India and China saw bigger growth in the millionaire population last year than anywhere else, and wealth in the Asia-Pacific is expected to grow nearly 8 percent a year to 2012 despite a slowdown in the world at large, a survey showed.
The number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific grew 8.7 percent from a year ago to 2.8 million people and their combined wealth soared 12.5 percent to $9.5 trillion, excluding the value of their homes and consumables, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini said at a news conference in Singapore on Wednesday.
Asia was home to some of the world's fastest-growing populations of millionaires, their annual World Wealth Report said, with India, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore in the top ten in terms of growth.
The number of millionaires in India rose 22.7 percent to 123,000 people, the fastest growth in the world, and millionaires in China grew 20.3 percent to 415,000, making it home to the fifth-largest number of millionaires in the world, displacing France in that position.
Li Ka-shing, who controls a vast telecoms and property empire in Hong Kong and China, ranks as the world's 11th richest man, according to Forbes.
Globally, millionaires grew 6 percent to 10.1 million people and their wealth rose 9.4 percent to $40.7 trillion in the same period, the Merrill/Capgemini report said.
Kong Eng Huat, Merrill Lynch's Southeast Asia head of wealth management, said that in five years millionaires in Asia would have more combined wealth than those in Europe.
"Notwithstanding the recent dislocation in global markets, the robust economies in Asia are increasingly being driven by the domestic consumption story and continue to spur wealth creation in the region," he said.
Asian millionaires' wealth would grow annually by 7.9 percent to $13.9 trillion in 2012 against $13.5 trillion among Europe's wealthiest, or 4.9 percent annual growth, the report said.
LUXURY
Although rocky markets have forced Asian investors to conserve cash, they continue to pour money into luxury products such as jewellery and art.
"Luxury goods makers, high-end service providers and auction houses all found ready clients in the emerging markets of the world -- most notably China, India, Russia and the Middle East," the report said.
Soaring wealth, high savings and ample potential have made Asia the world's hottest market for international and private banks seeking to cater to the rich.
This has led to an influx of new players into Asia, such as Julius Baer, who are competing against established names such as UBS, HSBC and Citigroup.
The report also showed wealthy investors have shifted more money out of real estate and into bonds and cash.
The trend was most dramatic in the Asia-Pacific, where investors have cut real estate holdings by 9 percentage points from a year ago, to a fifth of their total investments.
But the report warned that the rich face the challenges of slower growth in developed markets hit by the credit crisis, as well as the risk of high inflation in emerging markets.
"The big shock this year has been higher inflation," said Stephen Corry, head of investment strategy in Asia at Merrill Lynch's global wealth management unit, at a news conference in Singapore.
"Inflation is the biggest risk for Asia and the global economy."
BSE News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Capital Gains Account Scheme
I had deposited Rs. 3 lakh in Capital Gains Account (CGA) Scheme out of the capital gains of Rs. 3.88 lakh with no tax payable in view of my exemption limit. I am, however, unable to find any residential property with the amount in my command. I wish to withdraw the amount before the three year period and pay tax. The bank is not aware of what they are required to do under the circumstance.”
The CGA Scheme provides for drawing the amount for application for purchase or construction of a residential property on a declaration given by the account holder. The amount is bound to be returned at the end of three years, if it is not drawn for the purpose for which it was so deposited. It becomes taxable in the year of withdrawal. It should be possible for a person to withdraw the amount even before the three year period, when he understands that he will not be able to avail himself of the benefit. If he then seeks to close the account, it can be done only with the approval of the assessing officer as provided in Clause 13 of the Scheme on application in Form G available in the annexure to the Scheme. The amount can then be withdrawn on deposit of Form G with the bank with consequent liability for capital gains tax.
The CGA Scheme provides for drawing the amount for application for purchase or construction of a residential property on a declaration given by the account holder. The amount is bound to be returned at the end of three years, if it is not drawn for the purpose for which it was so deposited. It becomes taxable in the year of withdrawal. It should be possible for a person to withdraw the amount even before the three year period, when he understands that he will not be able to avail himself of the benefit. If he then seeks to close the account, it can be done only with the approval of the assessing officer as provided in Clause 13 of the Scheme on application in Form G available in the annexure to the Scheme. The amount can then be withdrawn on deposit of Form G with the bank with consequent liability for capital gains tax.
Tax deducted at source: woes of senior citizens
“I am unable to express in words the shock I felt, when I came to know that an amount of rupees one thousand and odd has been deducted from my fixed deposit in a nationalised bank. “I am a senior citizen, with no pension. I very much depend on these savings for my day-to-day expenses and also for my medical bills. Last year, I paid a huge medical bill for an eye operation. My query is: (1) Should senior citizens also come under TDS over their meagre savings?; (2) How can any amount be deducted without prior intimation to the depositor? and (3) When a senior citizen does not come under the income-tax bracket, how can he be robbed of interest from his fixed deposit account. Will the Union Finance Ministry help me with an answer.”
Tax deduction has to be made from interest under Sec. 194A, when the payment exceeds Rs. 10,000 at the rate of 10 per cent. The fact that the recipient may be a senior citizen and/ or that his income is below taxable limit is not a matter of concern for the bank. In fact, banks have no authority to take such consideration into account and fail to deduct tax, except at the risk of loss of the tax so failed to be deducted along with interest and possible penalty for them. If the reader’s income falls below the taxable limit, there is remedy for the reader under the law. All that he has to do is to file Form 15H meant for senior citizens aged 65 years and above and Form 15G for others before interest becomes due. If it had been filed in time, tax would not have been deducted.
The reader can now file income-tax return for the year and get the refund of tax for which he is not liable. The complaint of the reader arises out of his ignorance and not on account of any high-handed action on the part of the bank as wrongly presumed by the reader. No prior intimation of tax deduction is necessary on the part of the bank.
Tax deduction has to be made from interest under Sec. 194A, when the payment exceeds Rs. 10,000 at the rate of 10 per cent. The fact that the recipient may be a senior citizen and/ or that his income is below taxable limit is not a matter of concern for the bank. In fact, banks have no authority to take such consideration into account and fail to deduct tax, except at the risk of loss of the tax so failed to be deducted along with interest and possible penalty for them. If the reader’s income falls below the taxable limit, there is remedy for the reader under the law. All that he has to do is to file Form 15H meant for senior citizens aged 65 years and above and Form 15G for others before interest becomes due. If it had been filed in time, tax would not have been deducted.
The reader can now file income-tax return for the year and get the refund of tax for which he is not liable. The complaint of the reader arises out of his ignorance and not on account of any high-handed action on the part of the bank as wrongly presumed by the reader. No prior intimation of tax deduction is necessary on the part of the bank.
KSK Energy Ventures Ltd
KSK Energy Ventures Ltd
Regitered Office : 8-2-293/82/A/431/A Road No 22, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad - 500033, Andhra Pradesh, India
Phone : 91-40-23559922/23/24/25 Fax : 91-40-23559930
Email : investors@ksk.co.in Website : www.ksk.co.in
Public issue of 3,46,11,000 equity shares of Rs.10 each ("equity shares") of KSK Energy Ventures Limited ("KSK", or the "company", or the "issuer") for cash at a price of Rs.[*] per equity share, aggregating Rs.[*] crore (the "issue"). The issue will constitute 10% of the fully diluted post issue equity share capital of the company. Price band: Rs.240/- to Rs.255/- per equity share of face value Rs.10 each. The issue price is 24 times the face value at the lower end of the price band and 25.5 times the face value at the higher end of the price band.
Bid Book Built Portion Fixed Price Portion Money payable on
Opens on Closes on Opens on Closes on Opens on Closes on Application
Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Rs. 240.00-255.00
Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Book built portion) :25
Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Fixed price portion) :25
Further muliples of :25
Rs cr Book Running Lead Manager to the offer
Project Cost 0.00 Axis Bank Ltd
Edelweiss Capital LTd
IDFC-SSKI Private Ltd
Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd
Lehman Brothers Securities Pvt Ltd
Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd
Project financed through current issue 830.66 -
Post Issue Equity share capital 346.10 Lead Manager to the offer
Issue Price Rs. 240.00 NA
Object of the issue : Investment in Sub. Co Wardha Power Company Pvt Ltd, General Corporate Purposes.
Promoted by Listing at Registrar to the Issue
S Kishore
K A Sastry
KSK Energy Ltd
BSE
NSE
-
Regitered Office : 8-2-293/82/A/431/A Road No 22, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad - 500033, Andhra Pradesh, India
Phone : 91-40-23559922/23/24/25 Fax : 91-40-23559930
Email : investors@ksk.co.in Website : www.ksk.co.in
Public issue of 3,46,11,000 equity shares of Rs.10 each ("equity shares") of KSK Energy Ventures Limited ("KSK", or the "company", or the "issuer") for cash at a price of Rs.[*] per equity share, aggregating Rs.[*] crore (the "issue"). The issue will constitute 10% of the fully diluted post issue equity share capital of the company. Price band: Rs.240/- to Rs.255/- per equity share of face value Rs.10 each. The issue price is 24 times the face value at the lower end of the price band and 25.5 times the face value at the higher end of the price band.
Bid Book Built Portion Fixed Price Portion Money payable on
Opens on Closes on Opens on Closes on Opens on Closes on Application
Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Jun 23, 2008 Jun 25, 2008 Rs. 240.00-255.00
Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Book built portion) :25
Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Fixed price portion) :25
Further muliples of :25
Rs cr Book Running Lead Manager to the offer
Project Cost 0.00 Axis Bank Ltd
Edelweiss Capital LTd
IDFC-SSKI Private Ltd
Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd
Lehman Brothers Securities Pvt Ltd
Morgan Stanley India Company Pvt Ltd
Project financed through current issue 830.66 -
Post Issue Equity share capital 346.10 Lead Manager to the offer
Issue Price Rs. 240.00 NA
Object of the issue : Investment in Sub. Co Wardha Power Company Pvt Ltd, General Corporate Purposes.
Promoted by Listing at Registrar to the Issue
S Kishore
K A Sastry
KSK Energy Ltd
BSE
NSE
-
Market takes repo rate, CRR hike in its stride
Short covering ahead of the expiry of June 2008 derivatives contracts tomorrow, 26 June 2008, helped the market stage a solid rebound from an initial slump caused by the Reserve Bank of India's move late evening yesterday, 24 June 2008, to hike the key lending rate in an aggressive attempt to combat over 11% inflation. The market snapped its five-day slide. The market breadth turned positive later in the day in contrast to a weak breadth earlier in the day.
Heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel, were at the centrestage of the recovery. European and most Asian markets, were in green which also helped the recovery on the battered domestic bourses.
RBI raised its key lending rate viz. the repo rate by 50 basis points to 8.5% with immediate effect, its highest since March 2002 and the second hike this month. It also increased the cash reserve ratio, the ratio of deposits banks must keep with it, to 8.75% from 8.25% in two 25-basis-point stages on 5 July 2008 and 19 July 2008.
The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 117.40 points or 0.83% at 14,223.98, as per provisional closing. At the day’s high of 14,247.16 hit in late trade, the Sensex gained 140.58 points. Sensex opened 333.27 points lower at 13,776.21 and slipped further to touch a low of 13,736.01 in early trade. At the day’s low, the Sensex lost 370.57 points.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty surged 60.40 points or 1.44% at 4,251.50 as per provisional closing
The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1379 shares advanced as compared to 1260 that declined. 68 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.61% to 5,747.60 and the BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.87% to 7,067.42
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5240 crore as compared to Rs 3766 crore by 14:30 IST
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 17 gained while the rest slipped.
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country’s second largest telecom services provider in terms of market capitalisation galloped 6.85% to Rs 507.40 on 31.95 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. As per reports, RCom’s proposed merger deal with South Africa based global operator, MTN is expected to close by first week of July 2008
Shares from metal sector surged. Hindalco Industries (up 2.18% to Rs 147.90), Tata Steel (up 4.18% to Rs 741), JSW Steel (up 4.23% to Rs 1002), Sesa Goa (up 2.12% to Rs 3370), and Steel Authority of India (up 2.91% to Rs 150.45), were the other gainers from metal sector.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), the country’s largest state-run engineering company in terms of order book, surged 3.88% to Rs 1445. As per recent reports, Bhel has paid 42.8% higher advance tax at Rs 300 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
However Larsen & Toubro, the country’s largest private sector engineering company in terms of order book slipped 0.16% to Rs 2307, after touching a low of Rs 2235.25. The stock is currently trading 1:1 cum bonus.
India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 4.05% to Rs 2149.95 on 13.16 lakh shares. RIL has reportedly signed a cooperation agreement with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum to jointly undertake projects of mutual interest in the region's energy sector.
