Sensex gains over 400 points, Oil shares surge

The 30-share Sensex gained 311 points at 18,402 and the 50-share Nifty added 124 points at 5,410 levels

Benchmark indices edged higher in noon deals tracking gains in FMCG, oil and gas and financials shares. Also the Rupee strengthened in today's trade after Reserve Bank of India's move to provide dollars directly to oil companies.

At 1400 hrs, the Sensex was up 347 points at 18,343 and the Nifty advanced 107 points to trade at 5,392.

In the broader markets, midcap index was up over 1% and the smallcap index gained 0.6%, both underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was up nearly 2%.

Rupee recovered to the levels of 67.71/$ in noon trades after the central bank said it has started a facility to meet the daily dollar requirement of the country's three state-run refiners.

Meanwhile, Asian shares recouped some of the two previous sessions' steep losses on Thursday as fears abated that U.S.-led forces would soon launch a military strike on Syria, and oil prices retreated from a six-month peak.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1% after falling 2.2% in the previous two sessions.

Japan's Nikkei share average, advanced 0.8% in light trade, helped by the safe-haven yen giving up some of the recent gains that had taken it to a three-week high against the dollar.

European shares too started trading in the green ahead of consumer price data. FTSE 100 was up 0.7% and DAX and CAC was up 0.4% each.

Markets  are trading at day’s high with Sensex and Nifty trading above the 18,400 mark and the 5,400 levels, respectively, led by FMCG, oil and capital goods shares.  Firm global cues have also supported the upward movement.

At 15:05 PM, the 30-share Sensex gained 311 points at 18,402 and the 50-share Nifty added 124 points at 5,410 levels.

Foreign brokerage company Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoAML) today pegged the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 4%.

     Back home, on the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods, Metal, FMCG and Oil & Gas indices surged 2% each.  Bankex, Teck, Consumer Durables, Power and IT indices too gained 1-2%.

The main gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Goa, HDFC, Hindalco, RIL, Bharti Airtel, TCS and L&T, up 1-9.5%.

Dr Reddys Lab, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and ONGC which gained 2-3% were the other notable gainers.

Coal India down 1.5%, Infosys and Cipla losing 0.4% and 0.1% were the only names in the red among the Sensex-30.

The market breadth was positive. 1,171 stocks advanced while 888 stocks declined on the BSE.

Sebi notifies new preferential issue norms

To check the flow of illicit funds in the issuance of shares to investors on preferential basis, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified the new norms that make it mandatory for payments and allotments to be done directly through the beneficiaries' accounts.

The payment for preferential shares will need to be made only from the own bank accounts of the buyers while it would be necessary to carry out such allotments through demat accounts.

Besides, the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner of these shares will have to be disclosed, according to the market regulator's notification dated August 26.

There have been concerns that promoters might use the preferential allotment route through front entities and thus adversely impact the interest of public shareholders.

"The issuer shall ensure that the consideration of specified securities, if paid in cash, shall be received from respective allottee's bank account," Sebi noted.

The notification comes after Sebi approved these norms in its board meeting in June.

The regulator said the issuer is required to submit a certificate of the statutory auditor to the stock exchange where the equity shares are listed stating that it is in compliance with necessary regulations and the relevant documents are maintained.

Sebi said the specified securities allotted on preferential basis would not be transferred till trading approval is granted for such securities by all the recognised stock exchanges where the equity shares of the issuer are listed.

"Provided that if there is any listed company, mutual fund, bank or insurance company in the chain of ownership of the proposed allottee, no further disclosure will be necessary," Sebi noted.

Lok Sabha debates Land Acquisition Bill

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh moved the Land Acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The House has now started debating the Bill that seeks to give fair compensation to those who lose their land.

Earlier, the key legislation could not be taken up for debate immediately after being tabled as the Opposition demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on the falling Rupee. An uproar over the same had earlier also led to the adjournment of the Lower House till 12 noon.

The Land Acquisition Bill is another pet project of the UPA leadership and aims to provide "just and fair" compensation to families whose land has been acquired for industrial purposes.

