|
Today morning, global cues were all positive at market opening. Substantial
gains in the US markets overnight had prompted most Asian markets to open
with gains. Without disappointing, the indices opened with a positive gap
over yesterday's closing and gained over a per cent very soon.
The
fall came equally fast as the markets lost most of its early gains before
noon, but the indices never went into the negative. Markets bounced back early
in the afternoon only to retest the earlier lows later. The last hour saw
buying coming in and the indices closed with decent gains. Sensex
closed at 6346, up 47 points and the Nifty at 1967, up 19 points. Nifty April
futures discount to the spot index widened to 18 points from yesterday's 7
points. Among
Nifty stocks, Wipro, Oriental Bank of Commerce and HCL Technologies were the
major percentage gainers while Ranbaxy, Tata Steel and Hero Honda were the
major losers. Yesterday,
US markets bounced back very sharply to post one of their biggest single day
gains in recent history. Excellent results from leading technology companies
like Google, Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson boosted investor confidence in the
US and Europe. Dow gained close to 2 per cent while NASDAQ gained over 2 per
cent.
Crude futures for June delivery rose marginally to $54.2 per barrel on fresh
concerns about shortage of refined petroleum products in the US. On the crude
supply side, output from the world's largest oil producing country, Saudi
Arabia, touched all time highs of over 9 million barrels per day. ADR's
of Indian companies had a fantastic run yesterday in the US markets. Technology
stocks saw a dramatic surge on the NASDAQ following the upbeat market mood.
Wipro was the star of the day with gains of close to 8 per cent. Satyam and
Infosys were not far behind with gains of close to 5 per cent each. ICICI
Bank and Tata Motors were the other major winners with gains of around 3 per
cent each. Dr. Reddy's, VSNL and MTNL closed with losses. Wipro
today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year ended March 2005,
the last of the four frontline software companies to declare results. For
the last quarter the company has posted a 1.5 per cent growth in profits on
a revenue growth of over 9 per cent as compared to the third quarter. The
results were below market expectations. Wipro
has given a lower guidance for the first quarter of the current year, like
the other three majors. The company does not expect the weak trend to prolong
beyond this quarter as volume growth continues to be robust and new contracts
are being billed at higher rates. The company is also planning to merge its
BPO subsidiaries, including the former Spectramind, into itself. Wipro
closed with gains of over 6 per cent even though the results were not up to
expectations. The liberal bonus announcement of one share for every share
held led to hectic buying. In
yet another twist to the Reliance ownership battle, it was revealed that the
board of IPCL has accepted the resignation of Anil Ambani as vice chairman.
The company says its board met on 30 March to consider the matter and decided
to accept the same. Anil Ambani had sent his resignation letter soon after
the family feud became public and the IPCL board, in an earlier meeting, had
asked him to reconsider. If
the board had indeed met on 30 March, how come this important information
was not officially notified to the stock exchanges so far? Why did it take
twenty three long days for the company to inform the investors about this?
That too only when the information leaked out and they were forced to make
a statement! Making matters even more curious, even Anil Ambani had not been
informed of this decision till now! TCS
continued its recovery and closed with gains of over 2 per cent. Infosys and
Satyam also closed with good gains. Jet
Airways gained close to 3 per cent as DSP Merrill Lynch initiated its research
coverage on the company with a buy call. Reliance
Industries and ONGC are reportedly joining hands to develop production facilities
and pipelines for natural gas in the Krishna Godavari basin. Reliance had
made one of the largest ever gas finds in the KG basin and ONGC also has made
some discoveries. Oriental
Bank of Commerce made a sharp up move ahead of its public issue opening. New
entrants into the stock would do well to remember the Punjab National Bank
experience. The stock of PNB had appreciated dramatically before its issue,
only to lose all of its gains and decline below the issue price later. Mid-cap
action Gujarat
Gas, a subsidiary of global natural gas major British Gas, reported excellent
results for the first quarter ended March 2005. Profits have jumped over 70
per cent on a sales growth of around 15 per cent. The stock gained over 10
per cent. Gujarat
Gas sources natural gas from the Panna — Muktha gas fields where its
parent British Gas has a stake. The company sells gas to customers across
the state of Gujarat and is aggressively expanding its retail network. 3i
Infotech, whose IPO was subscribed only around 3 times, made its debut on
the stock exchanges today. Issued at Rs100 to a share, the stock opened at
Rs105.15 on the BSE and touched an intra day high of Rs107.9 before cooling
off. 3i
Infotech, which is an associate company of ICICI Bank, focuses on financial
software. It derives almost 40 per cent of its revenue from products unlike
other companies who focus more on services. It focuses on emerging markets
like Middle-East and Africa, again unlike other companies. The issue was generally
considered as over priced and hence the lukewarm reception. Small-cap
IT company Megasoft announced excellent growth for the quarter ended March
2005. The company has reported a profit of Rs3.73 crore for the quarter as
against a loss during the same quarter of previous year. Revenues have jumped
over 50 per cent to Rs26.26 crore. The stock gained over 10 per cent on announcement
of results. Small
and mid-size software companies are posting very good results when compared
to larger companies. Rather than a slowdown for the entire sector, the current
trend looks more like the large companies being unable to maintain growth
rates on their large base. ETC
Networks, which operates the entertainment television channel ETC, lost over
10 per cent even as the company announced a share buy back. The company is
planning to buy back up to 10 per cent of its equity at a price of up to Rs50
per share. Berger
Paints gained over 13 per cent on announcement that the company will decide
on a share buy back shortly.  Among
mid-cap stocks Shreyas Shipping, Aksh Optifibre and Today's Writing Instruments
were the significant percentage gainers.
