Maruti Suzuki surge as FIIs increase stake in Q4FY14

Maruti Suzuki India is currently trading at Rs 1989.00, up by 42.70 points or 2.19% from its previous closing of Rs. 1946.30 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 1955.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1999.30 and Rs 1955.00 respectively. So far 26692 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1999.30 on 21-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1217.00 on 28-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 1963.00 and Rs 1906.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 60091.28 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.21% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 35.96% and 7.83% respectively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have raised their stake in Maruti Suzuki India, the largest passenger cars maker in India to 22.36% during Q4FY14 from 21.47% as on December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding went down to 13.60% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 13.98% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, financial institutions / banks held maximum stake of 7.78%, followed by mutual funds/UTI (5.82% stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 56.21% at the end of March 2014 quarter.

Call rates little changed on start of fresh reporting cycle

Interbank call rates, the rates at which banks borrow short-term funds from each other, were little changed 8.25/30% from its previous close of 8.20/30% on Friday, despite the start of fresh reporting fortnight since most banks prefer to cover for their mandated fortnightly requirements at the earlier. The banks via Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) borrowed Rs 18968 crore through repo auction on April 21, 2014. The banks via LAF borrowed Rs 3728 crore through repo auction and parked Rs 2916 crore via reverse repo window on April 17, 2014. The overnight borrowing rates touched a high and low of 8.30% and 8.00% respectively. According to the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), the weighted average rate (WAR) in the call money market was at 8.16% on Monday and total volume stood at Rs 33940.07 crore, so far. As per CCIL data, WAR in the CBLO (Collateralized Borrowing and Lending Obligation) market was at 8.33% on Monday and total volume stood at Rs 54382.45 crore, so far. The indicative call rates which closed 8.20/8.30% on Friday 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

Crude oil futures edge lower on weak Asian trend

Crude oil futures edged lower on MCX after speculators reduced exposures amid weak trend in Asian trade. However, the escalating Ukraine crisis following a deadly gunfight over the weekend limited the further losses in commodity prices in future trade. The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 6283.00, down by 0.06% or Rs 4.00 from its previous closing of Rs 6287.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 8720.00 lots. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 6257.00, down by 0.16% or Rs 10.00 from its previous closing of Rs 6267.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 4868.00 lots on MCX.

Govt to continue Rs 3,300 per tonne raw sugar exports subsidy for April-May 2014

The Government has reviewed the raw sugar subsidy amount and decided to continue with the export subsidy of Rs 3,300 per tonne on its shipments for the period of April-May 2014. In February, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved an incentive for export of four million tonnes of raw sugar for two years to help the cash-starved sugar industry to pay arrears to sugarcane farmers. The CCEA decided to review the subsidy amount after every two months depending on the rupee-dollar exchange rate. The government had fixed export subsidy at Rs 3,300 per tonne for the February-March 2014 period. As per the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), around 4,00,000 tonnes of sugar is likely to be exported during April- May 2014. In the first six months of the current marketing year (October-September), India exported around 1.45 million tonnes of sugar in both raw and refined form out of which around 3,50,000 tonnes of sugar was exported in March, the first month of this subsidy plan. The latest government’s move is likely to enhance the raw sugar exports in coming future. India, world's second biggest sugar producer and largest consumer, particularly produces more white sugar for domestic consumption as comparison to raw sugar. Meanwhile, the raw sugar segment is presenting a lot of exports opportunities for the country. Till April 15 of marketing year 15, the country’s sugar output declined 4 percent to 23.1 million tonnes from 24.15 million tonnes in the same period last year. Sugar production declined in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, country’s top two producing states, while output in Karnataka was at a record level on the back of good rains.

Oil India gains on entering into agreement with Ireland based PetroNeft Resources Plc

Oil India is currently trading at Rs 480.80, up by 3.05 points or 0.64% from its previous closing of Rs 477.75 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 481.55 and has touched a high and low of Rs 483.85 and Rs. 478.00 respectively. So far 28178 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 629.70 on 31-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs 415.00 on 29-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 487.90 and Rs. 472.55 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 28914.64 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.64% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.35% and 15.01% respectively. Oil India (OIL) has entered into an agreement with PetroNeft Resources Plc, a company registered in Ireland, in respect of 50% non-operating interest in License 61, Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federation with a total investment of up to $85 million. Oil India, a Navratna Company, is Asia's oldest and biggest pioneer oil exploration and Production Company. Oil India has over 1 lakh sq km of PEL/ML areas for its exploration and production activities, most of it in the Indian North East, which accounts for its entire crude oil production and majority of gas production.