The Bill, renamed as "The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012", was tabled in the Lower House just days after it cleared another key legislation - the Food Security Bill.

The Land Acquisition Bill proposes payment of compensation that is up to four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.
The Bill also aims at making affected persons partners in development, leading to an improvement in their post- acquisition social and economic status.

Ramesh had earlier said that the proposed legislation shows government's determination to address "widespread and historical injustices".

This has been done by establishing strong legal prerequisites that need to be discharged first while acquiring land.

The Bill will replace over a century-old Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which suffers from various shortcomings, including silence on the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by the acquisition of land.

Besides, it had the much criticised 'Urgency Clause' which never truly defines what constitutes an urgent need and leaves it to the discretion of the acquiring authority.

Apart from this, it provided low rates of compensation.
The Bill is being brought for consideration and passage after two all-party meetings, which made the government accept five key amendments suggested by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Left parties.

The Union Cabinet had approved the amendments amid the government's efforts to create broad-based political consensus on the key legislation.

Among the amendments approved by Cabinet was the one suggested by Swaraj that instead of acquisition, land could be leased to developers so that its ownership remain with farmers and provide them regular annual income.
Swaraj had also suggested provision for payment of 50 per cent compensation to original owners whose land was purchased after introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha in September 2011.

Moving out of its way to create political consensus on the Bill, the Cabinet also agreed to this suggestion.

The Bill ensures that farmers get a fair deal and that there is no forcible acquisition of their land.

In cases where PPP projects are involved or acquisition is taking place for private companies, the Bill requires consent of no less than 70 per cent and 80 per cent respectively (in both cases) of those whose land is sought to be acquired.

"This ensures that no forcible acquisition can take place," Ramesh said.
According to Rural Development Ministry officials, this will be the very first law that links land acquisition with accompanying obligations for resettlement and rehabilitation.

"Over five chapters and two entire Schedules have been dedicated to outlining elaborate processes (and entitlements) for resettlement and rehabilitation," an official said. 

One in 5 MF distributors is active in India

Over the last few years fund houses have lost close to 1 cr equity folios, mostly retail

India's mutual fund sector has currently only 15,000 active distributors. At a time when insurance industry alone has close to 2.5 million agents such low distributors' base is proving a setback for the fund houses.

According to industry lobby Association of Mutual Funds in India ( Amfi ) the sector as on date is having 83, 000 MF distributors registered with it. But when it comes to number of active distributors on ground it is pathetic at only 18% of the total.

No wonder why penentration of mutual fund products remain at abysmal level of less than 5% in India.

Not long ago, the industry had only 50, 000 registered distributors.Thanks to the free regustration drive by Amfi since February this year that the number could be increased to 83, 000 currently.

According to Amfi top executives, though many new distributors have joined but due to bad economic situation these individuals have not yet jumped in to start their business.

"These distributors may have got themselves registered with no fees. But they may start selling when the tide turns and situation improves, said a top Amfi official.

However,  what is more alarming for the industry is the fact that against expectations the free registration drive had "lukewarm" response.

That's why Amfi had extended the waiver to September against the earlier set deadline of June. However, sources said that there are little chances of any further extension.

Over the last few years fund houses have lost close to 1 crore equity folios,  mostly retail.

Meanwhile,  Amfi recently had launched its voluntary district adoption scheme. The industry officials expect the move will help industry to bring in more investors from country's hinterland.

Call rates oscillate near emergency funding rate

Interbank call rates edged higher at 10.25/30% compared to previous close of 10.20/30% on Wednesday, as demand more or less stabilized in the first week of reporting cycle. However, tight liquidity condition is maintaining pressure on call rates, with banks borrowing Rs 69585 crore from the Reserve Bank of India's marginal standing facility (MSF) window on August 28, higher than the Rs 56435 crore on August 27. It needs to be noted that the RBI had raised the MSF rate by 200 basis points to 10.25% and also imposed restrictions on daily borrowings by banks under its repo window last month.

