Not in comfort zone!

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.

The bulls received a parting gift from RBI chief Y.V. Reddy as the central bank decided to leave key rates unchanged, and instead hiked the CRR by another 25 bps.

As always, the latest move by Reddy & Co. surprised the markets, which were looking for a small increase in repo and reverse repo rates. The RBI's decision to maintain status quo on interest rates is aimed at curtailing inflation by sucking out excess liquidity. At the same time, the move will keep rates mostly stable, thus allowing the growth momentum to continue. Rates on auto loans are likely to rise, while home loans of up to Rs30 lakh may become a little cheaper. Banks will definitely be under pressure to maintain their margins amid slowing credit growth and high interest rates.

Stocks and bonds rallied following the RBI's announcement. The rally got further boost from the Finance Minister who decided to extend tax concessions to the IT sector under the STPI scheme for one more year. PSU oil firms too gained after their proposed refineries too received tax exemption. Today, the Fed will announce its policy on interest rates and provide some clues on the outlook for the US economy. Wall Street expects a 25 bps cut in the fed funds rate. Some experts also see the Fed signaling status quo for some time after today's decision. There is also a slim chance of no revision in rates. The Bank of Japan is also likely to keep its key rate unchanged today.

We expect the market to open flat to slightly up. Things may turn lackluster and choppy later on. The overall the mood is much brighter on the street and odds of a major downside are pretty slim. Still, one needs to be a little careful as there may be some cooling from higher levels.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs2.32bn (provisional) in the cash segment yesterday while the local institutions too pumped Rs4.03bn. In the F&O segment, foreign funds were net buyers of Rs8.03bn. On Monday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs812mn in the cash segment while Mutual Funds offloaded shares worth nearly Rs2bn.

Key Results Today: Aditya Birla Nuvo, Advanta, Alfa Laval, Amtek Auto, Amtek India, Aptech, Assam Co., BILT, Balrampur Chini, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Dabur India, Dena Bank, DLF, Genus Power, Gillette India, Great Offshore, Gujarat Alkalies, Gujarat Gas, Hindalco, HDFC, Info Edge, Jaiprakash Associates, Jindal Saw, Jindal Stainless, Kansai Nerolac, KEC International, MTNL, Moser Baer, Mphasis, Onmobile, Prime Focus, P&G Health, Puravankara, RCOM, Sintex, Spice Telecom, Sterling Biotec, Syndicate Bank, Tanla, Tata Elxsi and Videocon Industries.

Asian stocks were trading mixed this morning. Commodity producers were down after metals and crude oil prices declined and US consumer confidence sank to a five-year low.

BHP Billiton led declines after gold and copper slumped. Inpex Holdings, Japan's biggest oil explorer, and Woodside Petroleum of Australia fell as crude oil tumbled the most in a month. Honda slipped the most in a week.

The Nikkei in Tokyo was down 11 points at 13,883 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 80 points at 25,833. The Kospi in Seoul rose 5 points to 1816 while the Straits Times in Singapore was almost flat at 3174.

The Shanghai Composite in China rallied 93 points to 3616 while the Taiex in Taiwan advanced 26 points to 8917.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6% to 150.12 as of 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo, the steepest drop since April 22.

An index of raw-materials producers had the biggest decline among the index's 10 industry groups, eight of which were down today. The measure is up 8% this month, poised for its biggest monthly advance since September 2005.

US stocks ended mostly lower on Tuesday. The technology sector got a slight boost from Corning's encouraging results, while the broader market remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement on Wednesday.

The mood was generally sour through the session as consumer confidence slid to a five-year low, property values slumped. Also, a drop in oil and metal prices pushed commodity producers lower.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining declined as gold and copper fell, while homebuilders dropped for the first time in four days on a report that housing prices plunged by the most on record.

Pharma major Merck tumbled the most in a month after failing to win approval for a cholesterol pill. Apple and Google advanced, leading the Nasdaq Composite Index to its fourth gain in five days.

