After REC, PFC, It's BHEL's Turn for Divestment: Sources

In what can be seen as a major reform signal from the government and an attempt to generate more funds for infrastructure development and social sector schemes, a stake sale in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is on the anvil. Sources in finance ministry have told NDTV that a 5 per cent stake sale in BHEL is likely to be the next offer for sale (OFS) from the divestment department.

At the current market price, the government is likely to rake in Rs 3,540 crore from the BHEL stake sale. The measure will add to Rs 3,210 crore, which the government has already raked in from the 5 per cent stake sale in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) & Power Finance Corporation (PFC) each.

The stock of BHEL has gained around 20 per cent in the last three months and sources said the divestment department is waiting for the right window of opportunity to come out with this issue.

This year, the government has planned to start early with its divestment process to meet the very ambitious target of Rs 69,500 crore for FY16. At the beginning of the year the government was quite confident to meet this year's divestment target but now it is looking to get more realistic and expects to at least get highest-ever divestment proceeds this year, which still means more than Rs 25,000 crore.

Extreme volatility in the equity markets in the last two months has adversely impacted government's grand divestment plans and till now the department has successfully managed to complete the divestment in REC and PFC. Even for these small issues the government had to take a lot of precaution to avoid the fall in the stock prices.

Shares of BHEL were trading flat at Rs 286.40 in noon trade on Friday.        

PSU Banks Recapitalisation: Government Seeks Additional Rs 12,110 Cr

The government on Friday sought approval for an additional allotment of Rs 12,110 crore from the Parliament to be used for the recapitalisation of public sector banks.

In the Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had made an allotment of Rs 7,940. Analysts say, the Reserve Bank of India and economy watchers had deemed the amount insufficient.

However, former RBI Deputy Governor Subirn Gokarn believes that on the ground it will do little to help PSU banks' capacity to lend.

"It is at best a mandate. It will go towards provisioning. The idea is to get banks to lend more. The balance sheet issues of public sector banks need to be addressed, which this won't do," Former RBI Governor told NDTV.

Public sector banks are in dire need of capital infusion, analysts say.

Shares of public sector bank spiked after the news of the recapitalisation. SBI, the country's largest lender rose over 4 per cent to Rs 268.

The government on Friday also sought Rs 4500 crore for National Highway Authority of India payments.

The government has a budget target of spending Rs 17.77 lakh crore in the current fiscal year.        

ICICI Bank Q1 net profit at Rs.2,976 crore;Gross NPA at 3.68%

Total Income has increased from Rs. 200977.60 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 to Rs. 224563.20 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

ICICI Bank Ltd has posted a net profit after taxes, Minority Interest and Share of Profit/(Loss) of Associates of Rs. 32323.70 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 28320.10 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. 

Total Income has increased from Rs. 200977.60 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 to Rs. 224563.20 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

The Gross NPA for Q1 was at 3.68%.

JP Associates gains on bulk deal

The stock is now up over 3 percent on the BSE.

Jaiprakash Associates continues to trade on a firm note on the BSE, on the back of huge block deal.

According to TV reports, 65.5 lakh equity shares have changed hands at JP Associates in a single block deal at Rs. 9.80 on the BSE.

The stock is now trading at the highest point of the day - with a loss of over 3 percent at Rs. 10.

So far, the counter has witnessed huge trades of around 8 million shares as against the daily average volume of 3.4 million shares.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex has soared over 300 points at 28,021.

Top insurance news of the day- July 31, 2015

Private insurer DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance (DPLI) today reported a profit after tax ( PAT) of Rs 6.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, against Rs 5.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2014-15.

Private insurer DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance (DPLI) today reported a profit after tax ( PAT) of Rs 6.7 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, against Rs 5.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2014-15. 

In its latest attempt to boost investment, the government on Thursday notified new norms putting in place composite foreign investment limits — including non-resident Indian, venture capital, direct, institutional, portfolio flows from overseas — for all sectors other than banking and defence. The decision will allow greater flexibility to FIIs in several sectors, including retail, brownfield ventures in pharmaceuticals as well as insurance and pension, where they can invest up to 49% without having to seek government approval. 

