Wednesday, 15 April 2015

Sensex slips 250 points; auto, pharma stocks drag

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.69% at 11,051, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.50% at 11,883 

The market are looking to break into the positive zone on the back of sustained buying support in banking shares and select index heavyweights like - ITC and Maruti.

The Sensex is down 230 points at 28,815, and the Nifty is down 88 points at 8,746. The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.69% at 11,051, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.50% at 11,883.

The India VIX (Volatility) index is down 0.6 percent at 14.3975.

Sesa Sterlite is the biggest percentage gainer in the Nifty-50. The stock has surged 3.8 percent to Rs. 208.

Tata Power has rallied 2.5 percent to Rs. 82.15. Cairn India and ACC have gained around 2 percent each at Rs. 232 and Rs. 1,625, respectively.

ITC had moved 1.7 percent higher to Rs. 357. ONGC, Maruti and Gail India are the other major gainers.

SBI and Yes Bank remain the torch bearers in the banking rally. Each of the stock has jumped nearly 2.5 percent each to Rs. 293 and Rs. 862, respectively. Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank are up 1-2 percent each.

On the other hand, BHEL has tumbled nearly 3 percent to Rs. 236. Maruti has shed 2.6 percent at Rs. 1,215.

Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Asian Paints and Cipla have declined over 2 percent each to Rs. 1,125, Rs. 417, Rs. 844 and Rs. 699, respectively.

HCL Technologies, Cipla, Wipro, Idea Cellular, IDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel and Infosys are the other major losers.

As many as 91 stocks have registered a fresh 52-week high so far in the day, while 14 stocks have dropped to new 52-week low on the NSE.

Aurobindo Pharma receives USFDA approval for Cefixime for Oral Suspension USP

The approved ANDAs are bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Suprax Oral Suspension USP 100mg/5mL and 200mg/5mL respectively of Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. 

Aurobindo Pharma
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has received USFDA Approval for Cefixime for Oral Suspension USP.

The approved ANDAs are bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Suprax Oral Suspension USP 100mg/5mL and 200mg/5mL respectively of Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Cefixime for Oral Suspension is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients six months of age or older, with infections caused by susceptible strains of the designated organisms in urinary tract infections, otitis media, acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, uncomplicated gonorrhea (cervical/urethral), pharyngitis and tonsillitis 

The product has an estimated market size of US$ 123 Million for the twelve months ending February 2015 according to IMS.

Aurobindo now has 11 ANDAs (represented by 7 product classes) approved out of Unit VI formulation facility in Hyderabad, India for manufacturing Oral Cephalosporin products.


ONGC Videsh scouts for oil & gas exploration & production opportunities outside India

A Bid Round for participation in some oil & gas blocks has been announced by the Government of Mexico and ONGC Videsh Ltd. is in the early stages of evaluating the prospectivity of various blocks available under the Bid Round.

The Exchange had sought clarification from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd with respect to news article appearing in Financial Chronicle on April 6, 2015 titled "ONGC vying for oil & gas blocks in Mexico permit bid"
ONGC3Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd clarified that ONGC Videsh Ltd., 100% subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), regularly scouts for and evaluates various oil & gas exploration & production opportunities outside India. A Bid Round for participation in some oil & gas blocks has been announced by the Government of Mexico and ONGC Videsh Ltd. is in the early stages of evaluating the prospectivity of various blocks available under the Bid Round. Several other global oil & gas companies are also doing the evaluation. 

The information on Mexico Bid Round including the names of pre-qualified companies which includes ONGC Videsh Ltd. is in public domain and also on the website ronda1.gob.mx of the Government of Mexico. 

At this stage, there is no comment on the news item. Information to Stock Exchanges in terms of Clause 36 of the Listing Agreement shall be submitted if ONGC Videsh Ltd. participates and is awarded any block under the Bid Round."

ICICI Bank stock up 1% on cutting home loan rates

ICICI Bank announced that is has reduced home loan rates by 25 basis points for both existing and new customers to 9.90 percent with the effective from 14 April 

ICICI Bank is trading on a firm note on the BSE in early morning session, on the back of positive news flow.

According to media reports, ICICI Bank the country's largest private bank announced that is has reduced home loan rates by 25 basis points for both existing and new customers to 9.90 percent with the effective from Tuesday 14 April.

Currently, the stock has spurted over a percent at Rs. 320 on BSE. So far, the scrip has touched an intra-day high at Rs. 321 and Rs. 318, respectively.

Around 121,000 shares have changed hands at the counter on the BSE, as compared to its daily average volume of 789,000 shares in the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex is down 30 points at 29,014.


Top economic news of the day - April 15, 2015

Coal imports into India, the world's third largest buyer, jumped 33.5% in the last fiscal year to 242.4 million tonnes as lower purchases by China depressed prices and helped consumers elsewhere, preliminary data from mjunction showed. 

Woman Reading Newspaper
India will overtake China as the fastest growing emerging economy in 2015-16 by clocking a growth rate of 7.5% on the back of recent policy initiatives, pick-up in investments and lower oil prices, the International Monetary Fund said.
 