Bharti Airtel (up 4.58% to Rs 785), Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.55% to Rs 943.30), and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 4.12% to Rs 546.95), edged higher from Sensex pack.
India’s largest state-run oil exploration company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 1.73% to Rs 870.10. The company posted 6.77% rise in net profit to Rs 16701.65 crore on 6.54% increase in net sales to Rs 64859.18 crore in the year ended March 2008 over the year ended March 2007. The company announced the results during trading hours today, 25 June 2007.
Real estate stocks rebounded from early lows. DLF (up 2.35% to Rs 450.20), Unitech (up 7% to Rs 182.60), Purvankara Projects (up 6.83% to Rs 183), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 2.45% to Rs 498), and Anant Raj Industries (up 0.81% to Rs 137), gained.
Auto stocks staged a sharp recovery from early lows. India’s top small car maker Maruti Suzuki India advanced 3.15% to Rs 700, off day’s low of Rs 640. However, Tata Motors (down 1.41% to Rs 475), and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.08% to Rs 537) declined.
Banking and financial shares though in the red pared losses. ICICI Bank (down 1.16% to Rs 697, off day’s low of Rs 675.10), State Bank of India (down 0.49% to Rs 1206, off day’s low of Rs 1155), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.55% to Rs 525, off day’s low of Rs 512.50), recovered from lower level
India’s largest dedicated housing finance company, Housing Development Finance Corporation slumped 4.47% to Rs 2165 on 1.83 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.
Software pivotals were subdued after Indian rupee firmed against the dollar. Satyam Computer Services (down 1.12% to Rs 449), Wipro (down 2.59% to Rs 458), and Infosys (down 2.15% to Rs 1754.50), declined. However India’s largest software services exporter TCS vaulted 4.72% to Rs 883.80.
The partially convertible Indian rupee was trading at 42.78/79 per dollar in afternoon trade, stronger than Tuesday's close of 42.9625/9700. A firm rupee impacts margins of IT firms negatively as they derive majority of their revenue from exports to the US.
ITC (down 2.65% to Rs 186), Cipla (down 2.75% to Rs 207.15), and Grasim (down 2% to Rs 2046), edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Sugar stocks gained on momentum buying. Shree Renuka Sugars (up 8.55% to Rs 112.30), Bajaj Hindustan (up 1.87% to Rs 183.50), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 2.89% to Rs 85.40), Uttam Sugar Mills (up 4.94% to Rs 61.60), and Sakthi Sugar (up 4.54% to Rs 67.90), surged.
Spice Communication was the top traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 339.39 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 321.40 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 276.49 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 196.23 crore), and ONGC (Rs 156.66 crore), in that order.
Spice Communication surged 32.93% to Rs 72.25 on huge volumes of 4.87 crore shares after Idea Cellular said it will buy 40.8% stake in the company at Rs 77.30 a share. Meanwhile, shares of Idea Cellular were up 2.37% at Rs 101.50.
Idea Cellular said it would merge Spice with itself through a share swap whereby Spice shareholders would get 49 Idea shares for every 100 Spice shares held. Idea also said that it would make an open offer for additional 20% stake to Spice Communicaton shareholders at Rs 77.30 a share.
In a crucial event on the political front, an UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal will meet later today, 25 June 2008, to discuss the deal. However, it is difficult to say whether there will be a concrete outcome or not. The Left parties have already made it clear that they withdraw their support to the government if it moves ahead with the nuclear deal. This could further worsen the already weak stock market sentiment.
Volatility is likely to remain high as derivatives contracts for June series expire on Thursday, 26 June 2008. As per reports, the marketwide rollover of positions from June 2008 series to July 2008 series stood at 43.10% while that of Nifty was 44.70%, as on Tuesday, 24 June 2008.
Crude oil prices rose 26 cents to settle at $137.00 a barrel yesterday, 24 June 2008, on the New York Mercantile Exchange
European markets, which opened after Indian market, were trading higher in early trade. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom, France and Germany were up by between 0.44% and 1.09%.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian market were trading mixed today, 25 June 2008. China's Shanghai Composite (up 3.65% at 2,905.54), South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.41% at 1,717.91), Taiwan Weighted (up 1.51% at 7,855.06), Hang Seng (up 0.64% to 22,598.79), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.37% at 2,973.30) advanced. However, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.14% at 13,829.92
US markets ended lower yesterday, 24 June 2008 on concerns about the economy, after a report showed consumer confidence hit a 16-year low. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 34.93 points, or 0.29%, to 11,807.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.71 points, or 0.28%, to 1,314.29, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 17.46 points, or 0.73%, to 2,368.28.
Source: Capital Market
Heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel, were at the centrestage of the recovery. European and most Asian markets, were in green which also helped the recovery on the battered domestic bourses.
RBI raised its key lending rate viz. the repo rate by 50 basis points to 8.5% with immediate effect, its highest since March 2002 and the second hike this month. It also increased the cash reserve ratio, the ratio of deposits banks must keep with it, to 8.75% from 8.25% in two 25-basis-point stages on 5 July 2008 and 19 July 2008.
The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 117.40 points or 0.83% at 14,223.98, as per provisional closing. At the day’s high of 14,247.16 hit in late trade, the Sensex gained 140.58 points. Sensex opened 333.27 points lower at 13,776.21 and slipped further to touch a low of 13,736.01 in early trade. At the day’s low, the Sensex lost 370.57 points.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty surged 60.40 points or 1.44% at 4,251.50 as per provisional closing
The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1379 shares advanced as compared to 1260 that declined. 68 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.61% to 5,747.60 and the BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.87% to 7,067.42
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5240 crore as compared to Rs 3766 crore by 14:30 IST
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 17 gained while the rest slipped.
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country’s second largest telecom services provider in terms of market capitalisation galloped 6.85% to Rs 507.40 on 31.95 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. As per reports, RCom’s proposed merger deal with South Africa based global operator, MTN is expected to close by first week of July 2008
Shares from metal sector surged. Hindalco Industries (up 2.18% to Rs 147.90), Tata Steel (up 4.18% to Rs 741), JSW Steel (up 4.23% to Rs 1002), Sesa Goa (up 2.12% to Rs 3370), and Steel Authority of India (up 2.91% to Rs 150.45), were the other gainers from metal sector.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), the country’s largest state-run engineering company in terms of order book, surged 3.88% to Rs 1445. As per recent reports, Bhel has paid 42.8% higher advance tax at Rs 300 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
However Larsen & Toubro, the country’s largest private sector engineering company in terms of order book slipped 0.16% to Rs 2307, after touching a low of Rs 2235.25. The stock is currently trading 1:1 cum bonus.
India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 4.05% to Rs 2149.95 on 13.16 lakh shares. RIL has reportedly signed a cooperation agreement with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum to jointly undertake projects of mutual interest in the region's energy sector.
Bharti Airtel (up 4.58% to Rs 785), Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.55% to Rs 943.30), and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 4.12% to Rs 546.95), edged higher from Sensex pack.
India’s largest state-run oil exploration company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 1.73% to Rs 870.10. The company posted 6.77% rise in net profit to Rs 16701.65 crore on 6.54% increase in net sales to Rs 64859.18 crore in the year ended March 2008 over the year ended March 2007. The company announced the results during trading hours today, 25 June 2007.
Real estate stocks rebounded from early lows. DLF (up 2.35% to Rs 450.20), Unitech (up 7% to Rs 182.60), Purvankara Projects (up 6.83% to Rs 183), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 2.45% to Rs 498), and Anant Raj Industries (up 0.81% to Rs 137), gained.
Auto stocks staged a sharp recovery from early lows. India’s top small car maker Maruti Suzuki India advanced 3.15% to Rs 700, off day’s low of Rs 640. However, Tata Motors (down 1.41% to Rs 475), and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.08% to Rs 537) declined.
Banking and financial shares though in the red pared losses. ICICI Bank (down 1.16% to Rs 697, off day’s low of Rs 675.10), State Bank of India (down 0.49% to Rs 1206, off day’s low of Rs 1155), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.55% to Rs 525, off day’s low of Rs 512.50), recovered from lower level
India’s largest dedicated housing finance company, Housing Development Finance Corporation slumped 4.47% to Rs 2165 on 1.83 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.
Software pivotals were subdued after Indian rupee firmed against the dollar. Satyam Computer Services (down 1.12% to Rs 449), Wipro (down 2.59% to Rs 458), and Infosys (down 2.15% to Rs 1754.50), declined. However India’s largest software services exporter TCS vaulted 4.72% to Rs 883.80.
The partially convertible Indian rupee was trading at 42.78/79 per dollar in afternoon trade, stronger than Tuesday's close of 42.9625/9700. A firm rupee impacts margins of IT firms negatively as they derive majority of their revenue from exports to the US.
ITC (down 2.65% to Rs 186), Cipla (down 2.75% to Rs 207.15), and Grasim (down 2% to Rs 2046), edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Sugar stocks gained on momentum buying. Shree Renuka Sugars (up 8.55% to Rs 112.30), Bajaj Hindustan (up 1.87% to Rs 183.50), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 2.89% to Rs 85.40), Uttam Sugar Mills (up 4.94% to Rs 61.60), and Sakthi Sugar (up 4.54% to Rs 67.90), surged.
Spice Communication was the top traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 339.39 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 321.40 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 276.49 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 196.23 crore), and ONGC (Rs 156.66 crore), in that order.
Spice Communication surged 32.93% to Rs 72.25 on huge volumes of 4.87 crore shares after Idea Cellular said it will buy 40.8% stake in the company at Rs 77.30 a share. Meanwhile, shares of Idea Cellular were up 2.37% at Rs 101.50.
Idea Cellular said it would merge Spice with itself through a share swap whereby Spice shareholders would get 49 Idea shares for every 100 Spice shares held. Idea also said that it would make an open offer for additional 20% stake to Spice Communicaton shareholders at Rs 77.30 a share.
In a crucial event on the political front, an UPA-Left committee on the Indo-US nuclear deal will meet later today, 25 June 2008, to discuss the deal. However, it is difficult to say whether there will be a concrete outcome or not. The Left parties have already made it clear that they withdraw their support to the government if it moves ahead with the nuclear deal. This could further worsen the already weak stock market sentiment.
Volatility is likely to remain high as derivatives contracts for June series expire on Thursday, 26 June 2008. As per reports, the marketwide rollover of positions from June 2008 series to July 2008 series stood at 43.10% while that of Nifty was 44.70%, as on Tuesday, 24 June 2008.
Crude oil prices rose 26 cents to settle at $137.00 a barrel yesterday, 24 June 2008, on the New York Mercantile Exchange
European markets, which opened after Indian market, were trading higher in early trade. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom, France and Germany were up by between 0.44% and 1.09%.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian market were trading mixed today, 25 June 2008. China's Shanghai Composite (up 3.65% at 2,905.54), South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.41% at 1,717.91), Taiwan Weighted (up 1.51% at 7,855.06), Hang Seng (up 0.64% to 22,598.79), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.37% at 2,973.30) advanced. However, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.14% at 13,829.92
US markets ended lower yesterday, 24 June 2008 on concerns about the economy, after a report showed consumer confidence hit a 16-year low. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 34.93 points, or 0.29%, to 11,807.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.71 points, or 0.28%, to 1,314.29, and the Nasdaq composite index declined 17.46 points, or 0.73%, to 2,368.28.
Source: Capital Market
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sensex falls below 14,000 for the first time in 10 months
Sensex falls below 14,000 for the first time in 10 months
Equities extended losses for a fifth straight day today with the barometer index BSE Sensex falling below the psychologically important 14,000 mark for the first time in 10 months since late August 2007. Heavy selling pressure in index pivotals during the second half of the day’s trading sessions spooked the market. Metal and FMCG shares were the worst hit in today’s trade.
Choppy swings were witnessed in late trade with the market bouncing in the green, lead by solid rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL). However, RIL quickly pared gains pulled the market sharply lower in late trade. The market breadth was weak. All sectoral indices in BSE suffered losses. Asian and European markets were trading lower.
Fears of further increase in interest rates to tame inflation continued to weigh on the market sentiment. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor signaled on Monday, 23 June 2008, that the central bank will tighten monetary policy further to tackle inflation that surged past 11% in early June 2008 to a 13-year high.
In a crucial global event, the US Federal Reserve is expected to hold key rate for short-term lending at its current 2%, at its two-day policy meeting that begins today, 24 June 2008. Investors will scrutinise the statement accompanying the decision for clues on the future course of monetary policy.
Meanwhile, a crucial UPA-Left meeting on the controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States is scheduled tomorrow, 25 June 2008. The left allies, whose parliamentary support is crucial to the Congress-led United Progress Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, have said they would withdrew support if the government went ahead with the deal.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 301.06 points or 2.11% at 13,992.26, as per provisional closing. Sensex lost 302.01 points at day’s low of 13,991.31 hit in fag trade. At the day’s high of 14,432.90, the Sensex gained 139.58 points in early trade.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty slumped 105.55 points or 2.47% at 4,160.85 as per provisional closing.
