Top 14 stocks in focus today: Maruti Suzuki, Lupin, IOC

Check out the companies which will be in focus during trade today based on recent and latest news developments. 

IOC, BPCL, HPCL: The oil marketing companies have increased the price of petrol by Rs.2.19 per litre while it hiked the price of diesel by Rs.0.98 per litre. 

Maruti Suzuki: Maruti Suzuki India expects to clock double-digit growth in sales in FY17 as well, Executive Director (ED) Randhir Singh Kalsi has been quoted as saying.

Strides Shasun: Strides Shasun has closed the deal with Moberg Pharma, wherein the Indian pharma major has acquired 3 brands from Moberg for US$ 10 million.

Ricoh India: The company informed BSE that Mr Manoj Kumar has resigned from the Board of Directors of the Company with effect from April 02, 2016. He had been asked to go on leave on the March 29, 2016 by the decision of the Board of Directors.

Banking stocks in focus:  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan will announce its monetary policy today.

Mphasis: Private equity firm Blackstone said it struck a deal with Hewlett-Packard Enterprises to buy a majority stake in Mphasis, putting an end to the buyout battle for the Indian IT firm.

Aurionpro: Aurionpro has announced the completion of sale of its IT Services business in USA to Saicon Consultants Inc., a leading professional services company effective immediately.

Power Grid Corporation of India:The company said its board has given approval to investment proposals worth Rs. 3,324 crore, including Rs. 845 crore generation projects in Odisha and Rs 810 crore solar park in Karnataka.

Mahindra and Mahindra: Mahindra and Mahindra launched the Nuvo Sport compact sport utility vehicle. With prices starting at Rs.7.35 lakh (ex-showroom,Thane), Nuvo will be powered by a 1.5 litre mHawk engine, and replace the Quanto, the company’s first sub-four meter SUV offering launched in 2012. Mahindra has pitted the model against the Ford Ecosport.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd: FMCG major Hindustan Unilever has completed sale of its bread and bakery business under 'Modern' brand to Everstone Group's Nimman Foods Pvt Ltd.

Vedanta: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it had affirmed its 'B' foreign currency long-term corporate credit rating on Vedanta Resources PLC.

Kitex Garments Ltd: Kitex Garments Ltd posted Q4 net profit for the quarter stands at Rs.45 crore

Torrent Pharma: Hyderabad-based specialty injectable drugmaker Gland Pharma has attracted bids from top drugmakers, including Torrent Pharma and US-based Baxter, says a business daily.

Lupin Ltd: Lupin Ltd is looking for acquisitions in Japan to maintain its lead in a bid to counter the threat from the entry of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in that market, reports a business daily.

JSW Steel: Fitch Ratings downgraded Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel one notch to 'BB' from 'BB+', citing a decline in profitability and rise in leverage caused due to a prolonged period of weak international steel prices and debt-funded capacity expansion.


MBL Infrastructures: Construction firm MBL Infrastructures has bagged road development projects worth Rs 2,126 crore from NHAI in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.”MBL Infrastructures Ltd has been awarded the following projects on DBFOT (Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer) Hybrid Annuity basis by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) worth Rs 2,126 crore,” the company said.

Cox and Kings Ltd: Cox and Kings Ltd, one of the oldest travel agents in India, has sold a majority stake in its subsidiaries—hotel booking website LateRooms UK Ltd and short break specialist firm Superbreak, the company informed the exchanges on Monday.

NTPC : State-run power producer NTPC said water scarcity has forced temporary closure of its power plant at Farakka, West Bengal, but it will not affect power supply to the state. The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on March 30, 2016 as accorded investment approval for:- Mand saur Solar PV Project (5x50 MW) in the state of Madhya Pradesh at an appraised estimated cost of Rs. 1,502.77 Crore; and (ii) Bhadla Solar PV Project (4x65 MW) in the state of Rajasthan at an appraised estimated cost of Rs. 1,601.27 Crore.

Bajaj Auto: The auto company reported a 26 per cent increase in motorcycle sales at 2,64,249 units in March. 