Insurance industry officials warn that Uber drivers don’t have the proper accident coverage and are putting themselves and the public at risk when they get behind the wheel

Sun Pharma plans to file new drug application with USFDA: Dilip Shanghvi

Dilip Shanghvi reportedly said that the firm's research arm SPARC (Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company) is currently working on three new drugs that are currently under clinical trial stage.

India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharma may file application for a new drug with the US Food and Drug Administration in next two to three years, the company's Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi reportedly said.

Dilip Shanghvi reportedly said that the firm's research arm SPARC (Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company) is currently working on three new drugs that are currently under clinical trial stage. 

"And hopefully in the next two to three years, we should have our own new product registered in the US," Shanghvi said in his address at Indian School of Business.

Former Exxon president on mission to clean up oil sands

That would be highly enticing to some of the large operators in the Uinta Basin, Utah's emerging tight oil play. As shale production has soared across the country, operators have moved to Utah to try to coax oil and gas from shale rock in ways that have been done on such a large scale elsewhere.

Canada has given oil sands a dirty reputation, but a breakthrough, commercially viable technology has caught the eye of a former Exxon Mobil president who is putting it to use to clean up Utah's billions of barrels of oil sands. 

Imagine extracting high-quality oil out of the estimated 32 billion barrels buried in Utah's oil sands, without creating the toxic wastelands that have resulted from oil sands projects in Western Canada. And imagine doing it at a cost that can still turn a profit in today's oil price slump. 

That would be highly enticing to some of the large operators in the Uinta Basin, Utah's emerging tight oil play. As shale production has soared across the country, operators have moved to Utah to try to coax oil and gas from shale rock in ways that have been done on such a large scale elsewhere. Major players such as Marathon Oil, EP Energy Corporation and Newfield Exploration Co. have significant exposure in Utah. 

But Utah's oil sands are suddenly attracting a lot more attention because of their vast potential. The poor environmental reputation and high cost has kept companies away up until now, but armed with a new, clean oil sands technology, there is even talk that Utah could shift its focus away from expensive shale.

Protecting the environment and still profiting from oil has long been a major challenge, particularly when it comes to dirty oil sands, but that could all change if a new technology designed specifically to extract these oil sands in the most environmentally friendly way possible proves successful. 

For five decades, companies have been trying to replicate Alberta's oil sands success in Utah, but without turning the state into a toxic wasteland. A former Exxon president of Arabian Gulf operations, Dr. R Gerald Bailey, is one of several to take up the challenge, where today he is CEO of a small oil services technology company called MCW Energy Group. 

"It is really simple," Dr. Bailey told Oilprice.com. "In the same way that soap washes grease from plates, with the grease adhering to the soap and pulling it off, so new technology in the form of an innovative solvent can pull the oil out of oil sands." Oil sands are typically black and dirty looking. However, once washed with the solvent, the sand comes out 99.9 percent clean before it is returned to the Earth, according to Dr. Bailey. "If we throw it back on the Earth, it is no longer contaminated with oil and you can grow plants on it." 

This is not just about making oil, Dr. Bailey opines. It's about remediation. "After the tragic Deepwater Horizon disaster, we could have gone over there and cleaned that beach up with this new technology." The company is focusing on Utah, but sees future potential abroad in places like Russia, China, Afghanistan, the Dominican Republic, Namibia, Jordan and Trinidad. 

Other companies are working on similar technologies as environmental groups and governments turn increasingly hostile to dirty oil sands. Marathon Oil is developing a proprietary solvent technology, in which wet tailings are dried and deposited back into a mine site as back-fill. Imperial Oil (TSE: IMO), a Canadian oil company, is doing something similar. 

The focus of any new oil extraction technology must be on the environment—both Canada's toxic wastelands and the fallout from hydraulic fracturing have ensured that new technologies can no longer push full speed ahead towards profit while ignoring the longer-term consequences. 

