Sensex slips 160 pts, US jobs data eyed

Markets continued their losing spree for the fourth straight seesion on Friday as investors turned cautious and booked profits

Markets  continued their losing spree for the fourth straight seesion on Friday as investors turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels ahead of the US jobs data due later today. An encouraging US jobs data would help the US Fed to start winding down its monetary stimulus measures sooner than expected.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 157 points at 20,666 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 46 points at 6,141.

The rupee recovered slightly from the day's lows and was trading at Rs 62.63 compared with previous close of Rs 62.42 per dollar.

Asian share indices continued to remain weak as investors turned cautious ahead of the US jobs data later today. A robust jobs data would help the US Fed start reducing its monetary stimulus measures sooner-than-expected. Japan's benchmark share index, the Nikkei, ended down 1.1% at 14,086.80. Among other indices in the region, Shanghai COmposite ended down 1.1%, Hang Seng closed 0.6% lower while Straits Times ended down 0.8%.

Stocks in Europe witnessed profit booking on Friday on worries that better-than-expected US jobs data may help the US Fed to start winding down its monetary stimulus measures sooner than expcted. Further, global rating agency Standard & Poor's to lower France's sovereign credit rating to AA from AA+ also weighed on investor sentiment. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were down 0.3-0.9% each.

The BSE Consumer Durables index was the top loser among the sectoral indices down 2% followed by Oil & Gas, Bankex, Auto and FMCG indices.

Financials were among the top Sensex losers with HDFC and HDFC Bank down 3.8% and 1.9%, respectively. SBI and ICICI Bank ended marginally lower.

In the oil and gas segment, Reliance Ind ended down 1.2% at Rs 876 and PSU exploration major ONGC ended over 2% down at Rs 277.

Other Sensex losers include TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto.

Capital goods shares were among the top Sensex gainers. L&T and BHEL ended up 0.7-1.8% each.

Tata Motors ended up 1.3% ahead of its second quarter earnings later today.

Among other shares, Tech Mahindra has rallied 6% to end at Rs 1,674, after reporting 4.7% quarter-on-quarter (qoq) growth in the dollar revenues to US$ 758 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. Analyst expected revenue to drop around 3% for the quarter.

Aurobindo Pharma surged nearly 9% up to end at Rs 260 after reporting a healthy 80% year-on-year (yoy) growth in consolidated adjusted net profit at Rs 245 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q2) on back of strong operational performance. The pharmaceutical company had profit of Rs 136 crore in a year ago quarter.

Eicher Motors gained 2.9% on reporting a robust 63% year-on-year (yoy) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 107 crore for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q3) mainly due to one-time other operating income of around Rs 53 crore. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 66 crore during the same period of previous year.

Shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB) dipped 4.2% to end at Rs 522 on BSE after net profit of the state-owned bank has been more than halved at Rs 505 crore during the quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q2) due to higher provisioning for bad loans.

Sun TV Network dipped 5.6% to end at Rs 413 after reporting a lower than expected 11.5% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 169 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q2) due to slower revenue growth.

Thinksoft Global Services ended locked in upper circuit of 20% at Rs 194 on BSE after the company said that SQS Software Quality Systems AG has made an open offer at price of Rs 260 per share to public shareholders.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices ended marginally lower.

Market breadth was negative with 1,319 losers and 1,121 gainers on the BSE.

Cummins India surges despite reporting 10% fall in Q2 net profit

Cummins India is currently trading at Rs 405.00, up by 2.85 points or 0.71% from its previous closing of Rs 402.15 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 397.85 and has touched a high and low of Rs 406.00 and Rs 392.00 respectively. So far 20609 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 550.00 on 09-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 365.05 on 28-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 414.00 and Rs. 396.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 11226.60 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 51.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 35.32% and 13.68% respectively.

Cummins India has reported results for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013.

The company has reported a fall of 10.02% in its net profit at Rs 144.81 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 160.94 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has decreased by 11.79% at Rs 988.55 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1120.72 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

Canara Bank hikes deposit rates by 0.50%

Taking cue from other lenders, state-run Canara Bank today hiked interest rates on fixed deposits by up to 0.50 per cent.

