Sensex ends up 73 pts, Kingfisher sinks 8% on payment woes

On the first trading day of the financial year 2012-13, the BSE Sensex, the barometer of the Indian economy, was provisionally up 73 points to 17478 points or 0.42 percent. It hit an intra day high of 17,529 and an intraday low of 17,382. Of the 13 sectoral indices, the BSE Consumer Durables was the biggest gainer with a 3.9 percent rise. However sectors like Oil & Gas (-0.28%), Metal (-0.27%), Health Care (-0.13%) and Auto (-0.06%) declined.

Nifty also gained 22 points to close at 5317.

Among losing stock, Kingfisher declined by almost 8 percent due to concerns over payment woes and a hike in jet fuel costs.

Titan Inds also shot up by 6 percent over reports that the company was allowed by the DGFT to import gold directly, which will save around 1 percent cost for the company.

Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation gained 5.24 percent and 5.2 percent after Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) announced a 37% hike in the power tariff. IVRCL also jumped by 4 percent as its subsidiarysecured two highway projects totaling Rs 3,203 crore and also over the fact that Essel Group is interested in having a controlling stake. HDFC has a buy on the stock with a price target of Rs 75 per share.

Bajaj Auto’s shares fell by 1.4 percent after Sri Lanka government decided to hike import duty.

Public sector banks like Allahabad bank gained after allotment to LIC.

Reliance Power jumps 4.9%, Sensex off day’s high

3:20 Reliance Power gained 4.9 percent to Rs 122.4 per share on the exchange. The company informed BSE that its subsidiary, Rosa Power Supply Company has commissioned its 4th unit of 300 Mega Watt capacity at Rosa, Uttar Pradesh. With this, its 1,200 mega watt thermal power project has been fully commissioned.

IVRCL gains 4%, why so much investor interest?

2:30 Markets continues their choppy movement as the Sensex is up 68 points to 17472 while Nifty is trading higher by 20 points to 5316. Among the indices, the small-cap is trading higher at 1.36 percent while the mid-cap index is up 0.8 percent. 10 of the 13 BSE Sectoral indices are in the green with Consumer Durables having risen 3.57 percent.

HDFC Securities has come out with a buy rating on IVRCL with a price target of Rs 75 per share as it believes that the recent buying of shares by the Essel Group and their intention to buy more could result in continued interest in the stock given the low stake held by the promoter. It is currently trading at Rs 69 per share, up 4.45 percent.

IVRCL had also earlier informed BSE that its subsidiary IVRCL Assets and Holdings has secured two highway projects totaling Rs 3,203 crore.

PFC, REC gain on Tamil Nadu power tariff hike

2:00 - Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) gained on reports that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has announced a 37% hike in the power tariff. PFC shot up by 3.7 percent to Rs190.4 per share while Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) gained more than 4 percent to Rs214.2 per share.

The decision to increase tariffs is a life-saving shot for the TNEB, which has been at the verge of becoming dysfunctional. The hike comes after a gap of more than nine years, and is a much needed relief for the TNEB which posts annual losses of more than Rs 100bn.

TNEB has a debt of approx Rs 500bn (highest among all the states) and has been struggling with cash crunch on account of large revenue deficit of Rs 80bn; however, the recent tariff hike recedes concerns on its ability to service debt obligation and increased revenues will ensure timely debt servicing, according to a research report by Antique Stock Broking.

1:30 Sensex continues to trade higher at 17502, up 98 points. Among Sensex based companies,DLF (3.25%), NTPC (2.34%), M&M (1.94%) are some of the top gainers while Bajaj Auto (-1.72%), Coal India (-1.57%) continue to trade lower.

Overall, Titan Inds (6.78%), Godrej Inds (5.09%) and Bata India (5.06%) are the biggest gainers on the exchange. Aurobindo Pharma continues to trade lower 5.45 percent to Rs113.45 per share.

12:30Allahabad Bank up 1.3% on LIC allotment; Nifty soars 20 pts

Allahabad bank gained 1.3 percent to Rs 188.6 per share. The company has informed BSE that it has allotted 2,38,10,771 equity shares of Rs. 10/- each at a premium of Rs. 182.94 amounting to Rs. 459,40,50,156.74 on preferential allotment basis to Life Insurance Corporation of India. The Central Bank of India (1.4%) had informed BSE post market hours that its board has approved allotment of 8.95 crore equity shares at Rs 105.61 per share to Government of India and the LIC. LIC has a 7.44 percent stake in Central Bank of India at the end of December.

Markets are at their day high as the Sensex is trading higher by 90 points to 17498 while the Nifty is up 21 points to 5317.

Sensex up 94 pts, Bajaj auto slips 2% on hike in import duty

Bajaj Auto shares fell by two percent on the bourse after Sri Lanka newspapers reported that the government hiked duties on auto imports. According to sources , “Three-wheelers, pouring into the country in numbers, grew from 34,563 in 2009 to 91,230 in 2010 and 137,816 will have the import duty raised from 51 per cent to 100 per cent. Duty on motorcycles were raised from 61 per cent to 100 per cent.Taxes on petrol-driven cars have been raised to 189 to 275 per cent from the prevailing 120 - 189 per cent depending on size”.

This will have an impact on the revenues of the company as Sri Lanka contributes 15 percent of Bajaj Auto’s exports and 5 percent of overall revenue.

11:30 am Bata hits 52-week high; Kingfisher plunges on jet fuel hike

State Bank of India rose 0.65 percent to 2,109.90 rupees after saying on Friday it had approved the issuance and allotment of 36 million shares at 2,191.69 rupees per share to the Indian government.

