Oil prices plunge by $6 over 2 days

Oil prices swung below $140 a barrel on Tuesday after a plunge of nearly $4 in the previous session, as the dollar strengthened and fears of a supply disruption faded.

But analysts warned the pullback was likely to be fleeting.

"The plunge is really a temporary bull correction and is viewed by the market as a buying opportunity," said Victor Shum, an analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "We are also seeing the US dollar easing a bit ... and that has helped support oil pricing."

Trader and analyst Stephen Schork said the expectation just a few days ago that crude prices would touch $150 this week now "does not look like the proverbial done deal."

Be that as it may, we have seen this movie before, i.e. crude oil weakens a little and the bubble-bears jump in," he added in his Schork report, suggesting the price respite might be temporary.

Sweet crude for August delivery fell $2.32 to $139.05 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract fell $3.92, or about 2.7 percent, to settle at $141.37 in New York on Monday.

Oil hit a trading record of $145.85 on Thursday before settling at a record close of $145.29 a barrel. There was no floor trade in the US on Friday due to the July Fourth holiday.

The US dollar was stronger against most other major currencies in European trading Tuesday morning.

A falling dollar has helped boost oil prices around 50 percent this year, with investors often buying commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback weakens.

Along with some signs of life from the dollar, fears that fresh conflict in the Middle East could cut oil supplies eased over the weekend after Iran gave an undisclosed response to an international offer of incentives if it suspends a central part of its nuclear program.

But Shum said the conflict isn't over.

Britain allows Anil Ambani to open office in London

LONDON: Britain's Financial Services Authority has approved an application by the Anil Ambani owned Reliance Asset Management (RAM) to open an office in London.

The company has launched an offshore fund 'Emergent India' targeted at international investors, according to the Wealth Bulletin, a Dow Jones-owned online service for the global wealth management industry.

RAM manager Sunil Singhania said: "The timing for marketing may not be right, but from an investment perspective it is just right. From these levels there is a great opportunity for investors, although there will also be some short-term dips."

Singhania started raising his cash weighting in October in expectation of a market correction. He had 25 per cent in cash at the start of June, but has just started to put the money to work.

The online services reported that: "He (Singhania) likes capital goods and construction companies, where he has been underweight of late. With valuations in these sectors down by more than half, its stocks are starting to look attractive again."

He also likes financial services companies on the grounds that India is under-banked, although he expects the next six months to be tough for the local economy. India is in danger of becoming a hostage to inflation, which has hit 11.4 per cent, due to the rising cost of fuel and food", it added.

