Future Retail trades with traction on the BSE

Future Retail is currently trading at Rs. 112.50, up by 1.60 points or 1.44% from its previous closing of Rs. 110.90 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 110.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 114.85 and Rs. 109.05 respectively. So far 642123 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 158.30 on 08-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 63.30 on 17-Dec-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 114.85 and Rs. 84.25 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2460.61 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 48.36% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 29.25% and 22.39% respectively. Future Retail has decided mutually to call off the discussions and not to proceed with the proposed JV with Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) general insurance subsidiary - L&T General Insurance (LTGI), due to inordinate delay in finalizing the transaction documents and obtaining permissions. Last year in March, the company was in talks for sale of partial stake to L&T and its other joint venture partner Participatie Maatschappij Graafschap Holland NV (which is a subsidiary of Assicuranzioni Generali S.P.A) in the merged entity to be created by aforesaid merger process. Future Retail (formerly known as Pantaloon Retail (India)) is India’s leading retail chain and part of Indian conglomerate Future Group. It operates retail space spread over 11 million square feet. It has a network of more than 1000 stores across 63 cities in India and has employee strength of 30,000 people.

South Indian Bank soars as RBI allows FIIs to buy further shares

South Indian Bank is currently trading at Rs. 25.40, up by 0.80 points or 3.25% from its previous closing of Rs. 24.60 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 25.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 25.95 and Rs. 25.25 respectively. So far 1645800 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 26.35 on 07-Jun-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 18.95 on 04-Sep-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 25.95 and Rs. 23.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3413.63 crore. The institutions and non-institutions held 53.71% and 46.29% stake in the bank, respectively. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to buy shares in South Indian Bank as the foreign shareholding in the company has gone below the prescribed limit. The restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the bank are withdrawn with immediate effect. Reserve Bank of India has notified that the aggregate share holding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/American Depository Receipt (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in South Indian Bank have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. South Indian Bank has reported 10.18% rise in its net profit at Rs 141.31 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 128.25 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 11.79% at Rs 1334.74 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1193.91 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Oil Minister defers gas price decision till June-end

Leaving the onus of crucial decision taking onto the next government, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily has decided to hold gas prices at the current level of $4.2 per unit until the end of June and not allow retrospective revision of rates. The new prices will now be applicable only from July 1, 2014. This development is the latest in a series of moves undertaken by various authorities to defer the increase in gas prices since June last year, when the Cabinet first approved the Rangarajan formula, which if applied would have doubled gas rates from April 1, 2014. Back in December, Cabinet reviewed its June decision and decided to allow Reliance Industries to up gas prices, provided it furnished a bank guarantee which would be en-cashed, if the company lost an arbitration case against the government. But with AAP turning gas pricing into a poll campaign issue and writing to the Election Commission, the poll panel asked the government to hold the new pricing regime till polling ended. Now, the prime minister's office has sought the oil ministry for a status report on gas pricing. According to the new formula, the gas price would be doubled to about $8.3 per unit from $4.2 at present. But, while the decision was taken in June 2013, the implementation date was set for April 1, 2014 to ensure 'level field' among all players. However, by delaying implementation, the government has allowed the policy decision to be linked to issues arising out of RIL's failure to meet the gas supply target and also given fodder to the Opposition's charge, voiced by AAP and Dasgupta, that the price was being raised to benefit Reliance

Future Retail calls off proposal for JV with LTGI

Future Retail has decided mutually to call off the discussions and not to proceed with the proposed JV with Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) general insurance subsidiary - L&T General Insurance (LTGI), due to inordinate delay in finalizing the transaction documents and obtaining permissions. Last year in March, the company was in talks for sale of partial stake to L&T and its other joint venture partner Participatie Maatschappij Graafschap Holland NV (which is a subsidiary of Assicuranzioni Generali S.P.A) in the merged entity to be created by aforesaid merger process. Future Retail (formerly known as Pantaloon Retail (India)) is India’s leading retail chain and part of Indian conglomerate Future Group. It operates retail space spread over 11 million square feet. It has a network of more than 1000 stores across 63 cities in India and has employee strength of 30,000 people.

