equity 50.30 50.25 50.22 Reserves 465.29 389.06 389.06 Face Value 1.00 1.00 1.00

MCX Silver December contract trades lower

At 11:06 hrs MCX SILVER September contract was trading at Rs 42166 down Rs 68, or 0.16 percent. The SILVER rate touched an intraday high of Rs 42222 and an intraday low of Rs 41936. So far 3132 contracts have been traded. SILVER prices have moved down Rs 15153, or 26.44 percent in the September series so far.

MCX SILVER December contract was trading at Rs 42922 down Rs 58, or 0.13 percent. The SILVER rate touched an intraday high of Rs 42950 and an intraday low of Rs 42600. So far 94 contracts have been traded. SILVER prices have moved down Rs 4247, or 9.00 percent in the December series so far.

RCOM gains on inking pact with Tata Teleservices

Reliance Communications is currently trading at Rs 141.80, up by 0.55 points or 0.39% from its previous closing of Rs. 141.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 142.55 and has touched a high and low of Rs 143.25 and Rs 140.65 respectively. So far 616064 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 151.25 on 17-Jul-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs 46.60 on 30-Aug-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 151.25 and Rs 136.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 29102.78 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.86% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 19.68% and 12.17% respectively.

Reliance Communications (RCOM) inked pact with Tata Teleservices (TTSL) under a 2G intra-circle roaming arrangement, with aims to cut costs and boost network coverage. As per the deal RCOM will utilize 5,000 towers of TTSL across 14 GSM circles while TTSL will gain access to an equal number of towers in RCOM's CDMA network to improve its reach.

With this initiative, RCOM will have access to networks of Aircel, Loop and TTSL across the country, increasing its network coverage by an additional 10,000 towers. Reliance Communications currently has over 45,000 towers of its own.

RInfra SPV’s 9th road project in Rajasthan goes operational

Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RInfra), part of the Reliance Group, through its Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) JR Toll Road Pvt. Ltd., today announced the commencement of its ninth road project from Jaipur to Reengus in Rajasthan. The four laning of the 52 km Jaipur Reengus (JR) road has been completed and toll collection has started.

The Rs. 556 crore project has been executed on DBFOT (Design, Build, Operate, Finance and Transfer) pattern under the aegis of National Highways Authority of India. RInfra has been awarded the contract for a concession period of 18 years.

JR road is a section of NH-11 running through two major districts of Rajasthan’s - Jaipur and Sikar. The road connects major tourist destinations such as Khatu Shyamji & Salasar Balaji, religious places, industrial zones and Jaipur international airport. The corridor also connects rural villages with urban cities. More than 50 villages including Rajawas, Govindgarh, Dhodser etc. will now be connected with the state capital - Jaipur.

Commenting on this development, Sudhir R Hoshing, CEO (Roads), Reliance Infrastructure, said “We are pleased to announce the completion of the widening work of the Jaipur-Reengus road, which is a part of NHDP Phase III. The corridor will provide hassle-free, safe and comfortable travel to commuters with travel time reduced to almost half and approximately 40% of fuel saving. The corridor will not only connect centers of tourism, industrial zones & religious places, but also reduce the rural-urban gap by connecting more than 50 villages with the State capital and other major cities.”

He further added, “The corridor will witness traffic density of approximately 22,600 vehicles per day, which is expected to double in the next four years. For the safety and security of commuters, the corridor will have 24X7 patrolling cars, ambulance services and medical centre.”

Starting from Jaipur, JR corridor involved realignment and widening of two lanes to four lanes and four lane bypass of Chomu Town. Some sections of JR corridor had dangerous curves and steep rises that were realigned, so that commuters can maintain minimum design speed and enjoy the comfort of a seamless drive. The completed stretch has 8 underpasses, 9 major junctions and 17 minor junctions to facilitate the local people to cross the highway safely.

The widening of JR road, access from north part of state to state capital - Jaipur will become much easier and convenient. The average vehicle speed on this stretch will increase from 35 kms/ hr to approximately 70 km/ hr, reducing travel time by 40% - 50 % and saving fuel cost by almost 40%. Commuters will now be able to cover the entire corridor within an hour as opposed to nearly 2 hours they had to spend previously.

A car will have to pay Rs 45 for a single trip, but local inhabitants residing within 20 kms of the toll plaza can use this corridor any number of times in a month using a special concession pass of Rs. 215 only.

Keeping the traffic density in mind, 10 lane toll plazas with State of the art Toll Management System have been established on JR road. For the security and safety of passengers, all toll plazas will act as response centres during any emergencies. Each Toll plaza will have a Control Room that will help in locating the accident site and provide required emergency services within minimum response time.