The banks via Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) borrowed Rs 39984 crore through repo window on August 29, 2013, while banks via Special Liquidity Adjustment Facility borrowed Rs 39074 crore through repo window and parked Rs 18 crore via reverse repo window on August 28, 2013.

The overnight borrowing rates touched a high and low of 10.50% and 10.25% respectively.

According to the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), the weighted average rate (WAR) in the call money market was 10.23% on Thursday and total volume stood at 16515.96 crore, so far.

As per CCIL data, WAR in the CBLO (Collateralized Borrowing and Lending Obligation) market was 10.25% on Thursday and total volume stood at Rs 43797.50 crore, so far.

The indicative call rates which closed at 10.20/10.30% on Wednesday were contributions made from Andhra Bank, AXIS Bank, Bank of America, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, J P Morgan Chase, Citibank N.A., Corporation Bank, Credit Agricole Bank, Indusind Bank, ICICI Bank, ICICI Securities, IDBI Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Punjab National Bank, RBS, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, so far.

Sesa Goa trades in green on the BSE

Sesa Goa is currently trading at Rs. 182.75, up by 13.20 points or 7.79% from its previous closing of Rs. 169.55 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 169.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 184.80 and Rs. 166.20 respectively. So far 22, 80,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 205.40 on 07-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 119.45 on 31-Jul-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 174.50 and Rs. 139.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 15,882 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 55.13% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 31.49% and 13.39% respectively.

In a bid to gear-up for completing first phase of mining in the West African nation by December, 2014, Sesa Goa is planning to invest $400 million in its Liberian iron ore mining project in 2-3 years. In this regard, the company has already invested about $35 million so far and has plans to spend about $100 million this year. While, in next 2-3 years the company will invest between $250 million to $400 million.

Sesa Goa, which had acquired Liberia's Western Clusters project for about $123.5 million has divided the project into several phases and has plans to ramp up production up to 30 MTPA by 2016-17.

Sensex soars 308 points; Capital goods, consumer durables stocks rally

Domestic markets jumped over 1.6 per cent in the afternoon session on heavy FII inflows as the rupee recovered from its all-time low coupled with positive global cues.

Domestic sentiment turned better after the rupee opened sharply higher at 66.90 from its previous close of 68.80 after RBI announced fresh measures to check the rupee's free fall amid firm global cues.

Besides, covering up of pending short positions by speculators as today being the last day of current month’s settlement in the derivatives segment supported the rise in stock prices.

At 12.45 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 307.91 points (1.71 per cent) at 18,304.06 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 86 points (1.63 per cent) at 5,371.

All BSE sectoral indices were trading in the green. Among them, capital goods, consumer durables, metal and banking indices found investors' support and were up 2.16 per cent, 1.91 per cent, 1.77 per cent and 1.5 per cent.

Among 30-share Sensex, Sesa Goa, HDFC, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel and L&T were the top five gainers, while the top five losers were Coal India, Infosys, Wipro, GAIL and Hero MotoCorp.

Asian shares rose from a two-month low tracking overnight cues from the Wall Street.

Wall Street had ended higher on Wednesday as energy shares rallied on higher oil prices as the United States and its allies moved closer to take military action against Syria.

But US President Barack Obama has said that he has not yet decided whether to attack Syria in the aftermath of the Assad regime allegedly using chemical weapons against its own people on August 21.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.38 points or 0.33 per cent to 14,824.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.48 points or 0.27 per cent at 1,634.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.83 points or 0.41 per cent to 3,593.35.

Japan's Nikkei rose 121.25 points or 0.91 per cent to 13,459.70, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 119.77 points or 0.56 per cent to 21,644.40 and S&P/ASX 200 was up 5.25 points or 0.1 per cent at 5,092.41.

Investors are keeping an eye on West Asia after the US and the UK had yesterday said that they are prepared to take military action against Syria, without authorisation from the United Nations Security Council, after concluding that the regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack against civilians on August 21.

They are also awaiting a report on US economic growth that may give signs on when the Federal Reserve will start scaling back its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme.

