Asian markets ended mostly in red on Monday

Asian markets ended mostly in red on Monday, after gauges of China’s manufacturing and services industries showed signs of a broadening slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. The Japanese market remained shut for the trade today for Culture Day holiday. Growth in China’s factories fell to a five-month low in October, missing expectations for an expansion as manufacturers battled cooling order growth and rising costs in the slowing economy. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) eased to 50.8 in October from September’s 51.1. Growth in new orders cooled in October, as the index retreated to 51.6 from 52.2. New export orders were 49.9 in October, pointing to a contraction, from 50.2 in September. The services sector has been more resilient than the manufacturing sector and is creating more jobs, which partly explains why the government has so far refrained from more aggressive policy easing in supporting the slowing economy. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 53.8 in October from September’s 54.0, which was the weakest reading since January.

Thai Consumer Price Inflation fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.48%, from 1.75% in the preceding month. Indonesian Trade Balance rose to a seasonally adjusted -0.27B, from -0.31B in the preceding month while Indonesian Inflation rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.83%, from 4.53% in the preceding month. South Korean Trade Balance rose to a seasonally adjusted 7.50B, from 3.43B in the preceding quarter whose figure was revised up from 3.40B.

Asian Indices	Last Trade	Change in Points	Change in %
Shanghai Composite	2430.03	9.85	0.41
Hang Seng	23,915.97	-82.09	-0.34
Jakarta Composite	5085.51	-4.04	-0.08
KLSE Composite	18553.34	-1.81	-0.10
Nikkei 225	-	-	-
Straits Times	3290.84	16.59	0.51
KOSPI Composite	1952.97	-11.46	-0.58
Taiwan Weighted	9004.86	30.10	0.34

Maruti Suzuki launches new Alto K10

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker, has launched the new Alto K10 priced between Rs 3.06 lakh and Rs 3.81 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). With an eye on reviving growth in its bread and butter mini car segment, the company has improved the fuel efficiency of the model by 15 percent. The next generation Alto K10 has a wider range of 6 variants including a CNG variant.

The popular Auto Gear Shift technology, which offers the convenience of automatic transmission without compromising on fuel efficiency, is being introduced in the new Alto K10. In addition, the newly added CNG trim powered by the Intelligent Gas Port Injection (iGPI) delivers mileage of 32.26 kilometers per kg in CNG mode. Besides, the next generation Alto K10 comes with the option of driver side airbag, front fog lamps, fasten seat belt indicators, 3 point ELR seat belt, key off reminder, high mount stop lamp and head lamp leveling.

M&M declines on reporting 15% fall in October sales

Mahindra & Mahindra is currently trading at Rs 1268.00, down by 35.40 points or 2.72% from its previous closing of Rs 1303.40 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1295.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1303.00 and Rs 1258.45 respectively. So far 91026 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1421.00 on 04-Sep-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 847.00 on 04-Feb-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1322.90 and Rs. 1239.85 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 78471.92 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 25.78% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 56.61% and 12.28% respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s leading SUV manufacturer, has reported its auto sales numbers which stood at 42,776 units during October 2014, as against 50,558 units during October 2013, registering a fall of 15%. The Passenger Vehicles segment (which includes UVs and the Verito) sold 19,254 units in October 2014, as against 22,924 units during October 2013.

The company’s domestic sales stood at 40274 units during October 2014, as against 47,787 units during October 2013, registering a decline of 16%. In October 2014, the 4-wheelers commercial segment sold 14,812 units registering a fall of 15%, while the 3-wheelers sales declined 19% to 5,678 units in October 2014. Exports for the month stood at 2,502 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. Amongst the various business interests of its parent group, the company is mainly involved in the automobile manufacturing. It is one of the leading auto companies of India.

ICICI Bank rises on entering into partnership with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

ICICI Bank is currently trading at Rs. 1637.90, up by 12.45 points or 0.77% from its previous closing of Rs. 1625.45 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1628.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1641.25 and Rs. 1612.20 respectively. So far 86403 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1641.25 on 03-Nov-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 944.25 on 04-Feb-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1641.25 and Rs. 1561.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 189158.93 crore.

The institutions and non-institutions held 63.44% and 7.46% stake in the bank, respectively.

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, has partnered with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Indian Highways Management Company (IHMCL) for the launch of the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) programme on the National Highway 8 (NH-8). This service enables motorists to pay tolls electronically without stopping at the toll plazas in the 1428-km highway which connects the country’s national capital Delhi with financial capital Mumbai.

With the Ahmedabad - Delhi corridor of NH-8 being brought under the ETC programme, the entire highway is now covered by this programme. The Bank launched the ETC programme on the Mumbai - Vadodara stretch of NH8 and Vadodara - Ahmedabad Expressway last year.