All eyes on RBI Monetary policy

A 25 basis points cut in the policy interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is almost given, but the real impact of falling lending cost can be felt only if the central bank goes in for a bold reduction of at least 50 bps, an overwhelming majority of CEOs polled in an ASSOCHAM survey pointed out. 

All eyes are on RBI Monetary policy today. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan will announce its monetary policy today.

A 25 basis points cut in the policy interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is almost given, but the real impact of falling lending cost can be felt only if the central bank goes in for a bold reduction of at least 50 bps, an overwhelming majority of CEOs polled in an ASSOCHAM survey pointed out.

Banks to invite bidders for controlling stake in ABG Shipyard

The banks are actively pursuing the possibility of a change of ownership and management at ABG Shipyard, says the paper

Lenders to ABG Shipyard Ltd have decided to issue a public notice inviting expression of interest (EOI) from buyers keen to pick up a controlling stake in the company, reports a business daily.

“We are going for an open process since it is more transparent and we will get a better sense of the valuation of the company this way,” one banker close to the development has been quoted as saying.

“Initially, when we were going through a closed process, we could not find that many buyers. The discussions with the Vietnamese investors is still on, though we are doing this open process to see if any surprises come up,” the banker told the financial newspaper.

On 9th March, the paper had reported that the lending consortium was in discussions with a Vietnamese financial investor to sell a majority stake in ABG, after they invoked the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) provision in December.

The consortium is led by ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI).

The banks are actively pursuing the possibility of a change of ownership and management at ABG Shipyard, says the paper.

Another option that banks are exploring is to sell the assets of ABG Shipyard to recover their money, it adds.

ABG’s CDR was one of the largest loan recasts undertaken in recent years by India’s banks, second only to the INR 13,500 crore debt reorganization done for Gammon India in July 2013. 

Yes Bank raises Rs. 545 crore of Tier II bonds

The bank has raised Rs. 545 crore of Basel III compliant Tier II bonds on private placement basis. The issue was closed on March 31, 2016. 

Country’s fifth largest private lender Yes Bank has successfully raised Rs.545 crore of Basel III compliant Tier II bonds on private placement basis. The issue was closed on March 31, 2016.

The issue was rated "ICRA AA+ hyb" by ICRA and "CARE AA+" by CARE. The bonds will be listed on the BSE Limited.

Recently, the bank announced its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for one year at 9.60 per cent. As per RBI guidelines, the bank has approved MCLR for all Rupee loans sanctioned with effect from April 1st 2016.

Besides the one-year tenor, the bank has declared MCLR for other tenors — overnight (9 per cent), one month (9.10 per cent), three months (9.25 per cent) and six months (9.40 per cent).

A rate cut by RBI now, will only show its effect after few months

Global economic uncertainty has reduced with many foreign regulators taking action to address the same. The inflation has also not risen much inspite of previous rate cuts. The government has also decided to stick to its target of keeping the fiscal deficit to 3.5% of GDP. 

Last year, RBI cut the policy rates by a total of 1.25%. But unfortunately, there was no visible impact of these rate cuts, as borrowers showed no interest in applying for fresh loans. One of the reasons for this could be that banks themselves didn’t pass on the benefits fully to borrowers.
 
But as of now, various factors that influence RBI’s decision of rate cuts are pointing towards another cut soon. Global economic uncertainty has reduced with many foreign regulators taking action to address the same. The inflation has also not risen much inspite of previous rate cuts. The government has also decided to stick to its target of keeping the fiscal deficit to 3.5% of GDP.
 
All these factors have strengthened the case for RBI reducing the rate in the new financial year.
 
Even if one was to do some crystal-ball gazing for FY17, it will be found that with oil prices are expected to remain low and with monsoons expected to be normal, the chances of inflation increasing are pretty low. Some experts believe that in 2016, RBI might cut rates by atleast 0.50%. Of this, it is likely that 0.25% would be offered in the next policy review meet on 5th April. But RBI has in recent times surprised the markets with larger than expected rate cuts. So it’s possible that one might get to see a bigger round of easing than widely expected (-) 0.25%. As for the second round of rate cuts, it will could come after the impact of monsoon at the ground level.
 
