Tata Power Company gains as its rights issue oversubscribed 1.96 times

Tata Power Company is currently trading at Rs 83.70, up by 0.25 points or 0.30% from its previous closing of Rs. 83.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 84.05 and has touched a high and low of Rs 85.00 and Rs 82.25 respectively. So far 578410 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 92.64 on 30-Apr-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 65.86 on 06-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 87.00 and Rs. 81.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 22683.96 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 32.47% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 48.24% and 19.10% respectively. Tata Power Company, one of India’s largest integrated power companies, has closed subscription to its rights issue on April 15, 2014. The issue has been oversubscribed 1.96 times, wherein the company collected an amount of Rs 3,916.41 crore on application. The company had offered up to 33,22,30,130 equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each at a price of Rs 60 per equity share for an amount aggregating to Rs 1,993.38 crore on a rights basis to existing shareholders. JM Financial Institutional Securities, BNP Paribas, HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (India), Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and SBI Capital Markets were the lead managers to the issue. Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company with a significant international presence. The Company has an installed generation capacity of 8521 MW in India and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz. Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading.

Soyabean futures gain on lack of supply

Soyabean futures gained on NCDEX on lack of supplies in the global and domestic market. Moreover, the estimates of lower US inventories and higher crushing data from the world's biggest bean producer also influenced the commodity prices in future trade.

The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 4457.50, up by 0.76% or Rs 33.50 from its previous closing of Rs 4424.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 102330.00 lots.

The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 4438.00, up by 0.74% or Rs 32.50 from its previous closing of Rs 4405.50. The open interest of the contract stood at 74550.00 lots on NCDEX.

Sakthi Finance implements Sundaram Infotech’s IT solution ‘SmartLend 3G’

Non-banking finance company Sakthi Finance has implemented the software solution -- SmartLend 3G -- of city based Sundaram Infotech Solutions, the IT subsidiary of Sundaram Finance. SmartLend 3G deals with the business needs regarding retail lending, corporate lending and small and medium enterprise loans through modular approach. This includes lead management, hire purchase, asset loan, collection, securitisation and working capital, among others. Sakthi Finance provides a wide variety of loans for cars, commercial vehicles, plant machinery and equipment are available and it is one of the first companies to introduce used vehicle financing.

OTC trade data of government securities as on April 21

As per the OTC data of April 21, 8.83% Govt Stock 2023, maturing on 25-Nov-2023 was in maximum demand with 39 number of trades and total volume of Rs 1973.5 crore, at last traded price of Rs 99.82 and last traded YTM of Rs 8.86. Followed it was,8.24% Govt .Stock 2027, maturing on 15-Feb-2027 with 25 trades of total volume Rs 332.23 crore, at last traded price of 93.24 and last traded YTM of Rs 9.14.

Dhanuka Agritech gains on plan to achieve revenue of Rs 500 crore from new unit

Dhanuka Agritech is currently trading at Rs. 277.50, up by 0.55 points or 0.20% from its previous closing of Rs. 276.95 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 277.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 281.50 and Rs. 272.50 respectively. So far 9358 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 286.10 on 19-Mar-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 116.15 on 23-Apr-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 282.00 and Rs. 231.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1388.04 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.99% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 8.41% and 16.60% respectively. Dhanuka Agritech expects new capacities at Rajasthan will add up significantly to its top line and bottom line. The company is also eyeing incremental revenue of Rs 500 crore. The company has planned to set up a manufacturing unit in Keshwana village of Rajasthan with an investment of Rs 50 crore. The company will finance this expansion via internal accruals. The overall pesticide production capacity of the company in liquid and powder form will go up to 10,000 kilo litre and 10,000 tonnes, respectively post this expansion. Dhanuka Agritech is the umbrella company for the business of agro-chemicals, fertilizers, and seeds of Dhanuka Group. The company reaches out to more than 10 million farmers with its eco-friendly high quality crop care products. The Agri-Division has a pan-India presence through its marketing offices in all major states in India.

Markets pare early gains; hold their neck in green

Indian equity markets have pared some of their early gains on prevailing caution about ongoing national elections, with Mumbai set to go for polling on Thursday. Nevertheless, the momentum still remains on positive side as select buyers continue to add risky equities in their portfolio amidst hopes of stable government post-elections, which would help revive the sluggish growth of the economy. Holding their neck in green, while Sensex was trading below the psychological 22, 800 level, Nifty was holding the fort above crucial 6800 bastion. Broader indices too were surrendered some of their gains, but continuing outperforming peers. Much of the weakness crept into local markets after regional counterparts gave up almost all their gains. Asian counterparts edged lower despite strong close of Wall Street overnight which failed to translate into Asian pacific region. Closer home, while stocks from Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables counters were supporting the uptrend of the markets, those from Metal, Auto and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) were offsetting gains. Meanwhile, banking shares too edged lower ahead of the crucial HDFC Bank result later in the noon. On the flip side, gains of index heavyweight Reliance Industries lifted the entire Oil & Gas pivotal higher. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1309:1107, while  shares remained unchanged The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22788.70, up by 23.87 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 22,853.03 and 22,754.51. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index up by 0.44%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil and Gas up by 1.48%, Capital Goods up by 1.32%, Consumer Durable up by 1.02%, Realty up by 0.60% and PSU up by 0.55%. While, Metal down by 0.98%, Auto down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.29%, TECK down by 0.18%, Power and IT down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 2.24%, L&T up by 1.79%, ONGC up by 1.35%, RIL up by 1.31% and Coal India up by 1.30%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 2.95%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.99%, Wipro down by 1.21%, Tata Steel down by 0.92% and Tata Motors down by .75% were the top losers on the index. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has lifted an 18-month-old ban on iron ore mining in Goa and allowed industry to extract Iron ore with an annual cap of 20 million tonnes. However, the expert panel will give a final recommendation on annual cap on excavation of iron ore within six months. In addition to the lifting of the court’s ban, mining requires the approvals from the environment ministry and Goa state government. The Supreme Court notified there cannot be a deemed renewal of lease after 2007 of the existing lease deeds emanating from 1962 onwards. Further, there will be no grant of lease for mining around one km of national parks and wild life sanctuaries and directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to identify eco-sensitive areas around national parks within six months. Supreme Court added that the government of Goa, India’s top exporting state of the raw ingredient for steel, will formulate a scheme within six months for utilising the funds generated by e-auction. Moreover, the workers on rolls of all mining firms will be paid 50 percent of the wage during the period for which they were out of work. Mining activities in Goa came to a grinding halt since the Supreme Court imposed mining ban in this region. Prior to the ban, Goa exported over 40 million tonnes of iron ore per year, accounting for about 70% of India's total iron ore exports. During the April-February 2014 period, India exported 14.01 million tonnes of iron ore compared to 17.36 million tonnes in the year-ago period, showing a decline of 19.3%. Low domestic production and sluggish demand from China were the leading factors that attributed to decline in shipments. The latest move also came in as a major relief to Indian steel industry facing huge shortage of iron ore, however prevailing slump in prices and slackening demand in China reflect that the period of high profits for iron ore industry is over. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,821.45, up by 3.80 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 6,838.00 and 6,813. There were 19 stocks advancing against 30 declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 4.12%, GAIL up by 2.38%, L&T up by 2.05%, Lupin up 1.42% and Coal India up by 1.38%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 2.88%, Indusind Bank down by 1.97%, Hindalco down by 1.92%, Jindal Steel and PNB down by 1.77% were the major losers on the index. Most of Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 down by 0.85%, Jakarta Composite down by 0.54%, Hang Seng down by 0.33% and Shanghai Composite down by 0.24%. While, Straits Times was up by 0.54% and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.26%.

