Sensex, Nifty notch some gains

The January series was greeted with a smile as the Indian equity market ended with some gains. The NSE Nifty closed above the 6300 mark convincingly while the BSE Sensex stayed put above the 21000 mark. 

Today’s smooth run was led by the IT and the telecom stocks accompanied by the pharma, FMCG and the banking stocks. Even the mid-cap and the small-cap stocks continued to remain in demand.

However, the oil and gas, auto and the power stocks were among the top losers. 

On the currency front, the Indian rupee slightly strengthened against the US Dollar. The Indian unit was trading around the Rs. 61.90 compared with previous close of Rs 62.16 per dollar.

Finally, BSE Sensex closed at 21,190 up 115 points over the previous close, while NSE Nifty closed at 6,316 up 37 points over the previous close.

Financial Technologies to cut stake to 2% in MCX as per FMC order

Multi Commodity Exchange of India’s (MCX) board has asked promoter Financial Technologies India (FTIL) to reduce its stake to 2%, in accordance with the regulator’s order.

The board of directors of the company, at its meeting held on December 26, 2013, decided to advise FTIL to implement Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Order dated December 17, 2013 by reducing its stake in the Company from 26% to 2% or below, within a period of 1 month hereof.

Last week, the FMC had issued an order declaring FTIL and its chief Jignesh Shah unfit to run any exchange, including the MCX, following Rs 5,500 crore payment crisis at group company National Spot Exchange (NSEL).

Kotak Mahindra Bank gains on cutting interest rate on housing loans by up to 0.25%

Kotak Mahindra Bank is currently trading at Rs. 737.00, up by 10.40 points or 1.43 % from its previous closing of Rs. 726.60 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 727.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 741.10 and Rs. 726.95 respectively. So far 19574 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 804.00 on 30-May-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 588.00 on 28-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 742.00 and Rs. 711.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 56903.07 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.69 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 33.43 % and 22.70 % respectively.

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has cut interest rate on housing loans by up to 0.25% for a limited period. Consequently, the new home loans under Rs 75 lakh will be available at 10.25% per annum, down from the earlier 10.50%, while ones above Rs 75 lakh will cost 10.75% as against the earlier 10.90%. Further, the reduced interest rates will be applicable till January 31, 2014.

Kotak Mahindra Bank reported 25.74% rise in its net profit at Rs 352.54 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 280.38 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 13.56% at Rs 2469.46 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2174.50 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

Lanco Infratech trades with traction on plan to sell assets worth Rs 7,612 crore

Lanco Infratech has reportedly proposed to sell assets worth Rs 7,612 crore. The company is looking to sell 3 power projects for Rs 6,350 crore and road projects for Rs 668 crore. Further, the company will sell 1 solar and 1 real estate project.

Recently, in a major relief to cash-strapped Lanco Infratech, a consortium of lenders, headed by IDBI Bank, approved a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package for the holding company. The decision to clear the Rs 7,000-crore CDR package and release Rs 3,500 crore towards working capital will enable the company to resume EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) operations, which were hit by a cash crunch.

Lanco Infratech is the leading integrated infrastructure conglomerate with global footprints having business verticals viz. EPC, Power, Solar, Natural Resources and Infrastructure.

MTNL gains on Union Cabinet clearing pension benefit plan for its employees

Union Cabinet has cleared the long-standing issue of pension payment plan of around 43,000 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) employees. The proposal entails a recurring expenditure of approximately Rs 500 crore per annum besides adjustments in respect of government pension liability previously discharged by MTNL.

Under the approved plan, all categories (Group A, B, C & D) of employees of the government absorbed in MTNL and who have opted for combined service will be given similar treatment in the matter of payment of pensionary benefits as available to the absorbed employees of BSNL.

MTNL was set up by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, and introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of India's key metros -- Delhi and Mumbai. 

Indraprastha Gas rises on hiking CNG and PNG prices by almost 10%

Indraprastha Gas (IGL) has increased prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad by almost 10% on December 26, 2013. Post price hike, the prices of CNG increased to a record high of Rs 50.10 per kg in Delhi and Rs 56.70 per kg in satellite towns of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, up from Rs 45.6 and Rs 51.55, respectively.