Kotak Mahindra Bank surges on plans to open 100 branches in FY14

Kotak Mahindra Bank is currently trading at Rs. 628.60, up by 22.60 points or 3.73% from its previous closing of Rs. 606.00 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 610.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 631.10 and Rs. 597.00 respectively. So far 52268 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 804.00 on 30-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 561.20 on 05-Sep-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 650.05 and Rs. 588.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 47646.88 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.75% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 33.40% and 22.61% respectively.

Private sector lender, Kotak Mahindra Bank is planning to open 100 branches during the current fiscal as the savings bank balance of the bank has increased 45% year- on- year, the bank also added 1.5 lakh customer accounts during the first three months of the fiscal. At present, the bank has total branch count of 450.

Further, the bank will open five additional branches in Tamil Nadu as deposits in the state have increased by 40% to over Rs 2,150 crore, while savings account deposits increased 33% to Rs 350 crore as on June 30.

Recently, the bank unveiled ‘Kotak Junior’, a specially designed savings bank account for children in Chhattisgarh. This new account has been aimed to encourage children in the age group of 0-18 to save money smartly.

MCX hits upper circuit, up nearly 50% from record low

MCX was trading at Rs 355, rallied around 50% from record low of Rs 238 touched on August 19 on BSE.

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has hit its upper circuit for the ninth consecutive trading session, up 5% at Rs 355 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with no sellers.

A combined 18,352 shares have changed hands on the counter and there are pending buy orders for 1.76 million shares on BSE and NSE (National Stock Exchange) at 1045 hours.

The counter has rallied nearly 50% from its record low of Rs 238 registered on August 19 this year, after the company said it has no exposure to crisis-hit National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL), which had to settle dues worth Rs 5,600 crore to investors.

MCX and NSEL are totally different entities with no financial commitments or exposure to each other whatsoever. The company is in full compliance with the directive of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity markets regulator, on investments, loans and advances.

The company said it is a debt-free company and has a net worth of Rs 1,214 crore in the quarter ended June 30.

RIL-BP win approval for $3.18 bn plan for R-Series gas field

Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc on Thursday won approval to invest $3.18 billion in R-Series gas field in the flagging KG-D6 block.

RIL-BP plan to quickly bring satellite fields in the KG-D6 block to production to help reverse the decline in output.

The block oversight committee, called Management Committee (MC), headed by upstream regulator DGH, approved plans of RIL and its partners BP plc of U.K. and Niko Resources to produce 13-15 million standard cubic metres per day of gas for 13 years from D-34 discovery in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block, sources privy to the development said.

The planned output from D-34, which is estimated to hold an in-place reserve of 2.2 Trillion cubic feet, is equivalent to the combined current production from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas field and MA field in the KG-D6 block.

RIL, the operator of KG-D6 block with 60 per cent interest, had on January 30 submitted the Field Development Plan (FDP) for D-34 field to DGH.

Sources said DGH after examination trimmed down the recoverable reserves to 1.191 Tcf from 1.413 Tcf estimated by the operator.

Also, the peak production of 14.9 mmscmd estimated by RIL was brought down to 12.9 mmscmd by DGH.

The Dhirubhai-34 or D-34 gas discovery in the southern part of KG-D6 block in Krishna Godavari basin was notified in May 2007. The find was declared commercially viable by MC in November 2011.

RIL has so far made 19 gas discoveries and 1 oil find in the KG-D6 block. Of these, D1&D3 gas fields were brought to production in April 2009 while MA oilfield began pumping oil in September 2008.

D-34 is part of what is known as R-Cluster of discoveries. R-Cluster comprises of four discoveries - D-29, 30, 31 and 34. Of these, only D-34 has so far been declared commercially viable while the Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) of others has been refused in absence of DGH prescribed tests confirming the discoveries.

RIL estimates that output from KG-D6 can reach up to 60 mmscmd by 2019 when all of the satellite fields are put into production.

The MC had last year approved $1.529 billion investment in four satellite fields that can produce 10 mmscmd. Investment plans for rest are under consideration, sources added.