Castor seed futures edge higher on strong export demand

Castor seed futures edged higher on NCDEX due to speculative buying interest as well as improved domestic demand. Besides, strong export demand of meal in local mandies along with weak production estimates for the current year also influenced the commodity prices. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 3934.00, up by 0.41% or Rs 16.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3918.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 158670.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 3992.00, up by 0.13% or Rs 5.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3987.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 58580.00 lots on NCDEX.

Reliance Industries strengthens on divesting 30% stake in oil and gas block in Peru

Reliance Industries is currently trading at Rs. 970.55, up by 11.10 points or 1.16 % from its previous closing of Rs. 959.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 960.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 988.90 and Rs. 956.90 respectively. So far 440334 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 988.90 on 22-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 765.00 on 28-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 988.90 and Rs. 936.95 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 314175.99 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.30% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 29.86% and 21.41% respectively. In a bid to trim its overseas properties, Reliance Industries has divested its 30% stake in an oil and gas block in Peru to Australia’s Woodside Petroleum and Pluspetrol of Argentina. The company’s current international portfolio comprises of three blocks - two in Yemen and one in Peru. In addition, RIL last month won two offshore exploration blocks (M17 and M18) in Myanmar. In May that year, the company acquired the 30% stake in Block 108 from Argentine oil and gas firm Pluspetrol, along with Woodside Petroleum, which bought 20%. Pluspetrol, which had picked up the block that lies north of the Camisea gas field in 2005, held 50%.

Karnataka Bank gains on plan to open 75 new branches in current fiscal

The Karnataka Bank is currently trading at Rs 120.70, up by 0.35 points or 0.29% from its previous closing of Rs 120.35 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 120.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 121.40 and Rs. 119.75 respectively. So far 207992 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 162.90 on 13-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 69.10 on 06-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 122.85 and Rs. 115.65 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2259.06 crore. The Institutions and Non-Institutions held 28.74% and 71.26% respectively. Karnataka Bank, the Mangalore based premier private sector bank, is planning to open 75 new branches across the country by the end of the current Fiscal, taking the total number of branches from 600 (as on March 31, 2014) to 675 (as on March 31, 2015). The bank is also planning to open 300 new ATMs to reach 1,000 ATMs by March 2015. Meanwhile, the bank has set a business target of Rs 83,000 crore for the current year with a growth rate of 20%. Karnataka Bank reported 33.25% rise in its net profit at Rs 106.70 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 80.07 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank increased by 10.94% at Rs 1165.54 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1050.58 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Government to offer direct factoring facility for MSMEs

In order to boost the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC), a state owned enterprise controlled by the Ministry of Commerce, will offer direct factoring facility for MSMEs sector. Factoring is a cash management tool under which an enterprise or business person sells accounts receivable at a discount to a third party funding agency to raise capital. The ECGC has planned to introduce direct factoring facility service in the second quarter of the current financial year, which would help small enterprises to meet their working capital requirements without approaching banks. The ECGC had already launched a new country-risk rating for the benefit of MSMEs. It has become imperative for India to boost the MSME sector which contributes around 8% of the country's GDP, 45% of the manufactured output and provides employment to over 8 crore people. Meanwhile, the government has been taking various measures to boost the sector’s growth and has increased Budget allocation for the sector to Rs 24,000 crore in the 12th Five-Year Plan from Rs 11,000 crore in the previous five-plan period. The government has also set up a six-member inter-ministerial panel, which will suggest measures to boost the MSME exports.

Gold futures extend gains on MCX

Gold futures rose on MCX due to deepening concerns over Ukraine as a shootout in the eastern part of the country threatened to worsen its ties with Russia boosted the safe haven appeal of gold, supporting the precious metal. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 28572.00, up by 0.16% or Rs 45.00 from its previous closing of Rs 28527.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 10539.00 lots. The contract for August delivery was trading at Rs 28119.00, up by 0.15% or Rs 41.00 from its previous closing of Rs 28078.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 2076.00 lots on MCX.

