Pratibha Inds edges higher on bagging order worth Rs 205 crore

Pratibha Industries is currently trading at Rs 23.00, up by 0.15 points or 0.66% from its previous closing of Rs 22.85 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 23.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs 23.60 and Rs 22.30 respectively. So far 612366 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs.2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 58.65 on 10-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs 21.00 on 25-Jul-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 25.00 and Rs 21.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 230.41 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 51.53% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.65% and 26.82% respectively.

Pratibha Industries has bagged a new contract worth Rs 205.12 crore awarded by PHED, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The contract is scheduled to be completed in 30 months from the date of commencement. The company has also got some existing order in hand and the Balance order book as of date amounts to approximately Rs 7,000 crore.

The current contract bagged by the company is for work of Regional water supply scheme of 161 Villages of Phagi Tehsil and their NRVs & Dhanies, District Jaipur, on Transmission Main-ll under Bisalpur Dudu Phagi Water Supply Project on Single Responsibility Turnkey Basis i.e. Design, Build and 1 year Defect Liability and 10 year Operation & Maintenance.

Pratibha Industries is engaged in the business of integrated infrastructure solutions. As the company moves ahead, it has laid increased emphasis on devising its business strategy on aggressive top line growth, a de-risked business model and increased operational efficiencies.

Auto stocks plummet on RBI status quo, drive Sensex down

The BSE Sensex on Tuesday was trading over half a per cent down in afternoon trade after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left all key policy rates unchanged.

Weighed down by a weak rupee, the central bank in its monetary policy review earlier in the day decided to keep the repo rate and cash reserve ratio unchanged at 7.25 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. The bank also lowered the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 5.5 per cent from 5.7 per cent.

Interest sensitive stocks took a hit, with scrips of automobile, oil and gas, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies plummeting. However, there was good buying in IT, capital goods, and TECk stocks.

At 1.30 pm, the 30-share Sensex was trading at 19,448.43 - down 144.85 points, or 0.74 per cent. At the same time, the 50-share Nifty was trading 39.80 points, or 0.68 per cent, down at 5,791.85.

Major sectoral indices of the S&P BSE which declined included automobile, oil and gas, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), public sector undertakings (PSU) and metal.

The automobile index plummeted by 149.62 points, followed by oil and gas index which was down 127.59 points, FMCG index was trading 109.88 points lower, PSU index was down 102.18 points, and metal index was 96.30 points down.

However, IT index moved up by 67.10 points, capital goods index increased by 37.13 points and the TECk index was up 6.42 points.

NTPC slips after dull Q1 numbers

NTPC fell 2.40% to Rs 138.50 at 14:22 IST on BSE after net profit rose 1.13% to Rs 2527.02 crore on 2.90% decline in total income to Rs 16358.78 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.
The company announced the result during trading hours today, 30 July 2013.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 210.26 points, or 1.07%, to 19,383.02.
On BSE, 84,000 shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 2.68 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 142 and a low of Rs 137.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 175.35 on 12 September 2012. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 136.10 on 21 March 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 29 July 2013, sliding 1.25% compared with the Sensex's 1.02% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 9.04% as against Sensex's 1.06% rise.
The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 8245.46 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
NTPC, India's largest power company, has presence in the entire value chain of power generation business. The Government of India (GoI) holds 75% stake in NTPC (as per the shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2013).

JSW Steel to set up new plant to manufacture CRNO grade electrical steel

In a bid to manufacture non-grain oriented (CRNO) grade electrical steel, JSW Steel is all set to commission the new plant with 2,00,000 tonne per annum capacity at Vijayanagar steel complex in Bellary district during the next financial year. In this regard, the company has already placed orders for major equipment and expects to commission the facility by FY2015.

In addition to a new 2.3 million tonne per annum cold rolling mill, which will focus on automotive and appliance grade steel, the company has signed various agreements with JFE Steel in November 2012 to collaborate for the manufacturing of electrical steel, the first such venture in India.

JSW Steel is part of the JSW group which, in turn, is a part of the O P Jindal group. JSW Steel is one of the largest steel manufacturing companies in India having units in Karnataka and Maharashtra producing crude steel, long steel and flat steel products.