Corporation
Bank, JK Industries and Eurotex Industries were among the major 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
|
6,346.57
|
+47.37
|
| NIFTY
|
1,967.35
|
+18.80
|
Last
Update : 22 April, 2005, 16:15 PM
Market
Counters
Figures in Rupees
BSE
30
| Scrip
Name |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| WIPRO
LTD. |
627.00
|
653.90
|
627.00
|
644.45 |
| INFOSYS
TECHNOLOGIES LTD.-ORDI |
1,955.00
|
2,005.00
|
1,955.00
|
1,998.10 |
| SATYAM
COMP |
397.05
|
407.95
|
397.05
|
405.00 |
| LARSEN
& TOUBRO LTD. |
982.90
|
997.70
|
970.05
|
992.95 |
| BHEL
|
792.00
|
812.50
|
792.00
|
807.75 |
| MARUTI
UDYOG |
433.35
|
441.00
|
427.25
|
439.25 |
| CIPLA
LTD. |
244.50
|
246.75
|
240.15
|
244.40 |
| ASSOCIATED
CEMENT COMPANIES LT |
373.00
|
377.20
|
369.70
|
376.05 |
| HINDUSTAN
LEVER LTD. |
132.95
|
133.00
|
131.00
|
132.20 |
| BHARTI
TELE |
208.00
|
208.70
|
205.00
|
207.30 |
| GUJARAT
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD. |
432.00
|
435.05
|
428.15
|
434.05 |
| RELIANCE*
|
547.75
|
548.80
|
537.00
|
546.60 |
| ONG
CORP LTD |
861.35
|
865.00
|
849.00
|
854.45 |
| HINDUSTAN
PETROLEUM CORP. LTD. |
323.75
|
328.00
|
321.25
|
322.25 |
| HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CO |
725.00
|
730.00
|
721.00
|
725.90 |
| RELIANCE
ENR* |
510.00
|
510.90
|
502.15
|
504.05 |
| ZEE
TELEF LT |
133.85
|
134.00
|
130.00
|
131.55 |
| BAJAJ
AUTO |
1,082.10
|
1,089.00
|
1,077.00
|
1,080.00 |
| RANBAXY
LABORATORIES LTD. |
945.00
|
950.00
|
917.00
|
925.25 |
| TATA
IRON AND STEEL CO. LTD. |
372.00
|
372.70
|
360.50
|
361.60 |
| HEROHONDA
M |
517.95
|
517.95
|
504.00
|
506.15 |
| HDFC
BANK LT |
545.00
|
550.00
|
535.05
|
539.50 |
| DR.REDDY'S
LABORATORIES LTD. |
690.00
|
698.00
|
678.25
|
682.00 |
| STATE
BANK OF INDIA |
631.00
|
634.50
|
617.25
|
620.65 |
| GRASIM
INDUSTRIES LTD. |
1,237.00
|
1,237.00
|
1,195.05
|
1,198.80 |
| I
T C LTD |
1,397.00
|
1,409.00
|
1,388.05
|
1,390.10 |
| HINDALCO
IN |
1,285.00
|
1,285.00
|
1,255.00
|
1,260.65 |
| TATA
POWER |
362.00
|
365.50
|
356.65
|
362.35 |
| TATA
MOTORS |
440.00
|
441.00
|
431.55
|
436.90
|
Last
Update : 22 April, 2005, 16:05PM
S&P
CNX Nifty
| Symbol |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| INFOSYSTCH
|
1980.00
|
2008.00
|
1947.80
|
1999.25 |
| RELIANCE
|
547.00
|
549.80
|
536.20
|
