Adani Blames Contract Suspensions at Australia Coal Project on Government Delays

 Adani Mining said its latest move to suspend work on its Carmichael coal mine project in Australia was due to delays in government approvals to proceed.

"The preliminary works contracts were previously sustained due to the level of investment Adani had maintained for more than 12 months in anticipation of a range of government decisions and approvals timeframes," Adani said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Parsons Brinckerhoff and Korea's POSCO Engineering & Construction Co Ltd, which is also touted as an investor in the final project, were told late last week to stop work on the Carmichael mine, the Sydney Morning Herald reported earlier

Aurobindo Pharma Falls 4% on Reports of FDA Concern

Aurobindo Pharma shares fell over 4 per cent to Rs 718 in the early trade on Wednesday after The Economic Times newspaper reported said that the US drug regulator (USFDA) raised quality issues at Unit 12 manufacturing facility of the company.
 
Aurobindo Pharma's Unit 12 is mainly used to manufacture drugs which are exported to US. The unit manufacturers products like Tazobactam and Piperacilin.

However, analysts don't expect any supply disruption in the short term due to the concerns raised by US FDA. Aurobindo Pharma will file a remediation report with the USFDA soon to address the concerns of the regulator.

As of 9.27 a.m., Aurobindo Pharma shares traded 1.46 per cent lower at Rs 737.50 apiece, underperforming the Nifty, which was down 0.25 per cent at 8,507.

20 Stocks in focus today

Eicher Motors Ltd: The company has announced a net profit after tax and minority interest of Rs. 2,218.30 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 1,574.40 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.The company reported net sales up 29.3% at Rs. 2,871.5 crore vs Rs. 2,221.6 crore (YoY).


IDBI Bank: The bank plans to raise Rs. 26,000 crore through a mix of equity and bonds to fund its business growth.

Cairn India: The company has announced a net profit of Rs. 8,349.80 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 10,929 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Total Income has decreased from Rs. 50,001 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 to Rs. 31,906.60 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Idea Cellular Ltd: The company has announced a net profit after tax of Rs. 9,308.30 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 7,282 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Bayer CropScience Ltd: The company reported its net profit at Rs 106.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, due to rise in expenses.  The total Income for the quarter was at Rs.1,398.7 crore.

Unitech: The company have cut their shareholding by 12.93% between April to June 2015. At the end of March 2015, the promoter and promoter group had a total shareholding of 45.54% which is now down to 32.61% at the end of June, according to a filing by the company on the BSE.

South Indian Bank: The bank is looking to increase its foreign holding limit to 59% from the 49 %, for which it seeks government's approval, media reports suggest.

Indiabulls Housing Ltd: The company reported a 20.6% increase in net profit to Rs.511 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2015, mainly due to demand from smaller towns and non-metro areas. The company's consolidated total Income at Rs 1,829 crore.

Bharti Airtel Ltd: The company said it has no plans to exit Africa despite announcing exclusive talks with France's Orange to sell four of its units there.

Cipla: The pharma company announced that its Board has approved an investment by Fidelity Growth Partners India and US-based Fidelity Biosciences, through FIL Capital Investments (Mauritius) II or its affiliates, in its recently launched consumer healthcare business which is under incorporation.

SKF India Ltd: The company has posted a net profit of Rs. 465.50 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 541.40 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Total Income has increased from Rs. 6,210.60 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 to Rs. 6,305.50 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

HCC Ltd: The leading infrastructure construction company, in joint venture with Coastal Projects Ltd, has been awarded a Rs. 785 crore contract by Northeast Frontier Railway.

Piramal Realty: The real estate development arm of Piramal Group, announced that an affiliate of Warburg Pincus will invest Rs. 1800 crore (US$284 million) for a minority stake in the company.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation: The company has been in news for the indefinite strikes, in which nearly 12,000 employees have participated. A wage hike is the core agenda of the protest.

Force Motors: The company inaugurate its new engine manufacturing and testing facility near Chennai.  The facility will build and test engines and transmission for BMW cars and SUVs made in India.

Bosch: The company plans to invest Rs.4 billion in its Chennai facility, which currently manufactures washing machines.

ABB India: The company has been awarded a Rs 1.25 bn order by PowerGrid Corporation of India for the extension of three sub-stations in Vadodara, Manesar, and Malerkotla.

Tata Power: Crash in coal prices and debt restructuring plan pending with lenders, has delayed the company's plans to sell its 30% stake in Arutmin mine in Indonesia for close to US$500mn to Bakrie group of Indonesia.

Indian Hotels Company: The company will open 14 new properties in India and abroad this year. This will be twice the inventory company is set to open compared to last year.

Vedanta Ltd: The company has scaled down operations and may make "huge" job cuts due to low world prices and rising imports.

IBM, United Tech Drag Dow; Apple Results Weigh on Futures

US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as results from IBM and United Technologies dampened early optimism over earnings season and after-the-bell declines in major tech shares suggested losses would continue on Wednesday.

The Dow fell 1 per cent, with IBM and United Tech contributing around 118 points to the 181-point drop. The decline marked the biggest percentage fall in about two weeks for the blue-chip index.

