Thursday 28 November 2013

Markets end last day of November F&O series in green terrain

Thursday turned out to be a remarkable day of trade for Indian equity markets with both the frontline indices snapping the Futures & Options series of November month ending near their psychological 20,550 (Sensex) and 6,100 (Nifty) bastion buoyed by firm global cues. Sentiments remained up-beat since beginning as key bourses opened with a huge gap on upside after industry body Assocham pegged the country's growth at 5.4% for the period on improved agricultural output. Buying continued on the street throughout the day ahead of Q2 GDP numbers to be announced tomorrow, as there is general belief that after a sluggish first quarter, India’s economy may have expanded by about 4.5 percent in the July-September period.

Global cues too remained euphoric with the US markets providing much needed support to Indian benchmarks in initial trade. Moreover, most of the Asian equity benchmarks shut shop in the green led by Japanese Nikkei, which was up by over a percent, as stronger dollar triggered some hectic buying across the board. Firm opening in European markets too provided strength to domestic bourses with CAC, DAX and FTSE all were trading in the positive terrain on report that politicians Germany struck a deal overnight to form a government.

Back home, software stocks like, Infosys, MphasiS, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tech Mahindra etc. hogged limelight after a batch of upbeat economic data in the US. Buying in telecom stocks too supported the sentiments with stocks like, Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications edging higher after telecom regulator TRAI came out with guidelines and tariff on unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)-based mobile banking services in order to promote use of mobile banking services across the country.

Meanwhile, stocks related to oil and gas companies too remained on the buyers’ radar after Oil Secretary Vivek Rae stated that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was working out a policy framework on shale gas exploration under which private domestic oil and gas players would get the right to explore shale gas or oil in their blocks. Additionally, sugar stocks rallied for yet another session after Food Minister K.V. Thomas highlighted that the country could give financial assistance to sugar mills to help them pay farmers higher prices for cane, thereby highlighting that some relief measures may be in store.  The industry has been demanding an increase in import duty, interest-free loans for mills, subsidies for exports and creation of buffer stocks to help mills.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty rose by around forty points to end near its psychological 6,100 level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over one hundred and ten points to end above the psychological 20,500 mark.

Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around a percentage point. The market breadth remained in favour of advances, as there were 1,442 shares on the gaining side against 1,032 shares on the losing side, while 189 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 114.65 points or 0.56%, to settle at 20534.91, while the CNX Nifty gained 34.75 points or 0.57% to settle at 6,091.85.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 20606.38 and 20461.51, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.81%, while the Small cap index gained 0.92%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up 3.04%, Hindalco Inds up 2.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra up 1.78%, Coal India up 1.70%, and L&T up 1.67%, on the flip side Cipla down 0.55%, Tata Motors down 0.31%, ICICI Bank down 0.24%, ITC down 0.14%, and HDFC Bank down 0.07%, were the top losers on the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front, Capital Goods up by 1.92%, Realty up by 1.40%, Power up by 1.37%, Metal up by 0.95%, and Oil & Gas down by 0.89%, were the top gainers, while FMCG down by 0.10%, was the only loser on the sectoral front.

Meanwhile, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is expected to propose a new policy on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharma sector. As per the new DIPP's proposal, 100 percent FDI would be allowed in brown-field projects, subject to government's approval. However, for brown-field project deals with rare facilities and critical verticals, only 49 percent FDI would be allowed with government's approval. Furthermore, DIPP also noted that 25 per cent of the total investment in the brown-field projects should be used in Research and Development (R&D) activities.

Meanwhile, the DIPP's proposal has brought disappointment to Finance ministry, which stated that proposed 49 per cent FDI cap on projects dealing with rare facilities would discourage potential investors. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the pharma sector grew by more than double to $1.07 billion during April-August' 2013 as compared to $487 million during the same period last year. During the period 2000-2013, India's pharmaceutical sector attracted $11.39 billion in foreign investment, which was around 6 percent of its total $200 billion foreign investment inflows.

