|
Markets continued the volatile behaviour of yesterday
into today's trade as well, as traders remained unsure
of the short term direction. While economic data and global
cues are positive, the doubts about sustained corporate
performance are worrying many.
The possibility of liquidity drying up is also weighing
in on the markets. Though FII's have pumped in money all
through June and first week of July, the possibility of
a slowdown and maybe even some selling is not ruled out.
Despite the firm closing by the US markets yesterday and
positive opening by most other Asian markets, markets
saw a sharp decline immediately after a positive opening.
The indices bounced back within minutes and drifted sideways
for half an hour before starting their descent again.
After the initial decline the indices turned volatile,
making regular attempts to recover lost ground, only to
decline again. Weakness in ONGC, Reliance and the tech
stocks kept the markets down.
A sharp surge in Reliance late in the afternoon helped
the indices to recover most of their early losses as some
of the other losers also recovered partly. Rally in ITC
also helped the indices. The last half hour saw more selling
emerge in technology stocks and the markets slumped again
to the day's lows.
Sensex closed at 7188, a loss of 60 points, and the Nifty
at 2185, a loss of 19 points. Nifty July futures discount
to the spot index widened to 14 points from yesterday's
11 points.
IPCL, Tata Chemicals and Shipping Corporation were among
the major gainers among Nifty stocks while VSNL, Zee Tele
and MTNL were the major losers.
Helped by earnings upgrades from IBM and HP as well as
the decline in crude prices, US markets closed on a positive
note yesterday. The Dow gained close to half a per cent
while S&P 500 closed almost flat. NASDAQ closed with
very marginal gains.
Crude
declined a per cent yesterday to close marginally above
the $60 mark. NYMEX crude futures for August delivery
declined after US weekly inventory data showed an increase
in crude stocks.
Among
the Indian technology ADR's, Satyam and Wipro managed
to recover part of the losses from the previous day. Infosys
lost another 2 per cent, taking the total decline over
the last 2 days to 9 per cent. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank,
Dr. Reddy's, Tata Motors and VSNL all closed with losses
yesterday. MTNL managed to close a per cent higher.
Cement
major ACC would invest up to Rs600 crore during the current
year to raise capacity. After the expansion, the company's
total capacity would increase by over 2 million tonnes
to 20.6 million tonnes per annum. ACC had reported a volume
growth of 13 per cent during the first quarter of the
current year and the company is confident that the growth
momentum would sustain.
There
is also speculation that European cement major Holcim
may raise its stake in ACC to 51 per cent. Currently,
Holcim holds a 35 per cent stake indirectly through Ambuja
Cements. Gujarat Ambuja Cements holds a 33 per cent stake
in Ambuja Cements and the rest is held by Holcim. ACC
closed with gains of under a per cent.
After
the acquisition of safety match manufacturer Wimco, ITC
Limited is reportedly eyeing more acquisitions. According
to media reports, the company is the front runner to acquire
Karnataka state PSU Mysore Paper Mills. The loss making
paper company had posted a turnover of over Rs350 crore
last year and would help ITC consolidate its position
in the paper board business.
ITC
is also believed to be in talks to acquire greeting cards
and gifts retailer Archies. Being the only organised player
in this segment, Archies could help ITC expand its paper
stationary and greeting cards operations. ITC has denied
that it is in talks to buy these two companies. The stock
closed well over a per cent higher.
ONGC
has floated a subsidiary to set up a 750 MW gas based
power plant in the north eastern state of Tripura. The
company is in talks with Power Trading Corporation for
selling the electricity generated by the plant. Power
Trading Corporation may take a minority stake in the venture
at a later date.
The
oil ministry has reportedly asked ONGC to pay Rs2,870
crore towards subsidy costs of oil marketing companies
for the first quarter of the current fiscal. At this rate,
the total burden on ONGC for the full year would exceed
Rs10,000 crore if crude prices do not see a substantial
decline. The stock closed lower.
After
losing out in the race to acquire a Finnish tractor manufacturer
last year, Mahindra & Mahindra is believed to be close
to acquiring a tractor manufacturer in Romania. M&M
is one of the only two short listed bidders for the Romanian
company with a capacity of 15,000 units per annum.
The
acquisition, if it comes through, would help M&M establish
its presence in the East European and Russian markets.
