Asian markets trade higher on Tuesday

Most of the Asian equity indices have rebounded after Monday’s sharp sell-off and open higher in Tuesday’s morning trade after US job creation accelerated in June raising hopes of growth recovery in world’s biggest economy. However, gains remained capped as investors were nervous over Beijing’s new drive to reform credit to restructure the economy. Meanwhile, China’s annual consumer inflation accelerated more than expected in June, as food cost soared, limiting any near-term room for the People’s Bank of China to loosen policy to underpin the slowing economy. 

Shanghai Composite rose 5.00 points or 0.26% to 1,963.27, Hang Seng increased 63.53 points or 0.31% to 20,645.72, KLSE Composite jumped 3.65 points or 0.21% to 1,766.52, Nikkei 225 surged 188.25 points or 1.33% to 14,297.59, Straits Times gained 18.37 points or 0.58% to 3,173.84, KOSPI Composite added 10.27 points or 0.57% to 1,827.12 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 71.20 points or 0.90% to 7,957.54.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 20.03 points or 0.45% to 4,413.60.

RPower's 100 MW CSP project gets approval for carbon credit

This is the world's largest CSP project ever registered with the Clean Development Mechanism Executive board.

Reliance Power has announced that its 100 MW concentrated Solar Power Project in Rajasthan has received approvals for Carbon Credits under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change.

This is the world's largest CSP project ever registered with the Clean Development Mechanism Executive board.

Infosys spurts as LIC hikes stake

Infosys is currently trading at Rs. 2494.95, up by 23.25 points or 0.94% from its previous closing of Rs. 2471.70 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 2477.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 2512.00 and Rs. 2477.00 respectively. So far 48858 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 3010.00 on 07-Mar-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 2101.65 on 26-Jul-2012.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2512.00 and Rs. 2392.85 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 143604.98 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 16.04% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 57.83% and 13.59% respectively.

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has acquired equity shares amounting to Rs 1,069 crore in the IT heavyweight Infosys during the quarter ended June 2013. LIC, the biggest domestic institutional investor in the equity market, held 5.96 per cent stake in Infosys in the Q4 FY13, which has now gone up to 6.72 per cent as of June 30.

However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) trimmed their exposure in the company by almost a percent to 39.55 percent in the Q1FY14. The overseas investors held 40.52 per cent stake during the January-March quarter.

Maruti Suzuki, Alstom T&D, Tata Power and Deccan Chronicle may grab investors’ attention today

Alstom T&D India has been awarded a contract by Bajaj Infrastructure Development Company, to supply e-BoP (Electrical Balance of Plant) Package for their upcoming 3 x 660 MW Super Thermal Power Project (TPP) in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. The contract is worth approximately Rs 200 crore (euro 28.5 million).

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has shut the third shift at its diesel engine plant at Manesar, which has an annual capacity of 3,00,000 units. It has also been reported that the company has asked 200 contract workers to go on indefinite leave following cut in diesel engine production at its Manesar plant due to low demand.

A team of officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided Deccan Chronicle Holdings’ premises on Monday evening. A fortnight ago income-tax (I-T) department sleuths swooped down on the offices of the company. The CBI has been probing the affairs of the debt-strapped DCHL following a complaint regarding irregularities in the company's balance sheet by the Bangalore-based Canara Bank.

Realty firm Ashiana Housing will invest about Rs 800 crore over the next seven years to develop a housing project at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The company has acquired about 52 acre of land in Bhiwadi where 4,000 units will be developed in phases. Ashiana Housing, which focuses on building homes for senior citizens, had posted a net profit of Rs 33 crore over a turnover of Rs 161 crore during 2012-13 fiscal. This is company's eighth project in Bhiwadi, the total development in this project will be 5 million sq ft, which will be completed in the next seven years.

Educomp Solutions, India's leading education company, has approached Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) forum to restructure its rupee debt to correct the asset liability mismatch on its Balance Sheet. The Company has also approached CDR forum for restructuring of debt in its K-12 business (2nd major business, operated through its Subsidiary - Educomp Infrastructure and School Management). The debt-restructuring exercise will enable the Company to comprehensively address the liquidity issues by matching the maturity profile of debt with the relatively long-term nature of its investments.

