Dr Reddy's at new high, launches headache drug Sumatriptan

Shares of  Dr Reddy’s Labs hit a record high at Rs 2823, up around 2 percent in early trade on Wednesday. Investors are excited about the company as it launched Sumatriptan injection USP in the US market. 

“It is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Imitrex Statdose Pen (sumatriptan succinate) and was launched in the US market on February 25 following approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA),” it said in a statement. 
Sumatriptan is used to treat symptoms of migraine headaches (severe, throbbing headaches that sometimes are accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to sound and light). The injection is an autoinjector system for subcutaneous use. 

Macquarie estimates USD 1.1 billion of sales from the US in FY15. It has upgraded the drug major's target price to Rs 3,325, driven by much higher US sales. The brokerage has also hiked its FY15e earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs 160 versus Rs 156.

 At 09:52 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 2,803.00, up Rs 29.10, or 1.05 percent on the BSE.

National Stock Exchange launches Volatility Index futures

To help investors hedge near-term volatility risks in their equity portfolio, the National Stock Exchange today launched its futures contracts on India VIX (volatility index) called 'NVIX'.

India VIX is a volatility index based on the index options prices of Nifty.

"Volatility is a different risk class. It has a tremendous potential as every one has to deal with volatility. Anyone who has a portfolio, one who needs to hedge the portfolio for volatility...It could be for institutional or high networth individuals (HNI). It is a broad base usage of this product," NSE MD & CEO Chitra Ramkrishna said after the launch.

Uncertainty is for everyone. This product will help in hedging uncertainty. We expect very good broad-based participation in this product, Ramkrishna added.

NSE is aiming to tap into domestic institutional investor demand for equity futures and options.

The NSE, which constructed India VIX, started disseminating India VIX index in 2009.

India VIX indicates the investor's perception of the market's volatility in the near term. The index depicts expected market volatility over the next 30 calendar days.

A high India VIX value would suggest that the market expects significant increase in volatility, while a low value indicates the reverse. India VIX and Nifty have a negative correlation.

Bonds gain as crude oil prices ease

The benchmark 10-year bond yield 2 basis points lower at 8.85 per cent. Gains in Treasury prices and lower crude oil prices helping bonds, dealers said. 

US Treasuries' prices rose on Tuesday as traders focused on weakening US consumer confidence and ignored stronger-than-expected data showing that US home prices last year climbed the most since 2005. 

Oil fell on Tuesday, pressured by further signs of a Chinese economic slowdown and data that showed a build in US crude stockpiles for the second straight week. 

SEBI proposes new norms for listed companies divesting stake in units

In order to strengthen corporate governance and curb misdoings at the management level, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed new norms that will make mandatory for listed companies to seek approval of shareholders to divest shares in subsidiaries that bring in more than one-fifth of annual consolidated income. At present, divestment in major subsidiaries does not require the approval of shareholders. The market regulator is of the view that company’s special resolution should be moved to get shareholders' nod and its new set of corporate governance norms for listed companies would come into effect from October. SEBI has proposed that all listed companies should have a policy to determine material subsidiaries and they should be disclosed to the stock exchanges. The market regulator would also proposed that a subsidiary shall be considered ‘material’ if the investment of the company in the unit exceeds 20 percent of its consolidated net worth as per the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year. Furthermore, the classification would also be applicable if the subsidiary generated 20 percent of the consolidated income of the company during the previous financial year. SEBI also sought suggestions on the matter from various stakeholders and market advisory committees. SEBI was suggested that major subsidiaries should be defined and should include Indian, foreign and step-down units. Besides, it was also suggested that certain minimum amount of information about proposed disinvestment in subsidiaries such as financial details for the past three years should be disclosed in the notice for the meeting to seek shareholder approval for the resolution.

Sanofi India Q4 net surges two-fold at Rs 93 cr

Drug firm  Sanofi India  posted over two-fold increase in its net profit at Rs 92.7 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013 on account of robust sales in export markets. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 44.8 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, Sanofi India said in a filing to the BSE. Net sales of the company rose to Rs 481.1 crore for the fourth quarter, as compared to Rs 400.7 crore during the same period of previous fiscal. The company follows a January-December financial year. For the year ended December 31, 2013, the company posted a net profit of Rs 265.2 crore, compared to Rs 176.7 crore in 2012. "Significantly better export performance during the quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 has resulted in improvement in profitability of the company," the company said. The company's board has recommended final dividend of Rs 35 per equity share of Rs 10 for the year ended December 31, 2013.

State loan sale cutoffs likely in 9.7-9.8% band: Poll

Cut-off yields for state loan sale of Rs 85.30 billion ($1.37 billion) later in the day are expected to fall within a 9.70-9.80 per cent band, according to a Reuters poll of 10 market participants. 

