Nifty jumps past 6,300 as WPI eases

After slowing down on Tuesday, the Indian equity market once again accelerated higher after the Inflation declined to a five-month low of 6.16% in December, providing space to the Reserve Bank to ease interest rates and prop up growth. Inflation in November was 7.52% and in October, it was revised upward to 7.24% from 7%. 

The BSE Sensex ended at its highest closing level since December 9, while, the NSE Nifty ended at 6320 re-conquering the 6300 levels and closed above it at its highest closing level since December 10. 

Today’s rally was led by the interest rate sensitive stocks. The banking, realty and auto were among the top gainers. Among the other gainers were, the capital goods, power, FMCG and IT stocks. Even the mid-cap and the small-cap stocks participated in the rally. 

Only the consumer durables stocks ended in the red.

Finally, BSE Sensex closed at 21,289 up 256 points, while NSE Nifty closed at 6,321 up 79 points over the previous close.

Yes Bank adds 17 Branches, 36 ATMs during third quarter

Yes Bank, the country’s fourth largest private sector bank, has added 17 branches and 36 Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) during the third quarter ended December 31, 2013. The total network now stands at 517 branches and 1,158 ATMs. The employee strength stood at 8,645, an increase of 2,113 over December 31, 2012. During the quarter, the bank has received an approval from the UAE Central Bank for setting up a Representative Office in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Bank expects to operationalise this within next 6 months

Yes Bank has reported 21.41% rise in its net profit at Rs 415.60 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 342.31 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 18.60% at Rs 2902.00 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2446.83 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Bajaj Finance reports 21% rise in Q3 net profit

Bajaj Finance has reported results for third quarter ended December 31, 2013.

The company has reported 20.59% rise in its net profit at Rs 194.14 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 160.09 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased by 30.63% at Rs 1081.90 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 828.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Bajaj Finance, a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv, is engaged in the business of consumer finance, SME finance and commercial lending. Bajaj Finserv proposes to convert Bajaj Finance into a bank as per the Reserve Bank of India’s February 2013 guidelines

Yes Bank reports 21% rise in Q3 net profit

Yes Bank has reported results for third quarter ended December 31, 2013.

The bank has reported 21.41% rise in its net profit at Rs 415.60 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 342.31 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 18.60% at Rs 2902.00 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2446.83 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

The bank’s gross NPA for the December 31, 2013 quarter of the current fiscal stood at 0.39%, as compared to 0.17% in the same quarter of the previous year. Besides, bank’s Net NPA stood at 0.08% as compared to 0.04% in the same quarter of the previous year.

December WPI eases to five month low at 6.16%; way lower than street’s expectations

Further cementing the case for RBI’s status-quo stance in its upcoming monetary policy review on January 28, India's main inflation gauge, based on monthly WPI, eased to five month low at 6.16% as compared to 7.52% in November and 7.31% during the corresponding month of the previous year. The figures were also way lower than street’s expectation. Markets after getting three-month low retail inflation figures were expecting WPI to cool down to 7% for the month of November. Surprisingly, October inflation was revised upwards to 7.24% against 7% earlier. Meanwhile, build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 5.35% compared to a build up rate of 4.84% in the corresponding period of the previous year. Further, higher core inflation continued to remain a cause of worry as its stood at 2.8% for December as against 2.7% in the previous month.

The Wholesale Price Index for ‘All Commodities’ (Base: 2004-05 = 100) for the month of December, 2013 declined by 1.3 percent to 179.2 (provisional) from 181.5 (provisional) for the previous month. Out of this, Manufactured Products, the major group with weight of 64.97%, remained unchanged at its previous month's level of 151.9 (provisional). Within the group, index for Food Products group declined by 0.6% to 169.7 (provisional) from 170.8 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of gur (7%), tea leaf (unblended), gram powder (besan), tea leaf (blended) and copra oil (5% each), sunflower oil (4%), oil cakes and groundnut oil (3% each), soyabean oil (2%) and khandsari (1%). 

Meanwhile, Primary Articles, the group having a weightage of 20.12% in overall index, declined by 5.0% to 243.6 (provisional) from 256.3 (provisional) in November. The index for Food Articles group declined by 6.4% to 240.1 (provisional) from 256.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of fruits & vegetables (21%), fish-inland (8%), coffee (7%), tea and ragi (3% each) and gram, rice and mutton (1% each). 

Further, Fuel & Power, having weight of 14.91%, too rose by 0.8% to 211.3 (provisional) from 209.6  (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of electricity (industry) (3%),  LPG (2%), high speed diesel, electricity (commercial), electricity (railway traction), aviation turbine fuel, bitumen and electricity (domestic) (1% each). However, the price of furnace oil (1%) declined.