ONGC in talks to sell 25-30% stake in petrochemical plant at Gujarat

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is in discussions with Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority for selling 25-30% stake in an Rs 21,396 crore mega petrochemical plant at Gujarat. Further, ONGC has ordered Ernst & Young to search for a strategic partner who could be a technology provider or a marketer of chemicals the plant will produce.

Basically, ONGC Petro additions (OPaL) is building a 1.1 million tonnes plant at Dahej in Gujarat. The plant, which was originally scheduled to be commissioned by December this year, running behind schedule, is now expected to come up sometime in 2015. While, ONGC holds 26% stake in OPaL, state gas utility GAIL India holds 15.5% in OPaL and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GPSC) another 5%. Meanwhile, state Bank of India, the lead banker to the project, has offered to take 3-5% of equity on closure of the debt syndication exercise.

Tata Motors’ global arm- JLR’s car plants production hits by union strike

Tata Motors’ global arm - Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) car plants production in Britain was affected because of industrial action by supply chain workers over a pay dispute. Union Unite workers had voted in favor of 30-minute walkouts at the start of each shift. The company is trying to minimize the disruption to production at the luxury car manufacturing units.

Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. It is also the world's fourth largest truck and bus manufacturer.

Indian Overseas Bank rises on seeking Rs 2,100 crore capital support from Govt

Indian Overseas Bank is currently trading at Rs. 38.70, up by 0.15 points or 0.39% from its previous closing of Rs. 38.55 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 39.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 39.35 and Rs. 38.35 respectively. So far 35380 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 94.85 on 07-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 37.15 on 19-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 41.00 and Rs. 37.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3580.87 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.80% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 14.01% and 12.19% respectively.

In a bid to enhance its capital base, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is looking for capital support of Rs 2,100 crore from the government. With this, the bank’s Tier I capital will reach to 8%. Tier I capital or the equity capital of the bank stood at 7.80% at the end of March 2013.

Earlier this year, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said all public sector banks are meeting Basel III requirements for capitalisation, though four of them -- Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Dena Bank -- have Tier-1 capital below 8%.

Last year, the bank received Rs 1,000 crore from the government as part of recapitalisation package.

As of March 2013, the total capital funds of the bank stood at Rs 18,366 crore due to allotment of preferential shares to the government of India.

Why has India’s gold outperformed global price?

Gold price hits fresh all-time high of Rs 34,622 per ten grams in futures trade on Wednesday on heavy buying as rupee plunged to its new record low of 68.75 against the US dollar.

Despite recovering about USD 240 an ounce, or more than 20 percent, since hitting a near three-year low of USD 1,180.71 in late June, gold prices are still down 15 percent so far this year in international market. On the contrary, the yellow metal, which plunged to a low of Rs 25,000 in mid-April, is at a record high in India.

Here’s looking at why gold price in India is spiralling:

Rupee depreciation:
 The depreciation in rupee has cast a huge impact on the escalation of gold prices as it makes imports costlier. Rupee is down nearly 19 percent so far this year. Hence, gold price in India cannot be at parallels with the price in international market. The difference arising out of the depreciation in rupee has pushed the gold prices higher.

Gold import duty:
Gold import duty has also added fuel to the rapidly increasing gold price. In order to contain the widening Current Account Deficit (CAD), the government this month hiked the import duty on gold from existing 8 percent to 10 percent, which has led to a straight jump of more than 600 per 10 gram in gold prices. Prior to this hike, the government had twice hiked import duty from 4 percent to 6 percent and 8 percent respectively.

Geo-political tensions:
 Geopolitical tensions in Syria are one of the reasons that have immediately triggered the hike in gold prices. Analysts believe that the possibility of US military action against Syria is driving demand for safe-haven assets including gold. Speculations are also doing the rounds that Fed might delay tapering of its bond buying programme if US forces attack Syria.

Low-level demand/ETF buying:
In the last two weeks, SPDR gold trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, has reported inflow, signalling renewed interest of market players. Apart from ETF buying, low-level buying also stoked up prices.