FIPB approves 6 pharma proposals worth Rs 855 cr

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared six proposals envisaging investments of Rs 855 crore in the pharmaceutical sector. The main proposal approved by FIPB, chaired by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram include Singapore based healthcare firm Fresenius Kabi Oncology to bring in FDI worth Rs 349 crore and Calyx Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals to bring in foreign investment of Rs 200 crore.

India is one of the world's biggest markets for generic drugs and allows 100 percent FDI through automatic route in pharma for new projects and as for existing firms it must be approved by the FIPB. Last year, the government had decided that all foreign investments in existing domestic pharma firms should be allowed only after clearance by the FIPB, keeping in view the availability of affordable essential drugs in the wake of multinationals acquiring local companies.

Further, the government was of the view that pharma is a growing industry and there is a need to protect the domestic players from multinationals particularly generics so that Indian pharmaceutical industry continue to grow. There are too many pharma proposals pending with the FIPB as several global pharma companies are looking to buy stake in Indian firms. Meanwhile, the government is likely to soon revise the FDI policy with regard to existing pharma companies.

RBI policy: No change in key rates.

The central bank has cut the GDP growth forecast to 5.5% from 5.7% for FY14.

The Reserve Bank at its Monetary Policy meet on Tuesday has left the repo rate unchanged 7.25%.

On the rupee front, the central bank said it will roll back tightening steps as the rupee steadies.

With the rupee hurtling towards 60 to the dollar and growth slowing, the apex bank’s hands were tied.

On July 23, RBI announced additional liquidity tightening measures to contain excessive speculation and volatility in the foreign exchange market. It reduced the liquidity adjustment facility for each bank from 1% of total deposits to 0.5% of its own net demand and time liabilities, thus limiting bank's access to borrowed funds. The limit will come into force with immediate effect and continue till further notice.

In another measure, it asked banks to maintain their average cash reserve ratio at 99% of the daily requirement as against earlier 70%. This measure would come into effect after a fortnight.

On July 15, the RBI unleashed a surprise 200 bps hike in the Marginal Standing Facility besides imposing an overall cap of Rs. 750bn for LAF borrowing. MSF is used by banks, with no excess government securities, to borrow under RBI's LAF window at a penal rate which is higher than the prevailing repo rate.


It has also made gold imports for domestic consumption tougher and forced exporters to bring home their dollar earnings quicker. RBI said banks and other entities allowed to import gold should ensure that at least one-fifth of it is used for further exports. The rest can be used in the domestic market but only for jewellery making. This effectively means hoarding of gold in its raw form such as in bars and coins won’t be allowed.

China central bank injects funds, eases fears of repeat cash crunch

China's central bank injected funds into money markets via open market operations on Tuesday for the first time since February, easing fears of another cash crunch ahead of the month end after a severe cash squeeze in June caused market panic.

Market participants and investors in adjacent markets have been keeping a close eye on China's interbank money market after the central bank allowed a credit crunch to occur in late June as a warning against risky lending practices.

Short-term money rates in China have been rising steadily in recent weeks as the end of July approached and Chinese companies and banks stocked up on cash to make dividend payments and get books in order.

Some economists had predicted the People's Bank of China (PBOC) would take advantage of the pressure to engineer another end-month credit crunch if China's financial sector did not show signs of reining in risky lending.

The central bank has never explained its reasoning for allowing rates to spike in June, and it kept traders guessing in July, letting maturing instruments inject fresh funds passively but otherwise taking no direct action.

That changed on Tuesday.

The injection, a 17 billion yuanissuance of seven-day reverse bond repurchase agreements, marked the first time the central bank had engaged in open market operations since June 20 and the first time it had issued reverse repos, which inject funds instead of draining them, since early February.

Stock markets rose on the news. The Shanghai Financials Index opened up 0.5% with China Merchants Bank starting up 0.9% and China Minsheng Bank up 0.3% in Shanghai. They were outperforming the broader market.

However, the central bank set the seven-day reverse repo rate at 4.4%, much higher than the last official guidance rate of 3.35%, setting a relatively high floor for the market rates the contract can trade at.

A dealer at a state-owned bank in Beijing said that the amount injected was small, and yet the official guidance rate was high, implying the central bank wants to ensure the market is sufficiently liquid but that cash is relatively expensive.

"The (high rate) could also serve as a signal that the era of ultra loose and easy money is over and liquidity has to be appropriately priced," wrote Wee-Khoon Chong, economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong, in a research note to clients.