ICICI Bank is India’s largest private sector bank. ICICI Bank’s subsidiaries include India’s leading private sector insurance companies and among its largest securities brokerage firms, mutual funds and private equity firms. ICICI Bank’s presence currently spans across 18 international locations.

Coal India reports 40.20 million tonnes of production in October 2014

Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner by output, has reported provisional production of 40.20 million tonnes in October 2014, as against target of 39.74 million tonnes. The company’s total off-take for the month of October stood at 39.11 million tonnes as against a target of 40.94 million tonnes.

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

Turmeric futures trade lower on subdued demand

Turmeric futures traded lower on NCDEX as speculators indulged in reducing exposures due to subdued demand from the consuming industries. Moreover, adequate supplies from producing belts also impacted the sentiments.

The contract for November delivery was trading at Rs 6170.00, down by 0.68% or Rs 42.00 from its previous closing of Rs 6212.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 7565.00 lots.

The contract for December delivery was trading at Rs 6236.00, down by 0.13% or Rs 8.00 from its previous closing of Rs 6244.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 6110.00 lots on NCDEX.

Fiscal deficit in first half touches 83% of FY15 target

In a big sign of disappointment to Indian government, India’s fiscal deficit widened to 82.6% to cross Rs. 4.38 lakh crore during April-September this fiscal as against Rs.5.31 trillion Budget Estimates for 2014-15. In the corresponding year-ago period, fiscal deficit was 76% of the budget estimate.

During the first half of current fiscal, total expenditure increased to Rs 8.62 lakh crore or 48%  of the budget estimates (BE), while, revenue receipts lagged 35% to Rs 4.17 lakh crore, mainly due to slowing tax collections. Of the total expenditure, plan spending was at over Rs. 2.46 lakh crore. Under non-plan head, it was Rs.6.15 lakh crore. Net tax receipts in the first six months of current fiscal stood at Rs. 3.23 lakh crore, or 33.1% of BE. Weak manufacturing activity has led to a contraction in excise duty collections and corporate tax collections also remained below expectation due to the poor corporate profits. The fiscal deficit was recorded at around Rs 5.08 lakh crore or 4.5% of GDP in FY14 as against 4.9 % in FY13.

With an aim to trim the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY15, the government has recently issued new austerity measures including 10% cut in non-Plan expenditure and ban on creation of new posts. The government also decided to barred senior officials from first-class air travel, foreign jaunts, holding meetings in five-star hotels and purchase of new cars. On positive side, the government will have to provide lower fuel subsidy due to the deregulation of diesel and declining crude oil prices in the international market. Further, government also has a cushion of lower spending on food subsidy because the food security law is not likely to be rolled out by many states this year. The government has already set aside Rs 1.15 lakh crore for food subsidy this year.

Soyabean futures edge up on NCDEX

Marking sixth reduction in rates since August, Oil Marketing companies (OMCs) reduced petrol prices by Rs 2.41 per litre, while diesel prices too were slashed by Rs 2.25 per litre on the back of falling international oil rates. With this, Petrol will now cost Rs 64.25 a litre in Delhi as against Rs 66.65 currently, while in Mumbai, the rate will be cut by Rs 2.55 a litre to Rs 71.91. Cumulatively, since August, petrol price has been cut by Rs 9.36 per litre.

Meanwhile, diesel prices have been reduced for second time in October. With the latest reduction, the nation's most consumed fuel will now cost Rs 53.35 per litre in Delhi from tomorrow compared to Rs 55.60 a litre at present. In Mumbai, diesel price has been reduced by Rs 2.50 to Rs 61.04.

The reduction in rates of petrol and diesel, which was deregulated for the first time in more than a decade were effective from November 1, 2014. The center had in October de-regulated diesel prices and on the same day slashed its prices by Rs 3.37 per litre, marking first reduction in rates over five years. The previous decline dates back to January 2009. However, the reduction could have been higher by 10-15 paise had the dealer commission not been increased.

Simultaneously, the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG) was cut by Rs 18.5 to Rs 865 per 14.2-kg cylinder. Since August, this is the fourth reduction in rate of non-subsidized LPG which consumers buy after exhausting their quota of sub-market priced domestic cooking gas.

OMCs slash diesel, petrol prices yet again; jet fuel prices too slashed by 7.3%

Marking sixth reduction in rates since August, Oil Marketing companies (OMCs) reduced petrol prices by Rs 2.41 per litre, while diesel prices too were slashed by Rs 2.25 per litre on the back of falling international oil rates. With this, Petrol will now cost Rs 64.25 a litre in Delhi as against Rs 66.65 currently, while in Mumbai, the rate will be cut by Rs 2.55 a litre to Rs 71.91. Cumulatively, since August, petrol price has been cut by Rs 9.36 per litre.

