|
Markets opened the day after the long 3-day weekend on
a strong note. Strong economic data for the month of July
released last Friday and a positive closing by the US
markets were the positive factors along with a marginal
decline in crude prices.
Within half an hour of opening, the indices declined sharply
and went into the red as selling pressure emerged at higher
levels. A section of operators are still worried about
the continuation of FII inflows, which showed a negative
daily figure last week after a long time.
The indices recovered equally fast and spent the rest
of the day moving within a band, with alternate bouts
of buying and selling.
Sensex closed almost flat at 7768 and the Nifty at 2370,
a gain of 9 points. Nifty August futures closed the day
at a discount of 5 points to the spot index.
BHEL, HCL Technologies and SAIL were among the major gainers
among Nifty stocks while Satyam Computers, HDFC Bank and
Hero Honda were the major losers.
US markets closed firm yesterday as crude oil declined
from its record highs of last week. The Dow and S&P
500 indices closed with gains of over one fourth of a
per cent each. NASDAQ closed half a per cent higher as
technology stocks found good buying support.
Crude futures for September delivery declined close to
a per cent after crossing $67 to a barrel on Friday. The
commodity closed at $66.27 on the NYMEX yesterday. Crude
was trading lower around $66 in early European trades
today.
Indian ADR's had a mixed day yesterday with no large flare-ups
or declines. Tata Motors, VSNL, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank
were among the gainers, all closing with gains of less
than a per cent each. MTNL and Dr. Reddy's lost close
to a per cent each.
Among the technology ADR's, Wipro and Satyam closed in
the positive while Infosys closed with marginal losses.
The joint venture between ONGC and Mittal Steel group
is believed to be the front-runner to acquire Petro Kazakhstan.
The JV has reportedly bid $3.6 billon for the whole of
the company, which produces over 10 per cent of Kazakhstan's
oil output.
China's largest oil company CNPC is the other prominent
bidder but its bid is believed to be lower than the ONGC-Mittal
combine.
ONGC has also announced 4 new oil finds, 3 in the KG basin
and 1 on the western coast. The quantities of the reserves
are being assessed. The company has also partly restored
production at Bombay High after the recent fire on one
of its platforms.
After the Bhatinda Refinery, which will be a joint venture
with a global oil company, HPCL is planning to set up
a new export oriented refinery at Vizag. The new refinery
is expected to have a capacity of 15 million tonnes per
annum and will also be set up in partnership with an overseas
company. Aramco of Saudi Arabia, BP, Petronas of Malaysia
and Total are among the companies interested in the new
ventures of HPCL.
VSNL has turned a price warrior in the bandwidth market
after the acquisition of Tyco Global Network (TGN) and
commissioning of other undersea cable links. The company
has reduced bandwidth tariffs between India and the US
by 45 per cent. The stock closed with losses of a per
cent.
VSNL completed 5 years as a listed company on the New
York Stock Exchange yesterday. From being the monopoly
provider of international telecom services in India, the
company has emerged as a global telecom entity after its
recent overseas acquisitions.
PSU capital goods company BHEL continued its up trend
despite the government cancelling the disinvestment programme.
The company had won some overseas orders recently. The
stock closed with gains of 6 per cent.
The government has formally cancelled disinvestment plans
for 13 PSU companies including HPCL, Nalco, Shipping Corporation
and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Tobacco and hospitality major ITC expects its agro division
to grow by 20 per cent in the current year. The company
is diversifying its business at a fast pace to reduce
dependence on tobacco products. The stock closed with
marginal gains.
Technology stocks except Wipro had a bad day today. Satyam
was the biggest loser, closing 2 per cent lower while
TCS and Infosys also closed lower. Wipro closed with marginal
gains.
Expectations of a recovery in steel prices led to good
buying in steel stocks. SAIL closed the day with gains
of close to 4 per cent, while Tata Steel gained well over
a per cent. Among the smaller steel stocks, Essar Steel,
Ispat and JSW Steel closed with good gains.
Tata Steel management has indicated that the company is
looking at another acquisition in the Far East after its
recent acquisition of Singapore based Natsteel.
Auto stocks declined on reports of another round of fuel
price hikes. Tata Motors, Maruti, M&M and Hero Honda
closed lower.
Mid-Cap Action
Mid-caps
outperformed the frontline stocks today as well. Heavy
buying was seen in many of the liquid counters, especially
technology stocks. The CNX Mid-Cap index closed the day
at a new lifetime high of 3623, a gain of 16 points.
Banking
software products company I-Flex has won an order from
a Vietnamese bank for its flagship product Flexcube. Global
ERP major Oracle had acquired a large stake in I-Flex
and would be coming out with an open offer for another
20 per cent, which would give it a majority stake.
I-Flex
management is confident that being a subsidiary of Oracle
would help the company in acquiring customers for its
products. Oracle's ERP solutions have a large customer
base among the largest banks and financial services companies.
The stock closed with marginal losse.
Scandent
Solutions has won an order from Singapore Airlines for
implementing an Enterprise Learning System. The new system
will improve the training programmes of Singapore Airlines.