Markets trade flat in afternoon session

Indian bourses after surging to life-time high levels in early deals pared most of the gains and were trading flat in afternoon session as profit booking at higher levels dragged the markets lower. Though major indices continued to trade marginally in green on the back of sustained buying by funds and retail investors mainly driven by encouraging fourth quarter earnings by blue-chip companies and positive economic factors. Sector wise, oil and gas index was the top gaining index on BSE up by over 1.68% followed by consumer durable and capital goods indices both up by over 0.50%. However, there was considerable weakness in the IT and technology sector stocks. The broader indices were once again outperforming the benchmarks with both mid and small cap indices were up over 0.25%. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals dipped around 2.3% at nearly Rs 563 after the company said it has lost its appeal to invalidate Abbott Laboratories' TARKA (trandolapril/verapamil hydrochloride) patent. On the other hand, Novartis India has surged around16% to Rs 541 on back of heavy volumes media reports that Eli Lilly and Company proposed to acquire Novartis' animal health business. On global front, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red with Nikkei 225 down by 0.66% and Jakarta Composite down by 0.57% amid concerns over liquidity and weak earnings from major corporate in China. 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, out of 2,420 stocks traded, 1,290 stocks advanced, while 1,014 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22,784.45 up by 19.62 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 22,853.03 and 22,754.51. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.28%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil and Gas up by 1.68%, Capital Goods up by 1.05%, Consumer Durable up by 0.50%, Realty up by 0.43% and Healthcare up by 0.17%. While, Metal down by 0.96%, FMCG down by 0.54%, Auto down by 0.52%, Power down by 0.19% and Teck down by 0.18% were the losing indices on BSE.    The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 2.65%, ONGC up by 1.81%, L&T up by 1.41%, RIL up by 1.37% and HDFC Bank up by 1.10%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 2.95%, Hindalco Inds down by 1.26%, Wipro down by 1.21%, Tata Motors down by 1.09% and Tata Steel down by 1.05%. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has lifted an 18-month-old ban on iron ore mining in Goa and allowed industry to extract Iron ore with an annual cap of 20 million tonnes. However, the expert panel will give a final recommendation on annual cap on excavation of iron ore within six months. In addition to the lifting of the court’s ban, mining requires the approvals from the environment ministry and Goa state government. The Supreme Court notified there cannot be a deemed renewal of lease after 2007 of the existing lease deeds emanating from 1962 onwards. Further, there will be no grant of lease for mining around one km of national parks and wild life sanctuaries and directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to identify eco-sensitive areas around national parks within six months. Supreme Court added that the government of Goa, India’s top exporting state of the raw ingredient for steel, will formulate a scheme within six months for utilising the funds generated by e-auction. Moreover, the workers on rolls of all mining firms will be paid 50 percent of the wage during the period for which they were out of work. Mining activities in Goa came to a grinding halt since the Supreme Court imposed mining ban in this region. Prior to the ban, Goa exported over 40 million tonnes of iron ore per year, accounting for about 70% of India's total iron ore exports. During the April-February 2014 period, India exported 14.01 million tonnes of iron ore compared to 17.36 million tonnes in the year-ago period, showing a decline of 19.3%. Low domestic production and sluggish demand from China were the leading factors that attributed to decline in shipments. The latest move also came in as a major relief to Indian steel industry facing huge shortage of iron ore, however prevailing slump in prices and slackening demand in China reflect that the period of high profits for iron ore industry is over. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,820.40 up by 2.75 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 6,838.00 and 6,813. There were only 20 stocks advancing against 30 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 4.62%, GAIL up by 2.83%, ONGC up by 1.89%, Reliance up by 1.63% and L&T up by 1.40%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 2.85%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.04%, Indusind Bank down by 1.86%, ACC down by 1.41% and Hindalco down by 1.39% were the major losers on the index. Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 down by 0.66% to 14,416.04, Jakarta Composite down by 0.57% to 4,864.23, Hang Seng down by 0.24% to 22,705.63 and Shanghai Composite down by 0.43% to 2,056.97. While, Straits Times was up by 0.53% to 3,242.79 and Taiwan Weighted up by 0.26% to 8,947.71.

JSW Steel rises on buzz of talks of acquiring Welspun Maxsteel for Rs 1,000 crore

JSW Steel is currently trading at Rs. 1103.85, up by 6.40 points or 0.58% from its previous closing of Rs. 1097.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1103.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1107.20 and Rs. 1087.65 respectively. So far 73425 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1109.35 on 21-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 451.50 on 19-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1109.35 and Rs. 996.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 26609.97 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 38.45% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 23.29% and 38.27% respectively. JSW Steel, India’s third-largest steel maker is reportedly in preliminary talks to buy smaller rival Welspun Maxsteel for about Rs 1,000 crore. The company’s move aimed at sourcing cheaper raw material, cutting production costs and strengthening presence in the northern and western market. The acquisition will help the company to secure continuous supply of cheaper raw material as it plans to expand its Dolvi capacity to 5 million tonne. The company’s output from its 10 million tonne mother plant at Vijayanagar in Karnataka has suffered by the shortage of key raw material, iron ore, after a series of mining bans. JSW Steel is part of the JSW group which, in turn, is a part of the O P Jindal group. JSW Steel is one of the largest steel manufacturing companies in India having units in Karnataka and Maharashtra producing crude steel, long steel and flat steel products.

Moody’s assigns Baa3 rating to UBI’s USD notes

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a Baa3 rating to the proposed USD benchmark senior unsecured notes drawdown, issued by Union Bank of India (UBI) from its $2 billion Medium-Term Note Program through its Hong Kong branch. The proposed notes are expected to mature in 2019 and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange. The rating outlook is stable. The Baa3 rating is underpinned by UBI’s franchise as the sixth largest public sector bank in India by assets.