Bhushan Steel gains on receiving Odisha SPCB’s approval to start Blast Furnace No 2

Bhushan Steel is currently trading at Rs. 448.80, up by 1.30 points or 0.29% from its previous closing of Rs. 447.50 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 450.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 451.80 and Rs. 448.15 respectively. So far 6283 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 504.00 on 11-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 437.30 on 03-Apr-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 454.00 and Rs. 440.55 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10181.84 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 71.22% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 5.75% and 23.03% respectively. Bhushan Steel has received all consents and approvals from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Odisha for starting and operating the Blast Furnace No 2 installed at its Steel Plant al Meramandali, Odisha. The company has started the process of operation of Blast Furnace No 2 and the production from the furnace is expected to start in few weeks.   Bhushan Steel, formerly known as Bhushan Steel & Strips, is one of the leading players in the steel industry with steel making capacity of 2.2 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).

Rolta receives 2014 SAP Pinnacle award

In recognition of its outstanding contributions as an SAP partner, Rolta has received a 2014 SAP Pinnacle award as OEM Partner of the Year. SAP Pinnacle awards are presented annually to the top SAP partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnership with SAP and driving customer success. Finalists and winners in 21 categories were based on field recommendations, customer feedback and performance indicators in the five umbrella categories: Run Together (for co-innovation), Run Further (for market expansion), Run Clever (for service delivery), Run Sustainably (for sustainability) and new for 2014 Customers' Choice. Rolta India conducts business in India, and internationally through subsidiaries in various countries. Rolta is a leading provider of innovative IT solutions built around its intellectual property for many vertical segments, including Federal and State Governments, Defence, Homeland Security, Utilities, Process, Power, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, and Healthcare.

RBI allows FIIs to purchase shares in South Indian Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to buy shares in South Indian Bank as the foreign shareholding in the company has gone below the prescribed limit. The restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the bank are withdrawn with immediate effect. Reserve Bank of India has notified that the aggregate share holding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)/Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/American Depository Receipt (ADR)/Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in South Indian Bank have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy. South Indian Bank has reported 10.18% rise in its net profit at Rs 141.31 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 128.25 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 11.79% at Rs 1334.74 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1193.91 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012

Stable govt post-elections to help India grow 6.5% in next 5 years: Crisil

Way lower than 9% annual growth rate achieved in 2010-11, Rating agency Crisil has forecasted a stable government post-elections to help economy grow at an average of 6.5 percent for the next five years. However, this growth rate is strictly based on the premise of decisive mandate in the general elections 2014-15. It further elucidated that it is not the election results which impact the economy, but policies formulated by the new government that will boost growth. The analytical firm Crisil opined that a decisive mandate would create an environment for speedy resolution of policy bottle-necks, hasten reforms and jump start investment efficiency, which has fallen drastically over the last two years. Credit rating and research firm is of the view that an improvement in investment efficiency, which is expected to kick in with faster project clearances, implementation of stalled infrastructure projects and resumption of mining activities, will shore up investment growth when both domestic and global demand begin to rebound and improve capacity utilization, thus laying out the groundwork for the country's doorway into a phase of healthier growth. Crisil, however, pointed out that evolving investment dynamics, illustrate that neither a surge in investments nor improvement in efficiency witnessed during fiscals 2004-2011, which led to near 9 percent GDP growth, would recur in the next five years. Nonetheless, the rating agency underscored that achieving an average growth of 6.5 percent over the next five fiscals was inadequate for a country with over 269 million BPL populations as this would not do enough to accelerate growth, and thus job creation, setting off a vicious cycle of lower household income, consumption and investment spending that would be so much harder to shake off. It further warned that in absence of proper solution for pressing policy and implementation issues, average growth rate of 6.5% would be unsustainable.

Tata Steel to finalise investment in Canada: Report

Tata Steel is reportedly all set to finalise investment in Canada. The company is a strategic partner and the biggest stakeholder in the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed New Millennium Iron Corp (NML), which is pursuing the project. However, NML did not disclose the size of the proposed investment. The project financials have been assessed with capital expenses, excluding certain infrastructure-related capital expenses in the mine, port and ferroduct (of over 600 km to carry the ore concentrate slurry to the pellet unit). The project could produce 17 million tonnes a year of two types of pellets and 6 million tonnes a year of pellet intermediates for export. Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group is the first integrated steel plant in Asia and is now the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer and a Fortune 500 Company.