Fixed deposits in the maturity bracket of 46 days to 60 days and 61 days to 90 days would now fetch interest rates of 7.50 per cent, up from 7 per cent earlier, effective today, Canara Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

For deposits above one year to less than two years, the interest rates would now be 9.05 per cent, up from 8.75 per cent. For those of five years and above to less than 8 years would now be 9.05 per cent, up from 8.75 per cent.

Additional interest rate of 0.50 per cent would be given to senior citizens for domestic term deposits, Canara Bank said.

With revision in deposit rate, the peak rate has gone up to 9.05 per cent. Term deposit between one year to up to 10 years would earn interest rate of 9.05 per cent.

Besides, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has hiked interest rates on select maturities by up to 0.50 per cent effective from November 11.

Fixed deposits for less than Rs. one crore between 271 days to less than one year would yield interest rate of 8 per cent, up from 7.50 per cent earlier, PNB said.

In case of maturity period of one year and above up to 10 years, uniform interest rates of 9 per cent shall be applicable, PNB said.

Earlier this week, private sector Axis Bank had revised the interest rates on select maturities for fixed deposits of less than Rs. 1 crore. In two buckets there was an upward revision of 0.25 per cent and in 9 buckets a downward revision of 0.25 per cent by the bank.

The rate revision by various lenders comes after the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates by 0.25 per cent in its monetary policy on October 29.

Following this, country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank hiked their base rate or the minimum lending rate by 0.20 per cent to 10 per cent.

UCO Bank Q2 net up 4-fold to Rs. 400 crore

 Public sector UCO Bank today reported a near four-fold jump in net profit at Rs. 400 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

The bank had a net profit of Rs. 103.7 crore in the July- September quarter of 2012-13 fiscal.

Total income of the bank increased to Rs. 4,653.30 crore for the quarter ended September, from Rs. 4,408.55 crore in the same quarter a year ago, UCO Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

The gross NPAs of the bank rose to 5.32 per cent during the quarter, from 4.88 per cent in the year ago period.

Interest income of the bank rose to Rs. 4,444 crore during the second quarter, from Rs. 4,196 crore in the same period a year ago.

Shares of UCO Bank were trading at Rs. 74.20, up 4.51 per cent in the afternoon trade on the BSE.

State-run banks' capital adequacy ratios dip on rise in credit demand

Data on the CARs differ according to whether PSBs have gone by Basel-II or Basel-III norms

The capital adequacy ratios of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country continue to shrink, following a pick-up in credit demand and requirement of higher provisions in the wake of asset quality deterioration.

Most state-run lenders, which have announced their second quarter earnings so far, have reported a dip in their capital adequacy ratios (CARs) in the July-September period.

Data on the CARs differ according to whether PSBs have gone by Basel-II or Basel-III norms.

BANKING ON GOVT

Most PSBs have reported a dip in their capital adequacy ratios (CAR) in the July-September period.

Bank of Baroda saw its CAR as per Basel-II contracting to 12.32 per cent at the end of September 2013 from 12.70 per cent a quarter ago.

Allahabad Bank closed July-September quarter with a CAR of 11.07 per cent.

Bankers hope that the govt's decision to inject Rs 14,000 crore capital will help them meet regulatory requirements and finance business growth.

Sudden rise in credit demand is one of the main reasons for dip in capital adequacy ratios.

Bank of Baroda, the second largest state-run lender in the country, saw its CAR according to Basel-II contracting to 12.32 per cent at the end of September from 12.70 per cent a quarter ago and 12.91 per cent a year earlier. The ratio also declined sequentially by 39 basis points when computed according to the new Basel-III norms to 12.07 per cent.

Allahabad Bank closed the quarter with a ratio of 11.07 per cent under Basel-II guidelines. While it was flat on a sequential basis, the ratio narrowed by 109 basis points from the corresponding period of previous year. However, bankers appear confident that the government's decision to inject Rs 14,000 crore capital in state-run banks will help them meet regulatory requirements and finance business growth.