Hotel Leelaventure zooms on the buzz of selling prime properties in Delhi and Chennai

Hotel Leela Venture is currently trading at Rs. 20.95, up by 2.80 points or 15.43% from its previous closing of Rs. 18.15 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 18.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 21.25 and Rs. 18.15 respectively. So far 1652586 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 22.00 on 25-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 14.00 on 21-Nov-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 21.25 and Rs. 17.15 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 932.58 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 62.71% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.35% and 30.95% respectively. In a bid to pare debt, Hotel Leelaventure is reportedly in talks with sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Malaysia to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai for around Rs 1,850 crore. The company, which owns, operates and manages hotels, palaces and resorts, is likely to hive-off the two properties into separate entities. While the foreign investor may pick up 74% interest in the hived-off entities, Leelaventure will retain 26% stake and continue to manage the five-star hotels. Hotel Leelaventure operates hotels and resorts in India. It also operates spas; and offers facilities for meetings and events, weddings, and social celebrations. The company’s portfolio includes luxury hotels and resorts primarily in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon, and Udaipur.

FIIs hike stake in Maruti Suzuki during Q4FY14

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have raised their stake in Maruti Suzuki India, the largest passenger cars maker in India to 22.36% during Q4FY14 from 21.47% as on December 31, 2013.

On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding went down to 13.60% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 13.98% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, financial institutions / banks held maximum stake of 7.78%, followed by mutual funds/UTI (5.82% stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 56.21% at the end of March 2014 quarter.

Soyabean futures trade higher on strong demand

Soyabean futures traded higher on NCDEX as traders preferred to enlarge their holdings in line with higher global markets sentiment. Moreover, the strong demand from domestic soybean processors also influenced the commodity prices. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 4432.00, up by 0.75% or Rs 33.00 from its previous closing of Rs 4399.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 106930.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 4411.00, up by 0.97% or Rs 42.50 from its previous closing of Rs 4368.50. The open interest of the contract stood at 67960.00 lots on NCDEX.

Firm trade prevails; Nifty above 6800 mark

Indian equity benchmarks added gains to continue firm trade in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on Thursday April 17, 2014. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 433.40 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Investors were however worried that domestic market which has received the second highest FII inflows among emerging markets after Taiwan so far in 2014, may be showing signs of fatigue. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Metal and PSU stocks while selling was witnessed in FMCG, IT and Realty sector stocks. Hectic activity was witnessed in the mining stocks, as the Supreme Court is likely to give its final order on the Goa mining ban today. The ban has been in progress since September 2012. In scrip specific development, Wipro was trading under pressure after India’s third-biggest IT services exporter gave muted revenue forecast for the June quarter. On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,800 and 22,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1644:981 while 110 scrips remained unchanged. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22709.10 up by 80.26 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 22726.86 and 22636.75. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declining ones on the index. The broader indices were trading with good gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.80%, while Small cap moved higher by 1.27%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.89%, Metal up by 1.28%, PSU up by 1.21%, Auto up by 1.12% and Bankex up by 0.94%. On the other hand FMCG was down by 0.63%, IT was down by 0.57%, Realty down by 0.39% and TECK was down by 0.28%. The top gainers on the Sensex were L&T up by 3.87%, M&M up by 3.57%, BHEL up by 3.34%, SSLT up by 2.65% and SBI was up by 2.45%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 5.43%, HUL down by 1.05%, ITC down by 0.64%, Cipla down by 0.52% and HDFC Bank down by 0.49% were the top losers on the index. Meanwhile, the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) will soon clarify concerns raised by bidders for three coal blocks put up for auction. Coal ministry has already held a meeting, headed by Coal Secretary S K Srivastava, to discuss coal bidders’ issues like whether a consortium can have more than four participating companies or not. The meeting also discussed whether bidders should be allowed to take sample of coal from Central Coalfields (CCL) to perform the yield analysis. In February, the government had started the auction process of two Jharkhand mines - Jhirki & Jhirki (West) of East Bokaro Coalfield and Tokisud-II of South Karanpura Coalfield and Andal Babuisol of Raniganj Coalfield in West Bengal on block. These three mines have an estimated 500 million tonnes of reserves, for captive use of steel, cement and sponge iron firms. The move came after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) criticized the government for delaying the auction process at a time when the country is facing acute shortage of coal. India, despite being world's fifth largest in terms of reserves, the third-largest producer of coal has failed to keep pace with increasing domestic demand. 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. Presently, Coal India (CIL) is the only producer of domestic coal accounting for around 80 percent of the domestic production. CIL is currently also struggling to meet domestic coal requirement. Acute coal shortages in the country have become primary reason for power deficit as coal-fired plants account for 68% 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 CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,800.05, up by 20.65 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 6,806.10 and 6,786.90. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declining ones on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were L&T up by 4.02%, M&M up by 3.65%, BHEL up by 3.17%, PNB up by 3.10% and BPCL up by 2.93%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 5.55%, Cairn down by 1.88%, DLF down by 1.50%, Asian Paints down by 1.24% and HUL down by 1.06% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite slid by 1.52%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.03%, Taiwan Weighted dropped by 0.17% and Jakarta Composite inched lower by 0.8% while, Straits Times was up by 0.08% and Hang Seng added 0.28%. The European markets were closed for trading on account of Easter holiday.

