VST Tillers Tractors forays into the mini tractor segment

VST Tillers Tractors has forayed into the mini tractor segment with the launch of a 22 HP mini tractor. The Bangalore-based company is betting big on farm mechanisation and subsidy on mini tractors to improve its business prospects in FY15. In this regard, the company has set up a new manufacturing plant on 14.6 acres of land at Hosur in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs 70 crore to produce mini tractors. VST has two mini tractors with 18.5 HP and 22 HP in its portfolio and is also developing a 26 HP mini tractor which will be rolled out in the next two years. VST Tillers Tractors was incorporated in technical collaboration and joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan for the manufacture of Power Tillers and Diesel Engines.

Maruti Suzuki gains as FII’s up stake in company during Q4FY14

Maruti Suzuki India is currently trading at Rs. 1990.00, up by 1.65 points or 0.08% from its previous closing of Rs. 1988.35 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 1999.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 2007.60 and Rs. 1982.35 respectively. So far 6711 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1999.30 on 21-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1217.00 on 28-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1999.30 and Rs. 1906.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 60064.09 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.21 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 35.96 % and 7.83 % respectively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have raised their stake in Maruti Suzuki India, the largest passenger cars maker in India to 22.36% during Q4FY14 from 21.47% as on December 31, 2013. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors’ (DIIs) shareholding went down to 13.60% at the end of March 2014 quarter from 13.98% as on December 31, 2013. Under DIIs, financial institutions / banks held maximum stake of 7.78%, followed by mutual funds/UTI (5.82% stake). Meanwhile, promoter and promoter group shareholding was unchanged at 56.21% at the end of March 2014 quarter.

IOC buys 3 million barrels of West African crude oil

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has purchased three million barrels of West African crude oil via a tender for June lifting, including a rare purchase of Nigeria’s Okwuibome grade. The company has bought million barrels of Okwuibome oil from trader Glencore as a trial cargo for processing at some of its own plants. Further, the company bought a very large crude carrier containing about a million barrels each of Nigeria’s Zafiro and Qua Iboe grades. IOC, along with subsidiary Chennai Petroleum, controls about 31% of India's oil refining capacity of 4.3 million bpd.

Idea Cellular surges on adding 22.40 lakh new mobile subscribers in March

Idea Cellular is currently trading at Rs 144.25, up by 1.45 points or 1.02% from its previous closing of Rs 142.80 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 142.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 144.70 and Rs 142.75 respectively. So far 34133 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 188.35 on 15-Oct-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs 111.20 on 22-Apr-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 144.75 and Rs. 136.80 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 47404.34 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.81% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.92% and 32.27% respectively. Idea Cellular, one of the biggest cellular carrier of the country has added 22.40 lakh new mobile subscribers in March, 2014. Following the addition, the company’s total subscriber count stood at 13.57 crore with a market share of 18.81%. Idea Cellular, an AV Birla group company, provides Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)-based wireless service at the pan-India level, it is present in all 22 telecom circles.

Tata Power Company’s rights issue oversubscribed 1.96 times

Tata Power Company, one of India’s largest integrated power companies, has closed subscription to its rights issue on April 15, 2014. The issue has been oversubscribed 1.96 times, wherein the company collected an amount of Rs 3,916.41 crore on application. The company had offered up to 33,22,30,130 equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each at a price of Rs 60 per equity share for an amount aggregating to Rs 1,993.38 crore on a rights basis to existing shareholders. JM Financial Institutional Securities, BNP Paribas, HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (India), Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and SBI Capital Markets were the lead managers to the issue. Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company with a significant international presence. The Company has an installed generation capacity of 8521 MW in India and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz. Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading.

Sterlite Technologies successfully tests multi-terabit data transmission over long haul network

Sterlite Technologies has achieved a milestone technology development in telecommunication space. The company’s Center of Excellence at Aurangabad, India has successfully established and tested multi-tera bit transmission over long haul network. A significant indigenous capability is now established to transmit huge volumes of data over long distances. For example, around 85,000 movie files of 700 MB each can now be transferred from Bangalore to Kolkata in a minute. Furthermore, the Center of Excellence has a strong focus to enhance test-bed capability to much higher data rate (e.g. 400Gbit/s per channel) and longer transmission distances. The effort is to accelerate Sterlite’s vision of national competence towards Terabit scale communications for better telecom infrastructure planning at a national level and for Telecommunication operators.