The latest data print further bolsters the case for RBI keeping its key interest rates on hold for a second successive month at its policy review on January 28, after the dismal factory output data and three-month low Retail inflation figure. Bringing some relief to the policymakers who have an arduous task of pulling the economy out of a stagflation-like situation, the provisional annual inflation rate based on all India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Combined) eased more than the street's expectation, at a three-month low level of 9.87% for December 2013. Nevertheless, the latest data print also has partially built in the hopes of RBI slashing key policy rates by 25 basis points atleast by March 31, 2014.

State Bank of India plans to outsource ATM management: Report

State Bank of India (SBI) is reportedly planning to outsource the management of some of its ATMs. The bank has asked for a Request for Proposal (RFP) from vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers (ATMs). The bank is expecting from Vendors to have all capabilities to remotely capture and initiate appropriate action in the event of any problems at these cash dispensers. SBI had an ATM network of 32,777 as of September 2013 and has declared aggressive plans of expansion.

State Bank of India has reported 35.07% fall in its net profit at Rs 2375.01 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 3658.14 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank has increased by 12.88% at Rs 37199.92 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 32953.47 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012

Govt taking measures to restrict rising coal imports: Arvind Mayaram

Concerned over the rising coal imports in the country, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram underscored that the government is taking steps in order to improve domestic supplies for reducing coal imports, which account for a substantial amount of the country’s current account deficit (CAD). 

Despite being 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 the internal 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 Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. In the previous fiscal, India imported $16 billion worth of coal.

During the first six months of current fiscal, the import of coal, coke and briquette, among others touched $7.8 billion mark. Therefore, it has become important for the country to enhance domestic coal supplies. Meanwhile, the domestic demand for imported coal is expected to rise further as the government is approving many thermal power projects. 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.

Currently, Coal India is the only producer of domestic coal, which is also struggling to meet domestic requirement. 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 expected to auction 10 coal blocks in the month of March next year.

McNally Bharat soars on bagging order worth Rs 97.19 crore

Mcnally Bharat Engineering Company is currently trading at Rs. 58.20, up by 2.00 points or 3.56% from its previous closing of Rs. 56.20 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 55.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 58.80 and Rs. 55.90 respectively. So far 18319 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 103.90 on 17-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 37.00 on 07-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 60.50 and Rs. 55.60 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 176.61 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 32.28% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 14.00% and 53.72% respectively.

McNally Bharat Engineering Company has received an order for Civil, Structural & Supply works of an Ash Handling Package for a Value of Rs 97.19 crore.

McNally Bharat Engineering Company is one of the leading engineering companies. It provides turnkey solutions in areas of power, steel, alumina, material handling, mineral beneficiation, coal washing, ash handling and disposal, port cranes, civic and industrial water supply etc.

RIL to acquire 20% stake in Venezuela’s Ayacucho-8 block: Report

Reliance Industries (RIL) is reportedly planning to acquire 20% stake in Venezuela’s Ayacucho-8 block. The company is also in talks for an 11% stake in the $20-billion Carabobo-1 project in Venezuela. Moreover, the Carabobo-1 project, in which RIL is planning to buy 11%, was surrendered by Malaysia’s Petronas recently.

In Venezuela, the company is looking for heavy oil upgrade projects and a farm-in at Carabobo-1 block. Earlier in October, RIL and Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) had signed agreement for Ayacucho-8 block in Orinoco Oil Belt.

ONGC inches up on inking MoU with Kuwait petro for exploration and production

ONGC is currently trading at Rs. 290.90, up by 0.90 points or 0.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 290.10 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 292.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 294.45 and Rs. 288.40 respectively. So far 38,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 354.10 on 18-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 234.40 on 28-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 293.85 and Rs. 271.25 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2, 48,879 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 69.23% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.28% and 13.50% respectively.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kuwait Petro for exploration and production. Moreover, Kuwait Petro is keen of buying stake in ONGC Petro additions (OPaL) and ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals (OMPL).

OPaL, a multi billion joint venture company is setting up a grass root mega Petrochemical project at Dahej, Gujarat in PCPIR/SEZ, while OMPL, a company promoted by ONGC is setting up an aromatic complex along with Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemical (MRPL) at Mangalore in Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) adjacent to the existing MRPL refinery.