On the other hand, the DIPP and health ministry are of the view that in the absence of such policy, affordability and accessibility of Indian generic drugs would be highly impacted. Industry's generic segment accounts for the largest chunk of the sector, with a share of around 72 percent in the total industry revenue. The Indian generic drug market grew at a CAGR of around 17 per cent between 2010-11 and 2012-13 mainly on the back of rising exports of generic drug due to their low cost.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 6,112.95 and 6,068.30 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Jaiprakash Associates up by 7.91%, BHEL up by 3.46%, Grasim Industries up by 2.64%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 2.55%, and IndusInd Bank up by 2.52%, On the other hand, Cairn India down by 1.58%, Cipla down by 0.25%, Tata Motors down by 0.05%, and NMDC down by 0.04%, were the only losers.

The European markets were trading in green, France's CAC 40 was up by 0.37%, Germany's DAX was up by 0.43%, and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 was up by 0.31%.

The Asian markets barring Hang Seng and Jakarta Composite concluded Thursday’s trade in green with Japan’s Nikkei making its highest closing level in nearly six years, as a slump in the yen pushed exporters higher on expectations of improved earnings. Japanese retail sales rose 2.3% in October from a year earlier in a sign that household consumption may be leading the nation’s economic recovery. The figures, released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, were led by increases in sales of automobiles. Sales at large-scale retailers fell 0.4% on year, after adjustment for the change in the number of stores. The data was an encouraging sign for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-growth policies that successfully lifted consumer spending in the first half of the year, largely on one-off, luxury purchases.

Philippine economy grew 7 percent in July-September, the National Statistical Coordination Board stated. Gross domestic product growth in the first nine months stood at 7.4 percent, compared with 6.7 percent in the same period last year. The Office of Industrial Economics Thailand stated that Thai Industrial Production fell to a seasonally adjusted -4.0%, from -2.9% in the preceding month. The National Statistical Coordination Board reported that Philippines GDP fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.0%, from 7.6% in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from 7.5%.

Canara Bank gains despite buzz of stake sale by EMS Free Equity Index Fund

Emerging Markets Sudan (EMS) Free Equity Index Fund has reportedly offloaded 23 lakh shares constituting 0.51% of Canara Bank through the open market route. The shares were sold on an average price of Rs 237.51 valuing the transaction to Rs 54.70 crore.

Canara bank has reported a fall of 5.29% in its net profit at Rs 625.94 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 660.97 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank increased by 13.29% at Rs 10427.48 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 9203.61 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

NTPC tax-free bond issue to open on Dec 3

NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, today said its bond issue to raise up to Rs 1,750 crore will open on December 3.

“The issue will open on December 3, 2013 and is scheduled to close on December 16, 2013,” NTPC said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.

Under the offer, the company will issue tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds.

“The base issue size aggregates Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 750 crore for issuance of additional bonds, aggregating up to Rs 1,750 crore,” the company said.

The funds raised through the issue would be utilised towards funding of capital expenditure and for meeting the debt requirement in ongoing projects.

The company had last week filed a prospectus with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Delhi and Haryana and shall file the prospectus with the BSE, NSE and SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) in connection with its proposed public issue of tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds, NTPC said.

The lead managers to the issue are ICICI Securities, A K Capital Services, Axis Capital, SBI Capital Markets and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.

Currently, NTPC has a capacity of nearly 42,000 MW and targets to add about 14,000 MW to its total capacity by the end of 2016-17.

Private oil companies to get right to explore shale gas, oil in their blocks: Oil Secretary

Oil Secretary Vivek Rae has said that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is working out a policy framework on shale gas exploration under which private domestic oil and gas players would get the right to explore shale gas or oil in their blocks.

At present, there are about 254 exploration blocks in India of which nearly half of them are allotted to two public sector oil firms ONGC and Oil India for shale gas exploration. Meanwhile, the ministry is framing a policy to allot remaining 120 blocks to private oil companies for exploration. In November, ONGC has started country’s first shale gas exploration programme.

Shale gas or natural gas trapped in sedimentary rocks (shale formations) below the earth's surface is seen as a new alternative to conventional oil and gas for meeting growing energy needs. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States over the past decade, and now interest has spread to potential shale gas reserves in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Meanwhile, India has also initiated shale gas exploration programme and it is estimated that recoverable reserves of shale gas in the country is between 6 trillion cubic feet to 63 trillion cubic feet. The move is also a part of oil ministry’s roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs. India currently imports around 80 percent of its oil needs and the Ministry wants this to be cut to 50 percent by 2020 and by 25 percent in 2025 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves.