The stock closed with substantial gains.
Heavy
buying was seen in some of the mid-cap software stocks.
Visual Soft led the pack with gains of over 14 per cent.
Cranes Software, Rolta India, Geodesic Info and 3i Infotech
were among the other significant gainers.
IT
education company NIIT Limited gained on reports of the
company tying up with the government of Chattisgarh to
start computer education programmes in 1200 schools in
the state.
PSU
stocks HMT, which had seen considerable appreciation in
the previous week, declined and closed with losses of
over 4 per cent.
Even
as HMT corrected, another PSU stock Hindustan Organic
Chemicals saw frenzied buying and closed with gains of
27 per cent.
Mid-cap
pharma company IndSwift Laboratories has completed its
GDR issue and has raised over $10 million. The GDR's were
issued at $4.25 or a 15 per cent discount to the current
domestic price and will be listed on the Luxembourg stock
exchange. The stock closed with losses of over 2 per cent.
Apollo
Hospitals, the country's largest hospital group, is planning
to acquire pathology and diagnostic laboratories in various
parts of the country. Diagnostic labs are receiving considerable
business from overseas through outsourcing.
There
are market rumours that Apollo is also looking at acquiring
multi-speciality hospitals around the country and has
already firmed up Rs700 crore with a consortium of partners.
Ambuja
Eastern Cements rallied after European Cement major Holcim
informed the stock exchanges that it might consider merging
the company with ACC. The public holding in Ambuja Eastern
is lower than the required 10 per cent and the exchanges
had asked Holcim, which holds a majority stake in the
company, about its plans to increase the public holding.
Holcim
in its reply has indicated that the company may be merged
with ACC within the next 1 year.
PSL
Limited will issue zero coupon convertible foreign currency
bonds to raise $40 million. The bonds are convertible
after 5 years at a 37 per cent premium to Friday's closing
price on the BSE.
Supreme
Industries closed at the 20 per cent upper circuit after
the company informed that it is planning to develop its
real estate properties in Mumbai and Kolkata.
 IFB
Industries, Sandesh and Novopan were among the best performing
stocks among mid-caps.
IDFC,
HFCL and Titanor Components 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
|
7,768.24
|
+
0.75 |
| NIFTY
|
2,369.80
|
+
8.25 |
Last
Update : 16 August, 2005, 16:15 PM
Market
Counters
Figures in Rupees
BSE
30
| Scrip
Name |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| BHEL
|
1,089.00
|
1,147.00
|
1,058.00
|
1,120.95 |
| BHARTI
TELE |
311.90
|
322.00
|
311.00
|
318.35 |
| ASSOCIATED
CEMENT COMPANIES LT |
447.80
|
459.00
|
447.10
|
457.25 |
| HINDUSTAN
LEVER LTD. |
170.00
|
172.00
|
167.05
|
171.55 |
| TATA
IRON AND STEEL CO. LTD. |
406.00
|
410.90
|
405.00
|
409.20 |
| HINDALCO
IN |
1,404.00
|
1,429.90
|
1,395.00
|
1,424.10 |
| BAJAJ
AUTO |
1,400.00
|
1,423.80
|
1,400.00
|
1,409.40 |
| WIPRO
LTD. |
715.00
|
732.65
|
715.00
|
720.55 |
| CIPLA
LTD. |
348.40
|
351.00
|
346.50
|
348.00 |
| NTPC
LTD |
96.25
|
97.65
|
96.00
|
96.85 |
| ONG
CORP LTD |
952.05
|
966.00
|
940.00
|
956.50 |
| I
T C LTD |
1,718.00
|
1,718.00
|
1,691.00
|
1,700.00 |
| GUJARAT
AMBUJA CEMENTS LTD. |
66.25
|
66.70
|
65.30
|
65.85 |
| HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CO |
942.50
|
945.00
|
932.00
|
938.40 |
| LARSEN