IBM's shares fell 5.9 per cent to $163.07, a day after news that the company's revenues dropped for the 13th consecutive quarter and fell short of analyst expectations.

Fellow Dow component United Technologies tumbled 7 per cent to $102.71 and was the worst performer on the Dow after cutting its full-year profit outlook for the third time this year.

"For the first time in a while, fundamentals seem to be driving the action today in an otherwise very quiet macro backdrop and probably will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks as we work through the heart of earnings season," said Ryan Larson, head of US equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management in Chicago.

A trio of tech companies pushed stock futures lower after the closing bell, as Apple tumbled 6.2 per cent to $122.65, Microsoft lost 3.5 per cent to $45.65, and Yahoo shed 2.2 per cent to $38.85 after their quarterly results.

Volume on the Nasdaq e-minis spiked in the minute after the Apple results as 3,935 contracts changed hands, the most active minute of the day including regular trading hours.

Strong earnings from technology companies earlier this earnings season helped drive gains on the Nasdaq, which has outperformed both the Dow and S&P 500 in July.

While markets are near record highs, June-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to dip 1.9 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That marks an improvement from the expected decline of 3 percent on July 1, but well below the 5.9 per cent gain forecast on Jan. 1.

So far, 70 per cent have reported earnings above analyst expectations, above the 63 per cent average beat rate since 1994.

However, only 53 per cent have topped revenue forecasts, below the 61 per cent average beat rate since 2002. US companies are expected to post their worst sales decline in nearly six years in the second quarter, in part due to the strong dollar that reduces the value of US companies' overseas income.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 181.12 points, or 1 per cent, to 17,919.29, the S&P 500 lost 9.07 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 2,119.21 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.74 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 5,208.12.

NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,841 to 1,217, for a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,630 issues fell and 1,128 advanced for a 1.44-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 26 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 94 new highs and 114 new lows.

Volume was light, with about 6.15 billion shares traded on US exchanges, below the 6.54 billion average so far this month, according to BATS Global Markets.

Dollar Rally Takes a Breather, Uptrend Seen Intact

The dollar nursed losses early on Wednesday after taking its biggest one-day fall so far this month, though most observers felt it was just a hiccup in the currency's long-term uptrend.

In part the dollar was a victim of its own success having climbed for most of the past four weeks to provide bulls with tempting profits.

"There was no obvious catalyst for the dollar pullback but USD losses coincided with a retreat in equity markets and lower US front-end yields," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note to clients.

Yet fundamentals favour the currency given the Federal Reserve remains on track to hike interest rates later this year.

"We expect to see good interest to buy the US currency on this pullback and we remain generally bullish," says BNP.

The dollar index last stood at 97.314, down from Tuesday's 98.151 - a high not seen since late April.

It recoiled to 123.90 yen from a six-week high of 124.48, while the euro rebounded to $1.0937, pulling away from a three-month trough of $1.0808 set on Monday.

US stocks fell on Tuesday as results from IBM and United Technologies dampened optimism for the earnings season. The blow to stocks made bonds look more attractive in comparison and nudged Treasury yields lower, in turn weighing on the greenback.

With the dollar on the backfoot for now, commodity currencies were given a hand up.

The Australian, Canadian and New Zealand currencies all peeled off six-year troughs set in recent sessions.

The Aussie popped back above 74 US cents, climbing from a low of $0.7328, while its kiwi peer rose above 66 US cents from $0.6498.

The loonie advanced to C$1.2946 per dollar, edging off Monday's trough of C$1.3025.

The Aussie's immediate fortunes hinge on inflation data due at 0130 GMT and a speech by the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at 0305 GMT.

The RBA is of the view that the Aussie needs to weaken further to help offset bigger falls in commodity prices such as iron ore, Australia's single biggest export earner.

The risk of fresh verbal intervention from Glenn Stevens could keep the Aussie capped for now.

There is little else in terms of market-moving data for Asia on Wednesday. In Europe, the Bank of England (BOE) will publish the minutes of its July policy meeting.

Repeating comments made earlier in the month, BOE Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday the central bank will need to decide around the turn of the year whether the time is right to start raising rates.

Gold Languishes Near Five-Year Low as More Downside Seen

Gold struggled to move away from a five-year low on Wednesday, reflecting sustained pressure on the metal days after its steepest fall in almost two years, with more losses seen ahead as the demand outlook dims.

India is not rushing to pick up the slack in Chinese demand as would-be buyers wait for further price declines, as a wedding season lull and poor rains curb appetite.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,101.28 an ounce by 0046 GMT, not far above Monday's trough of $1,088.05 when bullion slid as much as 4 per cent in a selloff exacerbated by huge volumes traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

US gold for August delivery slipped 0.3 per cent to $1,100.50 an ounce.

Investors are finding less reason to hold gold as a safe haven following the global financial crisis, with the dollar strengthening before what is expected to be the first rate increase by the US Federal Reserve in nearly a decade.

While bullion's slump is heaping new pressure on an already stressed gold mining industry, mine closures are not expected to happen quickly as operators instead try to reduce costs to keep operations going.