Potato futures edge lower on sluggish demand

Potato futures edged lower on MCX as traders offloaded their holdings at existing higher levels, tracking a weak spot market trend on sluggish demand. However, limited supply of potato on the back of bad weather condition in potato-producing states restricted the further losses in prices. The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 1306.00, down by 0.58% or Rs 7.60 from its previous closing of Rs 1313.60. The open interest of the contract stood at 269.00 lots. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 1406.30, down by 1.26% or Rs 17.90 from its previous closing of Rs 1424.20. The open interest of the contract stood at 1658.00 lots on MCX.

TCS moves up on inking definitive agreements with Mitsubishi Corporation

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is currently trading at Rs. 2222.05, up by 1.55 points or 0.07% from its previous closing of Rs. 2220.50 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 2227.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 2248.95 and Rs. 2221.25 respectively. So far 33799 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 2384.20 on 14-Jan-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1364.00 on 30-Apr-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2270.00 and Rs. 2143.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 435807.18 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.90% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.47% and 4.64% respectively. Tata Consultancy Services, 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.

Uttar Pradesh sugar production stood at 62.6 LT in 2013-14 sugar season

The sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh state have produced 62.6 lakh tonnes (LT) of sugar between October 1 to April 15 in the 2013-14 sugar season, as per report compiled by the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). This is almost 10 LT less than the 72.9 LT of sugar produced at the same time last year.  The mills have crushed 676 LT of sugarcane up to April 15, 2014 and have got an average sugar recovery of 9.26% during the current season, as compared to 793 LT of sugarcane crushed last year at an average recovery rate of 9.18%.  The main reason for lower sugar production this year in the state is the fact that the sugar mills started crushing slightly late because of the uncertainty on the sugarcane pricing, lower sugarcane yields and slightly higher diversion of sugarcane into Gur manufacturing.  As compared to 56 mills which were crushing sugarcane last year on April 15, only 45 sugar mills are operating as on April 15, 2014.

Copper futures traded down on MCX

Copper futures traded down on MCX as investors and speculators exited positions on caution ahead of the Chinese manufacturing data to be released tomorrow which may show a contraction for a fourth month on the trot in April, indicating a deepening slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy, signaling a gloomy demand outlook for industrial metals.

The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 406.20, down by 0.47% or Rs 1.90 from its previous closing of Rs 408.10. The open interest of the contract stood at 19180.00 lots.

The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 408.90, down by 0.52% or Rs 2.15 from its previous closing of Rs 411.05. The open interest of the contract stood at 2578.00 lots on MCX.

HEG strengthens on reporting 35.50% rise in Q4 net profit

HEG is currently trading at Rs. 246.95, up by 2.50 points or 1.02% from its previous closing of Rs. 244.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 252.60 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 256.95 and Rs. 245.00 respectively. So far 45149 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 256.95 on 22-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 140.20 on 07-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 256.95 and Rs. 235.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 983.39 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 58.78% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 11.56% and 29.66% respectively. HEG has has reported a rise on 32.50% in its net profit at Rs 46.56 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 35.14 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income from operations of the company has increased by 12.35% at Rs 501.43 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 446.30 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the full year ended March 31, 2014, the company has reported a fall on 18.12% in its net profit at Rs 86.62 crore as compared to Rs 105.79 crore for FY13. Total income from operations has decreased by 9.60% at Rs 1466.81 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 1622.61 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Cotton futures extend gains on fresh demand

Cotton futures traded up on MCX due to the fresh demand from domestic mills and also good export demand. Moreover, demand for quality cotton improved from millers over the last few days and prices are likely to rise further and declining arrivals due to unseasonal weather in Gujarat mainly pushed up cotton prices in futures markets.

The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 20480.00, up by 0.29% or Rs 60.00 from its previous closing of Rs 20420.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 2759.00 lots.

The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 20790.00, up by 0.29% or Rs 60.00 from its previous closing of Rs 20730.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 5247.00 lots on MCX.

Nickel futures extend gains on MCX

Nickel futures extended gains on MCX due to the growing concern about the availability of supply from Indonesia and Russia. The concern that escalating tensions in Ukraine may disrupt supplies from Russia amid Indonesia’s ban on ore exports influenced the commodity prices in future trade. The contract for April delivery was trading at Rs 1104.20, up by 1.53% or Rs 16.60 from its previous closing of Rs 1087.60. The open interest of the contract stood at 10306.00 lots. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 1109.90, up by 1.46% or Rs 16.00 from its previous closing of Rs 1093.90. The open interest of the contract stood at 3106.00 lots on MCX.

Sterlite Technologies gains on testing multi-terabit data transmission over long haul network

Sterlite Technologies is currently trading at Rs. 31.50, up by 0.40 points or 1.29% from its previous closing of Rs. 31.10 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 31.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 32.40 and Rs. 31.15 respectively. So far 2,81,000 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 33.20 on 11-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 15.75 on 06-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 32.40 and Rs. 28.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1,240.00 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 54.67% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 9.75% and 35.58% respectively. Sterlite Technologies has achieved a milestone technology development in telecommunication space. The company’s Center of Excellence at Aurangabad, India has successfully established and tested multi-tera bit transmission over long haul network. A significant indigenous capability is now established to transmit huge volumes of data over long distances. For example, around 85,000 movie files of 700 MB each can now be transferred from Bangalore to Kolkata in a minute. Furthermore, the Center of Excellence has a strong focus to enhance test-bed capability to much higher data rate (e.g. 400Gbit/s per channel) and longer transmission distances. The effort is to accelerate Sterlite’s vision of national competence towards Terabit scale communications for better telecom infrastructure planning at a national level and for Telecommunication operators.