Hotel Leelaventure zooms on the buzz of selling prime properties in Delhi and Chennai

Hotel Leela Venture is currently trading at Rs. 20.95, up by 2.80 points or 15.43% from its previous closing of Rs. 18.15 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 18.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 21.25 and Rs. 18.15 respectively. So far 1652586 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 22.00 on 25-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 14.00 on 21-Nov-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 21.25 and Rs. 17.15 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 932.58 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 62.71% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.35% and 30.95% respectively. In a bid to pare debt, Hotel Leelaventure is reportedly in talks with sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Malaysia to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai for around Rs 1,850 crore. The company, which owns, operates and manages hotels, palaces and resorts, is likely to hive-off the two properties into separate entities. While the foreign investor may pick up 74% interest in the hived-off entities, Leelaventure will retain 26% stake and continue to manage the five-star hotels. Hotel Leelaventure operates hotels and resorts in India. It also operates spas; and offers facilities for meetings and events, weddings, and social celebrations. The company’s portfolio includes luxury hotels and resorts primarily in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon, and Udaipur.

Crude Palm Oil futures edge lower on subdued demand

Crude Palm Oil futures traded down on MCX as speculators offloaded positions due to subdued demand in the spot market. The sentiments declined further after the supplies for the agri commodity exceeded the demand. The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 564.30, down by 0.46% or Rs 2.60 from its previous closing of Rs 566.90. The open interest of the contract stood at 1779.00 lots. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 561.90, down by 0.32% or Rs 1.80 from its previous closing of Rs 563.70. The open interest of the contract stood at 4154.00 lots on MCX.

Hotel Leelaventure in talks to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai: Report

In a bid to pare debt, Hotel Leelaventure is reportedly in talks with sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Malaysia to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai for around Rs 1,850 crore. The company, which owns, operates and manages hotels, palaces and resorts, is likely to hive-off the two properties into separate entities. While the foreign investor may pick up 74% interest in the hived-off entities, Leelaventure will retain 26% stake and continue to manage the five-star hotels. Hotel Leelaventure operates hotels and resorts in India. It also operates spas; and offers facilities for meetings and events, weddings, and social celebrations. The company’s portfolio includes luxury hotels and resorts primarily in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kovalam, Gurgaon, and Udaipur.

OTC trade data of government securities as on April 17

As per the OTC data of April 17, 8.83% Govt Stock 2023, maturing on 25-Nov-2023 was in maximum demand with 32 number of trades and total volume of Rs 1790.00 crore, at last traded price of Rs 99.67 and last traded YTM of Rs 8.88. Followed it was, 8.24% Govt. Stock 2027, maturing on 15-Feb-2027 with 52 trades of total volume Rs 1785.09 crore, at last traded price of 92.35 and last traded YTM of Rs 9.27.

Alstom India surges on bagging contract from BHEL

Alstom India is currently trading at Rs. 399.90, up by 7.70 points or 1.96% from its previous closing of Rs. 392.20 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 399.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 403.00 and Rs. 396.00 respectively. So far 5086 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 440.00 on 02-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 285.00 on 06-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 403.00 and Rs. 376.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2682.04 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 68.56%, while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 15.92% and 15.52% respectively. Alstom has been awarded a contract by Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) worth close to €30 million to supply components and services for the 2x660 MW Banharpalli Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) located in Jharsaguda, Orissa. Under the scope of the contract, Alstom will co-operate with BHEL in designing the boilers and supply identified pressure parts of the 660 MW supercritical boilers, along with windboxes. It will also assist BHEL with technical advisors during the erection and commissioning of the units. The key components will be manufactured in Alstom’s manufacturing facilities in Concordia (USA), as well as in Durgapur (India). The units I & II are expected to be commissioned by 2018. The new Banharpalli contract is a confirmation of the strong cooperation established since 2005 with BHEL. It comes in addition to contracts signed with BHEL between 2008 to 2014 for supercritical boilers in Barh II, Krishnapatnam, Bara, Yermaras, Bellary, Mouda, Nabinagar, Gadarwara, Suratgarh and most recently the Darlipalli and North Karanpura projects in India.

LIC Housing Finance reports 17% rise in Q4 net profit

LIC Housing Finance has reported results for fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2014. The company has reported a rise on 17.04% in its net profit at Rs 370.02 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 316.16 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income from operations of the company has increased by 18.91% at Rs 2443.30 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2054.74 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the full year ended March 31, 2014, the company has reported a rise on 28.73% in its net profit at Rs 1317.19 crore as compared to Rs 1023.21 crore for FY13. Total income from operations has increased by 21.19% at Rs 9181.38 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 7575.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Cardamom futures extend gains on MCX

Cardamom futures traded up on MCX on account of good buying support from both exporters and upcountry buyers and also on hopes of improved export demand. Moreover, demand for Indian cardamom in overseas market is expected to remain high for the near term until crop from Guatemala arrives. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 932.60, up by 2.09% or Rs 19.10 from its previous closing of Rs 913.50. The open interest of the contract stood at 2992.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 962.50, up by 2.30% or Rs 21.60 from its previous closing of Rs 940.90. The open interest of the contract stood at 1022.00 lots on MCX.