The S &P 500 Index lost 5 points, or 0.4%, to 1,390.94, its second straight decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 40 points, or 0.3%, to 12,831.94. The Nasdaq finished nearly unchanged at 2,426.1.

Market breadth on Wall Street was negative. About five stocks fell for every three that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

US light crude oil for June delivery fell $3.12 to settle at $115.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after a Scottish refinery resumed operation following a labor dispute. On Monday, oil hit a record $119.93 a barrel in electronic trading.

Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit an all-time record of $3.607, AAA reported.

COMEX gold for June delivery fell $18.70 to settle at a four-month low of $876.70 an ounce. The dollar rose versus the euro and fell versus the yen. Treasury prices were flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 3.82%, unchanged from 3.82% Monday.

Wednesday could be a volatile day on Wall Street as the FOMC will announce its decision on interest rates at the end of a two-day meeting. But, the market will first have to digest the initial report on first-quarter GDP and another report on crude inventories.

The Fed is expected to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage. Investors will scrutinize the tone of the FOMC statement to determine whether or not additional rate cuts could be in the cards.

The New York-based Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 62.3 in April from 65.9 in March, reaching the lowest level since March 2003. But the decline was not as steep as economists had expected.

On the housing front, the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index showed that home prices posted record declines in February. In addition, foreclosure filings in the first three months of 2008 more than doubled from last year, according to industry group RealtyTrac.

Merck said late Monday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting more information regarding its cholesterol drug candidate Cordaptive. Merck shares fell more than 10%.

Visa reported a jump in quarterly profit late on Monday. Its shares rose about 4.5%. Troubled home lender Countrywide, which is in the process of being bought by Bank of America, reported a loss of nearly $900mn during the first quarter on higher housing-related credit losses.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, announced a $4.2bn writedown for the first quarter. The bank's CEO said financial market conditions during the quarter were the most difficult in recent memory.

On the upside, the world's largest maker of liquid crystal display glass, Corning reported that first-quarter profit more than tripled versus last year on strong demand for flat-screen TVs and computers. Its shares rose nearly 3%.

European shares broke a four-session winning streak. Michelin and Swiss chemical maker Ciba Holdings fell after cutting their 2008 outlook. However, strong results from BP and Shell cushioned the decline. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index lost 0.9%, ending at 320.67.

Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.6% to 6,885.34 and the French CAC-40 dropped 0.7% to 4,977.10. The UK's FTSE 100 held up better, ending the day virtually flat at 6,089.40.

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil tumbled 2.8% to 63,825 while the IPC index in Mexico was down 1.15% at 30,270. The RTS index in Russia dropped 1.1% to 2126 while the ISE National 30 index in Turkey slid 1.4% to 53,853.

Bears CRRy...Sensex adds 362 points

RBI's announcement today fired up bulls after RBI's monetary Policy left the repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged and hiked the CRR by 25 bps. NSE Nifty closed above the 200 DMA (daily moving average) for the first time in 40 days since February 29 (Budget Day). This resulted in banking stocks leading the rally with momentum in stocks like SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

BSE IT index also showed strength after Finance Minister extended the income tax exemption for software companies by a year to March 31, 2010. Stocks like TCS, Wipro, Satyam Computers and Infosys were among the major gainers.

Metal shares too joined the party despite the Government scrapping customs duty on steel and imposing export duty on steel products. Other prominent gainers included Realty and Oil & Gas.

Finally, the BSE 30-share Sensex closed at 17, 378 up 362 points and NSE Nifty closed at 5, 195 up 105 points.

Satyam Computers surged by over 8% to Rs479 following reports stating that Mindtree Consulting and Satyam Computers bagged a three year contract from Arcelor Mittal. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs486 and a low of Rs439 and recorded volumes of over 24, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

TCS gained by over 3% to Rs910 following reports stating that the company bagged Rs4.5bn contract from Scottish Water, a UK based utility firm. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs933 and a low of Rs872 and recorded volumes of over 7, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

GAIL gained by 0.5% to Rs439 following reports stating that the company would be a part of the consortium building the US$7.6bn Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline by 2015. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs447 and a low of Rs431 and recorded volumes of over 1, 50, 000 shares on BSE.