Sugar futures decline on lower demand

Sugar futures traded down on NCDEX due to profit-taking and lower demand from stockists and retailers amidst ample supplies. However, an estimated drop in production restricted the downside. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 3182.00, down by 1.12% or Rs 36.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3218.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 57990.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 3205.00, down by 0.93% or Rs 30.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3235.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 27650.00 lots on NCDEX

Karnataka Bank plans to open 75 new branches in current fiscal

Karnataka Bank, the Mangalore based premier private sector bank, is planning to open 75 new branches across the country by the end of the current Fiscal, taking the total number of branches from 600 (as on March 31, 2014) to 675 (as on March 31, 2015). The bank is also planning to open 300 new ATMs to reach 1,000 ATMs by March 2015. Meanwhile, the bank has set a business target of Rs 83,000 crore for the current year with a growth rate of 20%. Karnataka Bank reported 33.25% rise in its net profit at Rs 106.70 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 80.07 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank increased by 10.94% at Rs 1165.54 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1050.58 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Petronet LNG trades higher on the bourses

Petronet LNG is currently trading at Rs. 141.90, up by 1.80 points or 1.28% from its previous closing of Rs. 140.10 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 140.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 143.60 and Rs. 140.90 respectively. So far 36874 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 148.15 on 16-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 102.50 on 28-Jan-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 148.15 and Rs. 135.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10653.75 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 50.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 24.27% and 25.73% respectively. In a bid to make Kochi an economically viable proposition, Petronet LNG has invited bids to lease out under-utilised storage tanks at its recently commissioned LNG import facility at Kochi in Kerala for two years. The company operates the 5 million tonne-a-year Kochi terminal at a sub-optimal 5 per cent of capacity because of a delay in laying of pipelines connecting the port to consumption centres in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Petronet LNG is one of the leading players in oil and natural gas industry space. It has India’s first and largest LNG supply terminal located at Dahej.

HEG reports 35.50% rise in Q4 net profit

HEG has reported results for fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2014. The company has reported a rise on 32.50% in its net profit at Rs 46.56 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 35.14 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income from operations of the company has increased by 12.35% at Rs 501.43 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 446.30 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the full year ended March 31, 2014, the company has reported a fall on 18.12% in its net profit at Rs 86.62 crore as compared to Rs 105.79 crore for FY13. Total income from operations has decreased by 9.60% at Rs 1466.81 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 1622.61 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

No non-compete clause in acquisition of existing pharma companies: RBI

The non-compete clause will not be applicable in acquisition of existing pharma companies by foreign entities or investors except in certain special cases with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification. Under a non-compete clause, a party cannot enter into a similar trade in competition against another party as part of a deal. The RBI’s notification follows revision of the existing FDI policy for pharmaceutical industry by the government in January' 2014. At present, India permits 100 percent FDI in pharmaceutical sector through automatic approval route in the new projects but in case of brownfield or existing projects, foreign investments are allowed only through FIPB's approval. Presently, several global pharma companies are looking to buy stake in existing Indian firms on the back of their strong growth prospect in future. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharma sector has more than doubled to $1.26 billion during April-December’ 2014 as comparison to $589 million in the April-December period of 2012-13 amid increasing acquisitions of domestic firms by multinationals. Around 90 percent of the total FDI in the sector has come into brownfield pharma. However, low FDI in new pharma project has become a cause of concern for the government.

Jeera futures trade higher on restricted supply

Jeera futures traded up on NCDEX as speculators built-up positions, driven by a rise in demand in the spot market against restricted supplies from producing region. Further, traders are hoping that exports of the commodity will rise in the coming months amidst reports of lower production in Turkey and Syria.

The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 10200.00, up by 0.34% or Rs 35.00 from its previous closing of Rs 10165.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 9369.00 lots.

The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 10325.00, up by 0.29% or Rs 30.00 from its previous closing of Rs 10295.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 3666.00 lots on NCDEX.

Hindustan Zinc declines on reporting 13% fall in Q4 net profit

Hindustan Zinc is currently trading at Rs. 130.50, down by 1.70 points or 1.29% from its previous closing of Rs. 132.20 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 131.40 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 132.50 and Rs. 130.50 respectively. So far 32823 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 141.80 on 21-Jan-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 94.00 on 02-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 134.00 and Rs. 128.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 55415.06 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 64.92% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 33.35% and 1.73% respectively. Hindustan Zinc has posted a fall of 13.14% in its net profit at Rs 1,881.20 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 2,165.81 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has decreased by 1.81% at Rs 4,231.34 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 4,309.69 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company has posted a marginal rise of 0.07% in its net profit at Rs 6,904.62 crore as compared to Rs 6,899.48 crore for the same period in the previous year. Total income has increased by 5.66% at Rs 15,535.43 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 14,703.03 crore for the period ended March 31, 2013.

Petronet LNG invites bids to lease out two LNG storage tanks for two years

In a bid to make Kochi an economically viable proposition, Petronet LNG has invited bids to lease out under-utilised storage tanks at its recently commissioned LNG import facility at Kochi in Kerala for two years. The company operates the 5 million tonne-a-year Kochi terminal at a sub-optimal 5 per cent of capacity because of a delay in laying of pipelines connecting the port to consumption centres in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Petronet LNG is one of the leading players in oil and natural gas industry space. It has India’s first and largest LNG supply terminal located at Dahej.

FIIs reduce stake in Coromandel International in Q4FY14

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have reduced their shareholding in Coromandel International to 6.80% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 7.50% as on December 31, 2013. Moreover, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding went down to 5.64% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 6.02% as on December 31, 2013. Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding remained unchanged at 63.79% at the end of March 2014 quarter. Coromandel International is the country’s second-largest phosphatic fertilizer player. Its crop protection business produces insecticides, fungicides and herbicides and markets these products in India and across the globe. The firm has also ventured into the retail business, setting up more than 640 rural retail centres in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Physical Rubber prices declined on Monday

Physical rubber prices declined on Monday there were no genuine buyers even at lower levels as major consuming industries stayed away as they had ample imported stocks Spot prices for RSS-4 variety declined to Rs 140 compared to its previous closing of Rs 144; while the RSS-5 variety closed at Rs 136 compared to its previous closing of Rs 140. In the futures market, contract of May delivery dropped to Rs 138.09 compared to its previous close of Rs 143.84, while June delivery closed at Rs 140.51 compared to its previous closing of Rs 146.36 on the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE)