"The government has decided to infuse Rs 400 crore capital in the bank. That will strengthen our capital base and will help us comply with the CAR under Basel-III norms. In addition, we are planning to raise Rs 330 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). The timing of the issue will depend on market conditions," Shubhalakshmi Panse, chairperson and managing director of Allahabad Bank, said.

The Kolkata-based public sector bank's CAR was 10.72 per cent according to Basel-III rules at the end of September compared to 10.60 per cent a quarter ago.

Union Bank of India will also get Rs 500 crore from the government in the current financial year. The bank's CAR decreased by 76 basis points sequentially and 101 basis points from a year ago to 10.38 per cent under Basel-II norms at the end of the second quarter.

The bank's Chairman and Managing Director D Sarkar said the lender was exploring options to raise money through QIP but is yet to finalise the fund raising plan.

Bank of India, which more than doubled its net profit on a year-on-year basis in the July-September quarter, has also witnessed a dip in its capital adequacy ratio under Basel-II norms. Its capital adequacy ratio was 10.86 per cent according to Basel-II at the end of September compared to 11.10 per cent a year earlier.

Bankers and industry analysts believe the dip in capital adequacy ratios was primarily on account of sudden rise in credit demand. The industry credit growth accelerated to 16.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 5,614,926 crore at the end of October 18, 2013. The increase was more than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) forecast of 15 per cent year-on-year growth in bank advances in 2013-14.

According to the banking regulator, the increase in money market rates, including discount rates on commercial papers, and subdued primary market conditions have persuaded domestic corporates to borrow money from banks leading to a rise in loan demand.

Higher provision requirements amid deterioration in credit quality have also contributed to the fall in capital adequacy ratios, analysts said. They added capital requirements of public sector banks would continue to expand if the lenders fail to check the rise in bad assets.

NTPC inches up on its subsidiary commissioning UNIT-I of MTPS Stage-I

NTPC is currently trading at Rs. 152.50, up by 0.25 points or 0.16% from its previous closing of Rs. 152.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 152.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 153.20 and Rs. 150.50 respectively. So far 82028 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 170.70 on 08-Nov-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 122.65 on 28-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 155.20 and Rs. 145.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 124918.79 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 75.00 %, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 20.43 % and 4.57 % respectively.

NTPC’s subsidiary company - Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam’s Unit-I of 110 MW of Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) Stage-I was declared on commercial operation with effect from November 01, 2013, subsequent to achieving the full load on August 09, 2013.

With this the total installed capacity and total commercial capacity of NTPC Group has become 41,794 MW and 40,294 MW respectively.

BSE Sensex down over 170 points

Some buying activity is seen is healthcare and FMCG sectors on BSE, while consumer durables, banking, oil & gas, PSU and realty sectors are losing sheen

At 12:56 PM, S&P BSE Sensex is 20,653 down 169 points, while CNX Nifty is at 6,134 down 52 points.

BSE Mid-cap is at 6,196 down 24 points, while BSE Small-cap is at 5,999 down 30 points.

Some buying activity is seen is healthcare and FMCG sectors on BSE, while consumer durables, banking, oil & gas, PSU and realty sectors are losing sheen.

Tata Steel, Tata Motors, SSLT, Dr Reddy's Lab, Cipla, ITC and L&T are up on BSE, whereas HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, Coal India, ONGC, Gail, TCS and Hindalco are showing some weakness.

UCO Bank gained 5.35% on the news that its net profit increased to Rs. 4 billion in the quarter ended September 30, 2013 from Rs. 1.03 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

JSW Steel said its crude steel production increased 39% to 10.62 lakh tonnes in October 2013. The scrip is 0.22% down on BSE.

Aurobindo Pharma gained 9.59% on BSE. The company posted a net profit of Rs. 1.79 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 against Rs. 2.38 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Oil Ltd have joined the race to supply diesel to the Indian Railways for the next year. RIL is 1.06% down, while Essar Oil declined 1.52% on BSE.