Central Bank’s buying: 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) data has showed that central banks continued to add to their gold reserves. Turkey added the most by buying 22.5 tonnes of gold in July, while Russia's holdings topped 1,000 tonnes. The accumulation of gold by the central banks has underpinned demand for gold, which in turn has strengthened the metal’s price.

Crude continues its surge on Syrian concern

Crude oil futures continued their surge on Wednesday with Nymex crude ending above the $110-mark. The geo-political concerns kept supporting the prices with the US and its allies mulling over possibilities of military intervention in Syria. Traders even ignored the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly crude oil report that showed US commercial crude oil stockpiles increased more than expected for the week ended August 23.

The EIA reported that US crude oil inventories increased by 2.9 million barrels, while gasoline stocks fell by 587,000 barrels in the week ended August 23.

Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery surged by $1.09 or 1 percent to close at $110.10 a barrel after trading in a range of $112.24 and $109.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent oil futures for October delivery gained 1.39% at $115.96 a barrel on the ICE.

JK Paper soars on hiking product prices by up to 5%

JK Paper is currently trading at Rs. 25.25, up by 1.20 points or 4.99% from its previous closing of Rs. 24.05 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 25.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 25.90 and Rs. 25.20 respectively. So far 1,653 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 46.80 on 19-Dec-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 23.10 on 22-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 25.90 and Rs. 23.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 350.00 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 51.92% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 10.96% and 37.13% respectively.

JK Paper, a paper and packaging major, has hiked prices of its products by up to 5% with immediate effect. The company has taken this step in order to offset the cost of raw materials and chemicals which are on rise.

Three categories of products, including copier papers and packaging board, have been affected by the price hike and the increase will range from by Rs 2 to Rs 4 per kg. The company had earlier increased its prices in May this year.

JK Paper is India’s largest producer of branded paper and is a leading player in the printing and writing segment. It is also engaged in outsourcing activity wherein it contracts the capacities of other mills in India and abroad to manufacture various grades of paper, maintaining the same quality and service assurance.

Titan Industries spurts on plans of entering into helmet market by early 2014

Titan Industries is currently trading at Rs. 219.10, up by 6.80 points or 3.20% from its previous closing of Rs. 212.30 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 217.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 220.85 and Rs. 213.10 respectively. So far 114902 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 313.60 on 30-Nov-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 200.00 on 13-Jun-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 236.85 and Rs. 206.60 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 19526.86 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.05% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.94% and 24.01% respectively.

Titan Industries, the country’s leading watch, jewellery and eyewear maker, will enter the helmet market in early 2014, with a superior quality product to ensure safety and comfort of two-wheeler riders. The company will, however, not manufacture helmets but source them from vendors in the sector and market them under its Titan brand. The company is also planning to enter into fragrance market in the near future.

Titan is India’s largest manufacturer of quartz watches and has a 60% market share in the Indian market. It is world’s sixth largest manufacturer of branded watches. It has a manufacturing and assembly unit at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.

FDI in multi-brand retail to face heat in Rajya Sabha today

The foreign direct investment policy for multi-brand retail is set for a rough ride in Parliament on Thursday when the amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), needed to make the rules legally valid, come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha.

The policy, which allows 51 per cent FDI in the multi-brand retail sector subject to sourcing and investment conditions, was approved by the Cabinet last September. While the Lok Sabha had approved the policy and the required amendments to FEMA (although there are still certain amendments from Opposition members to be discussed), the Rajya Sabha is yet to give its nod.

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, who had moved a motion against the FEMA amendment, will explain his reasons for doing so to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday following which the motion may be put up for voting. Critics fear that allowing large retail stores with dedicated low cost supply chains will lead to job losses, loss of business for the small industry and closing down of neighbourhood ‘mom-n-pop’ stores.

“It has to be voted in Rajya Sabha. The Government is in a minority on the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail,” said Yechury.

No foreign multi-brand retail company, including Walmart and Tesco that had initially shown great enthusiasm in setting up shop in the country, has submitted proposals yet as they are waiting for all policy clearances to come through, a DIPP official said. Opposition parties are having discussions among themselves and with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party for forging a common stand on the amendments.