Markets trade steady; Capital Goods surge

Indian markets are moving steadily building up on their gains and shrugging off the mixed performance of their regional counterparts, as tensions in Ukraine kept investors cautious. There is no major trigger but the election euphoria is keeping the markets spirits high and the traders are going for value buying. Metal sector stocks, especially steel, were moving higher since beginning after a report stated that global steel demand is likely to grow at a faster pace of 3.3 per cent this year, driven by rising demand for the commodity from India, Brazil, Russia, West Asia and North Africa. The mining stocks too were buzzing, as the Supreme Court is likely to give its final order on the Goa mining ban today. The ban has been in progress since September 2012. On the sectoral front, banking stocks too have strengthened on bond rally after the RBI fully sold the Rs 20000 crore ($3.31 billion) worth of debt on offer on Thursday. Only IT, TECk and FMCG, sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in the red. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22692.27 up by 63.43 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 22726.86 and 22636.75. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 declining ones on the index. The broader indices were trading with good gains; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap moved higher by 1.16%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.43%, Auto up by 1.28%, Metal up by 1.18%, Consumer Durables up by 0.89% and Bankex up by 0.57%. On the other hand FMCG was down by 0.80%, IT was down by 0.57% and Teck was down by 0.23%. The top gainers on the Sensex were M&M up by 3.91%, BHEL up by 3.62%, L&T up by 3.52%, SSLT up by 2.34% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 2.08%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 5.52%, HUL down by 1.75%, Cipla down by 0.77%, ITC down by 0.62% and Infosys down by 0.34% were the top losers on the index. Meanwhile, Fertiliser Ministry will soon be holding a meeting with the fertilizer firms selling phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers at higher prices and delaying reporting of their MRPs to the government. Under the nutrient based subsidy (NBS) scheme, fixed amount of subsidy is provided by the government on each grade of P&K fertilizers based on their nutrients content and companies have been allowed to fix maximum retail price (MRP) of subsidised P&K fertilisers at reasonable rates. P&K on non-urea fertilizers include complex NPK, DAP and MOP compounds. Fertiliser companies are required to report the MRPs of their products to the government for monitoring of prices in order ensure that the MRPs fixed are reasonable. Fertiliser Ministry has reported that delays in reporting of MRPs by companies, practice of reporting higher MRPs and absence of a proper mechanism to cross verify their authenticity are causing difficulties in monitoring MRPs to find out the reasonableness of the P&K fertilizers prices. In the previous year, Ministry has issued notice to fertiliser companies to reduce the price following the fall of prices in the international market. The Government has pegged subsidy provisioning at around Rs 68,000 crore for 2014-15 and has reduced potash subsidy by Rs 3.33 per kg. Meanwhile, the government has also notified that reduction in subsidy rates would not lead to an increase in retail prices of potash, as international market prices of potash have come down. Domestic farmers are presently using more nitrogenous fertilizers particularly urea as comparison to the P&K fertilizers because of their higher prices. Total domestic demand of both potash and phosphate stands at around 10 million tonnes per annum. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at  6,794.75, up by 15.35 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 6,806.00 and 6,786.90. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declining ones on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were M&M up by 3.85%, BHEL up by 3.64%, L&T up by 3.63%, SSLT up by 2.36% and PNB up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 5.57%, Cairn down by 2.51%, HUL down by 1.94%, DLF down by 1.75% and Asian Paints down by 1.56% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in green; Taiwan Weighted up by 0.23%, Jakarta Composite inched up by 0.30% and Hang Seng added 0.29%. While, Shanghai Composite slid by 0.21%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.15% and Straits Times was down by 0.01%.

Government to soon clarify concerns from coal bidders

The inter-ministerial committee (IMC) will soon clarify concerns raised by bidders for three coal blocks put up for auction. Coal ministry has already held a meeting, headed by Coal Secretary S K Srivastava, to discuss coal bidders’ issues like whether a consortium can have more than four participating companies or not. The meeting also discussed whether bidders should be allowed to take sample of coal from Central Coalfields (CCL) to perform the yield analysis. In February, the government had started the auction process of two Jharkhand mines - Jhirki & Jhirki (West) of East Bokaro Coalfield and Tokisud-II of South Karanpura Coalfield and Andal Babuisol of Raniganj Coalfield in West Bengal on block. These three mines have an estimated 500 million tonnes of reserves, for captive use of steel, cement and sponge iron firms. The move came after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) criticized the government for delaying the auction process at a time when the country is facing acute shortage of coal. India, despite being world's fifth largest in terms of reserves, the third-largest producer of coal has failed to keep pace with increasing domestic demand. 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. Presently, Coal India (CIL) is the only producer of domestic coal accounting for around 80 percent of the domestic production. CIL is currently also struggling to meet domestic coal requirement. Acute coal shortages in the country have become primary reason for power deficit as coal-fired plants account for 68% 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.