Parsvnath Developers said it plans to monetise non-core land parcel in south-west India either through joint ventures with local builders or outright sale of plots. The scrip is 0.38% down on BSE.

Market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has issued 154 attachment notices till date for recovering more than Rs 1,545 crore from various defaulters and is in the process of ascertaining the amounts available in the bank accounts held by the respective defaulters.

Indian mutual funds' average assets under management (AUM) fell by 4.5% or Rs 38,355 cr to Rs 8.08 lakh cr during the quarter ended September 2013 compared to Rs 8.47 lakh cr in the previous quarter (excluding fund of funds), according to CRISIL.

Nikkei closed 141 points down at 14,086, while Hang Seng is trading 137 points down at 22,744.

Telecom Commission asks TRAI to fix reserve price for 800-MHz in 15 days

The Telecom Commission (TC), major decision-making agency of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to recommend the reserve price for the 800 MHz band within 15 days so that the government could auction the 800-MHz spectrum along with the 1,800-MHz and 900-MHz bands. The Telecom Commission is of the view that keeping 800 MHz band spectrum unsold would result in lower revenues for government and it may be appropriate to put the spectrum to auction to allow telecom players to determine the appropriate technology solution using the liberalised spectrum. The government has planned to conduct the auction on January 8, 2014.

Earlier, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had rejected TRAI's recommendation of an extended GSM band, taking spectrum out of the existing 800-MHz (CDMA) band as CDMA operators, including Reliance Communications, Sistema Shyam, and Tata Teleservices currently use it, and the proposed extended GSM band would block their further roll out.

Meanwhile, Telecom Commission (TC) has also recommended raising reserve price for auction of pan-India mobile phone spectrum by 15% more than the price suggested by the TRAI in the 1,800 megahertz (MHz) and by 25% more in case of 900 MHz. Further, in order to enhance telecom geographical coverage, the Commission has also decided to modify the roll out obligation of telecom operators in a bid to ensure that all villages are connected. In India, around 50,000 more villages are yet to be covered by mobile operators.

India Investment Partners acquires 1.45% stake in Atul Auto

India Investment Partners has reportedly acquired 1.6 lakh shares or 1.45% stake in Atul Auto for an average price of Rs 265, through open market route valuing the transaction at Rs 4.24 crore.

Atul Auto is a leading manufacturer of 3-Wheeled Commercial Vehicles in the state of Gujarat, presently engaged in the manufacturing of Three Wheelers like 6-seater Auto Rickshaws, Pick-Up Vans and Chassis of Passenger Vehicles.

Tata Motors operating profit may beat estimates

Tata Motors may beat consensus operating profit forecasts for the July-September quarter when it reports results later in the day, Thomson Reuters StarMine's SmartEstimates shows.

StarMine's SmartEstimates, which places greater emphasis on forecasts by top-rated analysts, expects Tata Motors to report an operating profit of 76.09 billion rupees for the quarter, compared with a consensus mean estimate of 74.80 billion rupees.

Still, in terms of net profit, StarMine's SmartEstimates expects India's largest automaker by revenue to post September quarter net profit of 24.93 billion rupees, lagging consensus mean estimate of 25.48 billion rupees.

Tata Motors shares are up 1.2 percent at 9:59 a.m.

Va Tech order intake crosses Rs 2,000 cr mark

Flow of fresh orders during the current fiscal for water and water management company Va Tech Wabag has gone past the Rs 2,000 crore mark with the company reporting Rs 1,000 crore order flow in the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

It has actually repeated its first quarter performance when it reported Rs 1,000 crore order inflow.

In its filings with the stock exchanges, Va Tech Wabag said that the new order intake has crossed the Rs 2,000 crore mark during the year. While it had reported a Rs 1,000 crore order inflow during the first quarter of this year, it has repeated this feat in the second quarter of the year as well.

The new international orders have come from Mandinaty (Egypt), a World Bank-funded sewage treatment plant order from the Philippines, and O&M order from Romania. In the domestic market, orders were received from Reliance Industries and Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, apart from others.

Va Tech Managing Director, Rajiv Mittal, said the order book of the company was strong and he was confident of meeting the annual guidance numbers on order intake ahead of the targeted dates.