While shale producers are taking a nose-dive in this market, experts estimate that production using new solvent technologies in Utah can be more profitable than shale oil currently being produced, and more profitable than any other oil sands project in North America. 

It costs about $55 per barrel to produce oil sands in Alberta. But independent research has shown that MCW Energy Group can produce oil from Utah oil sands at approximately $30 for clean oil sands. 

From an environmental standpoint, it would seem that the goals are also being achieved. The process employed does not use any water, which is a significant selling point in the dry state of Utah, and produces no waste or pollutants, including no more tailing ponds. 

Can it apply Canada's oil sands as well? 

According to Dr. Bailey of MCW Energy, the Utah sands differ as they are oil-wet and not water-wet, and because they can simply be scooped up with a front loader and then processed with the solvent. The oil separates out and the clean sand is returned to the ground. In Canada, however, the sand must be mined because it is several hundred feet underground and requires extraction with steam and subsequent hot water, which becomes highly contaminated. "The huge acres of tailing ponds can be seen from space." 

But while it may seem a daunting task, the new technology can tackle even Alberta's oil sands waste problem—after the process, according to Dr. Bailey, without using any water. "We would just use a de-watering process and then treat the raw sludge with our solvent." 

Kotak Bank plunges 3.8% on weak Q1 earnings

The consolidated total income increased by 27.5 percent to Rs. 6.384 crore from Rs. 5.006 crore in the same above mentioned period.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has tumbled in early morning deals on the BSE, after the bank reported weak set of earning on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.

The Bank reported nearly 26 percent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs. 516.57 crore in the first quarter ended 30 June, 2015, as against net profit of Rs. 698.31 crore in the same period of last fiscal.

The consolidated total income, however, increased by 27.5 percent to Rs. 6.384 crore from Rs. 5.006 crore in the same above mentioned period.

Currently, the stock is trading at the lowest level of the day - with a drop 3.8 percent to Rs. 687.

The counter has witnessed trades of around 89,000 shares as against the daily average volume of 97,000 shares in the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex has surged 184 points at 27,889.

15 Stocks in focus today

Check out the companies which will be in focus during trade today based on recent and latest news developments.

Kotak Mahindra Bank: The Bank reported nearly 26% dip in consolidated net profit at Rs. 516.5 crore in the first quarter.Total Income is Rs. 6,384.6 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 where as the same was at Rs. 5,006.6 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

HCC: The company reported a decline in net profit to Rs. 8 crore in the first quarter of 2015-16 from Rs. 27.1 crore a year ago.

Maruti Suzuki: LIC has sold over 2% stake in Maruti Suzuki India reducing its holding to 6.22% in the the country's largest car maker.

Tata Global Beverages Ltd: FSSAI has rejected product approval applications of Tata Starbucks, Kellogg and McCain due to lack of sufficient supporting documents for safety assessment, Minister of state for Health Shripad Naik reportedly said.

Bharti Airtel: The Telecom company has rolled out latest 4G technology in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, the first in North East.

Kansai Nerolac Ltd: The company will invest Rs. 220.50 crore to set up a manufacturing unit in Punjab and a global R&D centre at Navi Mumbai. The net profit for the quarter stands at Rs.94 crore. The total income for the quarter was at Rs.1,000 crore.

Exide Industries Ltd: The company reported a 16.24 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 155.2 crore for the quarter ended June 2015. The battery manufacturer had registered a net profit of Rs 185.30 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.

Reliance Power Ltd:  The company has announced along with its wholly owned subsidiary - Sasan Power Limited, has filed a Writ Petition before the High Court of Delhi challenging the notification issued by the Ministry of Coal, being the Gazette Notification dated May 07, 2015, by which the Government notified withdrawal /cancellation of (i) the allocation letter allocating Chhatrasal coal block to Sasan Power Limited for the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, and (ii) the Gazette Notification dated February 17, 2010.

Strides Arcolab: The company's Q1FY16 net profit more-than-doubled to Rs. 41.86 crore as compared with Rs. 18.99 crore in Q1FY15.

Thomas Cook: The company has acquired Luxe Asia, a destination management company in Sri Lanka, to grow its overseas business. 

