Airlines reduces fares by up to 50%: Reports

Spicejet was the first to reduce fares. The airline announced the launch of its first Super Sale Offer for 2015, with 5,00,000 seats for sale at all inclusive one way advance booking fares starting as low as Rs. 1,499 all-in 

Airlines dropped fares by up to 50% to fill up seats, according to reports.

Spicejet was the first to reduce fares. The airline announced the launch of its first Super Sale Offer for 2015, with 5,00,000 seats for sale at all inclusive one way advance booking fares starting as low as Rs. 1,499 all-in.  

While Jet Airways joined the sale bandwagon and is offering all-inclusive return tickets starting from Rs 4,459.

Under the scheme which is valid till March 31, Jet is offering a Goa-Mumbai-Goa ticket for Rs 4,459 

Asian Paints tumbles after Q3 results

Asian Paints has tumbled deeper into red in the early noon deals, after the company reported below than expected Q3 earnings.

According to a release issued by the company to the BSE, Asian Paints today reported around 12 per cent growth consolidated net of Rs. 368.18 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, 2014 as compared to Rs. 329.35 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, 2013.

Total income was also up almost 6 per cent at Rs. 3,684 from Rs. 3,481 crore in the same above mentioned period.

Now, Asian Paints is down over 3.5 per cent at Rs. 878, and has seen trades of around 450,000 shares as compared to its two-week daily average volume of 229,000 shares on the BSE. 

Sintex allots 29.3 lk shares to FCCB bond holders on conversion; stock up 1%

Sintex Industries Ltd has informed BSE that pursuant to the approval of the Shareholders of the Company at the 81st Annual General Meeting of the Company held on September 17, 2012; for issue of US $ 140,000,000, 7.50 per cent, step down Convertible Bonds due 2017, the Committee of Directors at its meeting held on January 29, 2015 has allotted 29,26,018 equity shares of Rs. 1/- each to Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds ("FCCB") holders on the exercise of their conversion right. 

With the said allotment of 29,26,018 equity shares of Rs. 1/- each of the Company as aforesaid, the paid up equity share capital of the Company as on January 29, 2015 stands increased from Rs. 37,70,78,682/- to Rs. 38,00,04,700/- divided into 38,00,04,700 Equity shares of Re. 1/- each. The company shares were trading at Rs. 115.15, up 0.70 per cent at BSE.

The stock has hit a high of Rs. 116.50 and a low of Rs. 114.20. Total traded quantity on the counter stood at over 10.67 lk shares.

Lupin stock up 3%

Shares of Lupin Ltd was up 3% at Rs1558 after the Board approved to increase Fll investments to 49%.

The stock was up 3% at Rs1558 and a low of Rs1520.

At the 31st Annual General Meeting held on August 07, 2013, the shareholders approved the proposal to increase the said limit. Applications for increasing the said limit were submitted to the Reserve Bank of India and Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Sensex, Nifty slip further

The market recovered most of its early losses in the early noon deals, but once again drifted lower on the back of fresh selling in select shares.

At 12:59 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 29,559 down 87 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,884 down 30 points.

In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap index is up 0.3 per cent at 11,398, while the Midcap index is flat at 10,812.

Among sectors, the Metal index is still trading with a loss of over a per cent at 10,182. The IT index has declined 0.4 per cent at 11,113. The Bankex and Power indices are also down 0.2 per cent each.

On the other hand, the BSE Realty index has jumped 2.3 per cent at 1,759. The Oil & Gas index has spurted 1.4 per cent at 10,197. The Consumer Durables index has advanced almost a per cent at 10,882 and the FMCG and Natural Gas have added 0.2-0.3 per cent each.

The breadth is neutral in early noon deals - out of 2,644 stocks so far traded on the BSE 1,265 stocks have advanced, while 1,263 stocks have declined.

Among Sensex-30 stocks, Coal India is the top loser, down 3.4 per cent to Rs. 371 ahead of stake sale plan.

HDFC has slipped over 2 per cent at Rs. 1,314. ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel have dropped around 2 per cent each at Rs. 377 and Rs. 367, respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra has shed 1.5 per cent at Rs. 1,294. Sun Pharma, Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Tata Steel and Maruti Suzuki are the other losers - down over a per cent each.

On the other hand, Reliance is the top gainer - up almost 3 per cent to Rs. 932. Dr Reddy's and HDFC Bank have jumped over 2 per cent each at Rs. 3,311 and Rs. 1,080, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever has spurted almost a per cent at Rs. 940. ITC, Gail India and Hero MotoCorp have also gained 0.4-0.7 per cent each.

Pitti Laminations stock hits 20% upper circuit

Shares of Pitti Laminations hit 20% upper circuit at Rs106 after Board has declared an interim dividend of Rs.0.75p per share of face value of Rs.10/- each for the financial year 2014-15.


The stock has hit a high of Rs106 and a low of Rs95.


The Board of Directors of the company has approved the sub-division of nominal value of equity share from face value of Rs.10/- (Rupees ten only) to face value of Rs.5/- (Rupees five only) subject to the consent of members to be obtained by way of postal ballot.

Top corporate news of the day - January 29, 2015

SpiceJet is offering 0.5mn discounted seats in a three day sale beginning, with tickets priced from Rs 1,499 onwards. Discount tickets are available for travel from February 15-June 30. 
 
Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd said it was likely to default on payments for convertible bonds worth US$200mn due on Feb 13 this year, as it could not generate enough revenue from its operations.
 
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is planning to raise US$2bn through medium-term notes to finance its capex initiatives. Fitch Ratings has assigned a 'BBB-' rating to the notes.
 
Oil and Natural Gas Corp said its natural gas output will jump 81% to 116 mscmd by 2019 after it bring newer fields in western and eastern offshore into production. 
 
Targeting revenue of up to US$5bn from the digital vertical in the next few years, TCS has hired 1,500 experienced hands in the segment so far this fiscal.
 
Reliance Industries and its partner BP plc of UK will invest about Rs60bn by 2016 to help sustain and improve recovery from the two main gas fields in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block. 
 
Amara Raja Batteries Limited is set to commission its greenfiled expansion of four-wheeler automotives batteries facility in Andhra Pradesh shortly.
 
Persistent Systems has created an M&A team as it looks for acquisitions to push it past the US$1bn revenue mark. 
 
Larsen & Toubro hopes to build nuclear reactors in partnership with Westinghouse Electric Company and is exploring other partnerships after India and the US cleared the way for implementing a bilateral agreement signed in 2008.
 
The government will sell up to 10% stake in the Coal India Ltd through offer for sale on Friday and is expected to mop up around Rs240bn at current market price.
 
Japan's Suzuki group plans to set up three plants in Gujarat's Hansalpur, which will exclusively supply to Maruti Suzuki India Limited. 
 
Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Oil Ltd are competing with state refiners to sell diesel to Indian Railways, after the government's control over diesel pricing ended last year.
 
Redington (India) Limited has expressed confidence that Apple’s plans to enhance its business in India would benefit the company and it would maintain the "leadership position in future as well".
 
The board of directors of Granules India has approved fund-raising by issue of equity shares to qualified institutional buyers to the extent of Rs2.5bn with applicable green shoe option through a qualified institutions placement.

Top economic news of the day - January 29, 2015

The Cabinet today approved a base price of Rs 37.05bn per megahertz (MHz) for 3G spectrum auction, a move which would help the government garner over Rs 1tn along with sale of other mobile frequencies.

More than 64% of 153mn LPG consumers in the country have joined the ambitious PAHAL scheme to receive cash subsidy in their bank accounts so they can buy the cooking gas at market price.
 
The Cabinet today approved a base price of Rs37.05bn per megahertz (MHz) for 3G spectrum auction, a move which would help the government garner over Rs 1tn along with sale of other mobile frequencies.
 
The government has taken a big step forward to assure the foreign investors by not appealing against the Bombay High Court order October last year, which ruled that Vodafone was not liable to be taxed in India in a transfer pricing dispute with the tax department. This will help other companies like Shell that also won a similar reprieve in the Bombay High Court last year.

Coal India on slippery ground ahead of stake sale

Coal India is trading on a slippery ground this morning after the government announced its plans to offload 10 per cent stake in the company tomorrow.

According to reports, the government will sell its 10 per cent stake via offer for sale on the stock exchanges on January 30, 2015. The floor price for the stake sale will be announced today after the market hours.

The average trading price for the stock in the last six months is around Rs. 360.

The stock this morning so far has dropped to a low of Rs. 365, and is now down almost 4 per cent at Rs. 369.75. The counter has seen trades of around 134,000 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of around 177,000 shares on the BSE.

At the current market price the government is expected to garner around Rs. 23,000 crore from the divestment.

Sensex down 100 points...Nifty below 8,900 levels

At 9:19AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 29,419 down 139 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,884 down 29 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index was down 0.13%, while BSE Small-cap Index was flat.

Realty, FMCG, oil and gas indices are the gainers, while Auto, healthcare metal, Consumer Durables, Power, banking, capital goods indices are the losers. 

GAIL, BHEL, COALINDIA,SUNPHARMA,TATASTEEL, Reliance, Hindalco are among the gainers, whereas HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, HUL are losing sheen on BSE.

The Fed says economic activity continues to expand at a ‘solid pace’ and that labor-market conditions have improved.  Inflation declines are related to the drop in the price of oil, the Fed acknowledged. The Fed said that even after employment and inflation get to their targets, "economic conditions, may, for some time, warrant keeping the target federal funds rate below levels the Committee views as normal in the longer run."

Global cues are subdued but the damage on Nasdaq was minimized with Apple’s record sales of big-screen iPhones, which led to the company posting the largest quarterly profit in corporate history. In fact the cash reserves of Apple which is US$178billion is enough to buy out TCS, ONGC and RIL.

The Dow fell 1.13%, the S&P 500 shed 1.35% and Nasdaq lost 0.93%. Asian markets are mostly lower with Japan's Nikkei 225 flat and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index trading 0.80% lower. China's Shanghai index is down over a percent.

The Centre will sell up to 10% in Coal India on Friday, a transaction that could fetch as much as Rs 24,000 crore, more than half the selloff target of Rs 43,425 crore for FY15. It has raised only Rs 1,700 crore till now, a report stated.

The gains of the Sensex in the past 10 trading sessions was largely driven by banks after the RBI's rate cut. Over 20% of the Sensex gains came from HDFC alone, says a report. Meanwhile, the  Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved HDFC Bank's capital-raising plan that would result in an inflow of foreign investment worth Rs 10,000 crore.