Cardamom futures extend gains on MCX

Cardamom futures traded up on MCX on account of good buying support from both exporters and upcountry buyers and also on hopes of improved export demand. Moreover, demand for Indian cardamom in overseas market is expected to remain high for the near term until crop from Guatemala arrives. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 932.60, up by 2.09% or Rs 19.10 from its previous closing of Rs 913.50. The open interest of the contract stood at 2992.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 962.50, up by 2.30% or Rs 21.60 from its previous closing of Rs 940.90. The open interest of the contract stood at 1022.00 lots on MCX.

Bhushan Steel gains on receiving Odisha SPCB’s approval to start Blast Furnace No 2

Bhushan Steel is currently trading at Rs. 446.55, up by 0.85 points or 0.19% from its previous closing of Rs. 445.70 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 445.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 451.00 and Rs. 444.00 respectively. So far 11410 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 504.00 on 11-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 437.30 on 03-Apr-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 454.00 and Rs. 440.55 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10154.66 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 71.22% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 5.75% and 23.03% respectively. Bhushan Steel has received all consents and approvals from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Odisha for starting and operating the Blast Furnace No 2 installed at its Steel Plant al Meramandali, Odisha. The company has started the process of operation of Blast Furnace No 2 and the production from the furnace is expected to start in few weeks.   Bhushan Steel, formerly known as Bhushan Steel & Strips, is one of the leading players in the steel industry with steel making capacity of 2.2 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).

FIIs increase stake in Apollo Tyres in Q4FY14

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have increased shareholding in Apollo Tyres to 34.50% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 28.94% in December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have reduced shareholding in the company to 7.86% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 9.21% as on December 31, 2013. Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 43.50% at the end of March 2014 quarter. Apollo Tyres produces the entire range of automotive tyres for ultra and high speed passenger cars, truck and bus, farm, off-the-road, industrial and specialty applications like mining, retreaded tyres and retreading material. These are produced across Apollo’s eight manufacturing locations in India, Netherlands and Southern Africa.

Gold futures decline on profit booking

Gold futures traded down on MCX due to profit-booking by speculators. Further, as investors and speculators exited positions in the precious metal tracking a weak trend in the overseas market put pressure on gold prices at the futures trade. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 28341.00, down by 0.58% or Rs 164.00 from its previous closing of Rs 28505.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 10034.00 lots. The contract for August delivery was trading at Rs 27895.00, down by 0.38% or Rs 105.00 from its previous closing of Rs 28000.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 1980.00 lots on MCX.

CRISIL trades in green on BSE Apr-21-2014 12:41 Hrs IST

CRISIL is currently trading at Rs 1255.00, up by 17.85 points or 1.44% from its previous closing of Rs 1237.15 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1249.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1277.50 and Rs 1249.00 respectively. So far 1352 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 1277.50 on 21-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs 889.05 on 23-Apr-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 1277.50 and Rs. 1201.90 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 8962.50 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.70% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 18.52% and 13.78% respectively. CRISIL has reported results for first quarter ended March 31, 2014 The company has posted a rise of 11.75% in its net profit at Rs 50.96 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 45.60 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased by 16.61% at Rs 224.62 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 192.61 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. On the consolidated basis, the company has reported 38.61% rise in its net profit at Rs 68.71 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 49.57 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased by 20.87% at Rs 312.12 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 258.21 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Bhushan Steel receives Odisha SPCB's approval to start Blast Furnace No 2

Bhushan Steel has received all consents and approvals from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Odisha for starting and operating the Blast Furnace No 2 installed at its Steel Plant al Meramandali, Odisha. The company has started the process of operation of Blast Furnace No 2 and the production from the furnace is expected to start in few weeks.    Bhushan Steel, formerly known as Bhushan Steel & Strips, is one of the leading players in the steel industry with steel making capacity of 2.2 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).

Cotton futures trade up on bargain buying

Cotton futures traded up on MCX due to good demand from local millers and yarn exporters amid thin domestic supply. Bargain buying by traders as the prices of the commodity had fallen to lower levels while demand in the international markets further helped the prices to rise in the futures markets. The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 20410.00, up by 1.39% or Rs 280.00 from its previous closing of Rs 20130.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 3460.00 lots. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 20700.00, up by 1.47% or Rs 300.00 from its previous closing of Rs 20400.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 4594.00 lots on MCX.