The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 1930 shares declined as compared to 713 that advanced. 67 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.97% to 5,700.52 and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.90% to 7,000.54. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5355 crore as against Rs 3597 crore by 14:30 IST
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 24 declined while the rest gained.
Metal shares declined sharply. India’s largest private sector steel maker Tata Steel plunged 7.08% to Rs 692.80 on 12.52 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.
Sterlite Industries (down 5.39% to Rs 698.10), Hindalco Industries (down 3.65% to Rs 143), National Aluminium Company (down 11.20% to Rs 359.95), Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.95% to Rs 1810.05), and Sesa Goa (down 4.3% to Rs 3230) were the other major losers from the metal sector.
Hindustan Unilever (down 6.38% to Rs 212.10), Dabur India (down 4.40% to Rs 88.10), ITC (down 2.74% to Rs 190.05), Marico (down 5.58% to Rs 58.40), and Nestle India (down 0.70% to Rs 1648), edged lower from FMCG sector.
India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) saw high volatility in the day. The stock settled 0.80% higher to Rs 2038.30 on 16.45 lakh shares. The stock swung wildly in a range of Rs 2012 and Rs 2133.70 during the day. As per recent reports, RIL plans to open its first North American plant in North Carolina by investing $215 million.
India’s largest power generation company in terms of sales, NTPC lost 4.84% to Rs 154.20. As per reports, NTPC had paid 6.9% lower advance tax at Rs 188 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
India’s largest state-run oil exploration company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) fell 4.75% to Rs 845.15. ONGC has decided to exit projects to set up a refinery and a special economic zone Andhra Pradesh, the company said on Monday, 23 June 2008. ONGC will unveil its Q4 and year ended March 2008 results on Wednesday, 25 June 2008.
Banking stocks slipped on selling pressure. ICICI Bank (down 2.95% to Rs 700.10), HDFC Bank (down 4.62% to Rs 1046) and State Bank of India (down 0.17% to Rs 1203), edged higher.
Software stocks slipped in the red after firm start. Satyam Computer Services (down 2.09% to Rs 450.50, off day’s high of Rs 465.75), Infosys Technologies (down 4.08% to Rs 1772.05, off day’s high of Rs 1859.90), and TCS (down 1.26% to Rs 847, off day’s high of Rs 864.80) declined.
Wipro, the country’s third largest software services exporter was down 2% to Rs 470. Wipro has reportedly raised close to Rs 1,400 crore (35 billion Yen) through external commercial borrowings (ECBs). The company has been pursuing an aggressive acquisition strategy over the last few years and it concluded two major acquisitions in the year ended March 2008 including Unza and Infocrossing for a cumulative value of close to $900 million. As of 31 March 2008, Wipro had cash and bank balance Rs 3,927 crore.
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country’s second largest telecom services provider in terms of market capitalisation slumped 2.85% to Rs 474. RCom’s proposed merger deal with South Africa based global operator, MTN is reportedly expected to close by first week of July 2008 with RCom likely to acquire 40% stake in the merged entity.
India’s leading pharma company in terms of sales, Ranbaxy Laboratories gained 2.44% to Rs 526 on 14.58 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), the country’s largest state-run engineering company in terms of order book, gained 2.10% to Rs 1390. As per reports, Bhel has paid 42.8% higher advance tax at Rs 300 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
India’s dedicated housing finance company Housing Development Finance Corporation advanced 2.05% to Rs 2260. The stock moved in a range of Rs 2182 and Rs 2300 in the day.
Reliance Capital was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 454.33 crore followed by Reliance Industries (Rs 341.56 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 239.07 crore), Reliance Communication (Rs 184.91 crore), and Anu’s Labs (Rs 177.87 crore), in that order.
Volatility is expected to remain high in the near term as derivatives contracts for June series are set to expire on Thursday, 26 June 2008. As per reports, the marketwide rollover of positions from June 2008 series to July 2008 series stood at 26.50% while that of Nifty was 31%, as on Friday, 20 June 2008.
Meanwhile, as per reports, advance tax collections increased 27% to Rs 21,000 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007, as of 20 June 2008. Advance taxes are paid in four instalments, in June, September, December and March. Usually, the first instalment is 15% of the total tax estimated to be paid for the whole fiscal.
European markets, which opened after Indian market, slipped into the red after firm opening. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom, France and Germany were down by between 1.18% and 1.48%.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were trading lower except China's Shanghai Composite which rose 1.50% at 2,801.72. Japan's Nikkei (down 0.06% at 13,849.56), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 1.14% at 22,456.02), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 1.76% at 7,738.12), Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.57% at 2,962.20) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 0.28% at 1,710.84) slipped.
US markets lost some ground yesterday, 23 June 2008, sending financial shares to their lowest level in five years, on a deteriorating outlook for bank earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.33 points, or less than 0.01%, to 11,842.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.07 points, or 0.01%, to 1,318.00, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 20.35 points, or 0.85%, to 2,385.74.
Crude for August delivery was up 20 cents at $136.94 a barrel today, 24 June 2008 amid fears of Nigerian supply disruptions and tensions between Israel and Iran. It had hit a record high of $139.89 on 16 June 2008.
Back home, Indian stocks suffered losses for the fourth straight session yesterday, 23 June 20008, to settle at 10-month low on sustained selling pressure throughout the day due to concerns of further policy tightening by the Reserve Bank of India with inflation reaching 13-year high and political uncertainty. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 277.97 points or 1.91% at 14,293.32 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 81.15 points or 1.87% to 4266.40, on that day.
As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 665.56 crore and domestic mutual funds bought shares worth a net Rs 91.75 crore yesterday, 23 June 2008.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 166.24 crore in the futures & options segment yesterday, 21 June 2008. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 876.86 crore and sold index options worth Rs 864.33 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 165.96 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 12.81 crore.
Source: Capital Market
Equities extended losses for a fifth straight day today with the barometer index BSE Sensex falling below the psychologically important 14,000 mark for the first time in 10 months since late August 2007. Heavy selling pressure in index pivotals during the second half of the day’s trading sessions spooked the market. Metal and FMCG shares were the worst hit in today’s trade.
Choppy swings were witnessed in late trade with the market bouncing in the green, lead by solid rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL). However, RIL quickly pared gains pulled the market sharply lower in late trade. The market breadth was weak. All sectoral indices in BSE suffered losses. Asian and European markets were trading lower.
Fears of further increase in interest rates to tame inflation continued to weigh on the market sentiment. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor signaled on Monday, 23 June 2008, that the central bank will tighten monetary policy further to tackle inflation that surged past 11% in early June 2008 to a 13-year high.
In a crucial global event, the US Federal Reserve is expected to hold key rate for short-term lending at its current 2%, at its two-day policy meeting that begins today, 24 June 2008. Investors will scrutinise the statement accompanying the decision for clues on the future course of monetary policy.
Meanwhile, a crucial UPA-Left meeting on the controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States is scheduled tomorrow, 25 June 2008. The left allies, whose parliamentary support is crucial to the Congress-led United Progress Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, have said they would withdrew support if the government went ahead with the deal.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 301.06 points or 2.11% at 13,992.26, as per provisional closing. Sensex lost 302.01 points at day’s low of 13,991.31 hit in fag trade. At the day’s high of 14,432.90, the Sensex gained 139.58 points in early trade.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty slumped 105.55 points or 2.47% at 4,160.85 as per provisional closing.
The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 1930 shares declined as compared to 713 that advanced. 67 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.97% to 5,700.52 and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.90% to 7,000.54. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5355 crore as against Rs 3597 crore by 14:30 IST
Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 24 declined while the rest gained.
Metal shares declined sharply. India’s largest private sector steel maker Tata Steel plunged 7.08% to Rs 692.80 on 12.52 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.
Sterlite Industries (down 5.39% to Rs 698.10), Hindalco Industries (down 3.65% to Rs 143), National Aluminium Company (down 11.20% to Rs 359.95), Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.95% to Rs 1810.05), and Sesa Goa (down 4.3% to Rs 3230) were the other major losers from the metal sector.
Hindustan Unilever (down 6.38% to Rs 212.10), Dabur India (down 4.40% to Rs 88.10), ITC (down 2.74% to Rs 190.05), Marico (down 5.58% to Rs 58.40), and Nestle India (down 0.70% to Rs 1648), edged lower from FMCG sector.
India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) saw high volatility in the day. The stock settled 0.80% higher to Rs 2038.30 on 16.45 lakh shares. The stock swung wildly in a range of Rs 2012 and Rs 2133.70 during the day. As per recent reports, RIL plans to open its first North American plant in North Carolina by investing $215 million.
India’s largest power generation company in terms of sales, NTPC lost 4.84% to Rs 154.20. As per reports, NTPC had paid 6.9% lower advance tax at Rs 188 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
India’s largest state-run oil exploration company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) fell 4.75% to Rs 845.15. ONGC has decided to exit projects to set up a refinery and a special economic zone Andhra Pradesh, the company said on Monday, 23 June 2008. ONGC will unveil its Q4 and year ended March 2008 results on Wednesday, 25 June 2008.
Banking stocks slipped on selling pressure. ICICI Bank (down 2.95% to Rs 700.10), HDFC Bank (down 4.62% to Rs 1046) and State Bank of India (down 0.17% to Rs 1203), edged higher.
Software stocks slipped in the red after firm start. Satyam Computer Services (down 2.09% to Rs 450.50, off day’s high of Rs 465.75), Infosys Technologies (down 4.08% to Rs 1772.05, off day’s high of Rs 1859.90), and TCS (down 1.26% to Rs 847, off day’s high of Rs 864.80) declined.
Wipro, the country’s third largest software services exporter was down 2% to Rs 470. Wipro has reportedly raised close to Rs 1,400 crore (35 billion Yen) through external commercial borrowings (ECBs). The company has been pursuing an aggressive acquisition strategy over the last few years and it concluded two major acquisitions in the year ended March 2008 including Unza and Infocrossing for a cumulative value of close to $900 million. As of 31 March 2008, Wipro had cash and bank balance Rs 3,927 crore.
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country’s second largest telecom services provider in terms of market capitalisation slumped 2.85% to Rs 474. RCom’s proposed merger deal with South Africa based global operator, MTN is reportedly expected to close by first week of July 2008 with RCom likely to acquire 40% stake in the merged entity.
India’s leading pharma company in terms of sales, Ranbaxy Laboratories gained 2.44% to Rs 526 on 14.58 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), the country’s largest state-run engineering company in terms of order book, gained 2.10% to Rs 1390. As per reports, Bhel has paid 42.8% higher advance tax at Rs 300 crore in the first installment of this financial year over the corresponding period in the previous year.
India’s dedicated housing finance company Housing Development Finance Corporation advanced 2.05% to Rs 2260. The stock moved in a range of Rs 2182 and Rs 2300 in the day.
Reliance Capital was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 454.33 crore followed by Reliance Industries (Rs 341.56 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 239.07 crore), Reliance Communication (Rs 184.91 crore), and Anu’s Labs (Rs 177.87 crore), in that order.
Volatility is expected to remain high in the near term as derivatives contracts for June series are set to expire on Thursday, 26 June 2008. As per reports, the marketwide rollover of positions from June 2008 series to July 2008 series stood at 26.50% while that of Nifty was 31%, as on Friday, 20 June 2008.
Meanwhile, as per reports, advance tax collections increased 27% to Rs 21,000 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007, as of 20 June 2008. Advance taxes are paid in four instalments, in June, September, December and March. Usually, the first instalment is 15% of the total tax estimated to be paid for the whole fiscal.
European markets, which opened after Indian market, slipped into the red after firm opening. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom, France and Germany were down by between 1.18% and 1.48%.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were trading lower except China's Shanghai Composite which rose 1.50% at 2,801.72. Japan's Nikkei (down 0.06% at 13,849.56), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 1.14% at 22,456.02), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 1.76% at 7,738.12), Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.57% at 2,962.20) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 0.28% at 1,710.84) slipped.
US markets lost some ground yesterday, 23 June 2008, sending financial shares to their lowest level in five years, on a deteriorating outlook for bank earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.33 points, or less than 0.01%, to 11,842.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.07 points, or 0.01%, to 1,318.00, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 20.35 points, or 0.85%, to 2,385.74.
Crude for August delivery was up 20 cents at $136.94 a barrel today, 24 June 2008 amid fears of Nigerian supply disruptions and tensions between Israel and Iran. It had hit a record high of $139.89 on 16 June 2008.