IL&FS Engineering soars as arm bags work order worth Rs 268 crore in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company is currently trading at Rs. 50.90, up by 4.60 points or 9.94% from its previous closing of Rs. 46.30 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 50.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 50.90 and Rs. 49.20 respectively. So far 12,000 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 50.90 on 22-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 19.40 on 02-Aug-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 50.90 and Rs. 43.75 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 457.00 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 29.78% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.27% and 52.95% respectively. IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company’s subsidiary - Maytas Infra Saudi Arabia Company (MISA), has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from Saudi Binladin Group for Road Drainage Works for King Abdul-Aziz International Airport Development Project-Phase1, Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The total value of the contract is Saudi Riyals 166.89 million equivalent to approximately Rs 268 crore. The scope of work involves construction of road drainage works including excavation, steel reinforcement, concrete works, erection, and backfilling. IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company is engaged in infrastructure development, construction and project management. The company has undertaken projects in segments such as roads/ expressways/ highways, buildings and industrial structures, irrigation canals and dams and thermal and hydel power.

Sundaram MF introduces Fixed Term Plan -GE (366 Days)

Sundaram Mutual Fund has launched the New Fund Offer (NFO) of Sundaram Fixed Term Plan -GE (366 Days), a close ended income scheme. The NFO opens for subscription on Apr 22, 2014 and closes on Apr 23, 2014. No entry load or exit load will be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 5000. The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against CRISIL Short Term Bond Fund Index and its fund manager is Sandeep Agarwal. The investment objective of the scheme is to  generate income with minimum volatility by investing in debt and money market securities, which mature on or before the maturity of the scheme.

Gold futures decline on upbeat US earnings reports

Gold futures declined on Monday as global equities markets continued to rise driven by some upbeat earnings reports from the US and a few encouraging economic data from the US and China last week. Further, sharp outflows from the world's biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the lack of a further increase in geopolitical tension prompted selling also influenced gold price. Gold futures for June delivery settled down $5.40 at $1,288.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. While spot gold fell 0.4 percent at $1,288.72 an ounce.

Markets to extend gains with a positive start

The Indian markets continued their rally with over half a percent of gains in last session, supported by continuous buying by the FII’s. Today is the penultimate day of the F&O series expiry and though the start is likely to be good, some volatility may appear in the latter part of the trade. Election euphoria will keep playing its part with international credit rating agency Crisil saying that a stable government post-elections is likely to help the country grow at an average of 6.5 percent for the next five years. However, Crisil said it is not the election results which impact the economy, except in improving sentiment, but policies formulated by the new government that will boost growth. The pharma stocks will keep buzzing, as the Reserve Bank of India has said that the non-compete clause will not be applicable in acquisition of existing pharma companies by foreign entities or investors except in certain special cases. Under a non-compete clause a party agrees not to enter into a similar trade in competition against another party as part of a deal. The oil and gas stocks too may see some action as the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has sought a status report from the Oil Ministry on issues around the implementation of the Cabinet decision of increasing the gas prices. There will be lots of important result announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing. HDFC Bank, Indiabulls Securities, Mahindra Lifespace, MRF, Rallies India, Tata Metaliks, VST Inds, Zensar Tech will announce their numbers today. The US markets extended their last week’s rally in last session, reflecting the upward momentum for the markets on getting some good earnings numbers and after Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.8 percent in March. Asian markets have made mostly a positive start. Japanese market too was moving higher as yen extended losses, boosting the outlook for exporters. Back home, Monday’s session was another fabulous day of trade for the Indian equity markets, which scaled fresh high levels. Hectic buying activity which took place during last leg of trade drove the markets higher, with frontline gauges ending at their all time closing high levels of 22,750 (Sensex) and 6,800 (Nifty). Meanwhile, rally at Dalal Street also saw participation of broader indices, which outperforming larger peers, ended with profit of over a percent. Though, there was some cautiousness too with CRISIL’s report stating that it may not be easy for India to return to 9% growth during 2014-2019 and instead settle for an average 6.5% growth, provided there is a stable government at the Centre. On the global front, most of the Asian equity benchmarks ended in the red as tensions in Ukraine kept investors cautious amid an absence of catalysts as several markets remained closed for the Easter holiday. 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. Shares of capital goods companies like Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), AIA Engineering and Pipavav Defence edged higher as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their inflows in stocks of these companies on expectation that the policies of the new government at the centre would help kick-start the investment/capex cycle. Meanwhile, steel stocks remained on buyers’ radar after a report stated that global steel demand is likely to grow at a faster pace of 3.3 per cent this year, driven by rising demand for the commodity from India, Brazil, Russia, West Asia and North Africa. Additionally, hotel shares too witnessed some traction led by Hotel Leelaventure, which was up nearly 14% after the company said it is in talks with sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Malaysia to sell its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai for around Rs 1,850 crore to pare debt. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 135.99 points or 0.60%, to settle at 22764.83, while the CNX Nifty gained 38.25 points or 0.56% to settle at 6,817.65.