Mumbai-based education company, Aptech, is open to acquisition opportunities that are adjunct to career education, according to chief executive officer and managing director Ninad Karpe.  The 26-year-old company, which metamorphasised itself from being a computer education firm to a career education company, had in January 2010, acquired Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) for Rs 76 crore. It is entering the African market aggressively and have signed up in Rwanda and Ghana recently. It should be in 15-20 countries in that continent, from the present six, within the next two to three years.

Infrastructure major Punj Lloyd will construct a residential complex for the Delhi Police at an estimated cost of Rs 1,300 crore at Dheerpur in the National Capital. The project, being developed on public-private partnership (PPP) mode, will have over 5,200 residential units, three schools and some commercial space, and will be maintained by Punj Lloyd for 25 years. To keep control on city's crime rate, the police needs to have better coordination with the public.

Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power company has inaugurated a first-ever pilot model of a Carbon Neutral Self Powered Eco-Hut, which was designed and constructed in India at Walwhan Garden, Lonavala. The Eco-Hut, made with an investment of Rs 10 lakh has zero carbon footprints as compared to a modern house. This initiative successfully demonstrates an integrated eco system of human habitat in harmony with nature, while conserving the environment for tomorrow. In a modern house, standard accessories cost about Rs 35 lakh and emit 4.2 tonnes of CO2.

Reliance Capital sells its 39.5% stake in DTDC for Rs. 158cr

Reliance Capital's private equity business has sold its entire stake in courier company DTDC to French logistics company Geopost SA. A Reliance Private Equity offloaded its entire 39.51% stake in a Rs. 158 crore deal. Anil Ambani-led company had bought the stake in 2006 for Rs. 66 crore

GeoPost, will invest additionally through a primary infusion in business development. GeoPost is a part of the French postal department La Poste Group.

"Reliance Private Equity has sold their entire 39.51 per cent stake to French company GeoPost for Rs 158 crore," DTDC Executive Director Abhishek Chakraborty was quoted by reports as saying.

The deal will allow DTDC & GeoPost to penetrate & consolidate its presence in India & key global markets more comprehensively, said a statement by DTDC.

Announcing the partnership, Chairman and Managing Director Subhasish Chakraborty of DTDC said, “We are very excited about the partnership. DTDC will get access to European markets & new technologies. The association will play a huge role in developing and strengthening the business relationships between the two great countries.”

Iain Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, GeoPost International added “India is a critical global market which is set for strong CEP growth and we’re delighted to invest in one of its leading players. The partnership will give us access to an unrivalled footprint in India and a great management team that shares our ambition to be a leading global CEP player serving both B2B and B2C markets.”

Earlier this year, DTDC had spread its roots to the APAC region and the Middle East through acquisitions and joint ventures with Eurostar in UAE, Fast World Express Pty Ltd in Australia, Kuwait Bayarek General Trading & Contracting Co. W.I.I. in Kuwait and Air Dragon Freight (Beijing) Co Ltd. in China.

CARE reaffirms 'AA+' rating to Shriram Transport Finance’s NCD

Credit rating agency, CARE has reaffirmed ‘AA+’ rating to Shriram Transport Finance Company’s Non convertible Debenture (NCD) worth Rs 10,850 crore. The rating agency has also reaffirmed ‘AA+’ ratings to company’s subordinated Debenture worth Rs 2750 crore.

The company has received the said rating on the back of its leadership position and almost three decades of experience in the pre-owned commercial vehicle (CV) financing segment, comfortable capital adequacy, overall healthy profitability parameters, strong resource raising capabilities, and proactive and experienced management team.

Shriram Transport Finance is the flagship company of the Chennai-based Shriram group and is classified as deposit taking Asset Financing NBFC. The company was with an objective to provide hire purchase and lease finance for the medium and heavy commercial vehicles to individual truck operators.

Bharti retires Rs 7k-cr debt with stake sale money

 the country’s largest telecom operators by subscriber base, on Monday, said it had repaid Rs 6,796 crore of debt from the proceeds of the five per cent stake sale to Qatar Foundation Endowment.

