Markets to extend the gaining momentum with a positive start

The Indian markets went for a rally in last session; the election exuberance was clearly visible in marketmen mood and there was aggressive buying after the IMF increased its growth forecast for India in 2014. Today, the start is likely to be in green and the momentum is expected to remain firm, as after IMF, now World Bank has projected an economic growth rate of 5.7 percent in fiscal year 2015 for India on the back of a more competitive exchange rate and many large investments going forward. In other good news, on the back of better business environment India Inc raised $2.72 billion more through external commercial borrowings (ECB) in the first 11 months of financial year 2013-14. The steel stocks may see some action on the World Steel Association (WSA) statement that India’s steel demand may grow 3.3 per cent this year on higher demand from construction and manufacturing sectors. There will be some buzz in the aviation stocks too, as the Sebi is likely to pass final order on Jet Airways, Etihad Airways deal soon.

The US markets bounced back, ending higher in last session following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting that eased concerns about the central bank raising interest rates sooner than anticipated. The Asian markets after a positive start has pared some gains after the report that Chinese exports unexpectedly fell.

Back home, boisterous benchmarks showcased an enthusiastic performance on Wednesday with bull taking full control of the session as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Earlier, markets after a gap-up opening traded in very tight-band for most part of the day but massive buying in last leg of trade mainly underpinned markets to clock record closing high. Sentiments remained up-beat as traders remained bullish about corporate India’s improvement in new orders and sales growth on a slew of project clearances undertaken by the government in recent months and the possibility of a stable government at the centre, post the Lok Sabha elections. Marketmen also remained optimistic on International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest edition of the World Economic Outlook, stating that India’s growth is expected to recover from 4.4 percent in 2013 to 5.4 percent in 2014 supported by slightly stronger global growth, improving export competitiveness and implementation of recently approved investment projects. Hopes of BJP-led government coming to power too aided the sentiments. Supportive cues from US markets too provided some support to local markets, while Asian markets too ended mostly in the green terrain. Firm opening in European counters too supported the sentiments. Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. Frontline indices ended the session near their day’s high levels with Sensex settling comfortably above their crucial 22,700 levels, while Nifty ended tad below the psychological 6,800 mark, as investors took to hefty across the board buying. The markets sentiment was also boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on April 7, 2014. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 703.71 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Meanwhile, rally in banking stocks like Bank of Baroda, South Indian Bank, Indian Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce supported the sentiments as certain broking firms have upgraded the banking sector to Neutral from Negative earlier on signs of a slight economic turnaround. Moreover, sugar stocks continued to remain on buyers’ radar as speculators indulged in creating positions, supported by summer season demand from bulk consumers amid fall in production. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 358.89 points or 1.61%, to settle at 22702.34, while the CNX Nifty gained 101.15 points or 1.51% to settle at 6,796.20.

Reliance Power surges as its Sasan UMPP achieves boiler light up for fourth 660 MW unit

Reliance Power is currently trading at Rs. 73.20, up by 1.55 points or 2.16% from its previous closing of Rs. 71.65 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 71.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 73.55 and Rs. 71.90 respectively. So far 695224 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 83.10 on 21-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 60.10 on 04-Fab-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 74.00 and Rs. 69.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 20421.32 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.98% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 11.68% and 13.31% respectively. Reliance Power’s Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) has achieved boiler light up for fourth 660 MW unit. With this, the total capacity of Sasan UMPP is now 2640 MW (4X660 MW). Sasan UMPP is an upcoming 3,960 MW pit-head coal-based power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The project is the first domestic coal-based UMPP awarded in the country by the Government of India. The first 660 MW unit of the Smart UMPP was commissioned in March 2013 and the 2nd Unit in Jan 2014. The 3rd unit was synchronized to the grid in March 2014, reached full load and is operational. First three 660 MW units of the project comprising 50% of total capacity are already operating, 4th Unit Boiler lighted up and the balance two units are in advanced stages of construction. Reliance Power is a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and is established to develop, construct and operate power projects domestically and internationally.