Meanwhile, Union Bank of India gained 0.9 percent after saying it had received 6.5 billion rupees from state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India, having allotted 2.6 million shares at a premium.

The actions were part of previously announced plans by the government to inject capital into state-run lenders.

But offsetting broader gains, Reliance Industries lost 1.3 percent, with traders citing fears about its latest fiscal Q4 earnings, due to pressure on its refining margins and reduced output from its KG-D6 gas blocks.

Aurobindo pharma slips 5% on CBI probe, Sensex flat

Aurobindo’s pharma scrip fell by five percent to Rs 112.85 per share after the company’s managing director K Nityananda Reddy and the company secretary P S Chandramouli have been named in a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to DNA, the company has been accused of getting land allotted for its unit in a SEZ at a cheaper rate and contravening several rules.

Mean while the Sensex continues its sidewards movement as it is up 61 points to 17465. Baring the BSE Oil & Gas sector (-0.11%), all other 12 sectoral indices are in the green. Nifty 50 was also higher by 9.8 points to 5307.

Coal India slipped 1.5 percent on rumors that the Children’s investment fund has appointed a law firm to fight against the public sector owing to corporate governance issues.

Kingfisher airlines continues its downward movement as the stock has fallen by almost 8 percent to Rs15.3 per share.

Titan Inds (6.4%), Bata (4.7%), Manappuram Finance (4.28%) continue to be the biggest gainers on the bourse.

A breather for Manappuram, Titan still a winner

10:20 am - Sensex continues to trade flat at around 17,467 points, up marginally by 63 points. Nifty is also up by 12.5 percent.

Manapuram Finance is up 4.6 percent to Rs 31.8 per share after the company clarified in a press release to BSE that the news regarding the fact that Mannappuram will recall loans to meet the recent RBI notification of limiting loan to value ratio of 60 percent which appeared in a leading news paper is misquoted and contrary to facts. However the company has said that there is no requirement for it to recall any of the loans already disbursed and hence the company has no plans to recall its loan before the contracted term.

Cash starved Kingfisher Airlines stock fell by 5 percent to Rs 15.7 per share after public sector oil companies hiked jet fuel prices by about 3 percent. JetAirways and SpiceJet also fell by 0.54 percent and 0.2 percent. Aviation stocks reacted after the price of aviation turbine fuel in Delhi was hiked by Rs 1,850.96 to Rs 67,800.30 per kl from 31 st March 2012.

Lloyds steel has shot up by 6.7 percent to Rs 9.99 per share after the Miglani family which owns Uttam Galva, plans to increase its stake in the steel company from its current 24.5 percent stake, reported Economic Times.

Bata India has hit a 52-week high today and is currently trading at Rs803.5 per share, up4.46 percent from its previous day close.

Titan, Tata Motors a winner, BEML biggest loser

9:30 am A flat market opening today but no depression in the market as the Nifty is holding up above 5300 while the Sensex is up 73 points at 17477.91

Coal India is down 2 percent asUK-based The Children’s Investment Fund has launched legal action against the government, the main promoter in Coal India, claiming that its (government’s) actions are hindering the company’s operations and business profitability.The move highlights the poor corporate governance at state-owned companies – and adds to the unattractiveness of investing in India.

BPCL is down 1.5 percent as no price hike in petrol prices took place over the weekend. Infosys has started on a backfoot as it inches closer to its annual guidance. ACC and Ambuja Cement too are down as they will declare sales data for March.

Hem Securities, a brokerage firm expects the equity markets to begin the new financial year on a soft note due to domestic headwinds like high interest rates, soaring inflation and political instability. Moreover, tight liquidity and high bond yields could dampen market sentiment further.

The auto sector is performing well today, with Tata Motors up 1 percent after the company posted a 34 percent rise in sales, while Mahindra and Mahindra too has moved higher by 1.69 percent as the company posted a 25 percent increase in sales against the year-ago period.

Kingfisher Airlines’ staff to begin protest at Mumbai Airport today on non-payment of salaries. The stock is down 2.11 percent at Rs 16.25

Ranbaxy subsidiary Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Canada has received approval from Health Canada to manufacture and market RAN - Rosuvastatin tablets in Canada, which is used for lowering cholesterol. However, the stock is yet to react and is currently trading 1 percent lower at Rs 464.

IVRCL gains 3.40 percent at Rs 68.50 as the Economic Times reported that that the company’s founder Sudhir Reddy has indicated that he will resist attempts by the Essel Group to seek a seat on the company’s board. In a Singapore, he is meeting bankers to seek their financial backing to shore up his shareholding in a company. Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group had acquired over 10% stake in IVRCL and is interested in buying more shares.

The iGate offer to delist Patni closed on 30 March. iGate had set a floor price of Rs 356.74/share in the Patni delisting offer and the company required bids for a minimum of 1.51 crore shares to go ahead with the delisting process, reported CNBC-TV18. Majority of shares out of nearly 1.42 croreshares getting offers at Rs 520.

IDBI Bank cut interest rates on floating home loans up to 75 bps and on home loans up to Rs 25 lakh by 25 bps to 10.75 percent.The stock is up 1.5 percent at Rs 106.20.

Tatra BEML deal- red flagged by Army Chief General VK Singh and his bribery allegations are now firmly under the scanner. BEML ic currently trading down 3.8 percent as sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted simultaneous raids on the offices and residences of some BEML officials, including CMD Natarajan.

Titan Industries was up 4 percent as The Financial Express reported that the company was allowed by DGFT to import gold directly, which will save around 1 percent cost