Unitech trades jubilantly on plan to increase its construction spending

Unitech is currently trading at Rs. 16.98, up by 0.81 points or 5.01% from its previous closing of Rs. 16.17 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 16.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 17.10 and Rs. 16.25 respectively. So far 4708481 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 31.50 on 20-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 10.86 on 04-Mar-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 17.20 and Rs. 15.40 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 4392.77 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 48.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 29.54% and 22.45% respectively. In a bid to deliver at least six million sq ft of developed area this financial year, Unitech is planning to increase its construction spending. The company has nine million sq ft of delivery pending from the before 2009, when the economy started slowing. Overall, it has 12 million sq ft due for delivery. Unitech is not the only company that has failed to deliver residential units on time. According to estimates, 200,000-300,000 units are pending for delivery from all developers in the country because of the slowdown and a shortage of funds. Unitech, being one of the leading real estate companies, has several business segments relating to residential, commercial, Information Technology (IT) parks, retail, amusement parks, etc, with over four decades of achievement and continues to be a prominent player with high degree of quality and affordable real estate in the Indian market space.

IOC strengthens on buying million barrels of West African crude oil

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is currently trading at Rs. 273.85, up by 7.85 points or 2.95% from its previous closing of Rs. 266.00 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 266.55 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 274.50 and Rs. 265.60 respectively. So far 58936 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 320.45 on 16-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 186.20 on 31-Jul-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 274.20 and Rs. 259.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 66550.18 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 68.57 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.97 % and 24.46 % respectively. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has purchased three million barrels of West African crude oil via a tender for June lifting, including a rare purchase of Nigeria’s Okwuibome grade. The company has bought million barrels of Okwuibome oil from trader Glencore as a trial cargo for processing at some of its own plants. Further, the company bought a very large crude carrier containing about a million barrels each of Nigeria’s Zafiro and Qua Iboe grades. IOC, along with subsidiary Chennai Petroleum, controls about 31% of India's oil refining capacity of 4.3 million bpd.

CARE reaffirms ratings of Accel Frontline’s bank facilities

Credit rating agency, CARE has reaffirmed ‘BB’ rating to Accel Frontline’s long term bank facilities worth Rs 79.25 crore which was enhanced from Rs 77.00 crore and ‘A4’ rating to company’s Short term Bank Facilities worth Rs 93 crore. The ratings continue to be constrained by the elevated financial risk profile of Accel Frontline marked by muted growth in sales, lower profitability, continued tight liquidity position on account of increased exposure to group companies as well as stretched collection period. Accel Frontline is one of the leading IT Services Company and an end-to-end IT solutions provider specializing in IT Infrastructure services, software solutions and warranty management services. It employs over 2000 skilled IT professionals and serves over 500 customers.

FIIs cut stake in Cipla to 23.32% during Q4 FY14

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have reduced their stake in Cipla to 23.32% during Q4 FY14 from 23.79% as on December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding went up to 11.43% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 10.60% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, Insurance companies held maximum stake of 6.73%, followed by mutual funds / UTI (4.43% stake) and financial institutions / banks (0.27% stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 36.80% at the end of March 2014 quarter. Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company which uses cutting edge technology and innovation to meet the everyday needs of all patients. For more than 70 years, Cipla has emerged as one of the most respected pharmaceutical names in India as well as across more than 170 countries.

Hindustan Zinc’s Q4 net profit dips by 13%

Hindustan Zinc has reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2014 The company has posted a fall of 13.14% in its net profit at Rs 1,881.20 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 2,165.81 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has decreased by 1.81% at Rs 4,231.34 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 4,309.69 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company has posted a marginal rise of 0.07% in its net profit at Rs 6,904.62 crore as compared to Rs 6,899.48 crore for the same period in the previous year. Total income has increased by 5.66% at Rs 15,535.43 crore for year under review as compared to Rs 14,703.03 crore for the period ended March 31, 2013.

ICRA reaffirms ratings of Biocon’s bank facilities

Credit rating agency, ICRA has reaffirmed the ‘AA+’ rating outstanding on the Rs 20 crore fund based facilities and Rs 27 crore non-fund based facilities of Biocon. The outlook on the long term rating is stable. The rating agency has also reaffirmed the ‘A1+’ rating outstanding on the Rs 203 crore (inter fund based changeable) facilities of Biocon.    The reaffirmation in ratings continues to take into account the company’s strong business profile with an integrated presence spanning research and development (R&D), manufacturing and marketing, the company’s comfortable financial position and its diversified revenue stream. Biocon is India’s largest and Asia's leading biotechnology company with a strategic focus on biopharmaceuticals and research services. It is a fully integrated, innovation-driven biopharma enterprise offering affordable solutions for chronic diseases to patient's worldwide.

Coriander futures trade lower on profit booking

Coriander futures traded down on NCDEX as speculators booked profits at existing higher levels amid fall in spot market demand. Further, traders expected fresh arrivals are likely to gain momentum in the coming days due to strong supplies in Ramganj mandi also influenced the price in future trade. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 9666.00, up by 0.76% or Rs 74.00 from its previous closing of Rs 9740.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 40170.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 9877.00, up by 0.76% or Rs 76.00 from its previous closing of Rs 9953.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 27870.00 lots on NCDEX.

No non-compete clause in acquisition of existing pharma companies: RBI

The non-compete clause will not be applicable in acquisition of existing pharma companies by foreign entities or investors except in certain special cases with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification. Under a non-compete clause, a party cannot enter into a similar trade in competition against another party as part of a deal. The RBI’s notification follows revision of the existing FDI policy for pharmaceutical industry by the government in January' 2014. At present, India permits 100 percent FDI in pharmaceutical sector through automatic approval route in the new projects but in case of brownfield or existing projects, foreign investments are allowed only through FIPB's approval. Presently, several global pharma companies are looking to buy stake in existing Indian firms on the back of their strong growth prospect in future. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharma sector has more than doubled to $1.26 billion during April-December’ 2014 as comparison to $589 million in the April-December period of 2012-13 amid increasing acquisitions of domestic firms by multinationals. Around 90 percent of the total FDI in the sector has come into brownfield pharma. However, low FDI in new pharma project has become a cause of concern for the government.

