Market drifts lower

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are also down 0.2-0.3 percent each at 10,587 and 11,150, respectively. The Metal index is marginally up at 9,702. 

After trading on a subdued note for the major part of the trading session, the market has now drifted lower on the back of fresh fall in shares like - oil & gas, FMCG, pharma, realty, power, capital goods.

The key benchmark indices touched a fresh intra-day low at 27,481 and 8,322, respectively.

Now, the BSE Sensex has dropped 149 points at 27,495 and the NSE Nifty has declined 45 points at 8,326.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are also down 0.2-0.3 percent each at 10,587 and 11,150, respectively.

Among sectors, the BSE Oil & Gas and FMCG indices have shed nearly a percent each at 9,425 and 7,669, respectively. The Healthcare, Realty, Power, Auto and Consumer Durables indices are the other notable losers.

The Metal index is marginally up at 9,702.

The breadth has turned negative - out of 2,626 stocks traded on the BSE so far 1,482 stocks have advanced, while 1,034 stocks have declined.

Tata Motors and ONGC are the top Sensex losers - down over 1.5 percent each at Rs. 496 and Rs. 324, respectively.

NTPC, ITC, HDFC and Dr.Reddy's are the other losers - down over a percent each.

On the other hand, Gail India has surged almost 2 percent at Rs. 393, ahead of results.

Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki are the other prominent gainers.

Lupin to submit BE studies for Trimetazidine tablets

The Company has successfully conducted the new BE studies for the said Products and submitted the report in May 2015 for review by EMA 

The Exchange had sought clarification from Lupin Ltd with respect to news article appearing in Financial Express on May 22, 2015 titled "Some drugs made by Lupin, DRL & Mylan lose EU approval"

Lupin Ltd clarified that in connection with GVK Bio Eqivalence('BE') studies, the Company along with many other companies in the EU received communication from European Medicines Agency ('EMA') for suspension of Trimetazidine MR 35mg. tablets and Cefpodoxime 200mg. tablets in January 2015.

The Company informed the EMA that it will submit new BE studies for Trimetazidine MR 35mg. tablets and Cefpodoxime 200mg. tablets to EMA by June 2015.

The Company has successfully conducted the new BE studies for the said Products and submitted the report in May 2015 for review by EMA."

Tata Motors falls ahead of Q4 results

The company is scheduled to announce its results today. The stock is now down almost 2 percent on the BSE. 

Tata Motors continues to trade near the lowest level of the day at Rs. 495 - with a drop of almost 2 percent at Rs. 496, on hopes of weak earnings.

The company is scheduled to announce its results today.

On the BSE, so far 135,000 shares have changed hands at the counter as against the two-week daily average volume of 571,000 shares.

This morning, the stock started the day at Rs. 504.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex is quoted at 27,594 - down 49 points 

Top corporate news of the day - May 26, 2015

The Delhi High Court asked Coal India Ltd how it was offering coal from two Chhattisgarh mines to NTPC when it had cited production issues to cancel an e-auction of 49,000 MT of the mineral, mined from the same area, which was won by JPL. 

The Delhi High Court asked Coal India Ltd how it was offering coal from two Chhattisgarh mines to NTPC when it had cited production issues to cancel an e-auction of 49,000 MT of the mineral, mined from the same area, which was won by JPL.

NMDC said it has charted out a growth plan to take its iron ore production to 100mn tonnes by 2022.

Strides Arcolab has said its deal with Aspen Pharmacare to buy the latter's Australia assets will help the Indian drug company rebuild its business in that country and also get a product pipeline that was under development by Aspen. 

TVS Srichakra, tyre manufacturing arm of TVS Group which sells tyres under the brand TVS Tyres, is in the process of developing radial tyres for the TVS Motor-BMW joint venture two wheeler products, which are expected to be revealed in 2016. 

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a group company of Indian Oil Corporation, will raise around Rs10bn from its parent to strengthen its net worth. This, in turn, is expected to help the company borrow more to complete its Rs.31bn upgradation project to improve profitability. 