But having said that, it must be noted that despite the 1.25% cut in rates, there hasn’t been much improvement in capacity utilization or companies’ interest coverage ratios. So the expectation that the anticipated 0.50% monetary easing will change things overnight, are bound to be met with disappointment. At best, the optimists should expect to see the benefits of future rate cuts only after few months.

Infibeam lists 6% higher than issue price

The company has raised Rs. 450 crore via an initial public offering. 

Shares of the Ahmedabad-based e-commerce firm Infibeam Incorporation Ltd today opened 6% higher at Rs. 458 against its IPO price of Rs. 432 a share. Currently, Infibeam is trading at Rs. 452 on BSE.

The company has raised Rs. 450 crore via an initial public offering.

The company plans to utilize the IPO proceeds for expansion. It will invest Rs. 230 crore for setting up a corporate office and a cloud data center at the GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Bajaj Auto March total sales at 3.05 lakh units

The exports were at 1.01 lakh units in March.

Bajaj Auto March total sales stood at 3.05 Lk units.

The exports were at 1.01 lakh units in March. Motorcycle sales were at 2.64 Lk units.

Bajaj Auto Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 2472.5, up by Rs. 55.35 or 2.29% from its previous closing of Rs. 2417.15 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 2420 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 2477.4 and Rs. 2420 respectively. So far 23676(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 69945.07 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 2655 on 23-Jul-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1913.8 on 30-Apr-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2455 and Rs. 2333.85 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 49.29 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 26.03 % and 24.66 % respectively.

The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA.

Will RBI really cut rates?

India’s financial markets have been bracing for a fresh wave of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India ever since the Union Budget, in which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stuck to a daunting fiscal deficit target for the new financial year. 

“It's a whole new world," screamed the ever animated Jim Cramer in his "Mad Money" show after US Federal Reserve’s Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged that the US economy is fragile and the strong US dollar is only making things worse, thus lowering expectation of another rate hike anytime soon.
 
Far away in India, Yellen also boosted hope of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which was keenly watching Yellen’s speech for any signal on the next round of Fed rate hike and also possible pressure on the rupee.
 
India’s financial markets have been bracing for a fresh wave of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India ever since the Union Budget, in which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stuck to a daunting fiscal deficit target for the new financial year.
 
While the central government exhibited fiscal prudence by sticking to the 3.5 per cent fiscal target for FY17, something that RBI has argued for, several other economic developments since the February policy review have also strengthened the case for monetary easing.
 
For instance, inflation reading for February (at 5.2%) has been much softer than expected. CPI inflation for February came in at 5.2 per cent (much below market expectation and also RBI’s projection of over 5.5 per cent) and the softness is likely to persist in coming months. At a broader level, CPI remains contained around 5 per cent despite two back-to-back monsoon failures, continuous tax hikes (service tax, cess, custom duties) and limited pass-through of the fall in crude oil price to consumers.
 
On the growth front, the momentum has softened in the recent months, making a strong case for frontloading the monetary easing. This is also corroborated by softness in car sales and railway freight.
 
 It has only helped matters that the US Fed has turned meaningfully dovish. The only uncertainty in this regard is the monsoon outcome.
 
So will RBI cut rates? It possibly will, simply because it does not have too many excused to not lower rates now. Non-transmission of earlier rate cuts by banks was a strong alibi earlier, but after the recent reforms in interest rates in small savings and the RBI’s own initiative to introduce the MCLR (marginal cost of lending rate) framework, the transmission is bound to be better. This has also created conditions for the central bank to lower rates. However, it remains to be seen if it will be aggressive, because the signals from the US keep changing from time to time and the risk of rate hike looms constantly.

Top 20 stocks in focus today: JSW Steel, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors

Check out the companies which will be in focus during trade today based on recent and latest news developments.

JSW Steel: JSW Steel achieves highest ever monthly crude steel production of 1.27 mn tonnes (MT) in March 2016. The company's Vijayanagar Plant achieved production and dispatch in excess of 1 MT in March.