Meanwhile, diesel prices have been reduced for second time in October. With the latest reduction, the nation's most consumed fuel will now cost Rs 53.35 per litre in Delhi from tomorrow compared to Rs 55.60 a litre at present. In Mumbai, diesel price has been reduced by Rs 2.50 to Rs 61.04.

The reduction in rates of petrol and diesel, which was deregulated for the first time in more than a decade were effective from November 1, 2014. The center had in October de-regulated diesel prices and on the same day slashed its prices by Rs 3.37 per litre, marking first reduction in rates over five years. The previous decline dates back to January 2009. However, the reduction could have been higher by 10-15 paise had the dealer commission not been increased.

Simultaneously, the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG) was cut by Rs 18.5 to Rs 865 per 14.2-kg cylinder. Since August, this is the fourth reduction in rate of non-subsidized LPG which consumers buy after exhausting their quota of sub-market priced domestic cooking gas.

Atul Auto reports 6.22% jump in October sales

Atul Auto has registered 6.22% growth in its October 2014 sales. The company has sold 4,302 units in the month against 4,050 units sold in October 2013. Total sales from April 2014 to October 2014 were 23,823 vehicles, a rise of 12.40%, as compared to 21,194 vehicles sold in the same period a year ago.

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

RCF gains on plan to invite bids for capacity expansion at Thal plant

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers is currently trading at Rs 59.10, up by 1.20 points or 2.07% from its previous closing of Rs 57.90 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 58.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 59.55 and Rs. 58.05 respectively. So far 158907 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B ' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 70.75 on 17-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 30.15 on 17-Feb-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 58.95 and Rs 54.80 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3265.99 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 80.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 10.38% and 9.62% respectively.

State-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will soon invite bids for its proposed Rs 4,500-crore urea capacity expansion at its Thal plant near Mumbai. The Mini-Ratna company, which will be increasing fertiliser prices by 2-3 per cent to offset the natural gas price hike impact on margins from this month, is going to set up a new urea capacity at its Thal plant near Mumbai with an estimated investment of Rs 4,500 crore.

RCF, along with Coal India, GAIL and Fertiliser Corporation of India, is setting up Rs 9,000-crore facility at Talcher in Odisha and the plant is likely to be commissioned in 2019

Eicher Motors' JV reports marginal rise in October sales

Eicher Motors and Volvo Group’s joint venture firm, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) has reported a marginal increase of 1.70% in total sales of its Eicher branded products at 3,052 units in October. The company had sold 3,001 units in the same month last year.

Domestic sales registered a decline of 5.42 per cent to 2,494 units in October this year against 2,637 units in the same month year ago. However, export of Eicher trucks and buses grew 53.29 per cent to 558 units last month from 364 units in October 2013.

Eicher Motors is one of the leading manufacturers of commercial vehicle. It has manufacturing facilities located in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Haryana.

Sutlej Textiles starts commercial production at Chenab Textile Mills

Sutlej Textiles and Industries has started commercial production of Expansion Project of 31,104 spindles at company’s Unit Chenab Textile Mills (CTM), Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir. The company has started the same with effect from November 01, 2014

Sutlej Textiles is one of the largest textiles manufacturers company offers formal wear fabric, p/v fabric, suitings, fair trade yarn etc. The company excels in all stages of textiles productions. Its versatile production facilities are vertically integrated, from spinning and weaving to dyeing and finishing to making apparel.

LIC reduces stake in Tata Chemicals

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has trimmed its stake in Tata Chemicals by over two percent by selling 52.87 lakh shares in the open market. LIC, which had 6.19% stake earlier, brought down its shareholding in the company to 4.12% by selling shares between March 19, 2013, and October 10, 2014.

Tata Chemicals is the world’s second largest producer of soda ash with manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. The company’s industry essentials product range provides key ingredients to some of the world’s largest manufacturers of glass, detergents and other industrial products.

Tata Motors to raise Rs 300 crore through bond sale

Tata Motors is planning to raise Rs 300 crore through a bond sale to fund its increased capital expenditure plans for product development. The coupon rate for the new proposed bond sale will be at 9.35%. In addition to meeting capital expenditure proceeds of the sale will be also used for general corporate purposes.

Recently, the company successfully raised $750 million (about Rs 4,600 crore) in what was its second fund raising activity this year. The company got $4.2 billion orders for issue of senior unsecured notes.

Tata Motors is India's largest automobile company, is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. It is also the world's fourth largest truck and bus manufacturer.