Back home, Indian stocks suffered losses for the fourth straight session yesterday, 23 June 20008, to settle at 10-month low on sustained selling pressure throughout the day due to concerns of further policy tightening by the Reserve Bank of India with inflation reaching 13-year high and political uncertainty. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 277.97 points or 1.91% at 14,293.32 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 81.15 points or 1.87% to 4266.40, on that day.
As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 665.56 crore and domestic mutual funds bought shares worth a net Rs 91.75 crore yesterday, 23 June 2008.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 166.24 crore in the futures & options segment yesterday, 21 June 2008. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 876.86 crore and sold index options worth Rs 864.33 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 165.96 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 12.81 crore.
Source: Capital Market
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Congress gasps for breath with soaring inflation. puts nuke deal on back burner
Though the soaring rate of inflation is causing distinct uneasiness in the Congress over the extent to which it can go in pressing ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement, the party is clearly not ready to blink as yet.
On a day when Congress president Sonia Gandhi held detailed discussions with senior party leaders over the future course of action on the nuclear deal, party sources maintained that the Congress still considered the nuclear deal to be in national interest and fully backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was in favour of wrapping up the issue before the end of this month.
But it was evident that the party was also finding it a little difficult to take a final call on the issue and risk the collapse of the government, especially at a time when the aam aadmi is feeling increasingly distressed over the incessant rise in prices of essential commodities.
Party sources said that the Congress was yet to make up its mind, notwithstanding strong advocacy by a section of party leaders to defy the Left and confirm the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They said that the party was in favour of going to Vienna immediately but they would prefer to take the Left along.
Whether to defy the Left or wait for political consensus to emerge on the deal will be decided only after the UPA-Left committee meeting on June 25, according to highly placed Congress sources. There is no decision on this till now, they said.
According to a section of Congress leaders, there was a sense of urgency in UPA-Left negotiations because Prime Minister Singh wanted to take a call on this issue before heading for the G-8 meeting next month, but "there is nothing like reaching a point of no return".
"Deadlines are always set in a given context and are changed in the changed context. Therefore, it would be incorrect to say that if we don't go to Vienna this month, the nuclear deal will be dead. We want to go there by all means, but it's not a question of life and death," said a senior Congress leader.
This slight but perceptible change in the tone of Congress leaders who saw no retreat from this point and predicted early elections till the other day has much to do with the mounting inflation figures, which are only expected to go north. A concerned Congress president had called Finance Minister P Chidambaram to her residence Saturday evening to know when he expected the inflationary trend to come down. There is increasing anxiety in the party about the aam aadmi getting impatient with unabated inflation and the same has been conveyed to the Congress president by senior party leaders, said sources.
A prominent section of the Congress is also not very enthusiastic about the back channel negotiations initiated by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his emissary D P Tripathi with CPM general secretary Prakash Karat to break the current impasse over the nuclear deal.
Congress sources asserted that "only" External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony had been authorised by Sonia Gandhi to hold talks with the Left. Any other leader taking on the job of an interlocutor was doing so on his own volition and the Congress should not be assumed to be involved in it "directly or indirectly," they maintained.
The assertion came in the wake of slight tension in the Congress camp following the efforts of Pawar to postpone the date of the next UPA-Left meeting from June 25 to June 28. Pawar, who is also the president of Indian cricket board, is scheduled to be in London on June 25 for an ICC function. While the Left was willing to go along, Congress today stuck to the original date of June 25.
On Saturday, Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Pawar. who was in Pune. and assured him that they could remain in touch over phone on June 25. Meanwhile, Mukherjee himself left for Australia on Sunday. He will be back on June 24.
On a day when Congress president Sonia Gandhi held detailed discussions with senior party leaders over the future course of action on the nuclear deal, party sources maintained that the Congress still considered the nuclear deal to be in national interest and fully backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was in favour of wrapping up the issue before the end of this month.
But it was evident that the party was also finding it a little difficult to take a final call on the issue and risk the collapse of the government, especially at a time when the aam aadmi is feeling increasingly distressed over the incessant rise in prices of essential commodities.
Party sources said that the Congress was yet to make up its mind, notwithstanding strong advocacy by a section of party leaders to defy the Left and confirm the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They said that the party was in favour of going to Vienna immediately but they would prefer to take the Left along.
Whether to defy the Left or wait for political consensus to emerge on the deal will be decided only after the UPA-Left committee meeting on June 25, according to highly placed Congress sources. There is no decision on this till now, they said.
According to a section of Congress leaders, there was a sense of urgency in UPA-Left negotiations because Prime Minister Singh wanted to take a call on this issue before heading for the G-8 meeting next month, but "there is nothing like reaching a point of no return".
"Deadlines are always set in a given context and are changed in the changed context. Therefore, it would be incorrect to say that if we don't go to Vienna this month, the nuclear deal will be dead. We want to go there by all means, but it's not a question of life and death," said a senior Congress leader.
This slight but perceptible change in the tone of Congress leaders who saw no retreat from this point and predicted early elections till the other day has much to do with the mounting inflation figures, which are only expected to go north. A concerned Congress president had called Finance Minister P Chidambaram to her residence Saturday evening to know when he expected the inflationary trend to come down. There is increasing anxiety in the party about the aam aadmi getting impatient with unabated inflation and the same has been conveyed to the Congress president by senior party leaders, said sources.
A prominent section of the Congress is also not very enthusiastic about the back channel negotiations initiated by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his emissary D P Tripathi with CPM general secretary Prakash Karat to break the current impasse over the nuclear deal.
Congress sources asserted that "only" External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony had been authorised by Sonia Gandhi to hold talks with the Left. Any other leader taking on the job of an interlocutor was doing so on his own volition and the Congress should not be assumed to be involved in it "directly or indirectly," they maintained.
The assertion came in the wake of slight tension in the Congress camp following the efforts of Pawar to postpone the date of the next UPA-Left meeting from June 25 to June 28. Pawar, who is also the president of Indian cricket board, is scheduled to be in London on June 25 for an ICC function. While the Left was willing to go along, Congress today stuck to the original date of June 25.
On Saturday, Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Pawar. who was in Pune. and assured him that they could remain in touch over phone on June 25. Meanwhile, Mukherjee himself left for Australia on Sunday. He will be back on June 24.
Oil minister: Saudi willing to increase crude output
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Facing strong U.S. pressure and global dismay over oil prices, Saudi Arabia said Sunday it will produce more crude this year if the market needs it. But the vague pledge fell far short of U.S. hopes for a specific increase and may do little to lower prices immediately.
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For now, the current "oil shock" leaves Western countries with little choice but to move toward nuclear power and change their energy-consumption habits, Britain's prime minister warned at a rare meeting of oil-producing and consuming nations.
Saudi Arabia — the world's top crude exporter — called the gathering Sunday to send a message that it, too, is concerned by high oil prices inflicting economic pain worldwide.
Instead, the meeting highlighted the sharp disagreement between producers like Saudi Arabia and consuming countries like Britain and the United States over the core factors driving steep price hikes. Oil closed near $135 a barrel on Friday — almost double the price a year ago.
The cost of gasoline also has become a sore point in the U.S. presidential race, with President Bush and presumed Republican nominee John McCain calling on Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has said such moves will do nothing to ease American consumers' pain short-term.
The U.S. and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East. But Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the kingdom is willing to produce more than the 9.7 million barrels of oil a day it had already planned to produce in July — if the market requires it.
But the Saudi oil minister also blamed speculators and asserted supply is not the problem.
"In today's environment, I am convinced that supply and demand balances and crude oil production levels are not the primary drivers of the current market situation," al-Naimi said. Officials and energy executives from more than 35 countries thronged a large hall where he spoke.
King Abdullah also said Saudi Arabia is not the culprit.
The king cited several factors driving "the unjustified, swift rise in oil prices" including "speculators who play the market out of selfish interests," plus higher consumption by developing countries and higher taxes in some countries.
U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, however, said earlier that U.S. officials had found no evidence speculators are driving up prices.
Saudi officials have consistently said the country would provide enough oil to supply the market. The kingdom announced a 300,000 barrel per day production increase in May and said before the start of the Jiddah meeting that it would add another 200,000 barrels per day in July, raising total daily output to 9.7 million barrels.
Both announcements had already been factored into oil prices before Sunday's meeting — and neither did much to stem their rise. Total worldwide crude production is about 85 million barrels per day.
The Saudi output increase is "going to help a little bit, maybe reduce prices just a little," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat and former President Bill Clinton's energy secretary, said on CNN's "Late Edition" program. "It won't be significant."
It remained unclear if Sunday's announcements would have any greater effect.
At least one analyst said he thought they would only spur prices higher.
The oil market has been in a holding pattern to see if Saudi Arabia would take more aggressive steps toward boosting output, said Stephen Schork, an oil market analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa. The market's likely to view the announcement as a sign it will not, he said.
"We don't know anything more today that we didn't know Friday," said Schork, who predicted "$150 (a barrel) here we come."
Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at energy trade publication Platts, said she expected the reaction to be less dramatic.
"I don't see prices going into freefall at the start of trading this evening, but I don't see the bulls being given any reason to bid prices back up to the $140 level," she said.
Bush has visited Saudi Arabia twice this year to push the country's king to increase oil production but has little to show for the effort.
To address long-term concerns about supply, al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia also is willing to invest to boost its spare oil production capacity above the current 12.5 million barrels per day planned for the end of 2009 — again, if the market requires it.
That reversed previous indications the country would not go beyond that figure.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed U.S. officials' calls for commitments of specific production increases. Such actions would help ensure that "instead of uncertainty and unpredictability, there is greater certainty, and instead of instability, there is greater stability," he said.
But he and Bodman also urged consuming countries to increase energy efficiency and invest in alternative sources of fuel. Brown said the high prices — what he termed an "oil shock" — leave industrialized countries with few choices but turning more to nuclear power and lowering energy consumption.
A joint statement issued by participants also urged countries to improve energy efficiency. The vaguely worded statement also promoted investment in spare capacity and called for improved transparency and regulation of financial markets, but provided few specifics — again highlighting the confusion and disagreements over the core causes of oil's price surge.
Abdullah called for the creation of a $1 billion energy initiative to help poor countries combat fuel prices and said Saudi Arabia would contribute $500 million to provide loans to finance development and energy projects.
___
Associated Press reporters Donna Abu-Nasr in Jiddah and Adam Schreck and John Wilen in New York contributed to this report.
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For now, the current "oil shock" leaves Western countries with little choice but to move toward nuclear power and change their energy-consumption habits, Britain's prime minister warned at a rare meeting of oil-producing and consuming nations.
Saudi Arabia — the world's top crude exporter — called the gathering Sunday to send a message that it, too, is concerned by high oil prices inflicting economic pain worldwide.
Instead, the meeting highlighted the sharp disagreement between producers like Saudi Arabia and consuming countries like Britain and the United States over the core factors driving steep price hikes. Oil closed near $135 a barrel on Friday — almost double the price a year ago.
The cost of gasoline also has become a sore point in the U.S. presidential race, with President Bush and presumed Republican nominee John McCain calling on Congress to lift its long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has said such moves will do nothing to ease American consumers' pain short-term.
The U.S. and other nations argue that oil production has not kept up with increasing demand, especially from China, India and the Middle East. But Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries say there is no shortage of oil and instead blame financial speculation and the falling U.S. dollar.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the kingdom is willing to produce more than the 9.7 million barrels of oil a day it had already planned to produce in July — if the market requires it.
But the Saudi oil minister also blamed speculators and asserted supply is not the problem.
"In today's environment, I am convinced that supply and demand balances and crude oil production levels are not the primary drivers of the current market situation," al-Naimi said. Officials and energy executives from more than 35 countries thronged a large hall where he spoke.
King Abdullah also said Saudi Arabia is not the culprit.
The king cited several factors driving "the unjustified, swift rise in oil prices" including "speculators who play the market out of selfish interests," plus higher consumption by developing countries and higher taxes in some countries.
U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, however, said earlier that U.S. officials had found no evidence speculators are driving up prices.
Saudi officials have consistently said the country would provide enough oil to supply the market. The kingdom announced a 300,000 barrel per day production increase in May and said before the start of the Jiddah meeting that it would add another 200,000 barrels per day in July, raising total daily output to 9.7 million barrels.
Both announcements had already been factored into oil prices before Sunday's meeting — and neither did much to stem their rise. Total worldwide crude production is about 85 million barrels per day.
The Saudi output increase is "going to help a little bit, maybe reduce prices just a little," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat and former President Bill Clinton's energy secretary, said on CNN's "Late Edition" program. "It won't be significant."
It remained unclear if Sunday's announcements would have any greater effect.
At least one analyst said he thought they would only spur prices higher.