The company had recently started commercial production
at its Chinese venture and has the stated aim of becoming
the single largest tractor manufacturer globally in the
next few years. The stock closed with marginal gains.
HDFC
Bank, often called the 30 per cent bank by analysts for
the regularity with which it reports over 30 per cent
growth in quarterly profits, did not disappoint this time
either. For the first quarter the bank reported a profit
growth of 31 per cent as total revenues rose over 40 per
cent as compared to the previous year.
Profit
growth was lower as provisions for the quarter were higher
by almost Rs100 crore. The stock price witnessed considerable
volatility during the day as the results were announced.
After declining immediately following the announcement,
the stock recovered later and rallied to close with gains
of under 2 per cent.
Infosys
Consulting, the consulting arm of Infosys, has netted
25 large clients in the first year of operation. The division
is planning an aggressive expansion by recruiting 500
consultants and investing $20 million over the next 2
years. It has around 100 consultants in the US at present.
VSNL,
which had seen substantial appreciation over the last
2 weeks, came crashing down today and closed with losses
of close to 8 per cent. The stock had appreciated on rumours
of a domestic acquisition, despite denials from the company.
Among
other telecom stocks, MTNL lost over 5 per cent while
Bharti closed with marginal losses.
Another
high flier of recent days which saw substantial correction
today was ICICI Bank. The stock which had posted life
time highs for consecutive days earlier this week, gave
up 4 per cent.
Technology
stocks were among the most significant losers today as
traders turned highly sceptical about the results from
TCS, Satyam and Wipro due shortly. TCS closed with losses
of close to 4 per cent and Infosys lost well over 3 per,cent.
Wipro lost close to 2 per cent while Satyam lost a per
cent.
Zee
Tele, which had spurted yesterday on rumours of a DTH
joint venture with Anil Ambani group, lost over 5 per
cent today. The company had denied the rumours after market
hours yesterday.
The
larger PSU bank stocks had a weak session with both SBI
and PNB closing with losses of around 2 per cent each.
Among
auto stocks, Hero Honda and Tata Motors were among the
major losers. Maruti and Bajaj Auto closed with losses
of under a per cent each.
Most
oil stocks continued to remain weak ahead of the government
decision on sharing of subsidies expected tomorrow. ONGC,
BPCL and HPCL all closed with losses. Indian Oil managed
to close higher.
Metal
stocks had a mixed day as Tata Steel closed with losses
of well over a per cent while SAIL managed a positive
closing. Among aluminium stocks, Nalco closed with gains
of close to 2 per cent while Hindalco closed lower.
Neyveli
Lignite's first quarter profits doubled as compared to
the previous year on a revenue growth of 30 per cent.
Dabur
declined over 4 per cent after the company denied rumours
that it is in negotiations to acquire pain balm and cold
rub manufacturer Amrutanjan.
Mid-Cap
Action
Mid-caps
were not much affected by the volatility in frontline
stocks today as well. Though the index closed the day
with losses, the decline was much less than the frontline
indices. The CNX Mid-Cap 200 index closed at 3206, a loss
of 12 points, after scaling a new lifetime high in the
morning.
ITI
Limited has received an order for GSM network equipment
from BSNL. The order is for 4 million mobile telephone
lines and is worth over Rs1,200 crore. ITI makes equipment
in collaboration with Alcatel of France. The stock closed
16 per cent higher.
BSNL
is also in the process of inviting tenders for a large
order reportedly worth $3 billion. ITI had recently ventured
into mobile handset manufacturing again in association
with Alcatel. The stock had gained over 15 per cent yesterday.
According
to media reports, Bata India is planning to shift its
corporate office from Kolkata to Gurgaon, near Delhi.
The company has reportedly formed a joint venture with
a prominent Kolkata based real estate developer to build
a township on the land that will become free after the
shifting.
Pharma
company Glenmark is reportedly in negotiations to license
its anti-asthma drug for the European markets. The deal
is expected to be worth over $130 million in license fee
over the next few years. The company had entered into
separate licensing agreements for the Japanese and US
markets for the same drug earlier.
UTI
Bank reported a 31 per cent growth in first quarter profits
on revenue growth of close to 35 per cent as compared
to the previous year. The stock closed 2 per cent lower.
Hexaware
Technologies crashed over 10 per cent in early trades
after the company revised its annual revenue guidance
downwards. The company expects full year revenues for
the period ending Dec 05 to be $153 million as against
the earlier estimate of $170 million. The stock closed
13 per cent lower.