Cabinet to decide soon on putting cap to limit natural gas price hike

Amid rising fears over the increase in natural gas prices to $8.4 per mbtu from April 1, 2014 which is twice the current rate, the cabinet will soon decide putting a cap to limit hike in gas rates. Earlier in June, the government had approved the formula under which all domestically produced gas will be priced at an average of the price prevailing at international gas trading hubs and the actual cost of importing liquid gas (LNG). The natural gas pricing formula will be effective from April 1, 2014 for a period of five years and the prices will be revised on the quarterly basis. Moreover, the price for each quarter will be calculated based on the 12-month trailing average price with a lag of one quarter.

Under the new approved pricing formula, the gas prices will get doubled at $8.40 per million British thermal unit from the current price at $ 4.20 per mbtu and put excessive burden on consumers. Finance Ministry and Power Ministry both asked the cabinet to put cap on gas price hike. The finance ministry is of the view that under this formula the gas producers will reap unlimited gains in case of an upswing in global prices, while on the other hand, Power Ministry feels any price of more than $5 per mbtu will lead to rise in electricity generation costs that would be hard for the consumers to absorb. Further, both the ministries also sought for excluding spot LNG deals from the formula because they are very volatile.

The new price will be uniformly applicable to all public and private sector producers alike. The increase in gas prices will directly benefit these local producers. Further, the move to raise gas prices is expected to benefit the government by around $2.2 billion incremental revenue by way of higher taxes. The government can use high profit share to subsidize gas supply to the core sector. So far, the new gas price formula has not been notified amid disputes over whether Reliance Industries should get the new rates, as it has not been producing as per pre-stated targets from eastern offshore KG-D6 block.

Andhra Bank opens 90 next generation branches: Report

Public sector lender, Andhra Bank, has reportedly opened 90 next generation branches in Andhra Pradesh. These branches will have complete automatic machines in the front desk and facilitate routine business transactions round-the-clock. Meanwhile, the bank is planning to take its next generation branches network to 250 by the end of current fiscal either by converting existing ones and opening new branches.

Andhra Bank has reported a fall of 78.30% in its net profit at Rs 70.65 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 325.63 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank increased by 11.74% at Rs 3817.57 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 3416.55 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012. 

Reliance Capital’s arm ties up with five insurance repositories

Reliance Capital’s insurance arm - Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC) has join hands with all five insurance repositories to provide life insurance policies in electronic form. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has approved all the above five companies as Insurance Repositories (IR).

The private insurer has tied-up with Database Management, Central Insurance Repository, SHCIL Projects, CAMS Repository Services and Karvy Insurance -- to enable and encourage policyholders to hold their insurance policies in demat form.

According to IRDA, insurers can enter into agreements with one or more repositories. The objective of creating an IR is to provide policy holders the facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form.

TRAI releases tariff structure and guidelines for USSD-based mobile banking services

Aiming to endorse the use of mobile banking services across India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the tariff structure and guidelines for unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)-based mobile banking services, which is used by telecom operators to send alerts to their users.

Further while, TRAI has prescribed a ceiling tariff for an outgoing unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)-based mobile banking service at Rs 1.50 per USSD session, it has come out with a framework to help bank agents to interface with service providers for the use of SMS, USSD and IVR channels to provide mobile banking services.

In view of the fact that large section of population, especially rural areas, do not have an easy access to banks, the authority wants to utilize the benefits of mobile banking for financial inclusion. It has underscored that telecom service providers should collect charges from their subscribers for providing the USSD to deliver mobile banking services.

Meanwhile, TRAI in its report highlighted that while Mobile Banking (Quality of Service) (Amendment) Regulations, 2013 have come into immediate effect, the Telecommunication Tariff (56th Amendment) Order, 2013 shall come into force on January 1, 2014.

Alstom T&D India to raise up to Rs 294 crore via IPP

Alstom T&D India is in process of raising up to Rs 294 crore through sale of shares to institutional investors on November 29. The company is offering 16,942,500 equity shares of Rs 2 each by way of an institutional placement programme (IPP) to qualified institutional buyers.

The price band for the issue shall be Rs 159-174 per equity share and the company has appointed ICICI Securities as the book running lead manager to the issue. At the upper end of the price band, the company is expected to garner Rs 294 crore.

This share sale is part of company’s effort to meet market regulator SEBI’s norm of minimum 25% public shareholding in the private sector listed companies.