& TOUBRO LTD. |
1,336.70
|
1,344.00
|
1,315.00
|
1,327.05 |
| SATYAM
COMP |
525.50
|
532.00
|
512.00
|
513.70 |
| GRASIM
INDUSTRIES LTD. |
1,310.00
|
1,315.80
|
1,280.00
|
1,289.05 |
| HEROHONDA
M |
690.50
|
694.00
|
671.15
|
678.50 |
| HDFC
BANK LT |
665.00
|
685.00
|
642.55
|
645.25 |
| TATA
POWER |
429.40
|
429.40
|
414.05
|
416.35 |
| DR.REDDY'S
LABORATORIES LTD. |
755.00
|
849.90
|
755.00
|
824.80 |
| TATA
MOTORS |
503.00
|
503.00
|
489.55
|
492.05 |
| RELIANCE
ENR |
619.00
|
619.00
|
599.00
|
601.90 |
| TCS
LTD |
1,285.00
|
1,295.00
|
1,265.10
|
1,269.40 |
| STATE
BANK OF INDIA |
811.00
|
816.00
|
801.50
|
806.20 |
| ICICI
BANK L |
508.55
|
513.00
|
499.10
|
504.70 |
| MARUTI
UDYOG |
483.00
|
483.00
|
470.00
|
472.25 |
| RELIANCE
|
705.00
|
709.95
|
695.50
|
699.85 |
| INFOSYS
TECHNOLOGIES LTD.-ORDI |
2,253.55
|
2,259.00
|
2,232.00
|
2,251.45 |
| RANBAXY
LABORATORIES LTD. |
540.00
|
548.90
|
531.00
|
535.60 |
Last
Update : 16 August, 2005, 16:05PM
S&P
CNX Nifty
| Symbol |
Open |
High |
Low |
Last
Price |
| RELIANCE
|
704.50
|
710.00
|
697.10
|
699.80 |
| SATYAMCOMP
|
527.00
|
527.90
|
511.10
|
513.45 |
| INFOSYSTCH
|
2252.20
|
2260.00
|
2230.00
|
2249.95 |
| TISCO |
406.00 |
411.00
|
405.00
|
409.60 |
| VSNL
|
409.00
|
412.00
|
397.00
|
399.55 |
| SBIN
|
812.00
|
816.90
|
801.35
|
807.05 |
| ONGC
|
953.00
|
965.00
|
944.00
|
957.45 |
| BHEL |
1065.00 |
1145.70
|
1061.00
|
1121.15 |
| SAIL
|
63.00
|
65.50
|
63.00
|
65.15 |
| ITC
|
1690.00
|
1718.95
|
1689.05
|
1700.45 |
| TCS
|
1290.00
|
1290.00
|
1265.00
|
1269.05 |
| BHARTI
|
313.90
|
322.00
|
310.00
|
318.45 |
| ACC
|
449.15
|
458.00
|
446.50
|
456.75 |
| RANBAXY
|
538.65
|
549.00
|
530.15
|
535.60 |
| HINDLEVER
|
169.70
|
172.00
|
167.05
|
171.55 |
| TATAMOTORS
|
500.00
|
504.90
|
489.30
|
492.85 |
| TATATEA
|
795.05
|
814.80
|
785.00
|
805.70 |
| GRASIM
|
1300.00
|
1323.90
|
1275.00
|
1294.00 |
| REL |
622.00 |
648.00
|
600.10
|
602.75 |
| WIPRO
|
724.80
|
729.70
|
715.20
|
720.50 |
| ZEETELE
|
164.15
|
171.10
|
164.00
|
165.95 |
| HCLTECH
|
430.00
|
453.50
|
430.00
|
450.55 |
| HDFCBANK
|
668.00
|
668.00
|
643.00
|
647.20 |
| MARUTI
|
478.00
|
484.80
|
470.05
|
472.75 |
| HINDALC0
|
1405.00
|
1430.00
|
1395.05
|
1425.60 |
| ICICIBANK
|
514.25
|
514.25
|
499.10
|
504.75 |
| GUJAMBCEM
|
65.75
|
66.60
|
65.30
|
65.70 |
| CIPLA
|
347.80
|
351.00
|
345.00
|
347.55 |
| LT
|
1334.80
|
1344.00
|
1311.00
|
1327.45 |
| NATIONALUM
|
168.00
|
172.80
|
165.10
|
171.65 |
| HDFC
|
930.00
|
947.00
|
925.20
|
939.30 |
| DABUR
|
158.85
|
160.00
|
154.65
|
156.10 |
| TATAPOWER
|
427.00
|
427.00
|
414.15
|
417.05 |
| PNB
|
415.55
|
419.50
|
411.10
|
414.40 |
| HEROHONDA
|
691.00
|
695.00
|
672.00
|
679.75 |
| SUNPHARMA
|
619.00
|
644.70
|
619.00
|
636.25 |
| M&M
|
695.00
|
695.15
|
676.00
|
682.20 |
| BAJAJAUTO
|
1419.00
|
1424.00
|
1400.20
|
1408.50 |
| IPCL
|
184.00
|
185.00
|
183.30
|
184.00 |
| SCI
|
151.85
|
152.85
|
148.00
|
152.20 |
| HINDPETRO
|
299.00
|
305.40
|
299.00
|
301.20 |
| MTNL
|
129.45
|
130.75
|
128.40
|
129.15 |
| TATACHEM
|
189.00
|
194.90
|
189.00
|
190.60 |
| DRREDDY
|
843.90
|
843.90
|
823.10
|
825.35 |
| ORIENTBANK
|
272.50
|
274.40
|
268.00
|
269.00 |
| GAIL
|
232.50
|
234.80
|
231.55
|
232.15 |
| COLGATE
|
253.20
|
255.00
|
250.15
|
253.60 |
| ABB
|
1521.00
|
1569.00
|
1521.00
|
1561.70 |
| BPCL
|
360.00
|
365.00
|
352.00
|
354.00 |
| GLAXO
|
902.00
|
920.00
|
896.55
|
913.80 |
Last
Update : 16 August, 2005, 16:00PM
|