  Mahindra and Mahindra: The popular SUV manufacturer, Mahindra and Mahindra, is all set to launch its latest vehicle Mahindra – NuvoSport SUV in Mumbai.

HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies will acquire Geometric for Rs. 1,283 crore in a share-swap deal. 

Godrej Consumer Products: The company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Strength of Nature LLC (SON), a leading company of hair care products for women of African descent.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank: ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have offered to provide loans to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's rapidly expanding Patanjali Ayurved, reports a business daily. Patanjali Ayurved is looking to raise ~Rs. 1,000 crore in FY17, it adds.

Tata Motors: Tata Motors saw strong growth in certain key segments, with IM&HCV growing by 24%, while LCV’s and Exports both growing by 15% year-on-year. 


Tata Steel Ltd: Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded Tata Steel and its long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to 'BB' from 'BB+/stable'. The downgrade was on Tata Steel and Tata Steel UK, the rating agency said in a late evening note.

ICICI Bank Ltd: The private sector bank on Friday said it has sold a 9 per cent stake in its general insurance venture ICICI Lombard and a 2 per cent stake in life insurance subsidiary ICICI Prudential for about Rs 2,200 crore.

ITC: The company said it has shut down its cigarette factories until "clarity emerges" on the rules on health warning". A parliamentary committee, in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha on March 15, recommended that the new health warnings

SAIL: Fitch Ratings has downgraded SAIL Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'BB' from 'BBB-'.

Infosys Ltd: Infosys co-founder NS Raghavan along with wife Jamuna Raghavan today acquired shares worth Rs. 94.56 crore of the company through an open market transaction.

Bharat Electronics: BEL has ended the year 2015-16 by registering sales turnover (provisional) of Rs. 7,510 crore, a growth of 12% over the previous year's turnover of Rs. 6,695 crore, said a report.

WABCO India Ltd: The company has informed BSE that based on the decision of the Board on March 31, 2016, the Company has entered into an agreement which is on arms-length basis with M/s WABCO Europe BVBA, a related party for payment of royalty at the rate of 4% on the net sales for using the licensed intangibles and technical knowhow.

SMS Pharmaceuticals: SMS Pharmaceuticals Limited has announced that the Company had made SMS Lifesciences India Private Limited its wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring it's 100% Equity Shares (i.e. Rs. 1,00,000/- paid up share capital) as on April 01, 2016.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd: Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd has won approval from the Tamil Nadu government to acquire Kattupalli port located at Ennore near Chennai from L&T Shipbuilding Ltd, reports a business daily.

Jet Airways: Jet Airways is planning to hire over 50 expat pilots to fly its widebody B-777 planes, says report.

Tata Steel: UK-based Indian steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is planning to acquire Tata Steel's plants at Port Talbot, says report.

Coal India: State-run Coal India, the largest coal producer in the country, has reported production of 536 million tonnes for FY16, at a growth rate of 8.5%. However, the company has missed the target of producing 550 million tonnes.
 
Atul Auto: Atul Auto total sales stood at 3,303 units in March as against 3,222 Units (YoY).

Kotak Mahindra Bank: The bank declared its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for one year at 9.65 per cent.

Godawari Power and Ispat Ltd: GPIL has sold its investment in subsidiary companies on March 31, 2016. Earlier, the decision was taken by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on February 13, 2016.

Dena bank: Dena bank fixed its overnight period MCLR at 9.30 % while setting up the one month period MCLR at 9.40%, for three month period,  MCLR has been fixed at 9.45% and for six month period, the rate has been fixed at 9.50% and for one year period  MCLR is set at 9.60%.

TVS Motor Company: TVS Motor Company posted a sales growth of 10% during the month of March 2016, with total sales increasing from 211,005 units recorded in the month of March 2015 to 232,527 units in the month of March 2016.

CMI Ltd: CMI Ltd bagged order from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited - Project Engineering Management (BHEL PEM), valued at Rs. 6.53 cr for the Supply of lnstrumentation Cables to the Super Thermal power project of 3 x 660 MW at North Karanpura project of NTPC.