SBI trades higher on the bourses

State Bank of India (SBI) is currently trading at Rs. 1956.15, up by 33.90 points or 1.76% from its previous closing of Rs. 1922.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1920.25 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1958.90 and Rs. 1920.25 respectively. So far 100465 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 2469.25 on 20-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1452.90 on 28-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1958.90 and Rs. 1867.40 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 145578.02 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 58.60% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 30.53% and 8.75% respectively.

State Bank of India (SBI) has sold non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs 4,000 crore in 2013-14 to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs). The ARCs largely pay in the form of Government security receipts (SR).

This helps a bank to take the equivalent NPA figure out of its books and make an yearly provision for recovery or actual cash payment.

The bank’s Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances increased to 5.73 percent in Q3FY14 as against 5.64 percent in Q2FY14 and 5.3 percent in Q3FY13 while net NPAs rose to 3.24 percent from 2.91 percent and 2.59 percent during the same period.

India’s steel demand grows marginally at 0.6% in FY14

India’s steel consumption grew at a four-year low rate of 0.6 percent in FY'14 to 73.93 million tonnes (MT) mainly impacted by a prevailing economic slowdown and high interest rates. As steel demand derived from construction and automobile sectors, the performance of the steel industry is therefore largely dependent on overall economic growth of the country. Steel consumption in the country grows by 1.2 to 1.3 percent of the GDP growth. Construction sector accounts for around 60 percent of the country's total steel demand while the automobile industry consumes 15 percent. Both sectors were plagued by a slowdown in the economy. Indian economy’s growth slowed down to a decade low at 4.5 percent in FY13 and 4.6 percent during the first three quarter of FY'14. Furthermore, financial year 2013 was also not good for the steel industry as well with steel consumption growing by a mere 3.3 percent on account of subdued demand. However, domestic steel consumption grew by 5.5 percent in FY'12 and 9.9 percent in FY'11. Domestic steel consumption is likely to remain under pressure in coming future on account of ongoing economic downturn. The government has been taking various measures to enhance the domestic steel demand. In previous month, it has relaxed the norms for import of steel and its products amid subdued domestic production. Over the past few years, domestic steel industry has been struggling with increased input cost, leading to decline in steel production. Further, low iron ore production, a main raw material for steel production, mainly in Goa and Karnataka region has not only hampered the capacity utilization of various steel players, but also led to significant rise in the cost of iron ore in the domestic market due to limited supplies.

SpiceJet unveils special promotional airfare offer

SpiceJet, the second largest low-cost airline has unveiled a 3 day special promotional airfare offer for travel originating in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Under this offer passengers can book their tickets with all inclusive fares starting at Rs 1,773 (from Hyderabad), Rs 1806 (from Vijayawada, Madurai, Rajahmundry & Tuticorin), Rs 1,859 (from Coimbatore & Tirupati), Rs 1,907 (from Chennai), Rs 2,009 (from Vizag) and Rs 2,123 (from Kolkata). The tickets could be booked till April 10, 2014 for travel between June one and July 31, 2014. This is the sixth discounted ticket sale SpiceJet has come up with in this calendar year. It comes less than a week after the carrier closed another discounted ticket sale that offered passengers the opportunity to fly for Rs 1. SpiceJet is India’s most preferred airline delivers the lowest air fares with the highest consumer value. The airline currently operates more than 350 daily flights to over 44 Indian cities and 9 international destinations.

Onmobile Global strengthens on executing non-binding MOU for disinvestment of ‘Voxmobili SA’

Onmobile Global is currently trading at Rs. 37.10, up by 3.00 points or 8.80 % from its previous closing of Rs. 34.10 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 34.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 38.10 and Rs. 34.15 respectively. So far 853434 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 41.80 on 16-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 19.05 on 06-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 35.20 and Rs. 33.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 425.53 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 38.27 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 13.61 % and 48.12 % respectively.

OnMobile Global has executed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the potential divestment of its group company, Voxmobili SA, which specializes in mobile telecommunication products. The proposed deal will be subject to and contingent upon certain events, including applicable regulatory and shareholders’ approvals.

If the proposed deal were to consummate, the company could realize an amount ranging between $23 million to $26 million for the divestment of the said company, which is around its book value, subject to escrows and other conditions customarily contracted as a part of such a deal.