JSW Steel reported a 2% growth in crude steel production for April at 1.01mn tonnes. 

Bharat Heavy Electricals said it commissioned six hydro sets with a combined 736 MW capacity in 2014-15. 

National Thermal Power Corporation assured the Telangana Government that the entire power generated from the proposed 4000 mw thermal power project would be fully dedicated to the State. 

JK Tyre & Industries has launched its new Steel Wheels showroom at Karimnagar in Telangana. 

McDonald’s India has chalked out plans to reach out to newer markets by adding as many as 175-250 outlets in the West and South in the next 3-5 years. 

Ford Motor Company has decided to invest another Rs40bn to Rs.50bn in an R&D centre in Chennai, after investing a billion dollars in a second plant in Sanand, Gujara. 

Cairn Energy of UK has named former Bulgarian minister and lawyer Stanimir A Alexandrov as its arbitrator for resolution of the Rs.102bn tax demand the Indian government had slapped on it using retrospective taxation. 

Grasim Industries will sell its consumer products business to Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd on a slump sale basis.

Top Economy news of the day- May 26, 2015

Revenue Secretary asked the central board of direct taxes to put together a "strategy paper" for elimination of tax exemptions provided to corporates.

Revenue Secretary asked the central board of direct taxes to put together a "strategy paper" for elimination of tax exemptions provided to corporates.

After finally notifying the mineral auction rules, the government is now planning to bring fresh mining exploration rules separately. The new rules don't have anything pertaining to non-exclusive reconnaissance permit, which is mandatory for preliminary exploration.

Indian air cooler market is witnessing a major shift in consumer preferences

The Indian air cooler market size is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore in value term and around 30% of this is in the organised sector and rest is catered to by the unorganised segment players. 

The Indian air cooler market is witnessing a major shift in consumer preferences, with a spurt in demand for high-end coolers priced Rs 10,000 and above. Till a couple of years back, there was no air cooler available in the Rs 10,000 plus price range. When the first such air cooler model was launched by market leader Symphony, which has a 50% market share, other players too followed and this segment has grown from zero to over 15% share of the organised market in value terms.

 
Elaborating on why high-end coolers were introduced in the Indian market, Achal Bakeri, Chairman & Managing Director of Symphony Ltd said, “Indian consumer durable industry has been witnessing a shift towards high end models for various product categories. To address the needs of consumers seeking better features, we decided to introduce Symphony intelligent air coolers with advanced electronics, remote control and other attractive features as well as better performance. In no time, these intelligent range of air coolers became very popular as consumers did not mind paying a little extra for these feature packed coolers and today these models are amongst the best-selling models of Symphony. The Rs 10,000 plus models today account for around 25% of Symphony’s residential air cooler sales in India.”
 
The Indian air cooler market size is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore in value term and around 30% of this is in the organised sector and rest is catered to by the unorganised segment players. There are an estimated 247 million households in India and about 65% own fans, while only 4% of these households own air conditioners and 8% own air coolers. High and rising temperature levels are leading to greater demand for cooling solutions. With rising incomes, cooling solutions are increasingly viewed as necessities. Considering lower cost of ownership vis a vis ACs (70% lower capital costs and 90% lower running costs) and the constrained power supply situation in India, air coolers are the mass market option for Indian consumers. So, the potential customer base for cooling solutions in India is huge. 

GMR Infra gains on acquiring additional stake in DIAL

The stock so far has jumped 2.3 percent to a high at Rs. 14.82 on the BSE. 

GMR Infrastructure is trading on a positive note on acquiring 10 percent equity stake in Delhi International Airport (DIAL) from Malaysia Airports for a revised consideration of 80 million US dollar.

According to a release issued to the BSE, with the acquisition of stake from Malaysia Airports, the company's equity stake in DIAL has increased to 64 percent.

The stock so far has hit an intra-day high at Rs. 14.82 - up 2.3 percent from its previous close. Now, the stock is up 1.2 percent at Rs. 14.65.