The oil market has been in a holding pattern to see if Saudi Arabia would take more aggressive steps toward boosting output, said Stephen Schork, an oil market analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa. The market's likely to view the announcement as a sign it will not, he said.
"We don't know anything more today that we didn't know Friday," said Schork, who predicted "$150 (a barrel) here we come."
Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at energy trade publication Platts, said she expected the reaction to be less dramatic.
"I don't see prices going into freefall at the start of trading this evening, but I don't see the bulls being given any reason to bid prices back up to the $140 level," she said.
Bush has visited Saudi Arabia twice this year to push the country's king to increase oil production but has little to show for the effort.
To address long-term concerns about supply, al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia also is willing to invest to boost its spare oil production capacity above the current 12.5 million barrels per day planned for the end of 2009 — again, if the market requires it.
That reversed previous indications the country would not go beyond that figure.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed U.S. officials' calls for commitments of specific production increases. Such actions would help ensure that "instead of uncertainty and unpredictability, there is greater certainty, and instead of instability, there is greater stability," he said.
But he and Bodman also urged consuming countries to increase energy efficiency and invest in alternative sources of fuel. Brown said the high prices — what he termed an "oil shock" — leave industrialized countries with few choices but turning more to nuclear power and lowering energy consumption.
A joint statement issued by participants also urged countries to improve energy efficiency. The vaguely worded statement also promoted investment in spare capacity and called for improved transparency and regulation of financial markets, but provided few specifics — again highlighting the confusion and disagreements over the core causes of oil's price surge.
Abdullah called for the creation of a $1 billion energy initiative to help poor countries combat fuel prices and said Saudi Arabia would contribute $500 million to provide loans to finance development and energy projects.
___
Associated Press reporters Donna Abu-Nasr in Jiddah and Adam Schreck and John Wilen in New York contributed to this report.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Lotus Eye Care Hospital Ltd
Lotus Eye Care Hospital Ltd
Regitered Office : SF No770/12 Civil Aerodrome(P), Avinashi Road, Coimbatore - 641014, Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 91-422-2626464/2626565 Fax : 91-422-2627193
Email : lotuseye@eth.net Website : www.lotuseye.org
Regitered Office : SF No770/12 Civil Aerodrome(P), Avinashi Road, Coimbatore - 641014, Tamil Nadu, India
Phone : 91-422-2626464/2626565 Fax : 91-422-2627193
Email : lotuseye@eth.net Website : www.lotuseye.org
| Public issue of 1,00,00,000 equity shares of Rs. 10/- each at a price of Rs.{*] per equity share (including share premium of Rs.[*] per equity share) for cash aggregating to Rs.[*] Crores by Lotus Eye Care Hospital limited (hereinafter referred to as the "issue"). The issue will constitute 48.09% of the fully diluted post issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. Price band: Rs.38/- to Rs.42/- per equity share The issue price is 3.8 times of the face value at the lower end of the price band and 4.2 times of the face value at the higher end of the price band |
| Bid | Book Built Portion | Fixed Price Portion | Money payable on | |||
| Opens on | Closes on | Opens on | Closes on | Opens on | Closes on | Application |
| Jun 12, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Jun 12, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Jun 12, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Rs. 38.00-42.00 |
| Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Book built portion) :150 Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Fixed price portion) :150 Further muliples of :150 | ||||||
| Rs cr | Book Running Lead Manager to the offer | |
| Project Cost | 55.00 | Canara Bank Keynote Corporate Services Ltd |
| Project financed through current issue | 38.00 | - |
| Post Issue Equity share capital | 20.80 | Lead Manager to the offer |
| Issue Price | Rs. 38.00 | NA |
| Object of the issue : To Finance Expansion of our Existing Facilities, To Fin. Establishing new centers with Latest Tech., To Meet Working Capital Requirement. |
| Promoted by | Listing at | Registrar to the Issue |
| S K Sundaramoorthy P K Venkatachalam Kaveetha Sundaramoorthy Sangeeta Sundaramoorthy | BSE NSE | - |
Indian Railways' growth at 19.85%
| |||||||
Market pares losses in late trade; RIL gains
Market pares losses in late trade; RIL gains
The market recovered some of the lost ground in late trade after the barometer index BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty had tumbled to its lowest in 2008 in mid-afternoon trade. Weakness in global markets weighed on the domestic bourses. The market breadth was weak. Healthcare stocks and shares of public sector oil marketing firms rose even as IT, realty and banking stocks declined.
The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 142.15 points or 0.94% at 14,923.95 as per the provisional figures. At the day’s low of 14,645.31 the Sensex lost 420.79 points in mid-afternoon trade, falling below its previous year 2,008 low of 14,677.24 hit 18 March 2008.
Earlier, after opening on a subdued note on weak global cues, the market had recovered to trade in green for a brief period. At the day’s high of 15,088.03 Sensex gained 21.93 points in early trade.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 41.25 points or 0.92% at 4,459.70 as per the provisional figures. Nifty had hit new year 2008 low of 4369.80 today.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,265 crore today as compared to a turnover of Rs 5,053.75 crore on Monday, 9 June 2008.
The market breadth was weak on BSE with 982 shares advancing as compared to 1,640 that declined. 76 remained unchanged. Among the 30 stocks from Sensex pack, 20 were trading in red.
The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.97% to 6,110.52 and BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.8% to 7,356.91.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.54% to Rs 1,382.05), Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 1.68% to Rs 2,199.40), Ambuja Cements (up 0.43% to Rs 82.30) and ACC (up 0.55% to Rs 616.40) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
ONGC (down 4.74% to Rs 831.25), HDFC (down 4.79% to Rs 2,101), Jaiprakash Associates (down 3.54% to Rs 177.15), Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.59% to Rs 1,011.60), Tata Motors (down 0.81% to Rs 512.90) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Consumer durables stocks declined. Rajesh Exports (down 6.53% to Rs 70.85), Titan Industries (down 3.73% to Rs 1,088), Blue Star (down 3.26% to Rs 390) and Gitanjali Gems (down 1.13% to Rs 266) edged lower.
Banking stocks fell extending their recent sharp losses on concerns of further policy tightening of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India to rein in inflation which is at its highest level in nearly four years. HDFC Bank (4.96% to Rs 1,130.95), State Bank of India (down 1.06% to Rs 1,279.10) and ICICI Bank (down 2.47% to Rs 731.60) edged lower.
Realty stocks extended yesterday’s huge losses. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.82% to Rs 391.15), Unitech (down 3.03% to Rs 179.20) and DLF (down 0.35% to Rs 479.85) edged lower.
Software services companies, which get more than half their revenue from the United States, fell on signs the US economy was heading for stagflation. BSE IT index was the top loser from the sectoral indices on BSE. It was down 2.75% to 4,283.96. Infosys (down 2.89% to Rs 1,849.10), Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.89% to Rs 880.05), Satyam Computer Services (down 2.76% to Rs 477.90), and Wipro (down 1.46% to Rs 473.55) edged lower.
Healthcare stocks rose. Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 6.53% to Rs 560.75), Cipla (up 2.13% to Rs 211.05), Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (up 0.54% to Rs 696.50) edged higher.
Shares of oil state-run oil marketing firms rose today after witnessing heavy battering over the past few days. HPCL (up 1.86% to Rs 196.90), BPCL (up 2.24% to Rs 284.65) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.91% to Rs 366.55) edged higher.
Champagne Indage declined 1.24% to Rs 480. The company’s board meet will later in the day to consider raising of long term/medium term financial resources of up to $50 million in one or more tranches through various financial instruments.
European markets were weak. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were down by between 0.58% to 0.84%.
Stocks dropped in Asia after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning on inflation on Monday, 9 June 208, fanned expectations of higher US interest rates later this year. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 1.49% to 7.73%.
The Dow staged a modest rebound on Monday from Friday's nearly 400-point drop, as concerns about US consumer spending and the troubled US housing market were eased by better-than-expected sales figures from McDonald's Corp and a surprising gain in pending home sales. The broader market was little changed, with a drop of more than $4 in the price of oil helping fuel-dependent sectors such as manufacturers, mitigating sharp losses in the financial and technology sectors. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.51 points, or 0.58%, to end at 12,280.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.08 points, or 0.08%, at 1,361.76. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.10 points, or 0.61%, at 2,459.46.
A surge in global commodity prices led by crude oil spooked stocks across the globe in the past few days. In India, foreign funds have pressed heavy sales. FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 2984.20 core in the first few days of this month, till 6 June 2008. They had dumped stocks worth a net Rs 5011.50 crore in May 2008. Their outflow in calendar 2008 reached Rs 18660.60 crore, till 6 June 2008. There has been heavy buying by domestic funds led by insurance firms in the past few days, but that has failed to stop the slide on the bourses.
Brokerage earnings downgrades of Indian firms/stock prices amid rising input and interest costs for India Inc, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market. If inflation remains high, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would be forced to hike repo rate – a move that could choke overall growth of the economy. The Indian industry and consumer have already been reeling under high interest rates over the past few months. A further hike in rates would raise interest costs of corporate India and hit bottomline.
After 10 days of debate, the Union government on Wednesday, 4 June 2008 agreed to raise retail petrol and diesel prices by about 10%, more than expected, to help curb losses at its state-owned refiners. A sharp fall in the rupee against the dollar in the past few days has heightened concerns about inflation. This is because the fall in rupee will raise cost of imports which in turn will result in further rise in inflation.
According to rating agency CRISIL, headline inflation is expected to increase by 95 basis points on account of direct and indirect effects of the fuel price hike. The indirect impact which will be felt over the course of the next few months, it states in a note.
A well distributed monsoon will bolster food production, helping douse inflation. Agricultural output in India depends on good rains. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s second monsoon forecast for the crucial annual south-west monsoon (June-September) due this months which may indicate spatial rainfall distribution in the main sowing month of July 2008, will be keenly watched by market men. The IMD has forecast the 2008 monsoon rains would be near-normal and 99% of the average between 1941 and 1990.
A section of the market is of the view that the central bank may only use the reserve requirement route to tame inflation, fearing any hike in rates would further hurt growth already seen moderating to a still strong 8%-8.5% this fiscal year from 9% in 2007/08. To rein in inflation, in its monetary policy review for 2008-09 on 29 April 2008, the RBI raised cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25% to suck out excess liquidity in the banking system. RBI often says pass-through of high global oil prices is incomplete in India, complicating policy making.
According to a latest monthly June 2008 strategy report by HSBC Global Research, a possibility of Left parties withdrawing support to the government at the centre over the fuel price hike issue, cannot be ruled out. In such an environment with prospects of mid-term polls, the stock market is likely to remain nervous, HSBC says. Parliamentary elections are due in India in May 2009. HSBC’s 2008 year-end (calendar year) target for Sensex is 17,500, compared to current Sensex level of 15,066.10.
Another near term trigger for the market will be corporate advance tax payments for the first installment which falls due on 15 June 2008. The income tax law requires a company to 15% the estimated tax liability for the year as advance tax in the first installment. The advance tax payment by the corporate sector will give a cue on Q1 June 2008 results.
Market may also be keeping a watch on the industrial production numbers for April 2008, which the government will unveil on Thursday, 12 June 2008, which will give a cue on the extent of slowdown in the Indian economy caused by high interest rates.
The BSE Sensex may fall to a 10-month low of around 13,000 points by end-2008, as the Reserve Bank of India may raise interest rates to check inflation due to record oil prices, Credit Suisse said on Monday, 9 June 2008. "The market is still not pricing in the much lower earnings growth being forecast by corporates and banks," Nilesh Jasani, head of research at the Indian unit of the Swiss bank told reporters at a briefing on Monday, 9 June 2008. Uncertainty ahead of national elections will also weigh on the minds of investors, Jasani said.
Source: Capital Market
The market recovered some of the lost ground in late trade after the barometer index BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty had tumbled to its lowest in 2008 in mid-afternoon trade. Weakness in global markets weighed on the domestic bourses. The market breadth was weak. Healthcare stocks and shares of public sector oil marketing firms rose even as IT, realty and banking stocks declined.
The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 142.15 points or 0.94% at 14,923.95 as per the provisional figures. At the day’s low of 14,645.31 the Sensex lost 420.79 points in mid-afternoon trade, falling below its previous year 2,008 low of 14,677.24 hit 18 March 2008.
Earlier, after opening on a subdued note on weak global cues, the market had recovered to trade in green for a brief period. At the day’s high of 15,088.03 Sensex gained 21.93 points in early trade.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 41.25 points or 0.92% at 4,459.70 as per the provisional figures. Nifty had hit new year 2008 low of 4369.80 today.
The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,265 crore today as compared to a turnover of Rs 5,053.75 crore on Monday, 9 June 2008.
The market breadth was weak on BSE with 982 shares advancing as compared to 1,640 that declined. 76 remained unchanged. Among the 30 stocks from Sensex pack, 20 were trading in red.