Turmeric futures decline on weak domestic demand

Turmeric futures declined on NCDEX as participants offloaded their positions due to weak demand in the domestic markets amid adequate stocks. However, improved exports inquiries and a slight drop in supply of the yellow spice also dampened the sentiments. The contract for May delivery was trading at Rs 6866.00, down by 0.26% or Rs 18.00 from its previous closing of Rs 6884.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 11240.00 lots. The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 6994.00, down by 0.26% or Rs 18.00 from its previous closing of Rs 7012.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 3620.00 lots on NCDEX.

Future Retail trades with traction on the BSE

Future Retail is currently trading at Rs. 112.50, up by 1.60 points or 1.44% from its previous closing of Rs. 110.90 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 110.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 114.85 and Rs. 109.05 respectively. So far 642123 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 158.30 on 08-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 63.30 on 17-Dec-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 114.85 and Rs. 84.25 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2460.61 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 48.36% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 29.25% and 22.39% respectively. Future Retail has decided mutually to call off the discussions and not to proceed with the proposed JV with Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) general insurance subsidiary - L&T General Insurance (LTGI), due to inordinate delay in finalizing the transaction documents and obtaining permissions. Last year in March, the company was in talks for sale of partial stake to L&T and its other joint venture partner Participatie Maatschappij Graafschap Holland NV (which is a subsidiary of Assicuranzioni Generali S.P.A) in the merged entity to be created by aforesaid merger process. Future Retail (formerly known as Pantaloon Retail (India)) is India’s leading retail chain and part of Indian conglomerate Future Group. It operates retail space spread over 11 million square feet. It has a network of more than 1000 stores across 63 cities in India and has employee strength of 30,000 people.

South Indian Bank soars as RBI allows FIIs to buy further shares

South Indian Bank is currently trading at Rs. 25.40, up by 0.80 points or 3.25% from its previous closing of Rs. 24.60 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 25.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 25.95 and Rs. 25.25 respectively. So far 1645800 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 26.35 on 07-Jun-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 18.95 on 04-Sep-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 25.95 and Rs. 23.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3413.63 crore. The institutions and non-institutions held 53.71% and 46.29% stake in the bank, respectively. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to buy shares in South Indian Bank as the foreign shareholding in the company has gone below the prescribed limit. The restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the bank are withdrawn with immediate effect. Reserve Bank of India has notified that the aggregate share holding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/American Depository Receipt (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in South Indian Bank have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. South Indian Bank has reported 10.18% rise in its net profit at Rs 141.31 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 128.25 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 11.79% at Rs 1334.74 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1193.91 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Oil Minister defers gas price decision till June-end

Leaving the onus of crucial decision taking onto the next government, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily has decided to hold gas prices at the current level of $4.2 per unit until the end of June and not allow retrospective revision of rates. The new prices will now be applicable only from July 1, 2014. This development is the latest in a series of moves undertaken by various authorities to defer the increase in gas prices since June last year, when the Cabinet first approved the Rangarajan formula, which if applied would have doubled gas rates from April 1, 2014. Back in December, Cabinet reviewed its June decision and decided to allow Reliance Industries to up gas prices, provided it furnished a bank guarantee which would be en-cashed, if the company lost an arbitration case against the government. But with AAP turning gas pricing into a poll campaign issue and writing to the Election Commission, the poll panel asked the government to hold the new pricing regime till polling ended. Now, the prime minister's office has sought the oil ministry for a status report on gas pricing. According to the new formula, the gas price would be doubled to about $8.3 per unit from $4.2 at present. But, while the decision was taken in June 2013, the implementation date was set for April 1, 2014 to ensure 'level field' among all players. However, by delaying implementation, the government has allowed the policy decision to be linked to issues arising out of RIL's failure to meet the gas supply target and also given fodder to the Opposition's charge, voiced by AAP and Dasgupta, that the price was being raised to benefit Reliance

Future Retail calls off proposal for JV with LTGI

Future Retail has decided mutually to call off the discussions and not to proceed with the proposed JV with Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) general insurance subsidiary - L&T General Insurance (LTGI), due to inordinate delay in finalizing the transaction documents and obtaining permissions. Last year in March, the company was in talks for sale of partial stake to L&T and its other joint venture partner Participatie Maatschappij Graafschap Holland NV (which is a subsidiary of Assicuranzioni Generali S.P.A) in the merged entity to be created by aforesaid merger process. Future Retail (formerly known as Pantaloon Retail (India)) is India’s leading retail chain and part of Indian conglomerate Future Group. It operates retail space spread over 11 million square feet. It has a network of more than 1000 stores across 63 cities in India and has employee strength of 30,000 people.

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

Bhushan Steel is currently trading at Rs. 448.80, up by 1.30 points or 0.29% from its previous closing of Rs. 447.50 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 450.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 451.80 and Rs. 448.15 respectively. So far 6283 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. 10181.84 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).

Rolta receives 2014 SAP Pinnacle award

In recognition of its outstanding contributions as an SAP partner, Rolta has received a 2014 SAP Pinnacle award as OEM Partner of the Year. SAP Pinnacle awards are presented annually to the top SAP partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnership with SAP and driving customer success. Finalists and winners in 21 categories were based on field recommendations, customer feedback and performance indicators in the five umbrella categories: Run Together (for co-innovation), Run Further (for market expansion), Run Clever (for service delivery), Run Sustainably (for sustainability) and new for 2014 Customers' Choice. Rolta India conducts business in India, and internationally through subsidiaries in various countries. Rolta is a leading provider of innovative IT solutions built around its intellectual property for many vertical segments, including Federal and State Governments, Defence, Homeland Security, Utilities, Process, Power, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, and Healthcare.