Deepak Nitrite surges on issuing Commercial Papers worth Rs 25 crore

Deepak Nitrite is currently trading at Rs. 74.50, up by 1.20 points or 1.64% from its previous closing of Rs. 73.30 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 75.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 75.30 and Rs. 73.70 respectively. So far 2230 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 106.00 on 23-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 25.17 on 05-Nov-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 79.15 and Rs. 68.80 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 766.26 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.56% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.39% and 37.04% respectively.

Deepak Nitrite has issued Commercial Papers (CP) for Rs 25 crore value dated October 31, 2014. This has been subscribed by HDFC Bank having maturity date as January 29, 2015. The aforesaid issuance of CP is to fund working capital requirement of the company.

Deepak Nitrite is a leading manufacturer of organic, inorganic, fine and specialty chemicals and a world leader in 2,4 and 2,6 Xylidine.

Hero MotoCorp to invest Rs 5,000 crore across the globe

Hero MotoCorp has lined a total investment of over Rs 5,000 crore across the globe, including manufacturing plants in Colombia and Bangladesh, and the new plants coming up at Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and the Hero Global Centre for Research & Design at Kukas in Rajasthan.

Recently, the company has reported 8.05% fall in its two-wheelers sale in October 2014 to 5,75,056 units as compared to sales of 6,25,420 units in October 2013.

Hero MotoCorp is the World’s single largest two-wheeler motorcycle company. Honda Motor Company of Japan and the Hero Group entered a joint venture to setup Hero Honda Motors in 1984. Hero Honda Motors changed its name to Hero MotoCorp following the exit of its erstwhile Japanese promoter, Honda, from the company.

Maruti Suzuki reports 1.06% fall in October sales

The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has reported a 1.06 percent decline in total sales in October at 1,03,973 units as against 1,05,087 units in the same month last year. The company’s domestic sales rose by 1.05 percent during the month to 97,069 units as against 96,062 units in October, 2013.

Meanwhile, sales of mini segment cars, including M800, Alto, A-Star and WagonR, declined by 9.21 percent to 35,753 units compared to 39,379 units in the year-ago month.

The sales of compact segment comprising, Swift, Estilo, Ritz, Dzire declined by 3.45 percent to 37,083 units in October this year as against 38,410 units last year. Moreover sales of its compact sedan Dzire Tour rose by 42.37 percent during the month under review at 1,408 units as against 989 units in October 2013.

The sales of company’s mid-sized sedan Ciaz, which was launched in October, stood at 6,345 units. The company had sold 262 units of SX4 sedan in the same period of 2013. There was no sale of premium sedan Kizashi during the month.

Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Grand Vitara and Ertiga, declined by 16.71 percent at 6,027 units in October this year from 7,236 units in the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vans -- Omni and Eeco -- have increased by 6.82 percent to 10,453 units in October this year, as against 9,786 units in the same period of previous year. Exports during the month declined by 23.50 percent to 6,904 units compared to 9,025 units in October last year.

NMDC surges on reporting 19% rise in Q2 net profit

NMDC is currently trading at Rs. 172.60, up by 1.75 points or 1.02% from its previous closing of Rs. 170.85 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 172.25 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 172.95 and Rs. 171.80 respectively. So far 4153 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 196.15 on 06-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 123.10 on 12-Mar-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 173.50 and Rs. 160.75 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 67737.17 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 80.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.38% and 2.61% respectively.

NMDC has registered 18.83% rise in its net profit at Rs 1566.75 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1318.45 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased by 20.33% at Rs 3631.89 crore for Q2FY15 as compared Rs 3018.29 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

NMDC is a state-controlled mineral producer of the Government of India. It is fully owned by the Government of India and is under administrative control of the Ministry of Steel.

Sundaram MF introduces Select Small Cap Series II (1400 days)

Sundaram Mutual Fund has launched the New Fund Offer (NFO) of Sundaram Select Small Cap Series II (1400 days), a close ended income scheme. The NFO opens for subscription on Nov 03, 2014 and closes on Nov 17, 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 S&P BSE Small Cap Index and its fund managers are Krishna Kumar S and Dwijendra Srivastava.

The investment objective of the scheme is to seek capital appreciation by investing predominantly in equity/equity-related instruments of companies that can be termed as small-caps.

Gold futures trade lower on weak Chinese manufacturing activity

Gold futures traded lower on Monday following a gauge of China's manufacturing activity released at the weekend fell to a five-month low in October, despite a series of government support measures aimed at aiding growth. The sentiments further weakened after the Bank of Japan boosted stimulus and strong US dollar.

Gold futures for December delivery edged down 0.21 percent at $1,169.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. While spot gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,165.20 an ounce.