Rally in heavyweights brings Sensex close to 14,000

The market snapped yestaerday’s fall on strong global cues and on sharp fall crude oil prices on Tuesday, 8 July 2008. The market was also boosted on hopes the government may push through some of the economic reforms which Left parties had stalled over the past four years. Today's sharp surge took Sensex within striking distance of 14,000 mark. Reliance Infrastructure and Jaiprakash Associates rose more than 10% each. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys spurted. Back home, over the last four years, Left parities had stalled privatisation of state-run firms, pension reforms, higher foreign limits in insurance and more liberal norms for foreign bank. Left parties on Tuesday said they are withdrawing support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government to protest Indo-US nuclear deal. The government is expected to face a vote of confidence in parliament in the coming weeks. The government is confident of retaining power due to backing from Samajwadi Party, a regional party in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party (SP) yesterday, 8 July 2008, said it will vote with the government in support of the nuclear deal with the United States. All the sectoral indices on BSE were in green. All the Sensex stocks were in positive zone. The market breadth was strong as buying was witnessed across the board. Realty, banking, capital goods and power stocks surged. The 30-share BSE Sensex provisionally ended up 641.76 points or 4.81% at 13,991.41. At the day’s high of 13,998.48 hit during late trade Sensex gained 648.83 points. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was up 175.4 points or 4.4% at 4,163.95 as per the provisional figures. Earlier in the day, the market had pared some of earlier strong gains after a report that Iran had test fired missiles, raised fears about a jump in oil prices. Europen markets which opened after Indian markets were firm. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up by between 1.18% to 1.49%. Asian markets which opened before Indian market turned mixed in contrast to a broad-based initial surge after the Iran news. Oil rose 0.7% in Asia today around $137 a barrel. BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,073 crore today,9 July 2008 as compared to a turnover of Rs 4,643.50 crore on 8 July 2008. The BSE Mid-Cap index up 2.87% at 5,468.46, while the BSE Small-Cap index up 3.55% to 6,795.65. The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 2,125 gainers outpacing 535 losers. 63 stocks remained unchanged. India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 5.63% to Rs 2,090. Reliance Industries (RIL) has reportedly signed an agreement with Peru's Perupetro to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Andean country. The two firms are likely to bid in a Peruvian government auction of 22 oil blocks with hydrocarbon potential. As part of the deal with Pan Andean, Reliance will incur all exploration costs through commercial discovery. Following a commercial find of an agreed size, Pan Andean will reimburse Reliance for its share of the exploration cost. Realty stocks rose. Lanco Infratech (up 15.73% to Rs 326.75), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 5.86% to Rs 282), DLF (up 4.32% to Rs 448.20) and Unitech (up 7.87% to Rs 174.15) edged higher. Power stocks climbed. Reliance Infrastructure (up 10.34% to Rs 833), Reliance Power (up 9.27% to Rs 149.70), NTPC (up 4.68% to Rs 168.75), Tata Power Company (up 3.11% to Rs 1,061.40) edged higher. Capital goods stocks were firm. Larsen & Toubro (up 4.7% to Rs 2,512.95), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 5.14% to Rs 1,575.30) and Suzlon Energy (up 6.25% to Rs 209.05) edged higher. Banking stocks gained. Axis Bank (up 10.08% to Rs 669.75), ICICI Bank (up 4.72% to Rs 6321.90), HDFC Bank (up 5.72% to Rs 1,058.75) and State Bank of India (up 2.83% to Rs 1,238.50) edged higher. Jaiprakash Associates (up 10% to Rs 173.30), Tata Motors (up 7.49% to Rs 404.55), ITC (up 6.78% to Rs 183.50),Tata Consultancy Services (up 5.92% to Rs 875.65), Bharti Airtel (up 4.99% to Rs 747.40) and Infosys (up 4.9% to Rs 1,821.10) edged higher from Sensex pack. India’s second largest telecom services provider by sales Reliance Communications rose 6.15% to Rs 440.95. South African mobile phone operator MTN Group said today, 9 July 2008, it had agreed to extend its exclusive talks with India's Reliance Communications until 21 July 2008. MTN and Reliance Communications started talks on 26 May 2008 that could create a $66 billion emerging markets telecoms group with operations in about two dozen countries and around 120 million subscribers. US crude oil futures fell sharply on Tuesday, 8 July 2008, under pressure from a stronger dollar and forecasts that eased worries about Hurricane Bertha. Crude oil for August delivery slumped 3.8% to $136.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Asia, key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan were up by between 0.15% to 3.75%. Key benchmark indices in Taiwan and South Korea were down by between 0.05% to 0.92%. US markets had another wild trading day of ups and downs but ended with decent gains on 8 July 2008, after oil prices retreated from record highs, easing concerns on consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 152.25 points, or 1.36%, to 11,383.21. The S&P 500 advanced 21.39 points, or 1.71%, to 1,273.70, while the Nasdaq composite index added 51.10 points, or 2.28%, to 2,294.42. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 7 July 2008 said that the government will go through the remaining formalities of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The Prime Minister is likely to discuss the progress of the Indo-US nuclear deal with US President George Bush today, 9 July 2008. He also expressed confidence that UPA government will survive the trust vote and avoid early elections.

Source: Capital Market