Sensex, Nifty erase gains; banks, IT, FMCG under pressure

 Reliance Communications in focus While talking in Reliance Communications AGM, Anil Ambani says the company targets to reduce debt by Rs 15,000 crore in 24 months. Debt currently stands at Rs 35,000 crore, he adds. The company is looking to monetise both real estate and DTH. "We are looking to demerge real estate assets. We are working on contours of real estate demerger," says Ambani. He further said the company will be participating in next round of auctions that will enable company to launch 4G in 2015-16. The stock fell over 2 percent.

Live Market Updates: Sensex, Nifty sluggish; RBI keeps key rates unchanged

The market is still sluggish as RBI did not spring up any surprise move. The central bank has kept key rates unchanged. The Sensex is up 43.32 points at 26640.43 and the Nifty is down 4.20 points at 7954.70. About 1322 shares have advanced, 933 shares declined, and 69 shares are unchanged. HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma are top gainers while GAIL, Hindalco, Infosys, Tata Steel and TCS are among the laggards in the Sensex. Asian markets were in hesitant mood on Tuesday as investors wondered what China's response would be to civil unrest in Hong Kong, while the U.S. dollar was on track to post its biggest monthly gain in well over a year. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters blocked Hong Kong streets on Tuesday, in one of the biggest political challenges to Beijing since the Tiananmen Square crackdown 25 years ago. The unrest was an added complication for investors amid long-standing concerns about the health of China's economy.

Induslnd Bank inaugurates first Digital Branch at Gurgaon

Induslnd Bank, one of the fastest growing new-generation private sector banks in the country, has inaugurated its first Digital Branch at Induslnd Cybercity Rapid Metro station, Gurgaon. With this launch, the bank has become the first bank in India to have a fully Digital Branch at a metro station, whose branding rights are owned by the bank. The bank’s fully digital branch aims to deliver best-in-class service to its growing tech savvy customer base. This digital branch is strategically located in the heart of Cybercity, which houses Cyberhub and many other key commercial establishments of Gurgaon. One of the USPs of the Digital Branch is the Interactive Video Branch machine - another first in India. This Video Branch machine allows customers to connect with the remote teller over a real-time video call and perform regular banking transactions like statement printing, cheque deposits, opening of FD account and encashment, funds transfer along with dispensation of cash. The Digital Branch lobby also has a smart table with iPads on which customers can do a host of banking and non-banking transactions. Induslnd Bank, which commenced operations in 1994, caters to the needs of both consumer and corporate customers. Induslnd Bank has 638 branches, and 1238 ATMs spread across 439 geographical locations of the country. The Bank also has representative offices in London and Dubai.

All eyes on RBI policy today; Nifty may open weak

Today, all eyes will be on the RBI monetary policy. Most market experts and economist believe that RBI will leave the key rates unchanged, according to CNBC-TV18 poll. Majority also expect the governor Raghuram Rajan to retain his hawkish tone. With the SGX Nifty trading 39-points down following weak global cues, the Nifty is expected to see gap down opening. Yesterday, major indices ended with marginal losses but midcaps continued to rally. Traders too were cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India credit policy review. On the global market front, US stocks ended lower on Monday following protests in Hong Kong that added to worries about Chinese growth and after a disappointing forecast from Ford Motor Co. In Europe, shares closed down with disappointing data weighing on sentiment and protests in Hong Kong affecting some financial firms with exposure to the region. Asian markets too were cautious over developments in Hong Kong and as investors focused on data in China and Japan. Kospi weighed down by data showing August industrial output posted its worst monthly fall since 2008. From the currency space, the dollar is hovering at a four-year peak against a basket of major currencies and is on track to post its biggest monthly gain in well over a year In commodities, crude hovers around USD 97/bbl on support from strong US economic data last week From precious metals space-- gold holds steady above a nine-month low but poised to post its sharpest monthly loss in 15 months as a rapid climb in the dollar dimmed the metal's appeal. On the domestic front, the Indian Prime Minister after giving speeches at the United Nations Central Park and Madison Square Garden, yesterday he got down to business as his USvisit enters the most crucial The prime minister met with top CEOs of corporate America. He held a break-fast meeting with 11 CEOs including the heads of Google, Pepsi, Citigroup, Carlyle group among others. Then he held one-on-one meetings with Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric, James Mcnerney of Boeing, Virginia Rometty of IBM, Henry Kravis of K-K-R among others. US companies sought clarity from India on its FDI policy and PM is learnt to have assured the CEOs that he has an open mind. Speaking about the recent coal scam verdict, Prime Minister said: “We want to convert the SC judgment on coal allocation into an opportunity to move forward and clean up the past.” RELATED NEWS

Strides Arcolab approves merger with Shasun Pharma

The  Strides Arcolab  board of directors at a meeting held on September 29, 2014, approved a scheme of amalgamation between the company and  Shasun Pharmaceuticals  wherein, Shasun Pharmaceuticals will amalgamate with the Company. The scheme of amalgamation is subject to various statutory and regulatory approvals, as may be applicable. Shareholders will get five shares of Strides for every 16 shares held in Shasun. The merger will be an all-stock transaction. The Strides Arcolab board will also consider special dividend on October 7.