 Greeting
cards company Archies opened the day more than 10 per
cent higher on reports of a possible acquisition by ITC.
The stock remained form despite denials from the company.
The stock closed 5 per cent higher.
Dhanalakshmi
Bank, Rallis India and Bharti Shipyard were among the
best performing stocks among mid-caps.
Titan
Industries, Elgitread and Adlabs Films were among the
significant mid-cap losers.
*Disclaimer:
The author does not have any position in the stocks specifically
mentioned
above at the time of writing this article. This analysis
/ report is only for the purpose of information and is
not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult
a certified financial advisor before taking any investment
decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the
accuracy of the information provided in the content the
author or publisher shall not be held responsible for
any loss caused to any person whatsoever.
Other
articles by Rex Mathew
List
of general reports on markets List
of general reports on finance
Market:
Indices
National
Markets
Gain (+) / Loss (-)
|
SENSEX
|
7,187.70
|
-
60.21 |
| NIFTY
|
2,185.10
|
-
18.95 |
Last
Update : 14 July, 2005, 16:13 PM
Market
Counters
Figures in Rupees
BSE
30
| Scrip
Name |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| BHEL |
871.05 |
898.90
|
865.10
|
898.00 |
| I
T C LTD |
1,720.00
|
1,794.00
|
1,651.00
|
1,766.40 |
| RELIANCE*
|
631.25
|
647.00
|
621.60
|
642.10 |
| NTPC
LTD |
90.50
|
91.60
|
89.00
|
91.10 |
| RANBAXY
LABORATORIES LTD. |
1,029.95
|
1,043.00
|
1,020.15
|
1,029.15 |
| CIPLA
LTD. |
322.00
|
328.30
|
321.10
|
325.15 |
| ASSOCIATED
CEMENT COMPANIES LT |
425.00
|
432.00
|
420.00
|
424.50 |
| GRASIM
INDUSTRIES LTD. |
1,080.00
|
1,089.50
|
1,066.20
|
1,076.95 |
| RELIANCE
ENR |
628.75
|
629.70
|
616.15
|
621.40 |
| HINDALCO
IN |
1,231.45
|
1,245.90
|
1,225.05
|
1,233.20 |
| HDFC
BANK LT |
643.00
|
655.00
|
629.90
|
644.55 |
| ICICI
BANK L |
455.25
|
460.00
|
442.50
|
445.95 |
| TCS
LTD |
1,279.00
|
1,281.00
|
1,219.10
|
1,224.55 |
| INFOSYS
TECHNOLOGIES LTD.-ORDI |
2,205.00
|
2,225.00
|
2,122.10
|
2,133.75 |
| HEROHONDA
M |
642.00
|
644.35
|
618.00
|
620.85 |
| GUJARAT
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD. |
62.00
|
62.50
|
60.40
|
60.75 |
| STATE
BANK OF INDIA |
722.50
|
731.90
|
709.00
|
711.65 |
| LARSEN
& TOUBRO LTD. |
1,270.00
|
1,270.00
|
1,230.35
|
1,238.10 |
| WIPRO
LTD. |
710.00
|
715.00
|
695.00
|
696.00 |
| DR.REDDY'S
LABORATORIES LTD. |
759.75
|
760.00
|
735.00
|
738.55 |
| SATYAM
COMP |
485.90
|
492.45
|
474.40
|
477.30 |
| TATA
POWER |
411.80
|
417.00
|
400.30
|
402.25 |
| TATA
IRON AND STEEL CO. LTD. |
360.00
|
360.00
|
349.90
|
350.35 |
| TATA
MOTORS |
460.50
|
465.90
|
453.00
|
455.20 |
| HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CO |
890.00
|
899.90
|
875.00