IOC surged by over 0.5% to Rs448. Reports said that the company will seek board approval for doubling of its borrowing limit to create a war chest of Rs800bn to fund a major acquisition in E&P sector. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs465 and a low of Rs439 and recorded volumes of over 1, 50, 000 shares on BSE.

Cairn India rose by over 0.5% to Rs261 after the company announced its Q1 results with profit at Rs116cr (up 205%) and net sales at Rs316cr (34%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs264 and a low of Rs257 and recorded volumes of over 14, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

BPCL gained by over 1% to Rs395 after reports said that the company in collaboration with Shapoorji Pallonji and Nandan Biomatrix is forming a JV to cultivate, extract and sell jatropha based bio-diesel through its outlets. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs399 and a low of Rs389 and recorded volumes of over 50, 000 shares on BSE.

M&M increased by over 1% to Rs642. According to reports, the company entered spares, used-car markets and plans to invest Rs2.5bn approximately in this segment. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs646 and a low of Rs632 and recorded volumes of over 40, 000 shares on BSE.

Tata Motors gained by 1% to Rs639 following reports stating that the company is planning a new platform for a compact car code-named X4. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs648 and a low of Rs630 and recorded volumes of over 1, 50, 000 shares on BSE.

Corporate News

Reliance Power to spend US$650mn on Indonesian coal mine. (Mint)

Cairn India to start Bhagyam output in 2010; receives approval to develop field with peak output of 40,000 barrels per day. (DNA)

Grasim lines up Rs30bn spend for investments in cement, ready mix concrete and power capacity. (DNA)

Saroj Datta and five other Jet Airways executives resign. (Mint)

NTPC and BHEL to invest Rs50bn in a JV to execute EPC contracts. (DNA)

GVK group plans port close to SEZ in Tamil Nadu. (Mint)

NTPC mulls entry into cement manufacturing with private partners. (Mint)

Alstom Projects may join NTPC-BHEL JV to manufacture turbines and generators. (Mint)

Alibaba.com partners with Infomedia to tap SME's. (Mint)

Berger Paints to buy Polish firm Bolix SA for US$38mn. (Mint)

Tata Finance refinances US$950mn loan. (BS)

UTV plans 18 films in a year; plans to invest Rs10bn. (BS)

Dish TV CEO Arun Kumar Kapoor quits. (DNA)

Reliance Industries controlled gas field in KG basin to go on-stream by August 2008. (BL)

M&M plans ultra low-cost rural tractor at a cost of around Rs0.2mn. (BL)

Satyam enters into agreement with Arcelor-Mittal for providing sub-contractor activities and help in overall business transformation. (BL)

BHEL to spend Rs5bn for research and development in FY09. (BL)

RNRL has filed a reply in Bombay High Court seeking the government appeal to be dismissed. (ET)

3i Infotech acquires 100% stake in Regulus a US based company for US$80mn.(BL)

TATA Power to refinance US$850mn worth of loans for funding its acquisition of 30% stake in Indonesioan thermal coal producer, PT Kaltime Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia. (ET)

Rajan Raheja Group is likely to get license for non-life insurance from IRDA. (ET)

SAIL to invest 50% in Steel Industries Ltd Kerala for manufacturing high quality steel with minimal carbon contamination. (FE)

Dhanus Technology signed a MoU with Kerala state private bus operator for providing tracker systems. (FE)

Pyramid Saimira has entered into an agreement with Sony to develop console game based for Sony Play Station2.(FE)

Economic News

Paint makers plan to increase prices next month. (DNA)

Housing loan limit with a lower risk weight of 50% enhanced to Rs3mn from Rs2mn. (BS)

Bad loan norms for infrastructure loans relaxed. (BS)

Government has decided to provide insurance and pension to 300mn workers under its social security scheme. (ET)

Banks to hike auto loan rates to retain margins. (ET)

Government has imposed US$200 per ton duty on basmati exports. (BL)

Finance Minister says PSU refineries to get tax holiday, if they commence refining before March 31, 2012. (BL)

Steel companies threaten to oppose government on steel prices. (FE)

Government imposed export duty of Rs8,000 per ton on basmati rice and lowered minimum export price to US$1,000 per ton from US$1,200. (BS)

Good volumes a positive sign

The markets opened on a cautious note and ended the session with strong gains as the RBI announcement was greeted well by the market players. The erstwhile unwinding bias at higher levels reversed for a change as buying support emerged in force.