The company has also raised consumer prices of piped natural gas (PNG) to Rs 29.50 per standard cubic metre (scm) from Rs 27.50 per scm in Delhi. If a household consumes more than 30 scm of piped cooking gas in two months, then every extra unit would be at Rs 52 per scm. Due to differential tax structure in Uttar Pradesh, the applicable price of PNG to households in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 29 per scm.

Last month, petroleum ministry cancelled existing allocation of domestic gas for all city gas distribution entities. It directed Gail to ensure uniformity in supply of domestic gas across all entities distributing compressed natural gas and piped natural gas.

Indraprastha Gas, incorporated in 1998, is engaged in distribution of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in Delhi. In 1999 the company took over Delhi City Gas Distribution Project from GAIL (India). IGL laid the network for the distribution of natural gas in the National Capital of Delhi to consumers in the domestic, transport, and commercial sectors.

SEBI seeks clarity on taxation policy to attract pension money to capital market

In order to attract pension money to the capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has sought for clarity on taxation policy to be applied to retirement- focused funds.

The present size of Indian pension fund, including individual retirement money, provident fund and other small savings  is estimated at over Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2010. Furthermore, the size of pension market in India is expected to rise to over Rs 2 lakh crore by 2015 and further to close to Rs 3 lakh crore in 2020 and more than Rs 4 lakh crore by 2025. Meanwhile, the share of India pension fund is almost negligible in the Indian equity markets. On the other hand, foreign pension funds including from the US and Canada regularly invest in Indian markets.

The government has allowed 15 percent investment in equities, however, Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) refused to invest in capital market. Terming tax benefits necessary to attract pension money, SEBI Chairman U K Sinha has emphasized that in order to tap huge pension fund, there is a need to work on two issues. Firstly, SEBI has to continue a dialogue with EPFO and its trustees so that they start investing in domestic equity markets, and the second is the government should provide assurance of tax benefit to other pension fund houses. If a mutual fund launches a pension product, an assurance of tax benefit is required for it, he added. Earlier, market regulator has asked asset management companies or mutual fund houses to launch pension products, so that retirement money can be brought into the capital market. Meanwhile in order to develop India’s pension sector, the government, in September has allowed 26 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's pension sector.

UltraTech Cement receives EAC clearance to set up a cement plant in Tamil Nadu: Report

UltraTech Cement, part of Aditya Birla Group (ABG), has reportedly received approval from Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), under the Ministry of Environment, to set up a cement plant in Tamil Nadu. The company is planning to set up a cement plant with 5.5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) cement and a 75 mega watt (MW) captive power plant, with an investment of Rs 2,500 crore. The plant is coming up at Villages in Karur and Dindigul districts and will spread across 136.23 hectare, including private land - 119.44 hectare and Government land - 16.79 hectare.

UltraTech manufactures and markets Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement and Portland Pozzalana Cement. The company has 11 integrated plants, one white cement plant, one clinkerisation plant in UAE, 15 grinding units 11 in India, 2 in UAE, one in Bahrain and Bangladesh each and five terminals, four in India and one in Sri Lanka.

Adani Power plans to de-merge its transmission line business

Adani Power is planning to de-merge its transmission line business. In this regard, the company’s board will meet on December 28, 2013, to consider and approve demerger of transmission line business of the company and other incidental matters. Post de-merger, the transmission line business will be made a separate subsidiary.

Meanwhile, the company has set up 400 KV dedicated Mundra - Dehgam transmission line of 430 km - longest dedicated transmission line by a private sector player. It has also set up transmission lines from its power station in Tiroda, Maharashtra, to evacuate power to Warora and Aurangabad.

The company is engaged in the business of generation, accumulation, distribution and supply of power and to generally deal in electricity and to explore, develop, generate, accumulate, supply and distribute or to deal in other forms of energy from any source whatsoever.

3i Infotech to sell some assets to repay 20-30% of its debt: Report

In a bid to repay at least 20-30 per cent of its debt, 3i Infotech, a midcap software services firm is reportedly planning to sell some of its assets. The company has restructured debt of Rs 1,300 crore, at 14.75 per cent rate of interest. The company had converted the rupee loan into a dollar loan of $215 million at an interest rate of 6.5 per cent plus three-month London interbank offer rate.

3i Infotech is a global Information Technology company committed to Empowering Business Transformation. A comprehensive set of IP based software solutions (20+), coupled with a wide range of IT services, uniquely positions the company to address the dynamic requirements of a variety of industry verticals, predominantly Banking, Insurance, Capital Markets, Asset & Wealth Management.