The debt reduction would result in improvement in the company’s capital structure and balance sheet leverage, Bharti said in a statement.

With this, Bharti’s total debt burden would come down to Rs 57,043 crore as the company had reported its total debt at Rs 63,839 crore till March 31. But it is likely the company might have reduced its debt further during the past quarter which would reflect in its quarterly results. In June, Bharti Airtel had issued 199,870,006 new equity shares at Rs 340 each, representing five per cent equity stake in the company, to Qatar Foundation Endowment for a total consideration of Rs 6,796 crore.

The company has recently raised $1.5 billion via issue of dollar bonds through its Netherlands-based subsidiary. It has announced plans for raising Rs 500 million through a second tranche of bonds, and has received bids worth four times the value on offer.

After the announcement, Bharti’s stock had touched a high at Rs 307.8, a rise of four per cent during the day, and was last traded at Rs 293.5 on BSE on Monday.

Indian telcos cut debt
Indian telecom companies have been selling assets to bring down huge debt. On Sunday, Reliance Communications (RCom) announced the demerger of its real estate assets into a separate company to unlock value.

Last week, RCom had said it has made full repayment of two loans amounting to Rs 1 billion (Rs 6,000 crore), during the June quarter. Further, RCom has made scheduled repayments of another $207 million foreign currency loan, on the respective due dates during the quarter ended June 30.

Government to select merchant bankers for NHPC stake sale

The government will finalise merchant bankers for managing disinvestment of NHPC, which is expected to mop up over Rs 2,200 crore to the exchequer, according to reports.
Reports said that they are about 10 merchant bankers, including Credit Suisse, ICICI Securities, SBI Cap and HSBC which have evinced interest in managing stake sale.
The government plans to sell 11.36% of its stake, or its 120 crore shares of NHPC through Offer For Sale (OFS).
Government currently holds 86.36% stake in NHPC.

Rupee falls to record low

Rupee slid to a new record low against the dollar on Monday (08 July 2013) as the greenback was boosted by stronger than expected US jobs numbers.
The currency hit 61.20 rupees to the US unit moving past its previous low of 60.76 rupees on June 26 — as worries mount that the US Federal Reserve will reduce its stimulus programmed that has prompted investor flows into emerging markets.
The currency closed on Monday at 60.62 rupees to the dollar.

Sensex to open on a positive note

A relief is in store this morning though it need not convert into a rally anytime soon. The global markets are breathing a bit easy. A speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's tomorrow, some solution to Portugal's economic crisis are among the positive expectations. The slowdown in China's economy remains a concern. China’s inflation rose in June even as the decline in factory-gate prices extended its longest streak in a decade.

The outlook is a positive opening. A lot of stock-specific activity will pick up ahead of the results. The rupee, which breached the 61 to the dollar mark on Monday, will remain in focus. The RBI is believed to have intervened to stem the slide. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet industry leaders on July 29 to discuss the rupee.

Mutual fund numbers are encouraging as investors pumped in Rs 37, 435 crore in various mutual fund schemes in May taking the total funds mobilisation during the first two months of the current fiscal to Rs 1.44 lakh crore, says a report. It may be recalled that in April there was a net outflow of Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 added around half a percent each while the Nasdaq was marginally higher. Asian stocks are mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 1.5% higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has gained around half a percent. South Korea's Kospi index and China's Shanghai index are marginally higher.

China’s consumer price index rose 2.7% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Ramco Systems’ could see some profit booking today. The stock had risen on rumors that a major IT company is looking at buying stake. The company has denied the rumour.

Investment proposals by domestic and foreign businesses have dried up by a huge 75% since March last year, Assocham said. According to the chamber, a total of 697 proposals worth Rs1.4trn were made by foreign and domestic investors during 2012-13. This was, however, much lower than the 2,828 investment proposals worth Rs6trn received during FY12.

India’s gold imports in June have fallen 80% to about 32 tonnes. While the drop was sharp against the record May imports of 162 tonnes, compared to June 2012 level it is a 36% drop.