Shares of Va Tech were trading at Rs 534.05, down by Rs 28.55 on the NSE at 11.45 a.m.

Eicher Motors speeds drive on reporting 63% rise in Q3 consolidated net profit

Eicher Motors is currently trading at Rs. 4169.30, up by 157.50 points or 3.93 % from its previous closing of Rs. 4011.80 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 4122.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 4249.00 and Rs. 4122.00 respectively. So far 3390 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 4249.00 on 08-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 2280.05 on 12-Nov-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 4066.00 and Rs. 3863.90 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 11235.74 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 55.18% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 25.11% and 19.71% respectively.

Eicher Motors has reported 87.41% rise in its net profit at Rs 61.79 crore for  third quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 32.97 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased by 64.69% at Rs 461.09 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 279.97 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

On the consolidated basis, the group has registered a growth of 62.75% in net profit at Rs 107.43 crore as compared to Rs 66.01 crore in the same quarter previous year. Total income of the group rose 16.16% to Rs 1751.33 crore for quarter under review as against Rs 1507.71 crore in corresponding quarter previous year.

Inadequate transportation infrastructure impacting India’s coal production: Coal Secretary

Amid rising concerns over the low domestic coal production, Coal Secretary S K Shrivastava said that lack of adequate transportation infrastructure has been impacting India’s coal production. Despite the world's fifth largest in terms of reserves and third-largest producer of coal, India's domestic output has failed to keep pace with demand over the past few years. At present, Indian domestic coal demand is around 35 percent higher than domestic supply, resulting into a high deficit of which a huge part is being met by costly imports from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. In the previous fiscal, India imported $16 billion worth of coal.

S K Shrivastava further said that if transportations issues are addressed, through extending more railway lines to coal-rich areas such as Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, domestic coal production can be increased to 50-60 million tonnes by the end of the 12th five year plan and 200-250 million tonnes by the end of the 13th plan. Meanwhile, coal secretary said that coal ministry is in talks with the Indian Railways to end these transportation woes.

Presently, Coal India is the only producer of domestic coal, which is also struggling to meet domestic requirement. Acute coal shortages in the country has become primary reason for power deficit in the country as coal-fired plants account for 57% of India's installed electricity capacity. Meanwhile, in order to meet India’s growing coal demand, the government has planned to invite bids from private players to start coal mining in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode in the country, which would also end the monopoly of public sector unit Coal India. The government is likely to auction 10 coal blocks in the month of March next year.

Aurobindo Pharma hits 52-week high on robust Q2 earnings

The stock has surged nearly 9% at Rs 259 on BSE.

Aurobindo Pharma has surged nearly 9% at Rs 259, also its 52-week high on BSE, after reporting a healthy 80% year-on-year (yoy) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 245 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 (Q2) on back of strong operational performance. The pharmaceutical company had profit of Rs 136 crore in a year ago quarter.

Net sales grew strongly by 28.1% yoy to Rs 1,897 crore led by a robust growth in formulations. The growth in formulation was driven by the USA markets, which posted a yoy growth of 72.0%.

The EBITDA margin during the quarter has improved by 620bps yoy at 22.9% due to improved business mix resulting in decrease in materials consumption, staff cost and other expenses to net operating income, Aurobindo Pharma said in a statement.

The counter has seen huge trading activities with a combined 8.02 million shares already changed hands till 1010 hours against an average sub 2 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on BSE and NSE.

Thinksoft Global ascends on inking definitive agreement with SQS

Thinksoft Global Services is currently trading at Rs. 194.15, up by 32.35 points or 19.99 % from its previous closing of Rs. 161.80 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 194.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 194.15 and Rs. 194.15 respectively. So far 7900 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 170.80 on 07-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 57.05 on 28-Mar-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 170.80 and Rs. 133.65 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 197.48 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.67% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 0.47% and 45.85% respectively.