Coal imports into India, the world's third largest buyer, jumped 33.5% in the last fiscal year to 242.4 million tonnes as lower purchases by China depressed prices and helped consumers elsewhere, preliminary data from mjunction showed. 
 
Assocham has urged the Finance Minister to bring commercial real estate and petroleum within the purview of Goods and services tax levy. The chamber has also made a case for dropping the proposal to levy additional 1% tax on inter-state supply of goods, as it would defeat the objective of GST.

Top corporate news of the day - April 15, 2015

Government plans to auction 69 small and marginal oil fields of ONGC and Oil India Ltd to private firms on a new revenue sharing model. 

Tablet computer with business news
Zomato has acquired MaplePOS, a cloud-based point of sale product for restaurants, for an undisclosed sum. MaplePOS has now been renamed Zomato Base.
 
Bajaj Auto expanded its Pulsar range in the adventure sport bike category - AS200 and AS150 - priced at Rs79,000 and Rs91,550 (ex-showroom Delhi). 
 
Government plans to auction 69 small and marginal oil fields of ONGC and Oil India Ltd to private firms on a new revenue sharing model. 
 
DHFL reduced its home loan rate by 25 basis points to 9.9%. The new rate will come into effect from Wednesday.
 
Parag Milk Foods is planning to raise anywhere between Rs4bn and Rs5bn from private equity firms to expand its operations over the next three years, according to its chairman. 

Welspun Renewables said it has signed an agreement with Germany-based iPLON for supplying equipment required for its 550 MW upcoming solar power capacity in India. 
 
Facing backlash over net neutrality, e-commerce major Flipkart has pulled out of discussions with Airtel for the Airtel Zero platform. 
 
Vodafone said that it invested Rs4.8bn in the last fiscal to enhance its network coverage in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. 
 
PVC pipe maker Skipper announced its foray into the western region with a new manufacturing facility being set up at Changodar. The facility will help the company establish footing in the Rs60bn PVC pipes western region market. 
 
Alstom T&D has secured a Rs569m order from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to provide a 220/11kV, 25/31.5 MVA substation for its Challakere unit in Chitradurga, Karnataka. 
 
Ashoka Buildcon has raised Rs5bn from a share sale to institutional investors, sources said. 
 
KNR Constructions Limited has bagged three State Highway road upgradation contracts in Tamil Nadu together worth Rs7.3bn. 
 
Muthoot Group has entered into the home loan segment with the launch of Muthoot Homfin. 

Market erases early gains

The CNX Midcap and Smallcap indices are out-performing the NSE Nifty in early morning deals. 

The market started the day on a positive note, on the back of positive CPI inflation data and firm global cues.

The CPI inflation slowed down to three-month lows of 5.2 percent in March 2015 (new base 2012=100) from 5.4 percent in February 2015. Food items were major contributors to the CPI inflation decline in March 2015.

The BSE Sensex opened higher by 43-odd points at 29,087 and the NSE Nifty was up ten points at 8,844 at the opening bell.

The key benchmark indices soon pared early gains and slipped into the negative zone, owing to weakness in metal, pharma and auto shares.

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty touched a low at 29,000 and 8,812, respectively.

Currently, the Sensex is down 37 points at 29,007 and the Nifty-50 shares index is down ten points at 8,824.

The broader indices are out-performing the CNX Nifty index, the Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained 0.3 percent each at 13,700 and 6,079, respectively.

Among sectors, the CNX Pharma and Auto indices have declined over 0.5 percent each at 13,640 and 8,766, respectively. The Metal index also moved down 0.3 percent at 2,479.

On the other hand, Bank Nifty index has gained 0.5 percent at 18,898 and the FMCG index has added 0.3 percent at 21,520.

In the Nifty-50 stocks - Mahindra & Mahindra is the top loser, down over 2 percent at Rs. 1,221. Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma have dropped almost 2 percent each at Rs. 417 and Rs. 1,129, respectively.

Tata Motors, Idea Cellular, HDFC, HCL Technologies and Coal India are the other significant losers.

On the other hand, ACC has jumped 2 percent at Rs. 1,628. IndusInd Bank, Zee Entertainment, Sesa Sterlite, Kotak Bank and Punjab National Bank have also spurted over a percent each.

Sensex to open on a positive note

Indices may get nervous at higher levels as the result season gets underway. India WPI numbers are expected. 

Bombay-Stock-Exchange-Building
The good news is that India's economic growth rate will overtake China in 2015 to become the world's fastest growing major economy, the IMF and World Bank have stated in separate forecasts.  IMF sees 7.5% growth next year while World Bank sees India’s growth at 7.9%. The IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington is underway and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is there along with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.
India's growth acceleration is being driven by business-oriented reforms and improved investor sentiment and that growth could reach 8 per cent in fiscal year 2017-18 on the back of significant acceleration in investment growth, the World Bank says.