The BSE counter has registered trades of around 357,000 shares, as against two-week daily average volume of 2.1 million shares.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex is down 50 points at 27,593. 

RBI appoints ICRA chief as member of External Advisory Committee

It may be recalled that Reserve Bank of India announced the names of the members of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) for payments banks on February 04, 2015. 

The Reserve Bank of India, has appointed Naresh Takkar, Managing Director & Group CEO, ICRA Limited as member of External Advisory Committee (EAC) for evaluating applications of payment banks in place of Roopa Kudva. 

Kudva has recused herself from the Committee.

It may be recalled that Reserve Bank of India announced the names of the members of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) for payments banks on February 04, 2015.

These were:

Chairman: Nachiket M. Mor, Director, Central Board of Reserve Bank of India

Roopa Kudva, former MD & CEO, CRISIL Limited

Shubhalakshmi Panse, former Chairman & Managing Director, Allahabad  Bank

Deepak Phatak, Chair Professor, IIT Bombay

Sensex, Nifty in red; auto, banking stocks drag

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.04% at 10,616, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.06% at 11,190. 

Following yesterday's significant fall, the market bucked the Asian cues and started the day on a tentative note ahead of futures & option expiry this Thursday.

At 9:27 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 27,595 down 49 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,355 down 16 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.04% at 10,616, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.06% at 11,190.

Some buying activity is seen in capital goods, fmcg, banking and consumer durables sectors, while oil&gas, auto and pharma sectors are showing weakness on BSE.

Vedanta, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, GAIL, M&M and HDFC are among the gainers, whereas BHEL, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries, ONGC, NTPC, Tata Motors and Cipla are losing sheen on BSE.

As the NDA government led by BJP’s Narendra Modi completes one year in office, most CEOs acknowledge the reforms undertaken and initiatives done to reduce corruption and ease rules for business. The market performance during the first year may not have been as gung-ho as one may have expected but the fact remains a run-up had taken place in anticipation of a new government at the Centre. The stock market wealth has grown by over Rs 10 lakh crore in this period with conglomerates like Tatas, Adani, Bharti, HDFC and Sun Groups clocking huge gains, says a report. Those who lost out include Ambani groups, Vedanta, ITC and L&T.

After falling on Monday the Indian market will look at recouping some of the losses. The fall was led by comments that US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen may raise interest rates this year itself. Greece’s warning about defaulting on its debt payments also adding to the fragile situation. The outlook is a flat start. Indices could turn choppy during the day on account of F&O expiry later this week. A host of results including Tata Motors will be on investor’s radar. US markets were closed for Memorial Day. Asian indices are mixed.

On the eve of the first anniversary of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that his mission was to improve the lives of India's poor and its farmers, seeking to put an end to criticism on this count by submitting what he said were his accounts for the year to the people. Modi said India had changed dramatically in a year. His biggest successes included fight against corruption, controlling inflation and putting in place programmes that would benefit farmers, a report stated.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has mandated a minimum 26% equity holding by the Indian promoter in any insurance company to ensure that the local investor does not use the liberal foreign investment and listing policy to dilute accountability.

Among sectors, the PSU Bank index has advanced over 0.5 percent at 3,513. The Metal index has also gained 0.5 percent at 2,380.

The Finance and FMCG indices have added 0.2 percent each.

The CNX Energy index, however, is down 0.2 percent at 8,488.

Lupin is the top gainer in the Nifty space - with a jump of over 2 percent at Rs. 1,790. Vedanta has rallied 1.3 percent at Rs. 202.

Tata Steel, Punjab National Bank, SBI, Tata Power and Gail India are the other notable gainers.

On the losing side, Tech Mahindra has slipped 2.3 percent at Rs. 633. BHEL, BPCL, ONGC, IndusInd Bank and Tata Motors are the other losers - down almost a percent each. 