ITC: The company reported 3.6 percent growth in Q1 net at Rs. 2,265 crore.

HSIL: The board of the company has approved investment in the Capital Expenditure of Rs.105 crore for putting up plant for manufacturing of CPVC and UPVC pipes and fitting used in plumbing and sanitation.

Vakrangee Ltd: The company has entered into a strategic tie-up with Amazon India to provide marketing, promotional and other services through it 'Vakrangee Kendras'.

Dr.Reddy's: The Group has posted a net profit of Rs. 6256.50 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 5503.90 mn for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Indoco Remedies Ltd: The company is planning for investment of Rs.1.25 bn for expansion of its sterile ophthalmic facility at Goa and for setting up a greenfield API facility at Patalganga in Maharashtra.

Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd: The company has achieved financial closure for its step-down subsidiary, Maamba Collieres Ltd, an integrated coal and power project in Zambia, estimated to cost US$828m. 

Asia Shares Edge Up, Wary of China Volatility

Asian shares inched higher on Friday but were on track for a weekly loss, while the dollar edged away from highs scaled after U.S. GDP data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates this year.

Investors kept a wary eye on China, where stocks dropped on Thursday after state media reported that banks were investigating their equities exposure in the wake of the recent dramatic rout there.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 per cent in early trading, but set for a weekly loss of more than 1 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei stock index was down about 0.2 per cent, poised to log a 0.3 per cent loss for the week.

A spate of Japanese economic data released before the open contained some worrying signals, with a drop in household spending, a fall in Tokyo-area consumer prices and a rise in the June jobless rate.

On Wall Street, U.S. shares put in a mixed performance, as downbeat earnings offset solid economic data.

U.S. gross domestic product data released on Thursday showed growth accelerated in the second quarter, though slightly short of some forecasts. Growth was tweaked higher in the first quarter, backing the Fed's assessment at its meeting this week that the economy was expanding "moderately."

"While some economists look at these numbers and say that they are weak or the economy is worse off than before because of the downward revisions in 2012 and 2013, we believe there's enough here for the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in 9 years," said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York.

"While we are bullish dollars and believe that further gains are likely, there's just under 2 months to the next monetary policy meeting and the dollar is overbought," she said in a note to clients.

The dollar inched down about 0.1 per cent on the day against its Japanese counterpart to 123.985 yen, after rising as high as 124.58 overnight, its loftiest level since June 10.

The euro edged about 0.1 per cent higher to $1.0942, after dropping to a one-week low of $1.0835 on Thursday.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was about 0.2 per cent lower at 97.389, after rising to a one-week high of 97.773 overnight.

Crude oil was under pressure after dropping overnight in line with a stronger dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities less appealing to investors holding other currencies. U.S. crude was slightly down at $48.49 a barrel.

The stronger greenback also pushed down gold, which plunged 1 per cent with a 5-1/2-year low in sight. Spot gold was last steady on the day at $1,088.21 per ounce.

Sensex Jumps Over 250 Points, Nifty Near 8,500

9:25 a.m.: The Sensex advanced over 250 points to 27,965 and Nifty rose 61 points to 8,489 on the back of broad-based buying.

Buying was visible across the board. Metal, realty, auto, power and banking stocks were witnessing buying interest. The respective indices jumped 0.5-1 per cent each.

The broader markets were broadly in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were up 0.6 per cent each.

From the Nifty-50 basket of stocks, 43 stocks were advancing while 7 were declining.

HCL Technologies was the top Nifty gainer, up 1.8 per cent at Rs 976. ICICI Bank was up 1.6 per cent at Rs 295 ahead of results. Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Dr Reddy's Labs, State Bank of India, Cairn India and Tata Motors were also up over 1 per cent each.

On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top Nifty loser, down 3 per cent at Rs 695 after the bank reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings post the market hours yesterday. Punjab National Bank, BPCL, Bank of Baroda and NMDC were also among the notable laggards.

9:15 a.m.: Sensex jumps over 150 points to 27,882; Nifty moves above 8,450.