The outlook is a positive start. Indices may get nervous at higher levels as the result season gets underway. India WPI numbers are expected. EU interest rate scenario will also be watched. Market will also react to CPI numbers which were lower in March at 5.17%.  Sugar stocks could be in focus as Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan will brief media about sugarcane arrears issue.

The Dow rose 0.33% while S&P 500 gained 0.16%. Nasdaq was up 0.22%. Asian indices are mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 index flat and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index marginally higher. China's Shanghai index is also subdued.

Global warming coupled with changes arising out of an evolving El Nino may have combined to cause the heavy spells of unseasonal rain which have devastated crops in many parts of India since late February, a leading meteorologist has said.

Government has shortlisted various PSUs including IOC, National Fertilizers, MMTC, Hindustan Copper and ITDC for stake sale to achieve current fiscal's disinvestment target of Rs 41,000 crore, according to reports.

Department of Disinvestment is planning to divest 5-15% government stake in these state-owned companies. While 10% stake each would be diluted in Engineers India Ltd, NALCO, NMDC and Indian Oil Corporation.

About 15% stake would be up for sale in National Fertilizers Ltd, Hindustan Copper Ltd, India Tourism and Development Corp, State Trading Corp and MMTC, says report.

Without further fiscal reforms, the Indian government may find it difficult to sustain the increase in public investment spending, according to a report, titled "India's Fiscal Roadblocks  Could Stall Infrastructure Progress," Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said ."Although India's budgetary performances have strengthened in recent years, its hard-won fiscal improvements could yet unwind because of a financial or  commodity shock," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kim Eng Tan. "Subsidy spending is one key source of weakness, despite fuel-subsidy reforms in 2014. Another constraint is the heavy government debt."

ONGC, OIL and BPCL is planning to invest $6 bn in developing a giant gas field off the Mozambique coast and converting the fuel into LNG for export to nations like India, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly said.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India Ltd and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) hold 30% interest in Rovuma Area-1."We will be investing another $6 bn by 2019 to develop Rovuma Area-1 field," Pradhan said.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned another 600 MW thermal unit in Chhattisgarh. The unit was commissioned at Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited (DBPL)’s upcoming 2x600 MW thermal power project located at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh.
Axis Bank has cut its base rate by 20 basis points to 9.95%, according to a media report. The bank has also decreased retail deposit rates by 25 bps across maturities. 

India's largest car-maker by volume, Maruti Suzuki is planning to outdo its rivals by planning a double-digit growth in the new financial year. The company has reportedly set a target of 10-11% growth, which will require it to sell close to 1.3 million units in this financial year, according to media reports. 
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Indian Oil Corporation Ltd's (IOC) Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR), its senior unsecured rating and ratings on its outstanding senior unsecured debt at 'BBB-'. The Outlook is Stable.

Indag Rubber was locked at the 20% upper limit at Rs. 1,066 on the back of strong Q4 performance. The company reported a solid 50 percent jump in Q4FY15 net profit at Rs. 9.48 crore when compared with Rs. 6.34 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Total income too was up over 18 percent to Rs. 65.79 crore from Rs. 55.68 crore.

HDFC ended flat at Rs 1303  on the back of RBI nod for raising $ 500 million via the ECB (External Commercial Borrowings) route.

RPP Infra Projects jumped 1.2 percent to Rs. 152 on the back of winning a fresh order worth Rs. 46.53 crore from Hindustan Prefab, an Government of India Enterprise.

Shriram EPC zoomed over 12% to Rs. 44.10 after the company's board approved conversion of the funded interest term loan to the maximum of Rs. 313 crore of the CDR Lenders into equity shares of the company.

Larsen & Toubro gained 2% at Rs. 1,801 after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AREVA for Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project.

Sequent Scientific scaled to a fresh 52-week high at Rs. 668 after the company announced that it allotted 11 lakh warrants to Pronomz Ventures LLP, a Promoter Group entity, at Rs. 475 on 11 April 2015. The stock finally ended at Rs. 651, up 17 percent.

Reliance Industries too extended its winning run, and was up another 2% at Rs. 922. The stock has rallied nearly 12% in the last five trading sessions. Media reports stated that the company has discovered massive gas reserves at MJ-1 block in its KG-D6 basin.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries stock ended 3% higher 1% at Rs 1148.The company has announced that the Allotment Committee of the Board of Directors has approved the following at their meeting held on April 10, 2015 allotted 334,956,764 (Thirty Three Crore Forty Nine Lakh Fifty Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Four) equity shares of Re. 1 each to the shareholders of erstwhile Ranbaxy in the ratio of 8 (eight) equity shares of Re. 1 each of the Company for every 10 (ten) equity shares of Rs. 5 each of erstwhile Ranbaxy held. After allotment, the total number of issued and paid up equity shares of the Company has aggregated to 2,406,120,674 of Re. 1 each.

Hester Biosciences has continued its winning run into the tenth straight trading session.The stock has hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 681.In the process, the stock has surged by nearly 63 percent in the last ten trading sessions.

Firstsource Solutions Ltd stock closed 4% higher at Rs 34 after report said that the company is looking at Organic & Inorganic growth.