Onmobile Global offers contest management, content aggregation and distribution, voice short codes,  missed call alerts, multimedia push services, mobile advertising, mobile search, ringtones, ring back tones, personalized music greetings, mobile media portals, phone backup, voice portals, and voice SMS.

Bharti Airtel gains on entering into cross-border remittance partnership with MTN

Bharti Airtel is currently trading at Rs. 318.00, up by 0.30 points or 0.09% from its previous closing of Rs. 317.70 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 318.60 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 319.75 and Rs. 317.35 respectively.

The BSE group 'A ' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 373.50 on 01-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 270.25 on 08-Apr-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 328.50 and Rs. 312.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 126977.41 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 65.23 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 24.53 % and 10.24 % respectively.

Bharti Airtel, country's largest telecom operator, has entered into a cross-border remittance partnership with South Africa's MTN Group to facilitate mobile money transfer between the two West African countries of Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. This new partnership would help both the operators’ customers on either side of the border. MTN and Airtel already enjoy great adoption of Mobile Money services in their respective footprints, and connecting their operations through remittance services appears a logical next step.

Bharti Airtel is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.

Growth in credit demand from industries slowed down to 12.2% in February 2014

The growth in credit demand from industries slowed down to 12.2% to 19,970 crore in the month of February as compared to 18.9% growth in the same month of previous year. Prevailing economic slowdown coupled with political uncertainty associated with an election year have made corporates reluctant to launch any greenfield projects, resulting in declining credit demand from industrial sector. Slow credit flow to industrial sector has been adversely impacting domestic banks which are now pushing retail credit to boost credit growth. High borrowing cost and delays in environmental clearances for industrial and infrastructure projects has forced the big infrastructure players to defer their investment decisions. Indian large infrastructure companies such as HCC, Lanco and Gammon India are struggling with high debt and have restructured them to avoid loan default. The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks would rise to 4.2-4.4% by March, from 4.1% reported in December 2013. Rising NPA levels have become an issue for growth of the banking industry, which is the most dominant segment of the financial sector and plays an important role in the economic development of the country. Banks help to channel savings into investments and encourage economic growth by allocating savings to investments that have potential to yield higher returns. Meanwhile, risk appetite of industrial firms is likely to improve after the formation of new government, which could provide a boost to credit growth.

Sun Pharma to acquire Ranbaxy in $4 billion deal

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd is to acquire 100 per cent of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd in an all-stock transaction, the companies announced on Monday.Their combination would create India’s largest pharmaceutical company and the world’s fifth-largest speciality and generics drugs company, according to a statement from Ranbaxy.The combined entity’s revenues are estimated at $4.2 billion.Ranbaxy shareholders will receive 0.8 shares in Sun Pharma for each Ranbaxy share.

Japan’s pharmaceutical Daiichi Sankyo Co, which has a majority stake in Ranbaxy, would become a significant shareholder of Sun Pharma after the transaction.Daiichi would also have the right to nominate one director to Sun Pharma’s board of directors.Ranbaxy, one of India’s largest drugs majors, has faced a string of problems recently with US drugs authorities.In January, the US Food and Drug Administration banned imports from a Ranbaxy unit in India due to quality control violations.In May 2013, an US subsidiary had to pay the drugs administrator $500 million in penalties for sale of below-quality drugs.

Crompton Greaves up 2% on USD 29 mn order in Indonesia

Shares of  Crompton Greaves jumped over 2 percent intraday on Friday as its power transformer plant at Indonesia bagged order worth USD 29 million. As part of the order, it will supply extra high voltage transformers for PT PLN‘s Indonesian electricity transmission network. “The order involves supply of 500kV, 275kV and 150kV power transformers, which will be installed across PT PLN’s transmission network in Java and Sumatra islands,” the company said.  The Indonesian plant will cater to markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South America. PT PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara) is the sole Indonesian government-owned corporation in electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Indonesia. The company informs that manufacturing of the new orders will done at its factory located in Bogor, Indonesia. The facility is equipped to design, manufacture and test transformers up to 550kV class locally in Indonesia.