Thinksoft Global Services, one of the largest independent software testing companies focused solely on the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sector (BFSI), has inked a definitive agreement (SPA) with SQS Software Quality Systems AG (SQS) the world’s largest supplier of independent software testing and quality management services, whereby SQS will acquire a majority of the currently outstanding shares of Thinksoft for Rs 260 per share for a total consideration of Rs 1.481 billion.

As part of the SPA the current promoters of Thinksoft have agreed to initially sell to SQS 2,644,612 equity shares of Thinksoft for a price of Rs 260 per equity share, representing 26% of the currently outstanding share capital of the company at a premium of 68% to Thinksoft’s closing share price on November 06, 2013.

Govt sanctions Rs 17,772 crore of cash subsidy to fuel retailers

With the approval of an additional Rs 9000 crore, the government has sanctioned a total of Rs 17,772 crore of cash subsidy to fuel retailers for compensating partial portion of their losses incurred during the sale of diesel and cooking fuels for September quarter. The three retailers, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) cumulatively had lost some Rs 35,328 crore in revenues on selling diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene at government controlled rates in July-September quarter.

This sanctioned amount reportedly is way higher than the earlier amount of subsidy that was being considered for these retailers. The Finance Ministry on Wednesday had already sent a letter approving Rs 8,772 crore subsidy for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL).

Further, this amount is also way higher than the one sanctioned in the previous quarter, given that the Ministry had provided Rs 8,000 crore subsidy to cover for 31% of the Rs 25,579 crore losses on diesel and cooking fuel sales in April-June quarter.

However, even after accounting for upstream contributions of Rs 15,303.84 crore in Q1 and Rs 16,729.74 crore for Q2 and subsidy of Rs 25,772 crore, fuel retailers are still left with unmet losses to the tune of Rs 3101.42 crore. In April-September period, the three retailers together lost some Rs 60,907 crore in revenues on diesel, LPG and kerosene sales.

Tata Power's low-end consumers to increase 7.92 lakh in Mumbai

Tata Power will pay regulatory asset charges and other costs to R-Infra.

The ongoing tussle between Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure continues.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission has ordered transfer of R-Infra’s 7.92 lakh residential consumers with monthly power consumption of 0-300 units to Tata Power's distribution arm from November 1, according to media reports.

Report said that Tata Power will pay regulatory asset charges and other costs to R-Infra.
While R-Infra had approached the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (ATE) challenging Merc's order.

The hearing is slated for November 8 at Merc, report said.

A Tata Power reported, “'Tata Power is studying the order.”


While R-Infra said, “R-Infra approached ATE, as the time-span given to implement Merc directives was too short and inadequate.”

Tech Mahindra shares surge to 6-1/2 yr high on earnings

Tech Mahindra shares rose more than 5 percent on Friday to its highest since May 2007 after the company's July-September earnings beat some analysts' estimates.

Tech Mahindra on Thursday posted July-September consolidated net profit of 7.18 billion rupees, slightly higher than consensus forecasts of 7.1 billion rupees.

Tech Mahindra shares were up 5.4 percent at 9:28 a.m., outperforming a 0.14 percent fall in the Nifty.

ECB cuts rates to new low, ready to do more if needed

The European Central Bank cut interest rates to a record low on Thursday and said it could take them lower still to prevent the euro zone's recovery from stalling as inflation tumbles.

The move took financial markets by surprise - the euro fell sharply in response while European shares rose.

Underlining its support for the euro zone, the ECB said it would prime banks with as much liquidity as required until mid-2015. A Reuters poll of economists also saw the ECB offering banks a new round of cheap money within six months.

The 23-man Governing Council had faced intense pressure to act after a shock slump in euro zone inflation to 0.7 percent in October, far below the ECB target of just under 2 percent.

The ECB cut its main refinancing rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 percent. It held the rate it pays on bank deposits at zero and cut its emergency borrowing rate to 0.75 percent from 1.00 percent.

Draghi stressed the ECB still had room to act if needed.

"We have a whole range of instruments to activate before reaching the lower bound ... in principle we could even cut further the interest rate," he told a news conference.

"We may experience a prolonged period of low inflation to be followed by gradual upward movements towards an inflation rate of below but close to 2 percent later on."