But the steep price slide threatens to squash a run of mining mergers and acquisitions just as momentum in the sector was picking up. Mining executives and fund managers warn predators will turn more cautious before splashing out cash or approving capital raisings, at least until bullion shows signs of stabilising.

Gold no longer has the allure it once had for funds, as a failure to perform when its price was expected to rise and recent volatility, prompt them to seek returns and protection elsewhere.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell further to 22.17 million ounces on Tuesday, the lowest since August 2008.

Asian Shares Dragged Down by Wall Street's Earnings Woes

Asian stocks skidded on Wednesday after earnings dragged down US equities, while the dollar edged away from highs hit earlier this week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses and was down about 1 per cent.

S&P 500 mini futures were down about 0.4 per cent from late US levels, after US equities tumbled on weak earnings from bellwethers IBM and United Technologies, while Apple Inc slumped in late trading after posting its results.

Japan's Nikkei stock index dropped 1.3 per cent on track to snap its six-day rising streak, and pulling away from Tuesday's nearly four-week closing high as the Apple news reverberated on related tech shares.

"Since the market had been rising, such bad news can take a toll," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities. "But the impact from Apple's weak forecast should not drag on."

Spot gold shed about 0.6 per cent on the day to $1,094.50 per ounce, after plunging to five-year lows on Monday as investors unloaded bullion against a backdrop of improving risk sentiment as Greece agreed on a plan with its creditors that will keep it in the euro zone for now.

"Our commodities strategists believe gold should range-trade around current levels, but they do not dismiss the possibility of further price falls, given the lack of safe-haven interest," strategists at Barclays wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Standard & Poor's on Tuesday upgraded Greece's sovereign credit rating by two notches and revised its outlook to stable from negative, citing euro zone countries' initial agreement to start negotiations with Athens on a third bailout.

The euro edged down about 0.1 per cent on the day to $1.0927, edging back toward Monday's three-month low of $1.0808.

The dollar index rose about 0.1 per cent to 97.392 after rising as high as 98.151 in the previous session, its highest level since late April.

The dollar edged down about 0.2 per cent against the yen to 123.69 yen after scaling a six-week high of 124.48 yen on Tuesday.

Crude oil futures remained under pressure as investors worried about ample supply.

US crude was down 1.6 per cent at $50.05, while Brent shed about 1 per cent to $56.50.

Oil Prices Resume Decline on Supply Glut Worries

Oil prices resumed their declines in Asia Wednesday following a US report showing stockpiles surged last week, with analysts warning for further weakness ahead.

Ahead of an official report, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute (API) said stockpiles had increased by 2.3 million barrels last week.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery fell 70 cents to 50.16 a barrel and Brent crude for September tumbled 53 cents to $56.51 in late-morning Asian trade.

Both contracts had posted gains Tuesday.

"Crude prices remain under pressure as the supply overhang continues to persist," said Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG Markets Singapore.

Wednesday's official Energy Information Agency data "will be closely monitored, although it is evident that the supply glut problem is expected to stay for a while longer", Aw added.

Oil prices have tumbled from more than $100 a barrel in June last year as strong production from the United States and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led to supplies outpacing demand.

Concerns over the return of Iranian oil to the market following a deal with major powers on its nuclear ambitions have also added to pressure on prices.

The deal -- which aims to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon -- allows for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on the country, enabling it to ramp up shipments of oil.

A strong greenback, boosted by the prospect of higher US interest rates, has also dented demand for dollar-priced oil, helping push prices downwards.

Sensex, Nifty Set for Lower Opening Amid Weak Global Cues

09.00 a.m. Rupee opens lower at 63.58 per dollar against Tuesday's close of 63.54.

08.45 a.m. Market analyst Rajat Bose says 8,516 is the most critical support for Nifty today.

08.30 a.m. Analysts say earnings and the monsoon session of Parliament will be the key triggers for domestic stocks for the next few days. On Tuesday, Infosys reported stellar numbers for the June quarter, but HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and HUL all disappointed with weaker-than-expected earnings. Infosys, which has the third largest weightage in the Nifty, rose over 11 per cent and supported markets. Had it not been for Infosys, markets would have slumped even more, analysts say.

Bharti Infratel, Alstom India, Bajaj Finserv, Ceat, JSW Energy, Muthoot Finance, PVR, Tata Metaliks and United Breweries are some of the companies that will report earnings today.

08.25 a.m. The SGX Nifty, or the Nifty futures trading on the Singapore Exchange, traded 36.50 points or 0.43 per cent lower suggesting a weak start for stock markets. Spot Nifty had closed 74 points or 0.86 per cent down at 8,529 yesterday, while the BSE Sensex had ended 238 points lower at 28,182.

The BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty are likely to open lower on Tuesday tracking weakness in global markets and disappointing earnings growth by a large number of domestic companies. Nearly all markets in Asia traded with deep cuts after earnings dragged down US equities. Japan's Nikkei stock index was down 1.25 per cent, pulling away from Tuesday's nearly four-week closing high.

Overnight, Wall Street skidded on weak earnings from bellwethers IBM and United Technologies while Apple slumped in late trading after posting its results.