9:14 a.m.: Rohit Shrivastava of Sharelkhan says that Nifty faces resistance around 8,520 levels.

9:13 a.m.: Prashasta Seth of India Infoline says that earnings season has broadly in-line with estimates.

9:10 a.m.: Sensex jumps 109 points to 27,814 and Nifty advances 34 points to 8,456 in the pre-market session.

9:00 a.m.: Rupee opens lower at 64.10 per dollar against Thursday's close of 64.04.

8:35 a.m.: Below is the earnings preview for the companies reporting their first quarter numbers today:

ICICI Bank: India's largest private sector lender will report its first quarter numbers later in the day. Analysts polled by NDTV expect the bank to post net interest income of Rs 5,140 crore compared to Rs 4,491 crore during the same period last year. Net profit is expected to come in at Rs 2,931 crore against Rs 2,655 crore last fiscal. Loan growth expected to remain moderate at 14 per cent YoY and gross non-performing assets are expected at 4 per cent against 3.8 per cent of total advances in the previous quarter.

Larsen & Toubro: Larsen & Toubro is expected to post profit of Rs 832 crore on sales of Rs 11,159 crore. Order Inflow is expected at below Rs 30,000 crore. Market participants would watch out for outlook on net working capital and pick up in engineering and construction execution.

8:20 a.m.: Below are the stocks which will be in focus today: 

Kotak Mahindra Bank: Kotak Mahindra Bank shares will be in focus today as the private sector lender reported first quarter numbers which were below the Street estimates. Kotak Mahindra Bank reported 55 per cent fall in the net profit net profit to Rs 190 crore. Its provisioning for bad loans jumped to Rs 310 crore in the first quarter of FY16.

Greaves Cotton: Greaves Cotton reported strong set of first quarter numbers. Its net profit jumped 50.87 per cent to Rs 43.3 crore.

HCC: HCC shares are likely to witness selling pressure as its net profit fell 70 per cent to Rs 72.3 crore. Its results were below what the Street had anticipated.

J M Financial: J M Financial posted strong set of Q1 numbers post the market hours yesterday. Its profit jumped 24 per cent to Rs 72.3 crore.

Ashoka Buildcon: Ashoka Buildcon reported strong first quarter numbers. Its first quarter net profit jumped 37 per cent to Rs 46.5 crore.

Ambuja Cement, Adani Entertainment, Tata Chemical and Tata Sponge will go ex-dividend today.

Reliance Industries: RIL will be in focus today as Reliance Jio plans to raise Rs 3,500 crore via debt.

8:10 a.m.: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 170.6 crore on Thursday while the domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 499 crore.

7:55 a.m.: The Sensex and Nifty are likely to open on a flat note with a positive bias as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. Nifty traded on the Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty was up 0.17 per cent or 14 points at 8,487.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets were trading subdued note as Investors kept a wary eye on China, where stocks dropped on Thursday after state media reported that banks were investigating their equities exposure in the wake of the recent dramatic rout there.

Hang Seng was up 0.45 per cent and Japan's Nikkei was up 0.03 per cent. While, China's SHanghai Composite slipped 0.7 per cent and Shanghai Shenzen index was down 0.09 per cent.

Overnight, Wall Street ended flat on Thursday as investors digested ho-hum corporate earnings and new data showed that the economy grew more quickly in the second quarter.

U.S. economic growth accelerated in the June quarter as solid consumer spending offset a drag from weak business spending on equipment, suggesting steady momentum that could bring the Federal Reserve closer to hiking interest rates this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 0.03 per cent weaker at 17,745.98, while the S&P 500 was unchanged at 2,108.63. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.33 per cent to 5,128.79.

Bank of Baroda Q1 Net Beats Estimates, Shares Rise

Bank of Baroda on Thursday reported a 23 per cent annual decline in its net profit for the April-June quarter on higher provisions for bad loans. But its net profit was better than the Street's estimates.

Bank of Baroda's net profit came in at Rs 1,052 crore in Q1, against Rs 1,362 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. As per Bloomberg's consensus brokers estimate, its net profit was seen at Rs 901 crore.