SpiceJet: SpiceJet is planning to increase cancellation and rescheduling charges from April 7, 2016, according to reports.

Hero Motocorp March: Hero Motocorp March total sales stood at 606,542 units, up 14%.

Persistent Systems: Persistent Systems has acquired certain assets of San Jose-based Genwi Inc, a privately held technology company that provides a mobile content enablement platform.

Zydus Cadila: Zydus Cadila, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cadila Healthcare, has received final approval form the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market Carboplatin Injection, 10 mg/ml in 5 ml, 15 ml and 45 ml.

Aurobindo Pharma: Aurobindo Pharma receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for two drugs.The company has received final approval from the USFDA to manufacture and market Valganciclovir Tablets USP, 450 mg. This product is to be launched in Q1 FY16-17. The approved ANDA is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Valcyte of Hoffman-La Roche Inc.

Den Networks: Den Networks is planning to sell 55% stake in Den Sports for Rs. 43.3 crore to Wall Street Investment.

Delta Corp: Delta Corp Ltd has announced that Government of Goa has granted permission to Delta Pleasure Cruise Company Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta to operate their vessel "M V ROYALE FLOTEL" in Mandovi River till an alternate feasible site is finalized by the Government or till March 31, 2017 whichever is earlier.

NALCO: National Aluminium Company Limited, a central public sector unit, has performed outstandingly by registering the highest-ever production in bauxite and alumina. 

Opening Bell - Sensex rallies over 100 points

At 9:15 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,403 up 134 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,753 up 40 points. 

At 9:15 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,403 up 134 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,753 up 40 points.

The Indian rupee opened at 66.30 against US Dollar. On Thursday, rupee maintained the firm tone, influenced by the resilient tone in equity markets and softening sovereign bond yields. The sentiment on the street remains underpinned by the hopes of a rate cut by the RBI during the monetary policy review.

Investors will watch out for the NIKKEI manufacturing PMI for March, by Markit Economics. March sales numbers will cause some swings on auto counters. The rupee movement too will be closely tracked ahead of RBI policy.

Infibeam Incorporation Limited is set to list today. A Public issue of equity shares of Face Value of Rs. 10 each for cash at a Price Band from Rs. 360 to Rs. 432 per Equity Share aggregating up to Rs. 4,500 million closed on March 23, 2016.

The CII annual session later in the day will see some viewpoints from  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and NITI Aayog Vice President Panagariya.

Asian markets are upbeat for now. Oil prices fell in early trade. Saudi Arabian officials said they would only freeze oil output if Iran and other major producers agree to the plan.

US stock indices advanced on Friday amid hope that a spate of economic data, including the March jobs report, would not force the Federal Reserve to accelerate the pace of interest-rate increases.

Sentiment on Wall Street improved after a report showed that economic activity in the US manufacturing sector expanded in March for the first time in six months. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its manufacturing index rose above 50, indicating that more companies are expanding activity instead of shrinking. Earlier, the Government said that 215,000 new jobs were created in March as against expectations of 203,000 non-farm payrolls.

Separately, a report showed that consumer confidence slipped for the fourth straight month in March owing to higher gas prices. Meanwhile, spending on construction declined in February.

The sectoral growth rate of agriculture in India may rise to six per cent in 2016-17, if the monsoon remains normal this year, Niti Aayog member, Prof. Ramesh Chand said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today.

Prime Minister will be launching the “Stand up India scheme” and a Web portal for the scheme on 05th April, 2016 at Sector 62, NOIDA. It will be attended by Governor, UP, Union Finance Minister, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism and Union Minister of State for Finance among others.

Jindal Steel and Power is planning to repay mutual funds from whom the debt-laden company had borrowed, according to reports.

UK-based Indian steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is planning to acquire Tata Steel's plants at Port Talbot, says report.

Essar Oil UK has successfully completed the first phase of the turnaround of Royal Dutch Shell’s loss-making Stanlow Refinery in England, reports a business daily.

The sales turnover of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand of milk and dairy products, surpassed INR 23,000-crore in 2015-16, reports a business daily.