547.50 |
| SATYAMCOMP
|
402.10
|
408.90
|
401.10
|
404.90 |
| TCS
|
1160.00
|
1171.65
|
1140.25
|
1166.75 |
| WIPRO
|
640.00
|
674.80
|
625.00
|
643.95 |
| SBIN
|
630.00
|
634.80
|
617.35
|
620.40 |
| TISCO
|
371.70
|
372.00
|
360.35
|
361.70 |
| MARUTI
|
435.00
|
441.80
|
427.65
|
439.35 |
| ORIENTBANK
|
275.00
|
292.90
|
271.95
|
288.95 |
| TATAMOTORS
|
447.00
|
447.00
|
431.55
|
437.10 |
| ONGC
|
867.00
|
867.70
|
849.10
|
858.10 |
| SAIL
|
57.90
|
57.90
|
55.85
|
56.25 |
| RANBAXY
|
956.00
|
956.00
|
918.00
|
924.90 |
| HCLTECH
|
357.00
|
379.80
|
354.00
|
370.05 |
| M&M
|
459.00
|
468.40
|
447.50
|
464.45 |
| GUJAMBCEM
|
434.40
|
450.00
|
428.50
|
434.60 |
| ICICIBANK
|
387.00
|
399.00
|
382.55
|
396.45 |
| HDFC
|
721.30
|
730.00
|
720.05
|
726.70 |
| CIPLA
|
244.45
|
246.45
|
240.30
|
244.50 |
| ACC |
373.00 |
377.60
|
370.00
|
376.40 |
| BHARTI
|
206.35
|
208.70
|
205.10
|
207.25 |
| TATAPOWER
|
362.00
|
365.00
|
355.15
|
358.20 |
| BHEL
|
806.00
|
812.50
|
792.00
|
809.70 |
| ITC
|
1405.00
|
1411.00
|
1387.15
|
1393.60 |
| LT
|
992.50
|
998.00
|
973.00
|
992.45 |
| PNB
|
380.00
|
382.90
|
375.10
|
376.60 |
| HINDLEVER
|
131.30
|
132.90
|
131.30
|
132.20 |
| IPCL
|
163.20
|
165.00
|
161.55
|
162.25 |
| ZEETELE
|
133.00
|
133.80
|
129.65
|
131.40 |
| BPCL
|
370.00
|
373.00
|
362.20
|
363.95 |
| HEROHONDA
|
514.50
|
519.00
|
504.00
|
506.50 |
| NATIONALUM
|
163.00
|
165.00
|
159.50
|
160.45 |
| GAIL
|
215.00
|
215.00
|
208.25
|
210.05 |
| BAJAJAUTO
|
1061.00
|
1084.00
|
1061.00
|
1080.15 |
| ABB
|
1232.00
|
1245.00
|
1204.00
|
1215.35 |
| HDFCBANK
|
562.90
|
562.90
|
535.20
|
540.20 |
| TATACHEM
|
151.00
|
157.00
|
151.00
|
154.80 |
| SUNPHARMA
|
487.00
|
496.00
|
480.25
|
495.10 |
| REL
|
513.00
|
513.00
|
502.00
|
504.00 |
| HINDPETRO
|
325.00
|
326.00
|
321.00
|
322.40 |
| GLAXO
|
706.00
|
730.55
|
706.00
|
726.50 |
| DRREDDY
|
690.00
|
700.00
|
680.00
|
681.80 |
| VSNL
|
195.00
|
201.35
|
193.00
|
198.00 |
| SCI
|
150.00
|
150.00
|
146.15
|
147.15 |
| MTNL
|
118.70
|
118.90
|
116.10
|
116.65 |
| COLGATE
|
199.00
|
204.00
|
198.20
|
203.05 |
| TATATEA
|
524.00
|
532.00
|
521.60
|
528.40 |
| GRASIM
|
1198.00
|
1221.00
|
1193.00
|
1200.70 |
| HINDALC0
|
1284.85
|
1284.85
|
1251.15
|
1260.95 |
| DABUR
|
115.60
|
116.40
|
113.30
|
113.70 |
Last
Update : 22 April, 2005, 16:04PM
| 