Its net interest income (NII), which is the excess of interest earned over interest expended, increased 4 per cent annually to Rs 3,460 crore against Rs 3,328 crore.

The public sector lender also witnessed deterioration in its asset quality in the June quarter. Its gross nonperforming assets (GNPA) increased to 4.13 per cent of total advances against 3.72 per cent sequentially. Its net nonperforming assets increased 18 basis points to 2.07 per cent sequentially.

On an absolute basis, Bank of Baroda's GNPA stood at Rs 17,274 crore against Rs 16,261 crore in the March quarter.

Bank of Baroda made a total provision of Rs 600 crore in the Q1 against Rs 527 crore year-on-year, an annual increase of 14 per cent.

Banking analysts Hemindra Hazari said Bank of Baroda's Q1 earnings are better than estimates but asset quality remains a concern.
As of 11.33 a.m., Bank of Baroda shares traded 3.4 per cent higher at Rs 158.25 compared to 0.92 per cent gain in the benchmark Bank Nifty.

Feeder Funds a key strategy to draw Southeast Asian Assets: Cerulli

Foreign managers looking to penetrate Southeast Asia for now, especially those without any onshore presence in the region, will likely see the most success by employing the feeder funds or funds-of-funds route, despite the launch of the ASEAN Collective Investment Scheme framework.

Cerulli expects that the side that stands to benefit more from the Mutual Recognition of Funds (MRF) scheme between China and Hong Kong will be China.
 
Foreign managers looking to penetrate Southeast Asia for now, especially those without any onshore presence in the region, will likely see the most success by employing the feeder funds or funds-of-funds route, despite the launch of the ASEAN Collective Investment Scheme framework.
 
Cerulli believes there is a host of reasons for this, ranging from the fact that managers are comfortable with existing fund structures which already provide a good range of investment products, to distribution issues in the domestic markets.
 
Recent developments also lend support, as Thailand registered strong growth in feeder fund assets in the first five months of 2015--assets under management (AUM) grew by 33% during the period to reach a combined size of US$7.8 billion. Equity feeder funds have been the key driver of the surge in feeder fund assets, growing by 69% to more than US$4.9 billion by the end of May.
 
Within the broader feeder fund space, there is no doubt that big names are the top choices for master funds. Even without an onshore office, firms like BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors have amassed assets exceeding US$1 billion in AUM across both Malaysia and Thailand. This AUM is even larger than some of the onshore fund houses, and point to strong penetration in these markets from an offshore perspective.
 
Ultimately, an important element for success within the feeder fund business lies in securing a strong local partner, regardless of whether one is a global or boutique offshore fund house. This means working with a local partner that has strong distribution capabilities.

ARC's suggestions sought by RBI for NPA revival

The cap has to be below 50% as per the ARC demand which could not be changed by the RBI. The issue is due to be taken up with the government since it needed to be amended in the Sarfaesi Act.

Banks need to find measures in order to price bad loans in a realistic way, said RBI governor Raghuram Rajan in a meeting at RBI’s office, attended by bankers, ARCs and PE chiefs, including Sanjay Nayar of KKR and Renuka Ramnath of Multiples Alternate Asset Management.

The governor sought suggestions from rom asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) and private equity (PE) firms on reviving stressed assets.

The cap has to be below 50% as per the ARC demand which could not be changed by the RBI. The issue is due to be taken up with the government since it needed to be amended in the Sarfaesi Act, said a Financial Express report.

Earlier in a report, the ARCs had mentioned that buying stressed assets would not be possible unless they are permitted to raise funds from various avenues.

The capital base of all ARCs is  Rs 3,000 crore, whereas the total bad loans in the public sector banks (PSBs) are around Rs 2.67 lakh crore. Owing to deficient sophistication required by domestic players to understand risks and opportunities in the asset reconstruction sector, raising local capital is difficult, said Vinayak Bahuguna, Arcil MD and CEO, in the FE report.