The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.97% to 6,110.52 and BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.8% to 7,356.91.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.54% to Rs 1,382.05), Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 1.68% to Rs 2,199.40), Ambuja Cements (up 0.43% to Rs 82.30) and ACC (up 0.55% to Rs 616.40) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
ONGC (down 4.74% to Rs 831.25), HDFC (down 4.79% to Rs 2,101), Jaiprakash Associates (down 3.54% to Rs 177.15), Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.59% to Rs 1,011.60), Tata Motors (down 0.81% to Rs 512.90) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Consumer durables stocks declined. Rajesh Exports (down 6.53% to Rs 70.85), Titan Industries (down 3.73% to Rs 1,088), Blue Star (down 3.26% to Rs 390) and Gitanjali Gems (down 1.13% to Rs 266) edged lower.
Banking stocks fell extending their recent sharp losses on concerns of further policy tightening of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India to rein in inflation which is at its highest level in nearly four years. HDFC Bank (4.96% to Rs 1,130.95), State Bank of India (down 1.06% to Rs 1,279.10) and ICICI Bank (down 2.47% to Rs 731.60) edged lower.
Realty stocks extended yesterday’s huge losses. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.82% to Rs 391.15), Unitech (down 3.03% to Rs 179.20) and DLF (down 0.35% to Rs 479.85) edged lower.
Software services companies, which get more than half their revenue from the United States, fell on signs the US economy was heading for stagflation. BSE IT index was the top loser from the sectoral indices on BSE. It was down 2.75% to 4,283.96. Infosys (down 2.89% to Rs 1,849.10), Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.89% to Rs 880.05), Satyam Computer Services (down 2.76% to Rs 477.90), and Wipro (down 1.46% to Rs 473.55) edged lower.
Healthcare stocks rose. Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 6.53% to Rs 560.75), Cipla (up 2.13% to Rs 211.05), Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (up 0.54% to Rs 696.50) edged higher.
Shares of oil state-run oil marketing firms rose today after witnessing heavy battering over the past few days. HPCL (up 1.86% to Rs 196.90), BPCL (up 2.24% to Rs 284.65) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.91% to Rs 366.55) edged higher.
Champagne Indage declined 1.24% to Rs 480. The company’s board meet will later in the day to consider raising of long term/medium term financial resources of up to $50 million in one or more tranches through various financial instruments.
European markets were weak. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were down by between 0.58% to 0.84%.
Stocks dropped in Asia after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning on inflation on Monday, 9 June 208, fanned expectations of higher US interest rates later this year. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 1.49% to 7.73%.
The Dow staged a modest rebound on Monday from Friday's nearly 400-point drop, as concerns about US consumer spending and the troubled US housing market were eased by better-than-expected sales figures from McDonald's Corp and a surprising gain in pending home sales. The broader market was little changed, with a drop of more than $4 in the price of oil helping fuel-dependent sectors such as manufacturers, mitigating sharp losses in the financial and technology sectors. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.51 points, or 0.58%, to end at 12,280.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.08 points, or 0.08%, at 1,361.76. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.10 points, or 0.61%, at 2,459.46.
A surge in global commodity prices led by crude oil spooked stocks across the globe in the past few days. In India, foreign funds have pressed heavy sales. FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 2984.20 core in the first few days of this month, till 6 June 2008. They had dumped stocks worth a net Rs 5011.50 crore in May 2008. Their outflow in calendar 2008 reached Rs 18660.60 crore, till 6 June 2008. There has been heavy buying by domestic funds led by insurance firms in the past few days, but that has failed to stop the slide on the bourses.
Brokerage earnings downgrades of Indian firms/stock prices amid rising input and interest costs for India Inc, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market. If inflation remains high, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would be forced to hike repo rate – a move that could choke overall growth of the economy. The Indian industry and consumer have already been reeling under high interest rates over the past few months. A further hike in rates would raise interest costs of corporate India and hit bottomline.
After 10 days of debate, the Union government on Wednesday, 4 June 2008 agreed to raise retail petrol and diesel prices by about 10%, more than expected, to help curb losses at its state-owned refiners. A sharp fall in the rupee against the dollar in the past few days has heightened concerns about inflation. This is because the fall in rupee will raise cost of imports which in turn will result in further rise in inflation.
According to rating agency CRISIL, headline inflation is expected to increase by 95 basis points on account of direct and indirect effects of the fuel price hike. The indirect impact which will be felt over the course of the next few months, it states in a note.
A well distributed monsoon will bolster food production, helping douse inflation. Agricultural output in India depends on good rains. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s second monsoon forecast for the crucial annual south-west monsoon (June-September) due this months which may indicate spatial rainfall distribution in the main sowing month of July 2008, will be keenly watched by market men. The IMD has forecast the 2008 monsoon rains would be near-normal and 99% of the average between 1941 and 1990.
A section of the market is of the view that the central bank may only use the reserve requirement route to tame inflation, fearing any hike in rates would further hurt growth already seen moderating to a still strong 8%-8.5% this fiscal year from 9% in 2007/08. To rein in inflation, in its monetary policy review for 2008-09 on 29 April 2008, the RBI raised cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25% to suck out excess liquidity in the banking system. RBI often says pass-through of high global oil prices is incomplete in India, complicating policy making.
According to a latest monthly June 2008 strategy report by HSBC Global Research, a possibility of Left parties withdrawing support to the government at the centre over the fuel price hike issue, cannot be ruled out. In such an environment with prospects of mid-term polls, the stock market is likely to remain nervous, HSBC says. Parliamentary elections are due in India in May 2009. HSBC’s 2008 year-end (calendar year) target for Sensex is 17,500, compared to current Sensex level of 15,066.10.
Another near term trigger for the market will be corporate advance tax payments for the first installment which falls due on 15 June 2008. The income tax law requires a company to 15% the estimated tax liability for the year as advance tax in the first installment. The advance tax payment by the corporate sector will give a cue on Q1 June 2008 results.
Market may also be keeping a watch on the industrial production numbers for April 2008, which the government will unveil on Thursday, 12 June 2008, which will give a cue on the extent of slowdown in the Indian economy caused by high interest rates.
The BSE Sensex may fall to a 10-month low of around 13,000 points by end-2008, as the Reserve Bank of India may raise interest rates to check inflation due to record oil prices, Credit Suisse said on Monday, 9 June 2008. "The market is still not pricing in the much lower earnings growth being forecast by corporates and banks," Nilesh Jasani, head of research at the Indian unit of the Swiss bank told reporters at a briefing on Monday, 9 June 2008. Uncertainty ahead of national elections will also weigh on the minds of investors, Jasani said.
Source: Capital Market
Monday, June 9, 2008
Newsmaker : O P Bhatt
State Bank of India Chairman Om Prakash Bhatt is known for playing by the book. Even last Friday he wanted to do the same by putting a temporary freeze on lending for purchase of farm equipment. The idea was to check a further pile up of bad debt on the Rs 7,000-crore portfolio that has 17 per cent sticky assets.
SBI's move may not have moved the farmers, who had stopped paying their monthly installments ever since Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a Rs 60,000-debt waiver plan, but it did create a furore in political circles. Finally, Chidambaram, by his own admission, had to intervene and get SBI to roll back the move.
For the 57-year-old SBI chief, who has earned an unprecedented five-year term, it proved to be a rare instance of being "misunderstood". Bhatt, who, by his own assessment has made the "elephant dance", has been proactive not just in shaping what he calls a "new SBI" but also in sensing government mood and acting accordingly.
For instance, he was among the first to put in place a new payment mechanism for public offers. While the initiative, which was recently approved by the Sebi board, is aimed at fine-tuning the bidding process, it also makes business sense for India's largest bank.
Last year, he managed to convince the Centre to part with Rs 10,000 crore for a rights issue, the biggest that India has seen, at a time when the markets were not doing too well. Bhatt's perseverance with the finance ministry also opened the doors for the other state-run banks to raise capital. Similarly, he managed to convince the government on the long-pending issue of merger of associate banks with SBI.
What probably helped him was his experience in dealing with the government. A 1972-batch executive, Bhatt joined the bank because his parents insisted.
He wanted to be an IAS officer, but in those days, SBI was a better paymaster. Having spent his initial years in various branches, Bhatt made it to the corporate office as executive assistant to PG Kakodkar, where he learnt to manage the dynamics and various pulls and pressures.
His colleagues, many of whom are his biggest critics, acknowledge that the stint helped him.
His rise has been meteoric. He was in Washington, then joined as General Manager in Lucknow, before moving to Guwahati as Chief General Manager. He then took over as the Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore.
Having pipped others to the post of the Managing Director of SBI, the man from Uttaranchal, became the SBI chairman in 2006.
After taking over the reins at SBI, Bhatt focused on regaining the market share — both for deposits and advances — which the bank had lost to its more agile private sector rivals. He set an ambitious target to increase its market share by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points) every quarter.
He is also credited for putting in place the nationwide change management programme, ‘Parivartan', to bring back a sense of pride among employees.
He injected fresh blood into the system by recruiting technology-savvy young professionals to manage counters and cross-sell products. Bhatt is more than happy with the response and says that others companies are seeking his assistance to develop similar programmes.
Under his leadership, the bank started looking at new businesses ranging from general insurance, pensions to private equity. So far, his strategy has paid off but his success in the future will also depend on SBI's ability to raise capital and price products.
"What you are seeing is a new SBI," Bhatt told Business Standard in an interview last month. What he, perhaps, did not realise was that some things — like the government's political compulsions — never change.
SBI's move may not have moved the farmers, who had stopped paying their monthly installments ever since Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a Rs 60,000-debt waiver plan, but it did create a furore in political circles. Finally, Chidambaram, by his own admission, had to intervene and get SBI to roll back the move.
For the 57-year-old SBI chief, who has earned an unprecedented five-year term, it proved to be a rare instance of being "misunderstood". Bhatt, who, by his own assessment has made the "elephant dance", has been proactive not just in shaping what he calls a "new SBI" but also in sensing government mood and acting accordingly.
For instance, he was among the first to put in place a new payment mechanism for public offers. While the initiative, which was recently approved by the Sebi board, is aimed at fine-tuning the bidding process, it also makes business sense for India's largest bank.
Last year, he managed to convince the Centre to part with Rs 10,000 crore for a rights issue, the biggest that India has seen, at a time when the markets were not doing too well. Bhatt's perseverance with the finance ministry also opened the doors for the other state-run banks to raise capital. Similarly, he managed to convince the government on the long-pending issue of merger of associate banks with SBI.
What probably helped him was his experience in dealing with the government. A 1972-batch executive, Bhatt joined the bank because his parents insisted.
He wanted to be an IAS officer, but in those days, SBI was a better paymaster. Having spent his initial years in various branches, Bhatt made it to the corporate office as executive assistant to PG Kakodkar, where he learnt to manage the dynamics and various pulls and pressures.
His colleagues, many of whom are his biggest critics, acknowledge that the stint helped him.
His rise has been meteoric. He was in Washington, then joined as General Manager in Lucknow, before moving to Guwahati as Chief General Manager. He then took over as the Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore.
Having pipped others to the post of the Managing Director of SBI, the man from Uttaranchal, became the SBI chairman in 2006.
After taking over the reins at SBI, Bhatt focused on regaining the market share — both for deposits and advances — which the bank had lost to its more agile private sector rivals. He set an ambitious target to increase its market share by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points) every quarter.
He is also credited for putting in place the nationwide change management programme, ‘Parivartan', to bring back a sense of pride among employees.
He injected fresh blood into the system by recruiting technology-savvy young professionals to manage counters and cross-sell products. Bhatt is more than happy with the response and says that others companies are seeking his assistance to develop similar programmes.
Under his leadership, the bank started looking at new businesses ranging from general insurance, pensions to private equity. So far, his strategy has paid off but his success in the future will also depend on SBI's ability to raise capital and price products.
"What you are seeing is a new SBI," Bhatt told Business Standard in an interview last month. What he, perhaps, did not realise was that some things — like the government's political compulsions — never change.
US,British firms bid for Mumbai Airport Contract
US-based Worldwide Flight Services, Swissport International of Spain and UK's Menzies Bobba Ground Handling Services are among seven bidders vying for the Mumbai International Airport's Rs 700 crore yearly ground handling contract.
While Swissport, an European infrastructure and service corporation providing value-added airport services at 187 airports across 43 countries, is going with India's Punj Lloyd group, Menzies is partnering Cambata Aviation for the bid. Cambata has been providing airport services at the Mumbai airport since 1967.