ONGC is a premier oil and gas company in India, accounting for 71% of the country’s crude oil production and 54% of its natural gas production in 2011-12. It is also a significant producer of value added products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), superior kerosene oil (SKO), and naphtha. GoI is the majority shareholder in ONGC, with a 69% equity stake as of now

Coal India to pay Rs 18,317 crore as dividend for 2013-14

Coal India (CIL), the world’s largest coal miner by output, would be paying Rs 18,317 crore as dividend for 2013-14. The state-owned company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 29 per share, amounting to Rs 18,317 crore, of which the government would get Rs 16,485.71 crore for its 90 percent stake in the Maharatna company. The company will pay the dividend from January 25.

Coal India’s dividend comes in the backdrop of government failure to disinvest 10 percent of its shares in this year. Trade unions were opposed to further disinvestment of CIL which was listed in November, 2010 after a blockbuster initial public offer.

Coal India is the world’s largest coal mining company. It also produces non-coking coal and coking coal of various grades for diverse applications.

Petroleum Ministry proposes royalty exemption, income-tax holidays for oil block auction

In a bid to woo more global oil companies, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has proposed exemption from royalty payment and an income-tax holiday of up to 10 years for the next round of auction of oil and gas exploration blocks. Further, in its draft note to Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the ministry has suggested of shifting from the current production sharing contract (PSC) framework to a revenue-sharing model, which allows explorers to recover their costs from commercial discoveries before sharing profit with the government.

As per the present law, operators pay a 10% royalty on output from shallow water blocks, while for deep waters they pay a rate of 5% for the first seven years and 10 per cent thereafter.

Further, the ministry has also recommended to bring back income-tax holiday, which was withdrawn for gas producers through the Finance Bill 2011. As per the recommendations, the operators would be exempt from paying income tax for 10 years for production from ultra-deepwater blocks and seven years for all other areas. In addition, production of crude oil will be exempt from payment of oil cess of Rs 4,500 per tonne.

Government would hold 10th round of oil and gas block auctions under the new Uniform Licensing Policy (ULP), which would apply to all energy sources, including coal bed methane, shale gas and gas hydrates.

Idea Cellular to launch 4G services in next 2-3 years

Idea Cellular, one of the biggest cellular carrier of the country is confident of launching 4G services over the next two to three years. The company has already made large investments in the 3G space. Besides, the company is looking forward to 2014 to be the turnaround year for wireless broadband.

Idea Cellular, an AV Birla group company, provides Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)-based wireless service at the pan-India level, it is present in all 22 telecom circles.

Nitin Spinners achieves financial closure of Rs 286 crore for project expansion

Nitin Spinners’ expansion project of Spinning and Knitting facilities at project cost of Rs 286 crore is being financed through term loan of Rs 200 crore and internal accruals of Rs 86 crore. The company has achieved financial closure for term loan of Rs 200 crore from banks.

The term loans are eligible for Interest Subsidy under Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) of Central Government and Interest Subsidy & other incentives under Customized Package for Textile Sector of Government of Rajasthan. The orders for main Plant & Machinery have been placed and building construction work is going on as per schedule. After implementation of the expansion project the existing production capacity of the company shall increase nearly by 75%.

Nitin Spinners is engaged in manufacturing 100% Cotton Yarn and knitted fabrics. The company is having an installed capacity of 77,616 Spindles, 2,936 Rotors and 31 Knitting Machines.

Cairn India gains on plan to invest Rs 3,000 crore in Rajasthan oilfield

Cairn India is currently trading at Rs. 331.00, up by 0.50 points or 0.15% from its previous closing of Rs. 330.50 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 330.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 332.10 and Rs. 330.40 respectively. So far 3,831 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 349.90 on 22-Jan-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 267.90 on 28-Mar-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 332.70 and Rs. 320.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 63,250.00 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 58.76% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 26.67% and 14.57% respectively.  Cairn India is planning to invest Rs 3,000 crore over the next 3 years to improve recovery from its prolific Rajasthan oilfield. The company is also planning to launch the largest enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and improved oil recovery (IOR) schemes. The EOR/IOR schemes will help recover over 90 million barrels of oil in the Rajasthan block and sustain peak output for a longer time. This investment is part of the Rs 12,800 crore capex the company had outlined last year. More than 80% of the total capex will be spent on Cairn's prolific Barmer oil block in Rajasthan.

Cairn India is primarily engaged in the business of oil and gas exploration, production and transportation. Average daily gross operated production was 205,014 boepd in Q3 FY2012-13. The Company sells its oil to major refineries in India and its gas to both PSU and private buyers.

Transwarranty Finance gets nod to increase FII limit to 74%

Transwarranty Finance has received an approval to increase the limit for acquiring and holding equity shares of the company, by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), up to an aggregate limit of 74% of the paid up equity share capital of the company and also total holding of securities in the company by all NRIs put together, be limited to 24% of the aggregate paid up share capital of the company instead of 10%.