Power Grid to hike FIIs limit to 30%

State-owned Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) is planning to hike shareholding limit for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in the company to 30% from existing 24%. In this regard, the company is seeking its shareholders’ approval.

Increasing the limit will also facilitate FIIs to acquire shares within the proposed limit of 30% of paid-up capital under the portfolio investment scheme of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Besides, the company is also seeking approval from shareholders to increase borrowing limits to Rs 1,30,000 crore from current cap of Rs 1,00,000 crore.

PGCIL, the Central Transmission Utility (CTU), is engaged in power transmission business with the mandate for planning, co-ordination, supervision and control over Inter-State transmission systems and operation of the National and Regional Power Grids. It is also in the telecom business and offers consultancy services.

ICICI Academy for Skills launches centre in Chennai

ICICI Academy for Skills (ICICI Academy) has launched a centre in Chennai on November 26, 2013 to provide vocational training to the youth from the economically weaker sections to help them earn a sustainable livelihood.

The centre will offer courses on three disciplines- selling skills, office administration and web designing- for graduates. ICICI Academy has formalized the content of the courses for office administration and web designing in consultation with best-in-class knowledge partners namely, Tally Solutions and NIIT, respectively.

The bank will use in-house expertise to impart the training on selling skills. Together with the partners, ICICI Academy aims to provide world class content and training.

BHEL receives ‘BGR-ENERTIA Commemoration’ award

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has been conferred the ‘BGR-ENERTIA Commemoration’ award for ‘Technology & Enterprise Innovation - Conventional Energy (Thermal, Nuclear etc.)’. The company received the award from Kirit Parikh, Former Member (Planning Commission) and D. V. Kapur, Former Secretary (Power), Government of India.

BHEL has been committed to the nation’s power development programme and has reaffirmed its commitment to the Indian Power Sector by equipping itself by way of contemporary technology, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and skilled technical manpower. Significantly, the company has established the capability to deliver power plant equipment of 20,000 MW per annum.

US markets gain; S&P 500, Dow achieves record close

The US markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average achieving record closing, after better-than-expected reports emerged on consumer sentiment, employment and Chicago-area business conditions. A gauge of consumer sentiment rose this month as expectations turned rosier. According to the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters, the consumer-sentiment gauge rose to 75.1 in November from 73.2 in October. Despite the gain, November’s reading remains below 77.5 hit in September. The gauge of consumers’ expectations rose to 66.8 in November from 62.5 in October. A barometer of their views on current conditions declined to 88 from 89.9. Separately, the Labor Department stated that the number of people who applied for US unemployment benefits fell for the sixth time in seven weeks, returning to end-of-summer levels and pointing to some improvement in the labor market. Initial jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 316,000 in the week ended November 23.

Besides, a gauge of Chicago-area business activity pulled back this month after jumping in October to the strongest level in more than two years, but still beat the consensus estimate. The gauge reached 63 in November, down from 65.9 in October, according to the MNI Chicago Report. Results over 50 indicate expansion from the prior month. However, business investment as reflected by orders for durable goods was soft again in October, pointing to slower US growth in the final months of 2013. Orders for big-ticket US goods fell 2% last month, largely because of fewer contracts for jumbo jets, the Commerce Department reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24.53 points or 0.15 percent to 16,097.30, the S&P 500 was up 4.48 points or 0.25 percent to 1,807.23 and Nasdaq added 27.00 points or 0.67 percent to 4,044.75.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Wednesday; Tata Motors was up 0.92%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.50%, HDFC Bank was up 0.18% and ICICI Bank was up 0.11%. On the other hand Infosys was down 0.40%.

US crude slumps to six-month low as inventories rose more than expected

Crude oil futures slumped on Wednesday and WTI Crude declined to six-month low on getting bearish US supply report as the weekly inventories rose more than expected. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its weekly crude oil report said US commercial crude oil inventories increased 3.0 million barrels to 391.40 million barrels last week, the highest since June. While total motor gasoline inventories moved up 1.80 million barrels last week, after dipping 0.30 million barrels in the prior week.

Benchmark crude oil futures for delivery in January ended at $92.18 a barrel, down 1.60% after trading in a range of $92.05 and $93.82 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent oil futures for January delivery declined by 0.15% at $110.72 a barrel on the ICE.