Draghi said there was general agreement on the need to act but differences over when to act, with a "considerable majority" on the Governing Council seeing sufficient evidence of protracted low inflation to cut at Thursday's meeting.

A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters that around a quarter of the Council members, led by Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, spoke out against a cut this month.

The International Monetary Fund and governments from across the euro zone welcomed the reduction in rates.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said the cut showed "the ECB cares about growth and competitiveness in Europe" and that it would allow a "rebalancing" of the euro-dollar rate. The finance ministers of France and Ireland echoed that sentiment.

Euro policymakers have played down the threat of Japan-style deflation, which led to a "lost decade" there, but appear to be taking no chances.

All but one of the 23 money market traders polled by Reuters this week expected the ECB to keep rates on hold at Thursday's meeting, pending a clearer view about where euro zone inflation is heading.

Draghi stressed that the ECB still had an "easing bias" to its policy stance. By contrast, many economists expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin withdrawing stimulus next year.

"This will give European exporters much-needed breathing space, with the euro currency finally falling back," David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading at Global Equities in Paris, said of the cut.

The euro slid more than 1 percent on the day to hit a seven-week low of $1.3304, down from around $1.3490 just before the ECB announcement.

LIQUIDITY FOR LONGER

Draghi reaffirmed the central bank's forward guidance that rates would hold at "present or lower levels" for an extended period and said he saw no threat of broad deflation.

He also said banks would be able to rely on as much liquidity as they needed for longer, with the bank's main refinancing operations to be offered at fixed rate with "full allotment" until at least July 2015.

European bank shares climbed.

Adding to the ECB's dilemma over how to support a fragile recovery has been a fall in excess liquidity - cash beyond what lenders need to cover day-to-day operations - as banks repay 3-year ECB loans, known as LTROs, early before a health check next year.

These early repayments are expected to push interbank lending rates higher and the ECB has been considering pumping more liquidity into the system to offset this development.

Draghi said there was no meaningful discussion on Thursday about the need for a new LTRO.

"It begs the question how the ECB will react next year if growth and inflation fail to materialise," said Andrew Bosomworth, senior portfolio manager at PIMCO in Munich.

Market opens lower tracking global cues

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened 112 points lower at 20779 down 0.5%, while Nifty opened at 6158, down around 33 points down 0.5%.

Benchmark indices opened lower on Friday on Friday tracking weak global cues.  The 30-share BSE Sensex opened 112 points lower at 20779 down 0.5%, while Nifty opened at 6158, down around 33 points down 0.5%.

Stocks in Asia were trading lower tracking overnight losses on Wall Street with Japan's Nikkei down over 1% as investors remained cautious ahead of US jobs data later today. The Nikkei was down 1% while the Straits Times was down 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.4% while Hang Seng was down 0.5%.

At 9:21AM Indian Standard Time the SGX Nifty was down 24 points at 6,200.

US benchmark share indices ended lower on Thursday after better-than-expected economic data raised concerns that Fed might start withdrawing its bond buying programme sooner than expected. However, Twitter which listed on the NYSE was the stock in focus after it surged 73% to end at $44.90 compared with the offer price of $26.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 153 points, or 1%, to end at 15,593.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed 23 points lower, or 1.3% lower, at 1,747.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 75 points at 3,857.33.

Twitter IPO turned out to be thumping success as shares jumped 73% in a frenzied trading debut that drove the seven-year-old company's market value to around $25 billion and evoked the heady days of the dot-com bubble. The strong performance on Thursday is encouraging for the venture capitalists who have backed other consumer Web startups, such as Square or Pinterest, though it sounded alarm bells for some investors who cautioned that the froth was unwarranted.

The stock closed its first day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange at $44.90 a share after hitting a session-high of $50, nearly double the initial public offering price of $26 set late on Wednesday.

Key European shares ended mixed on Thursday. The CAC-40 lost 6 points to end at 4,280.99, the DAX gained 40 points to end at 9,081.03 while the FTSE-100 ended 45 points lower at 6,697.22.