The board of directors at its meeting held on January 14, 2014 has approved for the same. Further the board has approved conducting of Postal Ballot for acquiring General Body approval for the above.

Transwarranty Finance is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) registered Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC), engaged in advisory services like Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Project Finance, Trade Finance and providing Business & Retail Loans against collateral security of immovable property, liquid assets like shares, other financial assets, gold jewelry etc.

Indian rupee opens at 61.65 per dollar, down 13 paise

Indian rupee slipped in the early trade on Wednesday. It has opened lower by 13 paise at 61.65 per dollar as against previous day's closing value of 61.52 to the dollar. 

The dollar rallied over a percent versus the yen to 104 levels. The dollar index rose to 80.70.

Tata Motors Group global wholesales stood at 79,220 units in December 2013

Tata Motors Group global wholesales in December 2013, including Jaguar Land Rover, were 79,220 units. Cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were 753,949 units. Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range -- were 29,499 units. Cumulative commercial vehicles wholesales for the fiscal were 335,926 units.

Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in December 2013 were 49,721 units. Cumulative passenger vehicles wholesales for the fiscal were 418,023 units. Global wholesales of Tata Motors' passenger vehicles in December 2013 were 9,477 units, while cumulative wholesales for the fiscal were 109,115 units.

Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover for the month were 40,244 vehicles. Jaguar wholesales for the month were 6,613 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 57,783 vehicles, while Land Rover wholesales for the month were 33,631 vehicles and cumulative wholesales were 251,125 vehicles. Cumulative wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover for the fiscal were 308,908 vehicles.

Markets to bounce back with a positive start

The Indian markets lost some of their gains in last session as traders opted to book profit ahead of key macro numbers. Today, the start is likely to be in green but the traders will be eyeing the inflation data, slated to be announced later in the day. Wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation data is likely to cool a bit from a 14-month high of 7.52 percent in November and may strengthen hopes that RBI will maintain a status quo in its upcoming monetary policy review. Traders will be a bit cautious as the India Ratings, a Fitch group company has said that India’s growth rate is expected to slip to 4.9 percent in the current fiscal but will improve significantly to 5.6 percent in 2014-15. There will be some buzz in the oil & gas sector stocks, as the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in a bid to attract more global oil majors, has proposed exemption from royalty payment and an income-tax holiday of up to 10 years for the next round of auction of oil and gas exploration blocks. The aviation stocks too will be in action, as the Aviation minister Ajit Singh has said that Cabinet will be giving nod for scrapping the 5/20 rule by next month, which asks Indian carrier must be five-year old and have 20 aircraft in its fleet to fly abroad.

The US markets got a good bounce back following the good monthly retail sales report. Retail sales edged up by 0.2 percent in December. Traders even overlooked the mixed earnings announcements where JP Morgan’s fourth quarter net income that fell year-over-year, while Wells Fargo’s fourth quarter earnings rose by 10 percent. The Asian markets have made mostly a positive start and the Japanese market was leading the pack with gains of over one and half a percent after the yen sank against the dollar.

Back home, Tuesday’s trading session turned out to be a disappointing one for the Indian equity markets, as market participants booked profit after last session’s rally amid weak global cues. Frontline gauges traded in the red throughout the session and settled below their psychological 6,250 (Nifty) and 21,100 (Sensex) levels as investors remained on sidelines ahead of December’s wholesale price index-based inflation data, slated to be released on January 15, 2014. The WPI, India’s benchmark inflation, is expected to edged down to 7.00 percent from a 14-month high of 7.52 percent in November. Global cues too remained sluggish after Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said the US economy is on solid footing and he supports similar tapering steps as the one taken to reduce bond-market purchases by $10 billion by the Federal Reserve last month. Selling got intensified in Indian markets after European markets opened in red, Asian markets too ended mostly in the red. Back home, selling was wide based as, barring healthcare and oil and gas, none of sectoral indices on the BSE were spared. Shares of organised retailers declined on reports that the Aam Aadmi Party-headed Delhi government has written to the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) seeking to withdraw its permission to allow FDI in multi-brand retail in the state. Additionally, shares of Aviation counter viz. Spicejet and Jet Air India too edged lower despite report that India’s domestic air traffic grew 3.4 percent in November last year, in spite of significant volatility in the market. However, losses remained capped to some extent with support coming from international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, saying that Government efforts to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 4.8 percent of the GDP in 2013-14, are supportive for the country’s credit rating. Finally, the BSE Sensex plunged by 101.33 points or 0.48%, to settle at 21032.88, while the CNX Nifty lost 30.90 points or 0.49% to settle at 6,241.85.