Vedanta Turns Flat After Rising 2%, Q1 Net Meets Estimates

Shares of Vedanta Limited rose as much 2 per cent on Thursday but gave up most of the early gains in later trade. The mining and energy company, which has been hit by a slump in crude prices and mining bans in key producing states, posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 866 crore for its fiscal first quarter to June 30.

The net profit was in line with estimates.

That compared with a profit of Rs 376 crore in the same period last year, which was hurt by a one-time charge of Rs 2,128 crore. Excluding the impact of one-off charge, the company's first-quarter profit was 35.4 per cent lower than a year earlier.

Consolidated net sales fell marginally to Rs 16,952 crore in the June quarter from Rs 17,056 crore a year earlier at Vedanta, which has interests in oil and gas, iron ore, zinc, copper, power and aluminium.

Chief Executive Tom Albanese said on a conference call Vedanta was hoping to get approvals as early as next month to restart a few mines in Goa and was positioned to restart mining at a rate of 5.5 million tonnes a year.

He said the current low international prices coupled with royalties and export taxes were challenging and the company would look to sell as much ore as it could to domestic mills.

Essar Oil Gets Stock Exchange Nod for Delisting

 Essar Oil has received approvals from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) to delist its shares, its managing director and CEO L K Gupta said on Wednesday.

Delisting the company would give promoter Ruia brothers - Shashikant and Ravikant - greater flexibility and less regulatory scrutiny while selling a stake in the refiner.

"NSE and BSE approval have now been received. The promoters will now have to make announcement and reverse book building start," he told PTI from Mumbai.

The entire process to delist shares may take up to 2 months, he said.

Essar Oil had earlier this year signed a non-binding term sheet for sale of up to 49 per cent stake in the company to Russian oil firm Rosneft for an undisclosed amount.

Mr Gupta said the Rosneft deal was conditional upon various factors such as due diligence, determination of the transaction price, execution of definitive transaction documents and receipt of requisite approvals.

He did not give a timeframe for concluding the deal.

Essar Oil's board had approved the delistng plan a year back but the proposal was put on hold in November, 2014 after capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) asked for a halt.

The firm's UK-based parent Essar Energy delisted its shares from the London Stock Exchange in June last year. Essar Energy holds 71.22 per cent in Essar Oil.

Essar Oil will make an offer to buy back 137 million shares, or a 27.53 per cent stake, held by the public and other non-promoters.

Under Sebi's new delisting rules, a firm wanting to delist has to ensure that its promoter shareholding reaches at least 90 per cent after acquiring shares from the public, or if at least 25 per cent of the public shareholders tender their shares in a reverse book-building process.

This is Ruia brothers' second attempt to delist Essar Oil after their failed attempt in 2007. Essar Energy Holdings Ltd's January 2007 plan to delist the company in order to gain higher "flexibility in the operations and management of the company" failed due to protest from minority shareholders.

Essar Oil operates a 20 million tons oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat. The refinery, the second biggest unit in the country, has a complexity of 11.8, among most complex refineries globally, enabling it to earn higher margins.        

Asian Shares, US Dollar Move Higher on Federal Reserve Optimism

Hong Kong: Asian stocks tiptoed higher on Thursday and the dollar consolidated recent gains after the US Federal Reserve painted a relatively bright picture of the world's biggest economy, but a deepening sell-off in commodities kept gains in check.

Prospects of stronger US growth in coming months lifted Asian stocks in early trade, with Japan's Nikkei up 1.2 per cent and Australian shares adding 0.7 per cent. But South Korean shares fell 0.7 per cent.

A dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent after Chinese stocks had a quiet opening.

Gains were muted before the earnings season kicks off in full throttle next week, when companies are broadly expected to post disappointing results on the back of weak economic data in recent months, particularly for trade.

Gavekal strategists noted that Asia's trade performance had been disappointing in recent months. After a two-year post-crisis rebound in 2010-2011, export growth in the region has slowed to an annual average of 7.5 percent in U.S. dollar terms and 6 percent in volume terms this year compared to U.S. dollar growth rates of 30 percent in the years before the crisis.