Emergency helpline number (01423-212123) will also be displayed at all Toll Plazas. Ambulance services and towing cranes will be available 24X7 to handle any emergency situations. Two patrolling vehicles will constantly monitor the entire corridor to ensure the safety and security of commuters.

RBI tightens gold import norms to squeeze CAD

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday streamlined its gold import policy to ensure at least 20 per cent of the yellow metal sourced from abroad was made available to the country’s gems & jewellery exporters. Also, for domestic use, the nominated banks and importing agencies have been made responsible for making gold available only to the entities engaged in jewellery business and bullion dealers supplying gold to jewellers.

While the move is aimed at helping manage the country’s precarious current account deficit (CAD) situation and improve gold availability for exporters, domestic prices of the yellow metal might rise. For instance, insisting on meeting certain export levels before allowing fresh import of gold would limit the availability for domestic use, pushing prices up.

The revision has been done in consultation with the government and will be applicable to gold imports in any form /purity, including gold coins.

Besides banks and other agencies that import gold, the new regime would cover the bullion refineries that imported gold in Dore form (raw form), RBI said in statement.

RBI had imposed certain restrictions on import of gold in various forms earlier, too. Those were applicable on nominated banks, agencies, premier, star trading houses, units in special economic zones (SEZs) and export-oriented units, which were permitted to import gold for use in the domestic sector.

The central bank said any import of gold under any type of scheme would follow the 20-80 principle. The present instructions on import of gold on a consignment basis and the letter-of-credit restrictions stand withdrawn.

Under the new norms, an entity importing 100 kg of gold (which will have to be kept in bonded warehouse), for example, will have to release 20 kg to exporters (of gold, gold jewellery) against an undertaking to Customs authorities.

This entity would be permitted by the Customs to make fresh imports only to the extent of actual exports out of the 20 kg of gold held in the bonded warehouse, RBI added. For instance, it will be permitted to undertake fresh imports only after at least 15 kg of this 20 kg has been exported.

The latest move is expected to lead to higher domestic prices, say experts. Naveen Mathur, head of commodities at Angel Broking, said too many restrictions on imports with complex procedures would lead to supply squeeze in the domestic market, pushing prices.

RBI also said the government would issue separate instructions, if any, to the Customs authorities/Directorate General of Foreign Trade to operationalise and monitor these import restrictions.

The latest scheme follows exporters’ meeting last month with Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. They had complained that banks were not importing gold for exporters and that jewellery exports were suffering due to low gold availability.

Jewellery exports fell in the first two months of the current financial year, despite a favourable currency and improving economic conditions in the US, one of India’s major export markets.

“This will help the domestic and export industry. That’s because there was no gold available. The move will increase supply,” said Gitanjali Gems Managing Director Mehul Choksi.

Given the low availability of gold (due to increased import duty, and banks being allowed gold imports only on a consignment basis), monthly gold jewellery exports fell a staggering 73 per cent to $556.81 million in June, from $2,062.32 million in the same month a year earlier. In rupee terms, these exports plunged 72 per cent to Rs 3,251.80 crore, from Rs 11,555.17 crore in the month the previous year, according to data compiled by the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

RBI said banks and agencies should also ensure compliance with instructions while effecting the foreign exchange transactions put through by/for their clients.

RBI also said: “Entities/units in SEZs and EoUs, premier and star trading houses are permitted to import gold exclusively for the purpose of exports only.” This means the units that were allowed to supply certain part of gold in domestic market would now not be able to do so.

Everstone Capital to invest Rs 200 crore in Hinduja Leyland Finance

Everstone Capital, a leading India and South East Asia private equity investor is all set to invest Rs 200 crore in the NBFC - Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLF), a commercial vehicle (CV) financing arm of the Hinduja Group. However, the company has not disclosed that how much stake it will acquire in Chennai headquartered NBFC.

Hinduja Leyland Finance is jointly owned by Ashok Leyland and other entities of the Hinduja Group. It is one of the leading financiers of commercial vehicles with current assets under management in excess of Rs 4,000 crore. 

Tata Power surges as its arm plan to set up 28.8 MW photovoltaic-based solar project in Maharashtra

Tata Power is currently trading at Rs. 93.60, up by 1.20 points or 1.30% from its previous closing of Rs. 92.40 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 92.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 93.75 and Rs. 92.30 respectively. So far 1, 15,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 113.20 on 05-Dec-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 77.25 on 13-Jun-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 93.40 and Rs. 87.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 22,211 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 32.47% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 48.22% and 16.08% respectively.