Markets trade in fine fettle in early deals

Extending previous session's rally, Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday aided by continued foreign fund inflows. Moreover, election euphoria playing its part with international credit rating agency Crisil saying that 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. Global cues too remained supportive with the US markets extending 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 too were trading mostly in the green at this point of time. Japanese market too was moving higher as yen extended losses, boosting the outlook for exporters. Back home, the markets are likely to have a volatile session of trade as the participants roll over positions from the near month April series to May series ahead of the derivatives expiry on Wednesday. The stock markets would be shut on Thursday on account of Parliamentary elections in Mumbai. On the sectoral front oil and gas, realty and capital goods witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal and auto remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1122 shares on the gaining side against 566 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex opened at 22771.24; about 6 points higher compared to its previous closing of 22764.83, and touched a high and a low of 22834.81 and 22754.51 respectively. The index is currently trading at 22829.46, up by 64.63 points or 0.28%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index. The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 63.97% stocks advancing against 32.27% declines. The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up was by 0.54% and Small cap gained 0.72%.  The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 1.61%, Realty up by 1.18%, Capital Goods up by 0.94%, PSU up by 0.73% and Consumer Durables up by 0.55%, while Metal down by 0.59% and Auto down by 0.18% were the top losers on the sectoral index. The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.81%,  Gail India up by 1.80%, RIL up by 1.58%,  L&T up by 1.16% and HDFC Bank up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Hindalco was down by 1.53%, SSLT was down by 1.39%, Tata Motors was down by 0.85%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.61% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.52% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, the Government has reviewed the raw sugar subsidy amount and decided to continue with the export subsidy of Rs 3,300 per tonne on its shipments for the period of April-May 2014. In February, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved an incentive for export of four million tonnes of raw sugar for two years to help the cash-starved sugar industry to pay arrears to sugarcane farmers. The CCEA decided to review the subsidy amount after every two months depending on the rupee-dollar exchange rate. The government had fixed export subsidy at Rs 3,300 per tonne for the February-March 2014 period. As per the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), around 4,00,000 tonnes of sugar is likely to be exported during April- May 2014. In the first six months of the current marketing year (October-September), India exported around 1.45 million tonnes of sugar in both raw and refined form out of which around 3,50,000 tonnes of sugar was exported in March, the first month of this subsidy plan. The latest government’s move is likely to enhance the raw sugar exports in coming future. India, world's second biggest sugar producer and largest consumer, particularly produces more white sugar for domestic consumption as comparison to raw sugar. Meanwhile, the raw sugar segment is presenting a lot of exports opportunities for the country. Till April 15 of marketing year 15, the country’s sugar output declined 4 percent to 23.1 million tonnes from 24.15 million tonnes in the same period last year. Sugar production declined in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, country’s top two producing states, while output in Karnataka was at a record level on the back of good rains. The CNX Nifty opened at 6,822.90; about 5 point higher as compared to its previous closing of 6,817.65, and has touched a high and a low of 6,831.80 and 6,813.00 respectively. The index is currently trading at 6,830.45, up by 12.80 points or 0.19%. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 3.00%, Gail up by 1.90%, ONGC up by 1.83%, Reliance Industries up by 1.54% and L&T up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Ambuja Cements down by 1.83%, Hindalco down by 1.60%, SSLT down by 1.31%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.96% and ACC down by 0.93% were the top losers on the index. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; KLSE Composite gained by 1.20 points or 0.06% to 1,864.13, Nikkei 225 surged 35.89 points or 0.25% to 14,548.27, Straits Times increased by 12.36 points or 0.38% to 3,268.19, Seoul Composite rose 2.57 points or 0.13% to 2,001.79 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 27.01 points or 0.30% to 8,978.20. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite slipped 1.09 points or 0.05% to 2,064.73, Hang Seng declined by 53.00 points or 0.23% to 22,707.24 and Jakarta Composite was down by 26.17 points or 0.53% to 4,866.12.