Turkey's Celebi Ground Handling is reportedly teaming up with Spencer Travels as overseas bidders. Spencers has a presence as an agency representing Cathay Pacific for passenger and cargo in southern and eastern parts of India and is also an agency for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The GVK-led consortium mandated to modernise and upgrade the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) may name a winning bidder for the handling contract as early as August or at least four months ahead of the new regulations that make it mandatory for airport operators to either get into ground handling directly or to invite specialised agencies to bid for both passenger and ramp handling at the airport, besides the National Aviation Company Ltd.
The new policy comes into effect from January 1 next year. An MIAL spokesperson refused to divulge details as to when the bids would be finalised. "We will not be able to give those details though we will have to get the contracting within a few months," he said.
MIAL had invited bids in January for the contract. "We have received applications from specialised agencies and will soon shortlist names," said GV Sanjay Reddy, managing director, MIAL. The ground handling contract at Mumbai airport is for 10 years.
Confirming its bid for the ground handling services at the Mumbai airport, Atul Punj, chairman, Punj Llyod group, said: "We have bid for the ground handling contract for the Mumbai airport with international group Swissport. We are the investors and the local partners in the tie-up."
Punj, however, did not divulge much details and said the company was in the process of appointing a CEO for the new ground handling agency. Punj Llyod has recently become active in the Indian aviation space.
What makes the bid for Mumbai airport lucrative is the sheer number of the air traffic movements at the airport - 700-735 per day - making it the busiest airport with an estimated annual business size of Rs 650-700 crore pegged conservatively.
Currently, there are 40-odd local agencies involved in ground handling besides the airlines. Usually, 15 per cent of the contract value is the revenue share between the operator and the contracting parties.
The award of ground handling contracts to agencies has led to controversies involving airport operators and airlines, who want to do the job themselves. However, the civil aviation ministry's intervention has ensured that airlines do self-handling till next year, by when a policy will come into being.
While Swissport, an European infrastructure and service corporation providing value-added airport services at 187 airports across 43 countries, is going with India's Punj Lloyd group, Menzies is partnering Cambata Aviation for the bid. Cambata has been providing airport services at the Mumbai airport since 1967.
Turkey's Celebi Ground Handling is reportedly teaming up with Spencer Travels as overseas bidders. Spencers has a presence as an agency representing Cathay Pacific for passenger and cargo in southern and eastern parts of India and is also an agency for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The GVK-led consortium mandated to modernise and upgrade the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) may name a winning bidder for the handling contract as early as August or at least four months ahead of the new regulations that make it mandatory for airport operators to either get into ground handling directly or to invite specialised agencies to bid for both passenger and ramp handling at the airport, besides the National Aviation Company Ltd.
The new policy comes into effect from January 1 next year. An MIAL spokesperson refused to divulge details as to when the bids would be finalised. "We will not be able to give those details though we will have to get the contracting within a few months," he said.
MIAL had invited bids in January for the contract. "We have received applications from specialised agencies and will soon shortlist names," said GV Sanjay Reddy, managing director, MIAL. The ground handling contract at Mumbai airport is for 10 years.
Confirming its bid for the ground handling services at the Mumbai airport, Atul Punj, chairman, Punj Llyod group, said: "We have bid for the ground handling contract for the Mumbai airport with international group Swissport. We are the investors and the local partners in the tie-up."
Punj, however, did not divulge much details and said the company was in the process of appointing a CEO for the new ground handling agency. Punj Llyod has recently become active in the Indian aviation space.
What makes the bid for Mumbai airport lucrative is the sheer number of the air traffic movements at the airport - 700-735 per day - making it the busiest airport with an estimated annual business size of Rs 650-700 crore pegged conservatively.
Currently, there are 40-odd local agencies involved in ground handling besides the airlines. Usually, 15 per cent of the contract value is the revenue share between the operator and the contracting parties.
The award of ground handling contracts to agencies has led to controversies involving airport operators and airlines, who want to do the job themselves. However, the civil aviation ministry's intervention has ensured that airlines do self-handling till next year, by when a policy will come into being.
FIIs in buying mode
| FIIs in buying mode |
| Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 307 crore on Friday, 6 June 2008, compared to their selling of Rs 1419 crore on Thursday, 5 June 2008. FII inflow of Rs 307 crore on 6 June 2008 was a result of gross purchases Rs 2887.30 crore and gross sales Rs 2580.30 crore. Sensex declined 197.54 points or 1.25% to settle at 15,572.18 on that day. FII outflow in June 2008 totaled Rs 2,984.20 crore (till 6 June 2008). FII outflow in calendar year 2008 totaled Rs 18,353.60 crore (till 6 June 2008). There are a total of 1,385 FIIs registered with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
|
| Source: Capital Market |
Market extends fall as oil price soars
| Market extends fall as oil price soars |
| The key benchmark indices slumped today due to a sharp surge in global crude oil price and setback in US stocks on Friday, 6 June 2008. BSE Sensex fell below 15,000 mark for the first time since 19 March 2008, in intra-day trade. The S&P CNX Nifty hit a fresh 2008 low. Except the BSE HealthCare index, all the other sectoral indices on BSE were in red. The market breadth was extremely weak. IT, realty, banking and oil & gas stocks were worst hit in today's market fall. Oil prices surged by their biggest one-day gain ever on Friday, 6 June 2008, rocketing over $10 to a new record high above $139 a barrel, taking this year's gains to 44%. Oil prices edged lower to $137.7 today, 9 June 2008. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 444.14 points or 2.85% at 15,128.04 as per provisional data. At the day’s low of 14846.18 hit during mid-morning trade, the Sensex lost 726 points as per the provisional figures. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 107.9 points or 2.33% at 4,519.90 as per the provisional figures. It hit a low of 4411.60 today in mid-morning trade, falling below 2008 low of 4448.50 hit on 22 January 2008. BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5039 crore today compared to a turnover of Rs 5245.26 crore on Friday 6 June 2008. The market breadth was extremely weak on BSE with 475 shares advancing as compared to 2167 that declined. 49 remained unchanged. From the 30-share Sensex pack, 27 fell. The BSE Mid Cap index declined 2.55% to 6,188.35 and BSE Small-Cap index fell 3.43% to 7,432.33. BSE Healthcare index was the lone gainer from sectoral indices on BSE. It rose 0.63% to 4,322.88. Lupin (up 10.09% to Rs 715), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 4.18% to Rs 528), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 2.56% to Rs 1,455.05) and Piramal HealthCare (up 2.12% to Rs 372.75) edged higher. Cipla (down 0.19% to Rs 207) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (down 0.18% to Rs 692) edged lower. BSE Realty index was down 7.05% to 5,772.65. It was the top loser from the sectoral indices on BSE. Unitech (down 9.3% to Rs 184.80), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 6.06% to Rs 398.40) and DLF (down 7.39% to Rs 481.55) edged lower from the realty pack. IT stocks declined. Wipro (down 4.85% to Rs 480.50), Infosys (down 4.46% to Rs 1,904.05), Tata Consultancy Services (down 4.56% to Rs 915.65) and Satyam Computer Services (down 3.42% to Rs 491.45) edged lower. Banking stocks declined. HDFC Bank (down 4.34% to Rs 1,183.70), State Bank of India (down 3.17% to Rs 1292.80) and ICICI Bank (down 2.69%t o Rs 75.10) edged lower. Oil & Gas stocks fell after global crude oil prices hit the roof. PSU oil marketing companies which had found little solace after government had hiked domestic retail fuel prices were battered today. HPCL (down 9.21% to Rs 193.30), BPCL (down 7.09% to Rs 278.40), and Indian Oil Corporation (down 3.9% to Rs 363.25) edged lower. Reliance Industries (down 3.41% to Rs 2163.10) and ONGC (down 7.02% to Rs 872.60) also edged lower. India’s second largest telecom services provider by sales Reliance Communication rose 1.34% to Rs 554.10. The stock recovered from session's low of Rs 507.90. Reliance Communication (RCom) and the South African telco MTN will reportedly decide the share swap ratio at which Anil Ambani will transfer his stake in RCom to get stake in MTN. Both the companies have reportedly agreed for the deal, which will result in RCom promoter viz. the Anil Dhirubhai Group (ADAG) emerging as the single-largest shareholder in MTN and the foreign company becoming the holding firm of RCom. Jaiprakash Associates (down 8.65% to Rs 183.65), HDFC (down 5.99% to Rs 2206.65), Reliance Infrastructure (down 5.65% to Rs 1,038.85), Tata Motors (down 4.25% to Rs 517.10), Ambuja Cements (down 4.1% to Rs 81.95), Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 3.29% to Rs 1,374.65), edged lower from the Sensex pack. Rohit Ferro Tech declined 3.32% to Rs 154.90. SKP Overseas (SKP), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Singapore, has signed agreement with the PT. Pacific Samudra Perkasa (PSP) of Indonesia towards the 60% economic interest in both of the two mining companies PT Palopo Indah Raya (PIR) and PT Bara Prima Mandiri (BPM) as per the terms of the memorandum of understanding entered into earlier between the company & PSP. US stocks plunged on Friday, 6 June 2008, marking the Dow's worst day in 15 months, after the US government said the May 2008 unemployment rate jumped the most in 22 years and oil prices shot to another record, renewing fears that the US economy faces 1970s-style stagflation. The Dow Jones industrial average tanked 394.64 points, or 3.13% to end at 12,209.81, its biggest drop since February 2007. The S&P 500 slid 43.37 points, or 3.09%, to finish the day at 1,360.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 75.38 points, or 2.96 percent, to close at 2,474.56. European markets were trading mixed today. Key benchmark indices in France and Germany were down by between 0.08% to 0.09%. The UK”S FTSE 100 however rose by 0.18%. In Asia, key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 1.27% to 2.13% today. Markets in China, Hong Kong and the Philippines were closed for public holidays. Surging global crude oil prices, a hike in domestic fuel prices and rising inflation have spooked the domestic bourses in the past few days. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pressed heavy sales in the backdrop of a weakening rupee against the dollar, accentuating fall in share prices. From a recent high of 17,434.94 on 16 May 2008, the barometer index, BSE Sensex tanked 1,862.76 points or 10.68% in a short span to 15,572.18 on 6 June 2008. Brokerage earnings downgrades of Indian firms/stock prices amid rising input and interest costs for India Inc, high inflation and drying up of global liquidity due to credit crisis remain major concern for the Indian stock market. If inflation remains high, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would be forced to hike repo rate – a move that could choke overall growth of the economy. The Indian industry and consumer have already been reeling under high interest rates over the past few months. A further hike in rates would raise interest costs of corporate India and hit bottomline. After 10 days of debate, the Union government on Wednesday, 4 June 2008 agreed to raise retail petrol and diesel prices by about 10%, more than expected, to help curb losses at its state-owned refiners. A sharp fall in the rupee against the dollar in the past few days has heightened concerns about inflation. This is because the fall in rupee will raise cost of imports which in turn will result in further rise in inflation. According to rating agency CRISIL, headline inflation is expected to increase by 95 basis points on account of direct and indirect effects of the fuel price hike. The indirect impact which will be felt over the course of the next few months, it states in a note. A well distributed monsoon will bolster food production, helping douse inflation. Agricultural output in India depends on good rains. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)’s second monsoon forecast for the crucial annual south-west monsoon (June-September) due this months which may indicate spatial rainfall distribution in the main sowing month of July 2008, will be keenly watched by market men. The IMD has forecast the 2008 monsoon rains would be near-normal and 99% of the average between 1941 and 1990. A section of the market is of the view that the central bank may only use the reserve requirement route to tame inflation, fearing any hike in rates would further hurt growth already seen moderating to a still strong 8%-8.5% this fiscal year from 9% in 2007/08. To rein in inflation, in its monetary policy review for 2008-09 on 29 April 2008, the RBI raised cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 8.25% to suck out excess liquidity in the banking system. RBI often says pass-through of high global oil prices is incomplete in India, complicating policy making. Another near term trigger for the market will be corporate advance tax payments for the first installment which falls due on 15 June 2008. The income tax law requires a company to 15% the estimated tax liability for the year as advance tax in the first installment. The advance tax payment by the corporate sector will give a cue on Q1 June 2008 results.
|
| Source: Capital Market |
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Asia and US seriously concerned over oil spike
India joined the US, Japan, China and South Korea to voice "serious concern" today about a record spike in oil prices but vowed to keep scaling back politically sensitive fuel subsidies.
Oil prices, which have soared five-fold since 2003, posted their highest ever one-day gain of $10.75 to close at a new record of $138.54 in New York after hawkish remarks by an Israeli official on oil producer Iran.
Senior officials from the United States, and Asia's four largest powers said in a joint statement after talks in Aomori, Japan that they "share serious concerns" about the current level of oil prices.
"These prices are unprecedented and against the interest of both consuming and producing countries. They pose a great burden — particularly on resource-scarce developing countries," it said.