Country’s largest private electricity producer Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL) is in process of setting up 28.8 MW photovoltaic-based solar project in Satara district of Maharashtra. The company has an installed solar power generation capacity of more than 30 MW, including 25 MW project at Mithapur, Gujarat, and a 3 MW plant at Mulshi, Maharashtra and it aims to add 50 MW solar power capacity every year.

Currently, four of its renewable projects are registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

About Tata Power :
Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company with a significant international presence. The Company has an installed generation capacity of 8521 MW in India and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz. Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading.

L&T maintains 15-17% growth for the current fiscal year: Report

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has reported that it is not revising its growth forecast for the current fiscal year that ends in March 2014. The country’s largest engineering and construction company, in May had forecasted sales growth in the range of 15 to 17 percent for the current fiscal year.

L&T posted a surprise drop in its fiscal first-quarter net profit as a weak domestic economy hit spending on infrastructure projects. On standalone basis, the company has posted a fall of 12.46% in its net profit at Rs 756.03 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 863.65 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income has increased by 3.69% at Rs 13027.66 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 12563.47 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Larsen & Toubro is the biggest legacy of two Danish Engineers, who built a world-class organization that is professionally managed and a leader in India's engineering and construction industry. It was the business of cement that brought the young Henning Holck-Larsen and S.K. Toubro into India.

ICICI Bank gains on tying up with Movida for mobile payments service

ICICI Bank is currently trading at Rs. 987.40, up by 12.65 points or 1.30% from its previous closing of Rs. 974.75 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 987.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 990.50 and Rs. 982.35 respectively. So far 11,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1236.90 on 28-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 876.50 on 05-Sep-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1034.70 and Rs. 955.15 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1,13,973.00 crore.

The Institutions and Non-Institutions held 62.22% and 8.62% respectively.

ICICI Bank, the country’s private sector lender has tied-up with Movida, the mobile payments joint venture between Visa Inc and Monitise, to utilize mobile payments service for the Bank’s customers. This service will enable ICICI Bank payment card holders to pay bills, recharge prepaid airtime and buy cinema tickets from their mobile phone, anywhere, anytime. It will be possible to access Movida either through a menu-based USSD mobile technology, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) in multiple languages. These options make the service easy to use and are widely available from any type of mobile phone, including basic models.

Bayer CropScience Ltd : Board approves Buy Back of Equity Shares

Bayer CropScience Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on July 22, 2013, has unanimously approved a buyback proposal for purchase by the Company of upto 2,879,746 equity shares of Rs. 10 each (representing 7.29% of the total equity capital), from all the shareholders of the Company on a proportionate basis through the "Tender Offer" route as prescribed under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 1998 (the "Buyback Regulations") at a price of Rs. 1,580 per equity share (Rupees One Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty only) per equity share, aggregating to approximately Rs. 455 crores in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and the Buyback Regulations (the "Buyback").

The Board noted the intention of the Promoter Group of the Company to participate in the proposed Buyback.

The Buyback would be subject to approval of the shareholders by way of a Special Resolution through Postal Ballot and all other applicable statutory approvals.

The Board has formed a Committee (the "Buyback Committee") and has delegated its powers to the Buyback Committee to do all such acts, deeds, matters and things as it may, in its absolute discretion, deem necessary, expedient, usual or proper in connection with the Buyback. Ambit Corporate Finance Private Limited has been appointed as the Manger to the Buyback Offer.

Pre-market: Markets to open higher amid firm Asian cues

Markets are expected to open higher amid firm Asian cues. The futures and options expiry for July contracts this Thursday coupled with central bank’s monetary policy review next week is likely to weigh on the sentiments.

According to the technical charts, " Levels of 6000 and 6065 on Nifty can be used as stop loss for long and short futures positions respectively. Breakouts could go till 5950 or till 6125. A bullspread of long 6100c (14) and short 6200c (4) costs 10. It could double if 6100 is hit."

At 8:15AM IST, SGX Nifty was up 43 points at 6080.

Meanwhile Asian shares were lacklustre  in early trades with Nikkei managing to hold in green on account of earnings season.

Among the key Asian indices, Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.2% to 14,691, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.1% to 3,238 in the opening deals.

Overnight, US stocks ended marginally higher after McDonald's Corp, the world's largest restaurant chain posted weaker-than-expected results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.81 points, or 0.01 percent, at 15,545.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index  rose 3.44 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,695.53, and the Nasdaq Composite Index  added 12.77 points, or 0.36 percent, at 3,600.39.

Domestically in the earnings calendar, we have L&T Finance Holdings, Mahindra Forg and Shriram Transport set to report their April-June earnings later today.