Strides Arcolab stock price On September 29, 2014, at 15:12 hrs Strides Arcolab was quoting at Rs 716.10, up Rs 73.30, or 11.40 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1050.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 343.80. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 588.59 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 1.22. The latest book value of the company is Rs 273.80 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.62.

Cipla surges on strengthening presence in Kenya

Sep 29,2014   02:27 Hrs IST

Cipla is currently trading at Rs. 618.80, up by 7.30 points or 1.19% from its previous closing of Rs. 611.50 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 612.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 621.00 and Rs. 608.30 respectively. So far 103279 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 639.05 on 16-Sep-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 366.70 on 24-Feb-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 626.70 and Rs. 574.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 49612.51 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 36.80% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 35.85% and 26.23% respectively. Cipla is aiming to build a strong presence in Kenya. In line with its global strategy, Cipla continues to retain ownership of its marketing authorisations and trademarks for its products in Kenya and will continue to invest further in developing the Kenya market. The company has recently introduced its own office in Kenya. The products will be brought to Kenyan patients in partnership with Surgipharm. Over the years, Cipla has been working with various partners in Kenya and has been supplying a basket of products across various key therapies - anti-HIV, anti-malarial, anti-asthma, gastroenterology, anti-infectives, cardiovascular and oncology among others. Cipla is a global healthcare company which uses technology and innovation to meet the healthcare needs of patients in various therapy areas. For more than 70 years, Cipla has emerged as one of the most respected pharmaceutical names in India as well as across almost 170 countries. Cipla’s turnover in 2013-14 was $1.7 billion.

Nifty struggles below 8000; Sun Pharma, TCS gain 3%

The Nifty is struggling below the 8000-level. The 50-share index is up 5.70 points at 7974.55 and the Sensex is up 45.89 points at 26672.21. About 1434 shares have advanced, 510 shares declined, and 48 shares are unchanged. Both Sun Pharma and TCS are up 3 percent each. BHEL, Wipro and Infosys are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hindalco, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel and Coal India. The dollar hit a four-year peak against a basket of currencies in early Asian trade on Monday, bolstering Japanese shares, but other Asian shares shrugged off Friday's Wall Street rebound in the face of political unrest in Hong Kong. Hong Kong shares dropped 2.3 percent to three-month lows in the worst unrest since China took back control of the former British colony two decades ago. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7 percent, hitting its lowest level since mid-May. Even the usually calm Hong Kong-dollar, which is pegged to a narrow band against the US dollar, slipped 0.1 percent to 7.761 against the greenback, its lowest level since March, as the street clashes affected some banks' operations.

Neyveli Lignite Corp gains on eyeing acquisition of multiple power projects

Sep 29,2014   10:00 Hrs IST

Neyveli Lignite Corporation is currently trading at Rs. 84.75, up by 0.90 points or 1.07 % from its previous closing of Rs. 83.85 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 84.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 84.75 and Rs. 83.85 respectively. So far 1992 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A ' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 108.50 on 26-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 54.55 on 30-Jan-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 89.90 and Rs. 81.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 14067.59 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 90.00 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 8.30 % and 1.70 % respectively. Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is examining a number of power projects on offer to scale up its generating capacity rapidly. The company is examining nine projects, where the promoters have showed interest in letting NLC acquire the projects. These proposals have been received in response to call for expressions of interest by the company. The Central public sector enterprise in lignite mining and power generation mines about 30 million tonnes of lignite annually and has association power generation of about 2,740 MW. NLC is engaged in the business of lignite mining and power generation. At present, the company has four opencast lignite mines with a capacity of about 30.60 million tonnes per annum, while it can produce about 2,740 MW of power from four power plants

OnMobile Global inks agreement with Tata Teleservices

Sep 29,2014   10:00 Hrs IST

OnMobile Global, a global leader in mobile services, has inked an agreement with Tata Teleservices, making it the exclusive Caller Ring Back Tone partner (CRBT) for the company. OnMobile will centrally manage Tata’s Content Management Systems across the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). This deal will enable Tata Teleservices to improve operational efficiency, reduce turnaround time and provide a superior user experience to all its subscribers. This deal, which has been signed for an initial term of 3 years, will allow Tata’s CDMA subscribers to access a slew of CRBT features which were earlier available only for GSM subscribers. Some of the features include enabling song search and activation through SMS and Tata’s website. Subscribers will also be able to copy each other’s songs by using OnMobile’s Press * to copy feature.

S&P upgrades India's credit outlook to 'stable'

In a huge sentiment booster for India, global rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday revised India's credit outlook to "stable" from "negative", acknowledging the improvement in the country’s economic environment. Though the agency has maintained its rating at BBB-, the revision in outlook will definitely boost the sentiments. India registered its fastest growth in nine quarters between April and June 2014. The new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to keep the fiscal deficit under control at 4.1 percent of GDP.