Indices to open on a weak note

Investors will hope some bounce finally comes in as many counters seem to be at oversold levels on the charts. Global cues are not helping the cause for now.

On World Environment Day, the earth around us is receiving some drizzle even as concerns appear to slowly drown in the confidence being voiced by the government in handling the situation.

 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that concerns over weak forecasts are misplaced, and any fears of food shortages were far-fetched. Meanwhile, bookies are reportedly backing Skymet’s forecast that monsoon will be normal this year and in the range of 92-95 per cent. 

The outlook is a weak start. Investors will hope some bounce finally comes in as many counters seem to be at oversold levels on the charts. Global cues are not helping the cause for now.  The Dow was down almost a percent while S&P 500 fell 0.86%. Nasdaq lost 0.8%. Asian markets are mostly lower with Nikkei and Hang Seng in the red but China’s Shanghai is trading over a percent higher.

With Chinese stocks running up over 140% in the last one year, compared to around 10% gains in the Nifty, reports indicate some investors could shift allocation to India given the valuation concerns in China. 

The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the US economy and said the Fed should wait until next year before embarking on interest rate rises. In its annual assessment of the world’s largest economy, known as an Article IV report, the IMF downgrades its GDP growth forecast for 2015 from 3.1% to 2.5%, amid what it calls “significant uncertainties as to the future resilience of economic growth”. It also shaves its forecast for 2016, from 3.1% to 3%.

Except for a few like Britannia Industries and Emami, 2014-15 was a slow year for FMCG companies as high inflation eroded demand. But most preserved their margins as prices of raw material softened; besides, many pushed through higher prices in the early part of the year, says a report.

Employees may soon be allowed to exercise their stock options at their will. Securities and Exchange Board of India is reviewing rules on employee stock options (Esops) after the new insider trading rules effective May put strict restrictions on the timing of sales of such shares, a report stated.

Nestle has withdrawn its products off shelves stating that "Unfortunately, recent developments and unfounded concerns about the product have led to an environment of confusion for the consumer, to such an extent that we have decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being safe."

The Agriculture Ministry is likely to announce the minimum support price (MSP) for key crops over the next two weeks, while it has sufficient stocks of pulses and willing to import more to quell prices that have risen nearly 64 per cent since last year.

Just Dial Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on June 04, 2015, inter alia, has approved the proposal to buyback the fully paid-up equity shares of face value of Rs. 10 each of the Company (“Equity Shares”) from the shareholders of the Company on a proportionate basis through a tender offer (the “Buy-back”).

Coal Secretary reportedly Anil Swarup said that 10 Coal Mines to be put for Auction for the Unregulated Sector.Coal Secretary also stated that it Will Start auctioning Coal linkages from Unregulated Sector.The Total Extractable reserves from Coal blocks will be auctioned at 356 mt.

Reliance Defence Systems Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., and part of Anil Ambani led Reliance Group, today announced the induction of Vice Admiral (Retd.) H.S. Malhi, AVSM VSM into its top leadership team for the defence sector.

Infosys completed the acquisition of Kallidus Inc. (d.b.a Skava) and its affiliate, a leading provider of digital experience solutions, including mobile commerce and in-store shopping experiences to large retail clients. The acquisition is in accordance with the terms set out in the agreement announced on April 24, 2015.

K V Kamath will take charge as first president of New Development Bank (NDB), promoted by BRICS nations, in the first week of the next month, according to reports.K V Kamath  will be visiting China next week and is likely to assume charge of President in early July," finance ministry reportedly said. 

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) said it would continue its work on bringing down vehicle emissions as a means to promote clean air and delight customers.

Average rate of annual spending on packaged food has increased by 22.5% annually during the years 2010 to 2015 due to rise in income level, standard of living, greater confidence in packaged food, convenience and influence of western world and the growth is expected to touch around 32% by 2017, according to ASSOCHAM paper.

Eicher Motors cracked 5.8 percent to Rs. 17,160 after a huge block deal of over a million shares or 3.7 percent stake of the company was executed at the counter. According to media reports, AB Volvo was looking to sell its remaining 3.71 percent stake in Eicher Motors.

PTC India Financial Services (PFS) advanced 1.5 percent to Rs. 40.50 after the company said that it raised Rs. 213.5 crore through a private placement of non-convertible debentures, which are redeemable over a period of 10 years.

Mukand skyrocketed to a high of Rs. 41.50 on getting formal approval from the Corporate Debt Restructuring Empowered Group (CDR EG) for its exit under the CDR mechanism. The stock finally ended 1.3 percent higher at Rs. 37.75.

Unitech soared 7.5 percent to Rs. 9.35 after the company denied rumours of repayment default to lenders. 

Bank of India (BOI) plunged 4.3 percent to Rs. 182 on reports that Standard and Poor's (S&P) cut state-owned lender's standalone credit profile grade by one notch to BB+ from BBB-.

Bayer Cropscience jumped nearly 2 percent to Rs. 3,780 on the back of plans to buy back shares worth Rs. 506 crore for a consideration of Rs. 4,000 per share.

Suzlon Energy soared over 3 percent to Rs. 21.45 on winning order for 90.30 MW turnkey project from its existing customer, ReNew Power.