Even so, money rates showed signs of easing, with the volume-weighted seven day repo contract opening down slightly. Interest rates for 1 day repos and 14-day repos also fell.

RBI to actively manage liquidity to balance financial stability, growth and inflation

For the first time since the 1997 East Asian crisis, all focus would be on Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) projection for the Indian rupee at the quarterly monetary policy on July 30, instead of interest rates. India’s central bank in its quarterly review of macroeconomic and monetary developments, highlighted that the priority for monetary policy now was to restore stability in the currency market so that macro-financial conditions remain supportive of growth, pouring cold water on even the little hopes of monetary policy easing, which could help boost Asia's third-largest economy, expanding at its slowest pace in a decade. RBI said it will endeavor to actively manage liquidity to reinforce monetary transmission that is consistent with the growth-inflation balance and macro-financial stability.

It shows that the central bank's policy focus has shifted from reviving economic growth to defending a rupee that hit a record low of 61.21, depreciated close to 10% from the start of this year, turning out to be one of the worst performing Asian currency. Further, RBI in its macroeconomic report said that global currency market movements in June-July 2013 have prompted a re-calibration of monetary policy.

India’s Apex Bank, so far, in a bid to curb Rupee’s slide, have taken measures including capping allocation of funds under LAF for each individual bank to 0.50% of its own NDTL, increasing marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and bank rate by 200 bps each to 10.25% and mopping up some liquidity through open market operations (OMO) sales and stipulating banks to maintain a minimum daily CRR balance of 99% of the average fortnightly requirement.

Meanwhile, RBI in its report, besides rupee depreciation has also pointed towards upward revision in fuel to be a reason causing upside risk to both wholesale and consumer price inflation. Moreover, the report indicates further drop in business confidence. RBI’s industrial outlook survey shows weakening of business sentiment in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 to a three- year low, though expectations showed improvement for the second quarter.

Markets to get a flat-to-positive start; RBI policy review eyed

The Indian markets showed a disappointing trade in last session, where markets kept on losing ground with the progress of the trade till the end, closing near to lowest of the day. Today is the big day, as the Reserve Bank of India will announce the first quarter review of the monetary policy for 2013-14, though the consensus is that the central bank will maintain a status quo, however there will be cautiousness as the RBI in a document released ahead of the monetary policy review, flagged India’s high current account deficit as a major concern, saying that it would have widened in the April-June quarter due to a steep fall in the rupee as well as spike in gold imports, and called for immediate structural reforms to stem the tide. Though, soon after RBI’s release, Chief Economic Adviser to Finance Ministry Raghuram Rajan has said that the RBI’s action in stabilising the battered rupee must not hurt growth too much, the statement may soothe the nerve of the investors. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised more reforms in the coming months in his meet with India Inc. The pharma stocks are likely to remain in action, as the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared six proposals envisaging investments of Rs 855 crore in the pharmaceutical sector.

There will be lots of important result announcements too, Bayer Crop, Cinemax India, Dr Reddys Lab, EID Parry, Financial Technologies, Gujarat Pipavav,  IFCI, Jindal Steel, NTPC, Petronet LNG, PVR, Reliance Power and Reliance Infra are among many to announce their numbers today.

The US markets ended mostly lower in last session weighed down by the cautiousness ahead of this week's Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. While a negative report of pending home sales too impacted the sentiments. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, though some of the indices are trading higher by over half a percent, led by the Japanese market that moved up on the back of weakness in yen, offsetting a bigger-than-estimated decline in factory output.

Back home, it turned out to be a daunting session of trade for the Indian stock markets, which extended the southbound journey for fourth consecutive day and gave up another around half a percent as investors opted to remain on sidelines ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy announcements tomorrow. Sentiments remained sluggish since morning tracking weakness in Indian rupee due to month-end dollar demand from importers. As the trade progressed, some recovery was seen in the markets after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stated that he does not expect RBI’s recent liquidity steps to lead to increase in bank lending rates, notably a day ahead of RBI’s monetary policy review. Further, soothing some jittery nerves, FM added that India is still the second fastest growing economy and expressed hope of achieving six per cent growth this fiscal. Positive opening in European markets though supported the local indices to some extent. However, disappointing cues from Asian markets took their toll on Indian markets and dragged the frontline gauges below their crucial 5,850 (Nifty) and 19,600 (Sensex) levels. Some disappointment also came in from corporate earning front where banking stocks like Indian Bank reported 32% fall in Q1FY14 net profit at Rs 317.39 crore, while Syndicate Bank registered marginal rise in first quarter net profit at Rs 452.28 crore. Additionally, IDFC stocks too declined over 4% even as the company reported 46.74% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 557.31 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. Bucking the trend, investors continued to pile up positions in software and technology counters on the back of depreciating rupee. Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 154.91 points or 0.78% to settle at 19,593.28, while the CNX Nifty declined by 54.55 points or 0.93% to end at 5,831.65.