Insecticides (India) shines on receiving patent for insecticide preparation process

Insecticides (India) is currently trading at Rs. 255.50, up by 8.05 points or 3.25% from its previous closing of Rs. 247.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 255.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 262.00 and Rs. 255.00 respectively. So far 2466 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 431.00 on 23-Apr-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 203.00 on 08-Nov-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 262.00 and Rs. 245.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 324.05 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.69% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.35% and 18.96% respectively. Insecticides (India) has been granted a patent by the Indian Patent Office for preparation process of Acetamiprid, an insecticide for sucking pests. The company had filed for process patents with India’s Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks for eight chemical compounds, including Acetamiprid. Besides, the company had recently tied up with Japan-based Otsuka AgriTechno Company to set up a joint venture for research and development of new agrochemical molecules. Insecticides India’s leading agro-chemical and pesticides manufacturer. The company has formulation facilities in Chopanki in Rajasthan, Samba and Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir and Dahej in Gujarat. It also has plants at Chopanki and Dahej to manufacture technical grade chemicals.

ICRA reaffirms ratings assigned to bank facilities of India Motor Parts & Accessories

Credit rating agency, ICRA has re-affirmed ‘AA/Stable’ rating assigned to Cash Credit Limit & Bank Guarantee of India Motor Parts & Accessories amounting Rs 20.25 crore. The credit rating agency has also reaffirmed ‘A1+’ rating assigned to Letter of Credit - as a sub-limit of CC of the company amounting Rs 10 crore.

India Motor Parts & Accessories (IMPAL) is engaged in the distribution of automobile spare parts and accessories through its 50+ branch network representing over 50 manufacturers. IMPAL is one of the few all India distributors of motor parts and deals in engine group components, brake systems, fasteners, radiators, suspensions, axles, auto electricals, wheels, steering linkages, instrument clusters etc.

Dr Reddy’s Lab trades up on the bourses

Dr Reddys Laboratories is currently trading at Rs. 2559.00, up by 3.00 points or 0.12% from its previous closing of Rs. 2556.00 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 2552.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 2577.00 and Rs. 2552.20 respectively. So far 6334 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 2939.80 on 28-Feb-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1860.00 on 22-Apr-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2608.10 and Rs. 2522.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 43479.83 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 25.52% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 40.59% and 15.87% respectively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have raised their stake in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, an integrated global pharmaceutical company to 34.30% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 33.35% as on December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding has decreased to 6.29% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 7.54% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, mutual funds / UTI held maximum stake of 4.89%, followed by insurance companies (1.34 % stake) and Financial Institutions / Banks (0.06 stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 25.52% at the end of March 2014 quarter. Dr. Reddy’s is an integrated global pharmaceutical company, committed to providing affordable and innovative medicines for healthier lives. Through its three businesses - Pharmaceutical Services and Active Ingredients, Global Generics and Proprietary Products - the company offers a portfolio of products and services including APIs, custom pharmaceutical services, generics, bio-similars, differentiated formulations and NCEs.

ICRA reaffirms ratings assigned to bank facilities of India Motor Parts & Accessories

Credit rating agency, ICRA has re-affirmed ‘AA/Stable’ rating assigned to Cash Credit Limit & Bank Guarantee of India Motor Parts & Accessories amounting Rs 20.25 crore. The credit rating agency has also reaffirmed ‘A1+’ rating assigned to Letter of Credit - as a sub-limit of CC of the company amounting Rs 10 crore. India Motor Parts & Accessories (IMPAL) is engaged in the distribution of automobile spare parts and accessories through its 50+ branch network representing over 50 manufacturers. IMPAL is one of the few all India distributors of motor parts and deals in engine group components, brake systems, fasteners, radiators, suspensions, axles, auto electricals, wheels, steering linkages, instrument clusters etc.

HDIL moves up as FIIs increase stake in the company in Q4FY14

Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) is currently trading at Rs. 73.90, up by 0.05 points or 0.07 % from its previous closing of Rs. 73.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 74.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 75.40 and Rs. 73.20 respectively. So far 871473 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 81.40 on 15-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 26.10 on 07-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 81.40 and Rs. 70.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3098.53 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 36.17% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 38.54% and 25.29% respectively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have increased their stake in Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) during Q4FY14 to 38.33%. As on December 31, 2013, the FIIs stake in the company stood at 33.24%. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors too increased their holding in the company to 0.21% from 0.15%. As on March 31, 2014, the promoters holding in the company stood at 36.17% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 38.54% and 25.29% respectively. Recently, Credit Suisse (Singapore) bought 21.42 lakh shares of HDIL through open market route. The shares were purchased on an average price of Rs 73.81 valuing the transaction to Rs 15.81 crore. HDIL is a real estate development company. Its business activity comprises of construction and development of residential projects, commercial, retail and slum rehabilitation projects. It is also engaged in construction of special economic zone (SEZ).