RBI allows FIIs to purchase shares in South Indian Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to buy shares in South Indian Bank as the foreign shareholding in the company has gone below the prescribed limit. The restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the bank are withdrawn with immediate effect. Reserve Bank of India has notified that the aggregate share holding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/American Depository Receipt (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in South Indian Bank have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. South Indian Bank has reported 10.18% rise in its net profit at Rs 141.31 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 128.25 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 11.79% at Rs 1334.74 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1193.91 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012

Stable govt post-elections to help India grow 6.5% in next 5 years: Crisil

Way lower than 9% annual growth rate achieved in 2010-11, Rating agency Crisil has forecasted a stable government post-elections to help economy grow at an average of 6.5 percent for the next five years. However, this growth rate is strictly based on the premise of decisive mandate in the general elections 2014-15. It further elucidated that it is not the election results which impact the economy, but policies formulated by the new government that will boost growth. The analytical firm Crisil opined that a decisive mandate would create an environment for speedy resolution of policy bottle-necks, hasten reforms and jump start investment efficiency, which has fallen drastically over the last two years. Credit rating and research firm is of the view that an improvement in investment efficiency, which is expected to kick in with faster project clearances, implementation of stalled infrastructure projects and resumption of mining activities, will shore up investment growth when both domestic and global demand begin to rebound and improve capacity utilization, thus laying out the groundwork for the country's doorway into a phase of healthier growth. Crisil, however, pointed out that evolving investment dynamics, illustrate that neither a surge in investments nor improvement in efficiency witnessed during fiscals 2004-2011, which led to near 9 percent GDP growth, would recur in the next five years. Nonetheless, the rating agency underscored that achieving an average growth of 6.5 percent over the next five fiscals was inadequate for a country with over 269 million BPL populations as this would not do enough to accelerate growth, and thus job creation, setting off a vicious cycle of lower household income, consumption and investment spending that would be so much harder to shake off. It further warned that in absence of proper solution for pressing policy and implementation issues, average growth rate of 6.5% would be unsustainable.

Tata Steel to finalise investment in Canada: Report

Tata Steel is reportedly all set to finalise investment in Canada. The company is a strategic partner and the biggest stakeholder in the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed New Millennium Iron Corp (NML), which is pursuing the project. However, NML did not disclose the size of the proposed investment. The project financials have been assessed with capital expenses, excluding certain infrastructure-related capital expenses in the mine, port and ferroduct (of over 600 km to carry the ore concentrate slurry to the pellet unit). The project could produce 17 million tonnes a year of two types of pellets and 6 million tonnes a year of pellet intermediates for export. Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group is the first integrated steel plant in Asia and is now the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer and a Fortune 500 Company.

Markets trade in fine fettle in early deals

Extending previous session's rally, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday aided by continued foreign fund inflows. Moreover, election euphoria playing its part with international credit rating agency Crisil saying that stable government post-elections is likely to help the country grow at an average of 6.5 percent for the next five years. However, Crisil said it is not the election results which impact the economy, except in improving sentiment, but policies formulated by the new government that will boost growth. Global cues too remained supportive with the US markets extending their last week’s rally in last session, reflecting the upward momentum for the markets on getting some good earnings numbers and after Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.8 percent in March. Asian markets too were trading mostly in the green at this point of time. Japanese market too was moving higher as yen extended losses, boosting the outlook for exporters. Back home, the markets are likely to have a volatile session of trade as the participants roll over positions from the near month April series to May series ahead of the derivatives expiry on Wednesday. The stock markets would be shut on Thursday on account of Parliamentary elections in Mumbai. On the sectoral front oil and gas, realty and capital goods witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal and auto remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1122 shares on the gaining side against 566 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex opened at 22771.24; about 6 points higher compared to its previous closing of 22764.83, and touched a high and a low of 22834.81 and 22754.51 respectively. The index is currently trading at 22829.46, up by 64.63 points or 0.28%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index. The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 63.97% stocks advancing against 32.27% declines. The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up was by 0.54% and Small cap gained 0.72%.  The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 1.61%, Realty up by 1.18%, Capital Goods up by 0.94%, PSU up by 0.73% and Consumer Durables up by 0.55%, while Metal down by 0.59% and Auto down by 0.18% were the top losers on the sectoral index. The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.81%,  Gail India up by 1.80%, RIL up by 1.58%,  L&T up by 1.16% and HDFC Bank up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Hindalco was down by 1.53%, SSLT was down by 1.39%, Tata Motors was down by 0.85%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.61% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.52% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, 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. The CNX Nifty opened at 6,822.90; about 5 point higher as compared to its previous closing of 6,817.65, and has touched a high and a low of 6,831.80 and 6,813.00 respectively. The index is currently trading at 6,830.45, up by 12.80 points or 0.19%. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 3.00%, Gail up by 1.90%, ONGC up by 1.83%, Reliance Industries up by 1.54% and L&T up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Ambuja Cements down by 1.83%, Hindalco down by 1.60%, SSLT down by 1.31%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.96% and ACC down by 0.93% were the top losers on the index. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; KLSE Composite gained by 1.20 points or 0.06% to 1,864.13, Nikkei 225 surged 35.89 points or 0.25% to 14,548.27, Straits Times increased by 12.36 points or 0.38% to 3,268.19, Seoul Composite rose 2.57 points or 0.13% to 2,001.79 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 27.01 points or 0.30% to 8,978.20. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite slipped 1.09 points or 0.05% to 2,064.73, Hang Seng declined by 53.00 points or 0.23% to 22,707.24 and Jakarta Composite was down by 26.17 points or 0.53% to 4,866.12.