In his last policy shift, Subbarao focus on Rupee

First it was growth, then wholesale price inflation, then retail prices, then the current account deficit and now, in his last monetary policy review before retiring on September 4, Duvvuri Subbarao is expected to say the monetary policy stance is pegged to rupee stability, no matter the doddering economy.

Tuesday would be the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor’s his last chance to win the market’s confidence, but Subbarao is expected to stand pat on signoff eve.

In the macroeconomic and monetary development report released on Monday, the RBI said that the priority for monetary policy is to restore stability in the currency market. This would ensure that macro-financial conditions remain supportive of growth.

Referring to the liquidity tightening measures unleashed in the past two weeks, the RBI said that the immediate impact has been “rupee positive.” Data shows rupee appreciated by 2% since the first round of measures were put into force.

The central bank was mum about the impact these measures had on the short-term money market where interest rates spiked and bond yields surged.
While these measures have kept rupee from falling past 60 per dollar levels, the RBI is of the view that they may only provide some breathing space and strategy would succeed if reinforced by structural reforms to reduce the current account deficit and step up savings and investment.

The RBI is expected to maintain status quo on Tuesday. This was evident from the report released on Monday that flagged inflationary pressures arising out of recent rupee depreciation and upward revisions in fuel prices. The RBI said that there were upside risks to both wholesale as well as retail price inflation.

In terms of growth, the central bank noted that there was no evidence yet of recovery in growth even as headline inflation had moderated. The Professional forecasters’ survey conducted by the RBI revised the growth projection for current fiscal downwards to 5.7% from 6% as expected in May.

While growth concerns may keep the RBI from further tightening or reversing the policy stance, inflationary pressures may not allow it to reduce rates either. The central bank may opt to wait it out on Tuesday and act only when rupee shows some stability.

The RBI said that the global currency market movements in June-July 2013 had prompted a re-calibration of monetary policy. Going forward, the central bank aims to actively manage liquidity to reinforce monetary transmission that is consistent with growth-inflation balance and macro-financial stability.

PM promises more reforms

The Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry met today to discuss issues concerning the Indian economy.  The agenda focused on measures to correct the Current Account Deficit; the slowdown of industrial growth and measures to revive it; depreciation of the Rupee and its impact on trade and industry; skill development and development of industrial corridors.
The meeting was attended by the Finance Minister, the Commerce & Industries Minister, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Chairman of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, Chairman of PM's Economic Advisory Council, senior officials of the government and from the industry, Shri Rahul Bajaj, Dr. Ashok Ganguly, Shri Mukesh D. Ambani, Shri Narayana Murthy, Shri Azim Premji, Ms. Swati Piramal, Shri Deepak Parekh, Shri Jamshyd N. Godrej, Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Shri Venu Srinivasan, Shri Sunil Kant Munjal, Shri S. Gopalakrishnan, Dr. Rana Kapoor, Shri Sunil B. Mittal, Smt. Naina Lal Kidwai.
The Prime Minister welcomed the gathering and invited the captains of industry to give suggestions to improve the economy and remove the mood of pessimism that has unnecessarily spread in some quarters.  The Finance and Commerce Ministers then briefed the Council on the government's thoughts on the agenda.
There was a detailed and lengthy discussion on the issues.  While some expressed their concerns, some gave concrete suggestions on how to improve matters.
The overall sentiment was on the need to bring back the mood, converting decisions to action and taking the country back to a growth path of 8% or more.
The Prime Minister concluded by thanking the Council for its suggestions.  He said it was a rewarding discussion.  The Prime Minister wanted a report to be submitted within one month on what can be done in the next 2-3 months.