SAIL gains on commissioning ladle furnace at Durgapur Steel Plant

SAIL is currently trading at Rs. 71.70, up by 0.55 points or 0.77% from its previous closing of Rs. 71.15 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 71.60 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 72.60 and Rs. 71.40 respectively. So far 1,83,000 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 75.90 on 10-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 37.65 on 07-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 74.55 and Rs. 68.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 29,530.00 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 80.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 16.79% and 3.20% respectively. Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) - Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) has added on stream a new 125 tonnes ladle furnace of one mtpa capacity installed at a cost of Rs 53 crore. This is the third ladle furnace in DSP. The furnace will increase productivity by speeding up supply of liquid steel to three existing continuous casters. The ladle furnace, used to refine crude steel for making value-added steel, is part of the Rs 2,875 crore expansion and modernization programme of the state-run firm in DSP. Further, the company also plans to enhance DSP’s capacity from the present level of 1.60 MT of saleable steel to 2.12 MT. Post completion, DSP will also improve the volume of finished component in its product basket from the present level of 36% to 64%.

FIIs increase stake in Dr Reddy’s Lab during March quarter

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have raised their stake in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, an integrated global pharmaceutical company to 34.30% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 33.35% as on December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding has decreased to 6.29% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 7.54% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, mutual funds / UTI held maximum stake of 4.89%, followed by insurance companies (1.34 % stake) and Financial Institutions / Banks (0.06 stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 25.52% at the end of March 2014 quarter. Dr. Reddy’s is an integrated global pharmaceutical company, committed to providing affordable and innovative medicines for healthier lives. Through its three businesses - Pharmaceutical Services and Active Ingredients, Global Generics and Proprietary Products - the company offers a portfolio of products and services including APIs, custom pharmaceutical services, generics, bio-similars, differentiated formulations and NCEs.

Liberty Shoes reports over four fold jump in Q4 net profit

Liberty Shoes has reported results for fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2014. The company has reported over four fold jump in its net profit at Rs 4.27 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 0.97 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income from operation of the company has increased by 34.51% at Rs 142.41 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 105.87 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the full year ended March 31, 2014, the company has reported around two and a half fold jump in its net profit at Rs 13.21 crore as compared to Rs 5.39 crore for FY13. Total income has increased by 33.99% at Rs 485.04 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 362.00 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Principal MF introduces Fixed Maturity Plan -Series B16

Principal Mutual Fund has launched the New Fund Offer (NFO) of Principal Fixed Maturity Plan -Series B16, a close ended income scheme. The NFO opens for subscription on Apr 21, 2014 and closes on Apr 29, 2014. No entry load or exit load will be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against Crisil Short Term Bond Fund Index and its fund manager is Pankaj Jain. The investment objective of the scheme is to build an income oriented portfolio and generate returns through investment in Debt/Money Market Instruments and Government Securities.

Yes Bank spurts on inking three-year deal with IGU

Yes Bank is currently trading at Rs. 425.20, up by 8.30 points or 1.99% from its previous closing of Rs. 416.90 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 418.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 425.20 and Rs. 418.00 respectively. So far 108846 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 547.15 on 20-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 216.10 on 28-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 450.20 and Rs. 404.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 15320.80 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 25.56 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 58.82 % and 15.63 % respectively. Yes Bank, India’s fourth largest private sector bank, has signed a three-year deal with the Indian Golf Union (IGU) Junior Tour commencing with the 2014 season. The tour comprises 11 tournaments including 4-zonals (North, South, East and South) and a final. Over 250 junior golfers from across the country will compete in the tournament to represent India in the national Junior squad. Yes Bank has international best practices, the highest standards of service quality and operational excellence, and offers comprehensive banking and financial solutions to all its valued customers. It has a strong pan India presence with 500+ branches and 1100+ ATMs in all 28 states and 7 Union Territories.

Crude makes a mildly soft start in Asian trade

Crude oil futures have made a slightly soft start in Asian trade on Monday on speculation that supply will increase. A four-way talk in Geneva on the Ukraine crisis ended April 17 with an agreement aimed at easing the conflict. Trading on Nymex and ICE was closed on April 18 for the Good Friday holiday. However, any major fall was averted with Technical problems delaying the reopening of Libya's eastern Zueitina oil export terminal after the government reached a deal with rebels to end an eight-month blockade of the port. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery, which expires tomorrow, declined by 32 cents or 0.3 percent, to $103.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent for June settlement declined by 54 cents to $108.99 a barrel on the ICE.

RIL’s telecom arm inks tower sharing agreement with ATC India

Reliance Industries’ (RIL) telecom arm - Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL), and ATC India, one of the leading independent tower companies in India, have signed a tower sharing agreement. Under the agreement, Reliance Jio would utilize the telecom tower infrastructure of ATC India to launch its services across the country. ATC has a portfolio of 11,000 towers in India. RJIL is setting up a pan India telecom network to provide to the highly underserviced India market, reliable (4th generation) high speed internet connectivity, rich communication services and various digital services on pan India basis in key domains such as education, healthcare, security, financial services, government citizen interfaces and entertainment. RJIL, India’s largest private sector company, is the first telecom operator to hold pan India Unified License. This license authorizes RJIL to provide all telecommunication services except Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Service.