Strides Arcolab to receive product pipeline developed by Aspen: Reports

Pharmaceuticals firm Strides Arcolab reportedly said deal with Aspen Pharmacare to buy latter's Australia assets will help the Indian drug company rebuild its business.

Pharmaceuticals firm Strides Arcolab reportedly said deal with Aspen Pharmacare to buy latter's Australia assets will help the Indian drug company rebuild its business.

Report says that the company will also get a product pipeline under development by Aspen.

Earlier, Strides Arcolab entered into a deal with Aspen Pharmacare to acquire Aspen's generic pharmaceutical business and related assets in Australia for 380 mn Australian dollars.

The business, which will operate under the Arrow Pharmaceuticals brand, will sell approximately 140 generic prescription drugs and an extensive range of non-prescription pharmacy products. The business and the assets being acquired will give Strides group one of the largest pharmaceutical product portfolios in the Australian market.

Strides’ previous business in the Australian generic pharmaceutical market, Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd, was sold to Actavis in January 2012 after a successful 5-year investment and growth strategy. The new Arrow Pharmaceuticals business will be led by Dennis Bastas, the previous founder and CEO of Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd.

India office market poised for growth in 2015: Colliers International

India’s GDP recorded a 7.5% growth in the October - December 2014; and the forecast is for the GDP to expand by 7.8% in January to March 2015 quarter. 

According to Colliers International’s India office property market overview April 2015, the Indian economy continued to see positive trends, with Business Confidence Index marginally up by 20 basis points in January 2015. India’s GDP recorded a 7.5% growth in the October - December 2014; and the forecast is for the GDP to expand by 7.8% in January to March 2015 quarter. In addition, the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) inflation reach edits 10-year low at -2.06% in February 2015.
 
Both the economy and the office market turned the corner in 2014 and are poised for further improvement in 2015

• For the commercial real estate sector, 2015 witnessed a good start, with first quarter office absorption of 8.5 million sq ft in the eight major metro cities in India, headed by Bengaluru (3.82 million sq ft, including 1.74 million sq ft pre-committed), NCR-Delhi, Gurgaon and NOIDA (1.48million sq ft), Mumbai (1.33 million sq ft), Pune (0.89million sq ft), Chennai (0.81 Million sq ft) and Kolkata (0.22million sq ft).
• Office space absorption increased by 2.8% from last quarter.
• Tenants from IT / ITeS and BFSI were the primary sectors driving this demand. Within IT / ITeS, E-commerce companies took up 52% of the total space absorbed.
• Select micro markets in cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai witnessed marginal increase in rental values in the range of 1% – 3% QoQ. Both the economy and the office market turned the corner in 2014 and are poised for further improvement in 2015.

 
“Among all the major markets, Bengaluru office market remains in the “sweet spot” in terms of supply-and-demand fundamentals. About 2 million sq ft of office space is expected to witness completion next quarter, out of which about 0.2 million sq ft is already committed. This steady increase in development activity and greater domestic and foreign investor interest in office market should result in additional occupancy and rent growth. Apart from this in Gurgaon many RFPs are floating and I anticipate an increase in office absorption in the near future. The Institutional sectors like Sector 32 and 44 will continue to remain preferred office locations due to location advantages and competitive rentals. Also micro-markets such as NH-8, DLF Cyber City, Golf Course Road and Sohna Road has witnessed 5 – 10% appreciation in rental values due to high occupancy rates in properties in these micro-markets, and the fact that these are currently the preferred locations of occupiers. Absorption has  increased, especially in Special Economic Zones, as a number of large format  deals have been concluded in trailing 12 months and many are in the pipe line and expected to be concluded in the coming quarters” says Vikas Kalia, National Director, Office Services
 
According to the report finding expanding economy, improving business sentiment and increasing job creations will keep the momentum in demand for office real estate in 2015.  In response to tenant demand, the strongest markets (namely Bengaluru and Gurgaon) will witness development of new stock. However, developer sentiment towards speculative construction of office buildings is expected to remain cautious, and this in turn will limit the risk of further overbuilding.