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman warned oil producers that it would do them no good if the US economy took a hit.
"It's not good for producing nations to see US struggling economically (as) they depend on us to be a significant engine in world economic activity," Bodman told reporters.
Despite political sensitivity, the joint statement called for a scaling down of fuel subsidies, saying it would "enhance energy efficiency" and lead to investment in alternative energy.
Developing economies tend to heavily subsidise fuel costs in a bid to ease the burden on the poorest members of society.
India and Indonesia have recently been forced to hike prices amid soaring global crude oil costs, triggering large anti-government demonstrations in the two countries.
Oil prices, which have soared five-fold since 2003, posted their highest ever one-day gain of $10.75 to close at a new record of $138.54 in New York after hawkish remarks by an Israeli official on oil producer Iran.
Senior officials from the United States, and Asia's four largest powers said in a joint statement after talks in Aomori, Japan that they "share serious concerns" about the current level of oil prices.
"These prices are unprecedented and against the interest of both consuming and producing countries. They pose a great burden — particularly on resource-scarce developing countries," it said.
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman warned oil producers that it would do them no good if the US economy took a hit.
"It's not good for producing nations to see US struggling economically (as) they depend on us to be a significant engine in world economic activity," Bodman told reporters.
Despite political sensitivity, the joint statement called for a scaling down of fuel subsidies, saying it would "enhance energy efficiency" and lead to investment in alternative energy.
Developing economies tend to heavily subsidise fuel costs in a bid to ease the burden on the poorest members of society.
India and Indonesia have recently been forced to hike prices amid soaring global crude oil costs, triggering large anti-government demonstrations in the two countries.
Share prices of Oil companies after price hike
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The lower-than-expected subsidy burden on upstream companies led to a spurt in ONGC and GAIL during the week, while the share prices of oil marketing companies (OMCs), including Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), saw a slide as investors factored in the under-realisation that these companies will continue to have despite the fuel price hike.
The shares of OMCs are down because despite the increase in fuel prices, these companies will still be making losses and the price hike will not boost their earnings significantly. Even after the hike in retail prices of auto-fuel and LPG, the OMCs will be short by about Rs 20,000 crore this year compared to Rs 16,000 crore in FY08," said a Delhi-based analyst.
The shares of OMCs are down because despite the increase in fuel prices, these companies will still be making losses and the price hike will not boost their earnings significantly. Even after the hike in retail prices of auto-fuel and LPG, the OMCs will be short by about Rs 20,000 crore this year compared to Rs 16,000 crore in FY08," said a Delhi-based analyst.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Petrol and Diesel Prices after Hike in Indian Cities
The price hike was immediately in effect, after petrol & diesel rate was hiked when Murli Deora announced the rates.
There would more than 50% of taxes are from Petrol and more than 20% are from Diesel.
For Industrial gases has been unlimited of taxes has been implemented. People India, carefully seen the rates of International oil price 134$ to 124$ last week, expected some discounts.
But for oppositely, anonymous figures has been raised as below the rates are implemented
| Mumbai Kolkata Chennai Jaipur Ahmedabad Dehradun Noida Gurgaon | Rs. 55.51 Rs. 53.95 Rs. 54.61 Rs. 50.52 Rs. 57.86 Rs. 53.62 Rs. 54.93 Rs. 57.50 Rs. 53.32 Rs. 56.35 Rs. 51.62 Rs. 51.19 Rs. 55.62 Rs. 51.65 Rs. 57.65 Rs. 55.65 Rs. 53.49 Rs. 50.96 | Rs. 39.08 Rs. 26.92 Rs. 37.40 Rs. 34.76 Rs. 39.44 Rs. 37.17 Rs. 40.80 Rs. 37.50 Rs. 37.95 Rs. 37.96 Rs. 37.66 Rs. 34.69 Rs. 39.43 Rs. 36.78 Rs. 38.30 Rs. 40.25 Rs. 38.69 Rs. 34.75 |
New Delhi, Gurgaon with lower of Rs. 50 per litre of petrol, Kolkata hits lower of Rs. 26 per litre of Diesel.
Where else, Bangalore and Hyderabad hits above Rs. 57.86 and 57.65 each per litre of petrol would be highest in India. Ahmedabad & Surat costs 40.80 & 40.25 per litre of Diesel highest paying in India.
Idea Cellular to buy out Spice Commn : Reports
India's Idea's Cellular is close to buying a majority stake in Spice Communications, few newspapers reported on Saturday, citing sources.
The promoters of Spice, in which Telekom Malaysia (TM) holds a 39.2 percent stake, are in final stages of selling their 40.8 percent stake to Idea, they said.
The move is the latest chapter of takeover talks in the telecom industry following France Telecom's $41 billion bid for Nordic group TeliaSonera and India's Reliance Communications talks with South Africa's MTN.
Spice Communications is open to selling a stake and is waiting for a proposal from TM before it takes a decision, its chairman said on Tuesday.
Spice has operations in two out of a total 23 telecom circles and has a customer base of more than 3 million while Idea is present in 11 circles and has a customer base of over 26 million.
India, the world's fastest-growing mobile services market and the second-largest market after China, has lured foreign firms like Vodafone Plc which bought a controlling stake in the third-largest local cellular firm in 2007.
India has 269.30 million wireless users at end-April, up 57 percent from a year earlier, according to the telecoms regulator.
Shares in Idea closed down 2 percent at 104.95 rupees while shares in Spice closed down 3 percent at 51.95 rupees on the weak BSE sensex.
Friday, June 6, 2008
| Worldwide, the Mutual Fund, or Unit Trust as it is called in some parts of the world, has a long and successfulhistory. The popularity of the Mutual Fund has increased manifold. In developed financial markets, like the United States, Mutual Funds have almost overtaken bank deposits and total assets of insurance funds. As of date, in the US alone there are over 5,000 Mutual Funds with total assets of over US $ 3 trillion (Rs. 100 lakh crores). In India,the Mutual Fund industry started with the setting up of Unit Trust of India in 1964. Public sector banks and financial institutions began to establish Mutual Funds in 1987. The private sector and foreign institutions were allowed to set up Mutual Funds in 1993. Today, there are 36 Mutual Funds and over 200 schemes with total assets of approximately Rs. 81,000 crores. This fast growing industry is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). |
| What is a mutual fund? |
| What are the types of mutual fund schemes? |
| Why should you invest in mutual funds? |
| How do you understand and manage risk? |
| How to invest in mutual funds? |
| What are your rights as a mutual fund unitholder? |
Company Profile :Reliance Power Limited
Reliance Power Ltd
| Incorporation Year | 1995 |
| Registered Office | H Block First Floor, Dhirubhai Ambani KnowledgeCity, Navi Mumbai - 400710, Maharashtra |
| Telephone | 91-22-30386010/290 |
| Fax | 91-22-30376622/33 |
| Industry | Power Generation And Supply |
| House | Anil Ambani |
| Chairman | Anil Dhirubhai Ambani |
| Managing Director | |
| Company Secretary | Paresh Rathod |
| Auditor | Chaturvedi & Shah / Price Waterhouse |
| Face Value | 10 |
| Market Lot | 1 |
| Listing | Mumbai, NSE |
| Registrar | Karvy Computershare Pvt Ltd Plot No 17-24, Vittal Rao Nagar, Madhapur, Hyderabad-500081 |
Inflation at all time high 8.24 %
Inflation shows no signs of easing, further increasing the woes for the common man. India's inflation rate rose to 8.24%, official data showed on Friday.
The annual inflation rate rose to 8.24% per cent for the week ended May 24, up from 8.1 per cent in the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index. The average inflation figures for the week ended May 24 was seen at 8.36 per cent, according to an NDTV poll.
The latest inflation figures are close to the highest mark seen during the UPA regime. According to the provisional figures, the annual inflation rate for the week ended August 28, 2004, was 8.33 per cent.
The inflation figures are likely to further go up. Inflation numbers in India come in with a lag of around two weeks. The impact of the oil price hike would get reflected in the data released on June 20.
The recent oil price hike would increase inflation by 50 bps in near term, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission. However, he expressed optimism that inflation would soften in four months.
The finance minister, P Chidambaram, recently said that that food inflation would moderate on record procurement of wheat and rice. But he warned that global crude and commodity prices would continue to play a big role in cooling the overall prices.
The annual inflation rate rose to 8.24% per cent for the week ended May 24, up from 8.1 per cent in the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index. The average inflation figures for the week ended May 24 was seen at 8.36 per cent, according to an NDTV poll.
The latest inflation figures are close to the highest mark seen during the UPA regime. According to the provisional figures, the annual inflation rate for the week ended August 28, 2004, was 8.33 per cent.
The inflation figures are likely to further go up. Inflation numbers in India come in with a lag of around two weeks. The impact of the oil price hike would get reflected in the data released on June 20.
The recent oil price hike would increase inflation by 50 bps in near term, said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission. However, he expressed optimism that inflation would soften in four months.
The finance minister, P Chidambaram, recently said that that food inflation would moderate on record procurement of wheat and rice. But he warned that global crude and commodity prices would continue to play a big role in cooling the overall prices.
Petrol Prices after hike
Petrol and diesel price will be reduced by about Re one per litre and Rs 0.50, respectively, if states agree to forego incremental sales tax revenues they stand to earn on this week's fuel price hike.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh stand to gain over a rupee in sales tax on every litre of petrol sold and over Rs 0.50 on diesel after this week's Rs 5 and Rs 3 hike in the two auto fuel prices.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deroa yesterday wrote to chief ministers of 30 states and union territories asking them to "at least forego the incremental tax" revenues so as to ease the burden of spike in international oil prices on common consumers. "It is the duty of both Central and State Governments to provide maximum relief to the consumers.
(while) the Central Government is contributing over Rs 120,000 crore, it is also expected that the state governments will not lag behind in helping the consumers in sharing their burden," he wrote. Centre has cut customs and excise duties on crude oil and products to protect consumers.
Foregoing the incremental sales tax revenues will not in any way impact the state earnings. Andhra Pradesh, which has the highest sales tax of 33 and 22.
25 per cent on petrol and diesel, is earning Rs 1.38 and Rs 0.
59 a litre extra. In Mumbai that has a sales tax of 30.
64 and 28 per cent, incremental revenue will be Rs 1.17 and Rs 0.
75 respectively. Akali Dal-BJP ruled Punjab levies a 31.
68 per cent sales tax on petrol and will earn Rs 1.16 per litre more sales tax.
So far, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu have cut sales tax on the two fuel to minimise the June 4 hike. PTI.
IPO Archidply Industries Ltd
Archidply Industries Ltd
Regitered Office : 29/2 G K Manor 1st Floor, Nehru Nagar Circle, Bangalore - 560020, Karnataka, India
Phone : 91-80-23445607 Fax : 91-80-23348463
Email : ipo@archidply.com Website : www.archidply.com
Regitered Office : 29/2 G K Manor 1st Floor, Nehru Nagar Circle, Bangalore - 560020, Karnataka, India
Phone : 91-80-23445607 Fax : 91-80-23348463
Email : ipo@archidply.com Website : www.archidply.com
| Public issue of 66,15,720 equity shares of Rs.10/- each for cash at a price of Rs.[*] per equity share (including a share premium of Rs.[*] per equity share) aggregating to Rs.[*] Crores, (hereinafter referred to as "the issue"), by Archidply Industries Limited ("our company", or "the issuer"). The issue will constitute 30.07 % of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of our company Price band: Rs.70/- to Rs.80/- per equity share of face value of Rs.10/- each The issue price is 7 times of the face value at the lower end of the price band and 8 times of the face value at the higher end of the price band |
| Bid | Book Built Portion | Fixed Price Portion | Money payable on | |||
| Opens on | Closes on | Opens on | Closes on | Opens on | Closes on | Application |
| Jun 11, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Jun 11, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Jun 11, 2008 | Jun 17, 2008 | Rs. 70.00-80.00 |
| Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Book built portion) :75 Minimum Application for shares in Nos (Fixed price portion) :75 Further muliples of :75 | ||||||
| Rs cr | Book Running Lead Manager to the offer | |
| Project Cost | 0.00 | Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd |
| Project financed through current issue | 46.31 | - |
| Post Issue Equity share capital | 22.00 | Lead Manager to the offer |
| Issue Price | Rs. 70.00 | NA |
| Object of the issue : Setting up new manuf.Facil. PPB,PLB &Decor.plywood, Setting up new manuf.faci. Med. Density Fibreboard, Pre-Opera. Exp & Provision for Contingencies, Margin Money for Working Capital requirement. |
| Promoted by | Listing at | Registrar to the Issue |
| Deen Dayal Daga Shyam D Daga Rajiv D Daga Assam Timber Products Pvt Ltd | BSE NSE | - |
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