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.