"The markets still think that the world's economy remains fragile, given a fall in Chinese shares and commodity prices. The Fed surely doesn't want to screw up its exit from zero rates by hastily moving and hitting already fragile commodities market and the world economy," said Tohru Yamamoto, chief fixed income strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Subdued external demand is expected to weigh on corporate earnings, with CLSA strategists expecting first-half earnings growth at Hong Kong and Chinese companies to be weak and guidance for the third quarter unlikely to be better.

Chinese equities are already a third lower than their June highs.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose broadly on the Fed's optimism and strong corporate earnings, with the S&P 500 rising 0.7 percent to 2,108.57.

After a two-day policy meeting, Fed officials said they felt the economy had overcome a first-quarter slowdown and was "expanding moderately", leaving the door open for an interest rate increase in coming months.

Commodities extended their decline, with copper, considered a bellwether for global economic activity, trading near a six-year low at $5,322 a tonne.

The broad Thomson Reuters CRB commodities index also hit a six-year low.

Oil prices, smarting from supply concerns due to rising U.S. shale oil output and an easing of sanction on Iran, rose after weekly data showed an unexpectedly large drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.

Front-month Brent crude futures rose overnight to settle at $53.38 a barrel, recovering from Tuesday's six-month low of $52.28.

In the currency market, the dollar index rose to 97.160, having rebounded from Monday's two-week low of 96.288.

The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.0964, near its lowest level of the week. In recent weeks, the euro has tended to fall when risk appetite is strong as it is used as a funding currency for investment in risk assets.

The dollar rose about 0.1 percent in early Asian trade to 124.075 yen, hitting its highest level so far this week. 

Sensex Likely to Open Higher on Positive Global Cues

9:00 a.m.: Rupee opens lower at 63.96 per dollar against Wednesday's close of 63.91.

8:45 a.m.: Infra companies will be in limelight today as the Cabinet on Wednesday approved creation of a Rs 20,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a sort of sovereign fund, for development of infrastructure projects, including the stalled ones.

8:30 a.m.: Below are the stocks which will be in focus today:

Nestle: Nestle came out with its first quarter numbers post the market hours on Wednesday. Nestle posted loss of Rs 64.4 crore compared to profit of Rs 287.8 crore, its sales fell to Rs 1,957 crore compared to Rs 2,432 crore during the same quarter last year.

NHPC: NHPC reported net profit of Rs 762.2 crore compared to Rs 616 crore (YoY).

Wabco India: Wabco India posted good set of first quarter numbers. Wabco's revenues came in at Rs 385 crore compared to Rs 323 crore. Its net profit rose 55 per cent to Rs 47.5 crore.

Blue Dart: Blue Dart's net profit jumped 35 per cent to Rs 46 crore and its sales advanced 17.6 per cent to Rs 620 crore.

8:15 a.m.: On the policy front, the cabinet on Wednesday cleared the amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Bill to compensate states for revenue loss for five years.

8:10 a.m.: Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 186.24 crore on Thursday while the domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 642.69 crore.

8:00 a.m.: Derivative contracts for the month of July will expire today. Analysts say that there could be some volatility in the markets due to the expiration of July futures and options contracts.

7:50 a.m.: The Sensex and Nifty are likely to open higher tracking positive global cues. The SGX Nifty was also indicating a positive start for the Indian markets. The Nifty futures contract traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange was up 0.2 per cent or 15 points at 8,395.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets were trading with a positive bias after U.S. Federal Reserve said it saw the economy and jobs continuing to strengthen, helping lift the dollar as traders bet that higher U.S. interest rates were around the corner.

FOMC's brief policy statement, at the end of a two-day meeting, gave no fresh sign of their thinking on when they will embark on an expected series of rate increases.

Reacting to this development, Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.7 per cent and Shanghai Composite was up 0.2 per cent.

Overnight, the US stocks finished stronger on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the economy and job market continued to strengthen and left its key interest rate unchanged.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.69 per cent to end at 17,751.39. The S&P 500 gained 0.73 per cent to 2,108.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.44 per cent to finish at 5,111.73.