|
880.00 |
| HINDUSTAN
LEVER LTD. |
158.50
|
158.50
|
155.00
|
155.35 |
| BHARTI
TELE |
253.50
|
257.00
|
251.55
|
252.55 |
| BAJAJ
AUTO |
1,395.00
|
1,395.00
|
1,360.10
|
1,383.00 |
| ONG
CORP LTD |
924.00
|
927.50
|
906.70
|
921.75 |
| MARUTI
UDYOG |
450.00
|
454.90
|
447.50
|
449.30 |
Last
Update : 14 July, 2005, 16:02PM
S&P
CNX Nifty
| Symbol |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| RELIANCE
|
631.65
|
646.85
|
621.10
|
641.50 |
| INFOSYSTCH
|
2215.00
|
2222.40
|
2125.20
|
2135.85 |
| VSNL
|
346.00
|
346.25
|
314.65
|
316.85 |
| SATYAMCOMP
|
489.00
|
495.00
|
476.20 |
478.70 |
| IPCL
|
178.00
|
186.20
|
178.00
|
184.95 |
| TCS
|
1278.65
|
1287.70
|
1216.35
|
1225.00 |
| ONGC
|
923.00
|
927.95
|
906.05
|
921.95 |
| SBIN |
727.00 |
731.80
|
710.00
|
712.50 |
| ITC
|
1728.00
|
1793.70
|
1725.00
|
1764.95 |
| TATACHEM
|
183.80
|
191.70
|
183.00
|
187.45 |
| ACC
|
423.70
|
440.00
|
420.10
|
424.95 |
| TISCO |
355.95 |
357.10
|
350.00
|
350.60 |
| TATAMOTORS
|
459.95
|
465.95
|
453.30
|
455.50 |
| HDFCBANK
|
642.85
|
655.00
|
629.00
|
645.20 |
| MTNL
|
137.80
|
139.40
|
129.65
|
130.65 |
| ZEETELE
|
176.00
|
178.90
|
165.05
|
166.95 |
| HINDLEVER
|
157.00
|
158.45
|
155.15
|
155.65 |
| MARUTI
|
450.60
|
455.00
|
448.00
|
449.65 |
| WIPRO |
710.00 |
715.00
|
695.00
|
696.25 |
| REL
|
621.00
|
629.85
|
615.20
|
622.65 |
| DABUR
|
151.50
|
162.00
|
138.35
|
139.50 |
| RANBAXY
|
1029.90
|
1044.00
|
1022.00
|
1030.15 |
| BAJAJAUTO
|
1390.00
|
1394.45
|
1360.00
|
1370.60 |
| GAIL
|
213.50
|
214.40
|
208.00
|
208.70 |
| PNB
|
401.00
|
404.50
|
391.00
|
392.00 |
| HEROHONDA
|
630.00
|
635.00
|
618.00
|
620.55 |
| TATAPOWER
|
411.00
|
416.75
|
404.55
|
405.15 |
| LT
|
1264.00
|
1264.00
|
1235.00
|
1239.50 |
| HDFC
|
893.00
|
898.90
|
875.00
|
878.20 |
| ICICIBANK
|
459.00
|
460.00
|
444.00
|
446.00 |
| HINDPETRO
|
296.00
|
301.40
|
290.15
|
294.85 |
| BHARTI
|
254.20
|
257.00
|
252.00
|
253.10 |
| SAIL |
51.50 |
52.20
|
51.50
|
51.80 |
| GUJAMBCEM
|
62.85
|
62.85
|
60.50
|
60.85 |
| CIPLA |
325.00 |
329.00
|
321.00
|
325.35 |
| M&M
|
595.95
|
615.00
|
593.00
|
595.40 |
| BHEL
|
881.00
|
890.70
|
866.00
|
887.20 |
| GRASIM
|
1079.00
|
1088.90
|
1068.00
|
1076.90 |
| GLAXO
|
858.70
|
888.00
|
840.15
|
851.05 |
| TATATEA
|
637.75
|
659.00
|
630.00
|
638.10 |
| HINDALC0
|
1238.90
|
1246.00
|
1225.00
|
1231.00 |
| BPCL
|
345.50
|
348.80
|
340.00
|
340.30 |
| ORIENTBANK
|
262.80
|
264.90
|
255.40
|
256.95 |
| DRREDDY
|
753.00
|
757.90
|
735.00
|
738.40 |
| SCI
|
143.00
|
147.85
|
142.15
|
146.40 |
| NATIONALUM
|
151.00
|
153.65
|
148.25
|
151.85 |
| HCLTECH
|
379.00
|
379.35
|
368.10
|
369.90 |
| ABB
|
1479.90
|
1480.00
|
1453.00
|
1465.45 |
| SUNPHARMA
|
629.80
|
629.80
|
600.00
|
600.45 |
| COLGATE
|
242.50
|
244.50
|
238.00
|
240.30 |
Last
Update : 14 July, 2005, 16:00PM
| 