Interestingly, while the SP and the BSP had opposed the policy allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, both had walked out when the policy was being voted in the Lok Sabha, thus allowing it to be approved.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, whose Ministry was instrumental in formulating the policy for multi-brand retail, is expected to intervene on the statutory motion and outline the benefits of the policy. He is expected to give assurances that the policy will not lead to job losses, as was being feared and would lead to the creation of back-end infrastructure in the country.

“One has to see if voting actually happens and if it does, what happens to the future of the FDI policy for multi-brand retail,” the DIPP official said.

This would be just the first bridge to cross for the multi-brand retail FDI policy. The fresh amendments made to the multi-brand retail policy recently to attract elusive investors will also require amendments to FEMA. Opposition parties including the Left parties have already said they would oppose the new rules in Parliament as they were in breach of what had been projected to them earlier.

The new FDI rules have eased compulsory sourcing norms from the small sector, exempted foreign retailers from investing in back-end infrastructure beyond the first tranche of investments brought in and allowed stores to come up even in small cities.

NSEL declares 10 more members as defaulters; takes tally to 19

Crisis-ridden NSEL on Wednesday declared ten more entities as defaulters after they failed to pay their dues on the second-pay out, taking the number of members who are to pay dues at 19.

The exchange also declared the name of clients who traded through defaulting members.

The nine members who have been declared defaulters are, LOIL Continental Food, LOIL Health Foods, Mohan India, Namdhari Food International, Namdhari Rice and General Mills, White Water Foods, Shree Radhey Trading Company, P D Agroprocessors, Swastik Overseas Corp and Juggernaut Projects.

NSEL, promoted by Jignesh Shah-headed FTIL, is facing a crisis after it suspended trade on July 31, raising concerns about possible default of Rs 5,600 crore owed by 24 buyers/ members.

NSEL has defaulted for the second consecutive week in paying its investors as it has been able to pay only Rs 12.05 crore against the scheduled payout of Rs 174.72 crore.

Earlier, the exchange had declared the name of nine members as defaulters who failed to pay their dues on the first day of settlement on August 20, following directives from the commodity market regulator FMC. Only Rs 92 crore was mopped up out of Rs 174.72 crore scheduled payout.

FMC had directed NSEL to declare members, who have failed in making payments, as 'defaulters' and liquidate all their realisable assets.

The regulator also asked NSEL to auction defaulters' commodities lying in the accredited warehouses as collateral.

FMC had also ordered NSEL to ask defaulters to hand over books, documents, papers, assets, cheque books and other documents, and the same should vest with the exchange for the benefit of creditors.

Crude oil futures end lower as US stockpiles advance

Crude oil futures ended a tad lower in the domestic market on Wednesday after a report said that US crude oil stockpiles rose last week, signaling weakening demand for the fuel in the world’s biggest crude oil consuming nation. US crude oil stockpiles rose 2.99 million barrels to 362 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said.

A decline in pending homes sales in the US signaled a cooling housing recovery in the world’s biggest economy, dimming the demand outlook for the fuel. The gauge measuring pending home sales fell at the fastest pace this year, down 1.3 per cent in July 2013.

However, concerns that the Syria conflict may escalate and disrupt oil supplies from the Middle East, curbed losses in the fuel. The US and UK were ready to take military action against Syria even without UN authorization.

At the MCX, Crude Oil futures, for the September 2013 contract, closed at Rs 7,347 per barrel, down by 0.11 per cent, after opening at Rs 7,377, against a previous close of Rs 7,355. It touched an intra-day low of Rs 7,303.

Asian stocks rebound from heavy losses

Asian markets saw a mild bounce on Thursday after suffering heavy selling pressure this week, but traders remain on edge ahead of an expected military strike on Syria.

The dollar also benefited as fears eased over the impact of an attack on the Middle Eastern country, which is accused of using chemical weapons on its own people.

Rupee was slightly off record lows touched Wednesday as investors fret over the country's stuttering economy as well as the future of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus programme.