Sharyans Resources enters into SPA to acquire 634,329 equity shares of FFSIL

Sharyans Resources has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Nimish C Shah and his relatives, shareholders and promoters of Fortune Financial Services (India) (FFSIL), for acquiring 634,329 equity shares of FFSIL, subject to approval of relevant statutory authorities.

Sharyans Resources was established in October 1982 in Calcutta, to carry on the business of leasing, hire-purchase and investment in securities. The company focuses on acquiring and investing in financial assets and real estate.

Tata Power Company wins three awards at the 6th India Power Awards 2013

Tata Power Company has won three awards at the 6th India Power Awards 2013. The awards were presented under the following three categories - ‘CEO for the Year’ award, ‘Best Overall Performance in Power Distribution’ award and ‘Social & Community Impact Award’. The awards were presented to the company on November 22, 2013, at Hyderabad by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

‘CEO for the Year’ award was awarded to the company's CEO, for exhibiting leadership skills, effective strategy development and deployment instrumental in driving the transformation of the organization and achievement of breakthrough results.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution was recognized for its consistent performance in the distribution sector and was awarded ‘Best Overall Performance in Power Distribution’ award while ‘Social & Community Impact Award’ was given as the recognition of the work, initiatives and actions of Tata Power Delhi Distribution which have made an impact on the community and society as a whole.

Markets to make a positive start of the F&O expiry day

The Indian markets despite a good turnaround, closed marginally in red in last session. Today, the expiry day of the F&O November series is likely to be in green tailing global cues. Though, volatility too cannot be ruled out owing to series expiry and the traders will now be concentrating on the Q2 GDP numbers to be announced tomorrow, there is general belief that after a sluggish first quarter, India's economy may have expanded by about 4.5 percent in the July-September period. There will be some buzz in the pharma sector due to conflicting views of ministries, while on one hand the industry ministry is all set to propose a new policy on foreign direct investment in the pharma sector, reducing the cap on FDI in brownfield pharma projects to 49 percent in critical areas, the finance ministry continues to remain against FDI cap on critical pharma projects. There will be some action in banking licence aspirants too, as the Tata Group has decided to withdraw its application for a bank. There will be some buzz in the telecom sector as well, as telecom regulator Trai has come out with guidelines and tariff on unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)-based mobile banking services in order  to promote use of mobile banking services across the country.

The US markets bounced back and ended higher on Wednesday, reacting to a batch of largely upbeat economic data. There was unexpected decrease in initial jobless claims, while consumer sentiment in the month of November improved. The Asian markets have made positive start following the gains in US markets and the Nikkei has surged as yen plunged to its month low against dollar.

Back home, Wednesday turned out to be a lacklustre session for Indian equity markets as investors remained on sidelines on the penultimate day of F&O expiry. Benchmark indices moved in a narrow range for the major part of the day with bouts of volatility witnessed during the trade. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 339.16 crore on November 26, 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. However, the losses remained capped with some respite coming in from currency front where Indian rupee traded higher on corporate dollar inflows. Positive opening in European counters helped domestic markets to regain their green terrain in last leg of trade. Recovery in Asian markets too supported the domestic markets and most of the Asian equity benchmarks ended in the positive trajectory. Back home, some support also came in after planning panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, exuded confidence that economy will be back on high growth trajectory and said that GDP will expand by over 6 percent next fiscal and performance will be better in second half of this fiscal. Sugar stocks too remained jubilant with scrips like Balrampur Chini, Shree Renuka Sugar, Bajaj Hindusthan, Triveni Engineering etc edging higher on report that the Food Ministry will soon seek Cabinet nod for providing interest-free loans to cash-starved sugar mills to help them meet working capital requirements. Meanwhile, shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) viz BPCL and HPCL too remained on buyers’ radar after oil secretary Vivek Rae said that a delegation from India will shortly visit Iran to discuss the oil payment mechanism. However, profit booking was witnessed in dying hour of trade which dragged the frontline gauges in the red, largely due to selling in software and technology counters, led by software services exporters Infosys and TCS which hit by a strengthening rupee, with sentiment also remaining weak due to recent selling by foreign investors. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 4.76 points or 0.02%, to settle at 20420.26, while the CNX Nifty lost 2.00 points or 0.03% to settle at 6,057.10.