Tech Mahindra gains on plan to acquire 75% stake in FSNI for $10 million

Tech Mahindra is currently trading at Rs. 1784.95, up by 15.15 points or 0.86% from its previous closing of Rs. 1769.80 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1780.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1789.50 and Rs. 1777.00 respectively. So far 1,088 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1936.35 on 06-Mar-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 895.25 on 21-May-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1789.50 and Rs. 1735.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 41,683.00 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 36.29% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 48.80% and 14.91% respectively. Tech Mahindra has entered into an agreement to acquire 75% stake in Fix Stream Networks Inc., (FSNI), a technology startup company at a consideration of $10 million. FSNI is going to develop emerging technology which will benefit Tech Mahindra’s customer base. The company has entered into an agreement on April 18, 2014 and the acquisition is subject to necessary regulatory approvals. Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra. The company, since 2002 has operations in China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou.

TCS inks definitive agreements with Mitsubishi Corporation

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, has signed definitive agreements with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), one of Japan’s largest integrated business enterprises to merge TCS Japan, ITF and NTSC. TCS will hold 51% in the merged entity, MC to hold 49%. The merged entities will be operational from July 2014. This transaction will create a new IT services company of significant scale in the Japanese market. ITF brings its long standing relationships with Japanese corporations, talented workforce and competencies in industries like retail, distribution and trading. This will complement TCS’ deep domain knowledge, technology expertise and strong execution track record. Besides, TCS’ Global Network Delivery Model (GNDM) capabilities will also enable the Japanese corporations’ globalization ambitions. The company will provide tremendous additional value to clients in Japan; while employees will secure the advantages of building their careers in a global organization.

Reliance Industries inaugurates Elastomers Customer Support Centre at Vadodara

Relflex Elastomers - Synthetic Rubber Business Group of Reliance Industries (RIL) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art Elastomers Customer Support Center (ECSC) at its Petrochemicals Complex in Vadodara. This initiative is in line with RIL’s endeavor to become not only a significant synthetic rubber supplier but also to provide intangible technical support to its customers and play a catalytic role in helping them grow their business, increase value additions and reduce import dependence. Relflex ECSC would serve as a springboard for mutual collaborative efforts, value additions and joint product development between Relflex Elastomers and its customers. The facility will service tyre as well non tyre industry. Reliance Elastomer supplies Polybutadiene Rubber (PBR) to the tyre industry and enjoys excellent relationship with Indian tyre manufacturers across all segments.

Markets to start the F&O expiry week on a flat-to-cautious note

Indian markets turned bullish ahead of the long weekend and posted gains of over one and half a percent in the last session. Today, the start of the holiday truncated F&O expiry week is likely to be cautious and some volatility is expected in the latter part of the trade. Traders will be reacting to the Reliance Industries results announced before the weekend. The company has reported net profit rise of 4.7 per cent to Rs 21,984 crore for the full financial year rose, the highest by any private sector firm in the country. There will be some cautiousness in the market with global ratings agency Crisil saying that it may not be easy for India to return to 9% growth during 2014-2019 and instead settle for an average 6.5% growth, provided there is a stable government at the Centre. There will be some somberness in the gems and jewellery stocks as Indian exports of gems and jewellery, which contributes about 15 percent of the country’s overseas shipments, fell by about 9 percent to $39.5 billion in 2013-14. There will be some buzz in fertilizers stocks too, amid buzz that the Fertiliser Ministry has called a meeting of companies charging higher prices for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers. There will be some result announcements too, to keep the markets ticking. Hindustan Zinc, LIC Housing Finance, Supreme Petro and HEG are among the important ones to announce their numbers today. The US markets ended higher on Thursday on good reports of unemployment benefit and Philadelphia region manufacturing data. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, though the Japanese market was trading high with the support of weakness in yen after country’s trade deficit widened more than forecast last month. Back home, boisterous benchmarks, snapping three days losing streak, staged an enthusiastic performance on Thursday by rallying over one and a half percentage point and breaking lots of psychological levels in their northward rally. Sentiments remained up-beat since start, as key bourses opened with decent gains and there appeared not even an iota of profit booking in the session and the benchmarks managed to fervently gain from strength to strength as investors continued their hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Investors’ confidence got boost after Standard and Poor’s said it may upgrade India’s sovereign outlook if the government that is elected next month addresses some of the country’s economic challenges, including approving the proposed goods and services tax. Some support also came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fully sold Rs 20,000 crore ($3.31 billion) worth of debt on offer, accomplishing the country’s biggest-ever auction. Also, better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and HCL Tech’s Q3 stellar performance boosted sentiment. TCS reported a 48.2% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,357.6 crore for the quarter ended March 31, helped by growth in Europe and APAC and investments in digital technologies, while HCL Technologies posted a jump of 69.67% in its net profit at Rs 1412.54 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 832.96 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. On the global front, supportive cues from US markets provided much needed support to local markets, while the Asian markets exhibited mixed trend on Thursday, however European counters were trading in the red in early deals. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 351.61 points or 1.58%, to settle at 22628.84, while the CNX Nifty gained 104.10 points or 1.56% to settle at 6 6,779.40.