The lowest cutoff was 9.60 per cent, while the highest was 9.85 per cent, as per the poll. 

A proposed rule change by RBI has raised concerns on how state loans will be valued, which seeks to change pricing from a fixed 25 bps spread over government securities to one based on the spread from the previous two state loan auctions. 

"These bonds also provide comfort against depreciation in government bonds. So no one is interested in buying if the new valuation rule becomes effective," said a senior bond dealer with a state-run bank. 

State-run banks are the main buyers of these bonds. The last state loan auction saw cutoffs in the 9.48-9.72 band with Andhra Pradesh state seeing less than full acceptance. 

Yields on government bonds up 16 bps since Feb. 11, the last state loan sale. 

TCS ranks as No1 manufacturing industry IT service provider in Europe

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, has been ranked the best for overall capabilities in EMEA for its manufacturing-specific outsourcing services. The study, conducted by leading analyst firm IDC, praised TCS for its ability to provide holistic support for large and diverse IT initiatives. The report recognized the company’s proven track record for designing and implementing systems for some of the region’s leading companies.

TCS partners with manufacturers from a range of industries to help transform their existing business models and implement technology solutions. These solutions improve operations by reducing operational expenditure, utilizing existing capacity optimally, improving operating efficiencies across the value chain and improving the time-to-market for new product releases. Each solution is tailored to the partner company, ensuring each business can meet its objectives within the usual safety and regulatory parameters.

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services.

Business Confidence Index rose by about 22 percent in January 2014: NCAER

In its latest survey National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has reported that the Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose by about 21.8 percent in January 2014 to 122.3 points from 100.4 in July-September quarter survey. NCAER said that higher exports, enhanced farm produce and moderation in inflation improved business confidence during the October-December period. The survey noted that there was a continued slide in business sentiment through 2012-13 on concerns of slower growth coupled with high inflation. The survey revealed that manufacturing sector firms were more optimistic than services sector during the quarter, while the highest growth was recorded in intermediate goods sector followed by consumer goods non-durables. The survey further stated that both input cost and ex-factory prices are likely to increase in the next six months and within input cost, only cost of electricity per unit of output is likely to moderate. It also said employment of all types of labour is also likely to improve in the short run along with wage rates.    The survey conducted during Assembly elections in five states has also taken into account influence of the election process on business sentiments besides business and financial data and said that Political Confidence Index (PCI) -- a measure of related business sector perceptions -- increased for the successive quarter, showing an improvement of 9.8 percent to 112.9 points.

Maruti Suzuki surges on reducing prices across its models after excise duty reduction

Maruti Suzuki India is currently trading at Rs. 1682.00, up by 7.35 points or 0.44 % from its previous closing of Rs. 1674.65 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1671.10 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1693.90 and Rs. 1646.65 respectively. So far 28864 shares were traded on the counter.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1733.90 and Rs. 1638.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 50942.78 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.21 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 35.45 % and 8.34 % respectively.

The country’s biggest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India has cut prices in range between Rs 8,502 and Rs 30,984 across its models after excise duty on automobiles was reduced in the Interim Budget.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, on February 17, cut excise duty to 8 per cent from 12 per cent for small cars, scooters, motorcycles and commercial vehicles; 24 per cent from 30 per cent for SUVs; 20 per cent for mid-sized cars from 24 per cent and 24 per cent for large cars from 27 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki reported 11.06% fall in its production to 109,342 units in January 2014 as compared to 122,936 units in same month last year. Of total, the company manufactured a 44,411 vehicles under mini segment (including Alto, A Star, Wagon R), down by 22.21%, as against 57,095 vehicles manufactured in corresponding month previous year.

ICRA shares jump 20% on Moody’s open offer

Shares of ICRA Ltd today surged as much as 20 per cent on the bourses after global rating agency Moody’s said that it would make an open offer to raise its stake in the domestic rating agency.

After market trading hours on Friday, Moody’s said that it would acquire an additional 26.5 per cent stake in the company through open offer at a price of Rs 2,000 a share.

Reacting to the development, shares of ICRA Ltd opened on a bullish note at Rs 1,858 on the BSE. The stock then gathered further momentum and surged 19.99 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 1,913 on the bourse.

Similar movement was seen on the National Stock Exchange as well where the stock opened at Rs 1,888, then jumped 19.96 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 1,905.05 a share.

Moody’s plans to acquire up to 2.65 million shares in ICRA, amounting to 26.5 per cent of the company’s equity. If the open offer gets full acceptance, the shareholding of Moody’s in ICRA Ltd would increase to 55 per cent.

The offer is being made by Moody’s Singapore Pte Ltd, Moody’s Investment Company India Private Ltd and Moody’s Corporation.