Tokyo rose 0.48 percent by the break, Hong Kong added 0.58 percent, Shanghai gained 0.42 percent and Seoul rallied 1.25 percent but Sydney shed 0.28 percent.

Buying sentiment was given a boost by a rally on Wall Street, which ended three days of losses, as energy companies benefited from a surge in oil prices.

The Dow rose 0.34 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.41 percent.

Obama, who had warned the use of chemical weapons by Syria would cross a "red line", said Washington had definitively concluded that the Assad regime was to blame for last week's attack that killed hundreds of people.

However, he said Wednesday he had not yet decided whether to strike.

His comments, which were more cautious than recent statements, come as political uproar in London cast doubt on whether Britain will join any such action.

Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Excessive risk aversion is unwinding."

Anxiety about Syria initially caused the dollar to weaken earlier this week as investors bought alternative safe-haven currencies including the Swiss franc and yen.

"I think the general feeling is that the United States won't be as heavily involved in Syria as it was when it invaded Iraq back in 2003," he said.

Crude prices edged lower after surging Wednesday on fears of a supply shortage in the oil-rich Middle East caused by any military intervention.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in October, was down 71 cents to $109.39 a barrel after spiking at a two-year high of $112.24 the previous day.

Brent North Sea crude for October shed 75 cents to $115.86. The contract peaked at six-month high of $117.34 Wednesday.

Thursday's pick-up also provided some respite for stocks in emerging markets, which have been hammered in recent weeks on expectations of an end to the Fed's stimulus, which has fuelled an investment splurge in the region over the past year.

Jakarta was up 1.10 percent, Manila added 0.80 percent and Kuala Lumpur climbed 0.53 percent.

The Indian rupee was also better off, sitting at 68.82 to the dollar after tapping 69.22 Wednesday.

However, the unit remains strained owing to ongoing troubles in the domestic economy.

The dollar bought 97.88 yen in early trade, compared with 97.72 yen in New York and well up from the low 97-yen levels in Tokyo Wednesday.

The euro fetched $1.3327 and 130.42 yen compared with $1.3341 and 130.36 yen.

Gold cost $1,409.35 an ounce, near a three-month high, at 0220 GMT, up from $1,422.90 late Wednesday.

Markets may open higher; F&O expiry eyed

At 800 hrs Indian Standard Time the SGX Nifty was up 46 points at 5,314.

Markets are likely to open higher but may trade rangebound ahead of the expiry of August derivatives contracts today.

The movement of rupee and foreign fund flows would also largely drive the stock market.

At 800 hrs Indian Standard Time the SGX Nifty was up 46 points at 5,314.

According to technical experts, the Nifty may seek support around 5,210-5,160, while face resistance around 5,360-5,410.

Wall Street rose on Wednesday as energy shares rallied on higher oil prices as the United States and its allies edged closer to military action against Syria

On Wednesday stocks recouped some of the losses as traders bought energy stocks, which rose on a spike in oil prices as markets feared supply interruptions from the Middle East.

The Dow Jones industrial, Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.3-0.4%.

Asian shares stabilised on Thursday after two days of steep losses as fears abated that U.S.-led forces would soon launch a military strike on Syria, and oil prices retreated from a six-month peak.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.1 percent after falling 2.2 percent in the previous two sessions. Japan's Nikkei share average advanced 0.5 percent.

STOCKS TO WATCH

The Odisha government has turned down Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL)’s proposal to acquire 49 per cent stake in Gopalpur Ports.

Titan Industries, now re-christened Titan Company Ltd, said it planned to widen its footprint in the personal lifestyle segment by venturing into new categories within the space.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam will soon enter into a technological collaboration with Russia's Novolipetsk Steel Company to set up a plant for producing silicon steel, used in the power sector.

Essar Projects has secured a Rs 700 crore contract from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).

Infosys said Ashok Vemuri, a member of the company's board of directors and head of its operations in the Americas, has resigned.

Videocon planning to roll out 4G services by July-August next year and is in talks with Nokia Siemens Networks for infrastructure.