The traded volumes were sharply higher and coming on an uptick session, are harbingers of hope. The market breadth was positive as the combined exchange figures were 2324:1588.

The capitalisation of the figures on a commensurate basis was positive as the numbers were Rs 20362 crore:Rs 4499 crore.

The indices have closed at the upper end of the intraday range and that too with positive market internals - indicating the possibility of cheerful times ahead in the absolute short term.

The 5045/5135 range advocated for Tuesday was easily overcome as the Nifty closed significantly higher than this threshold. The coming session is likely to witness a range of 5115 on declines and 5275 on advances. As long as the Nifty remains above the 5150 mark, the outlook is bullish.

The market internals indicate a higher turnover as the participation levels rose sharply. The number of trades increased and the average ticket size was higher, indicating a buying bias by stronger hands.

The outlook for the markets on Wednesday is that of continued optimism as long as the overseas cues are positive.

via Business Standard

Today's Pick - Hindustan Zinc

We recommend a sell in Hindustan Zinc from a short-term perspective. It is visible from the charts of Hindustan Zinc that it has been on a long-term downtrend, since its 52-week high of Rs 969 marked in October 2007. However, in early April 2008, the stock found support at around Rs 500 level and then it went through a short-term corrective rally. We see that the stock's corrective rally has encountered twin resistance at around Rs 690 levels (a key resistance as wel l as the long-term down trendline that coincides around this level) on April 29 and reversed direction, forming a bearish engulfing pattern near the resistance level. The daily momentum indicator has begun to decline after touching the overbought territory in recent times. Moreover, the long-term down trendline of the stock is still in place. We are bearish on the stock in the short-term. We expect the stock's long-term downtrend to prolong to our target price level of Rs 580 in the upcoming trading sessions. Investor with short-term perspective can sell the stock while keeping the stop-loss at Rs 708 level.

A dull day for precious metals

Slipping crude price and strength in dollar dampen appetite for commodities

Bullion metals registered sharp drop today, Tuesday, 29 April, 2008 after crude oil prices eased by more than $3/barrel and after the dollar rallied against its rivals. Last week, dollar rose strongly against its rivals thereby putting pressure on precious metal prices. On the other hand, rising energy cost affects prices of bullion metals as a hedge against inflation. Silver prices also fell for the day.

Comex Gold for June delivery fell $18.7 (2.1%) to close at $876.8 ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier touched $873.60, the lowest for a most-active contract in almost last three months. Last week, gold prices lost $20(2.8%) against previous week's close. On 17 March, 2008 prices had skyrocketed to a high of $1,034/ounce.

This year, gold prices have gained 5% for the till date against a 8.5% drop for the dollar against the euro. For first quarter prices gained 10.7%. In January, prices gained 11%, the highest monthly gain since April 2006. For February, it gained 6%. But in March, prices succumbed and fell by 5.5%.

Comex Silver futures for July delivery fell 48.3 cents (2.8%) to $16.64 an ounce. Silver has gained 10.8% in 2008 till date. Silver gained 16% in Q1. In January this year itself, prices climbed 14%. In February, it gained another 15%. For March, it ended lower by 13%. The metal had climbed 16% in FY 2007. The metal also has gained for seven straight years.

In the energy market today, crude oil fell more than $3 a barrel, the biggest decline in four weeks, after BP restarted a North Sea oil pipeline and the dollar strengthened, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors.

In the currency market today, the U.S. currency headed for its first monthly advance this year against the euro as traders increased bets the Fed will stop lowering bank-borrowing costs after cutting the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points tomorrow. The Federal Reserve's interest-rate meeting begins Tuesday afternoon. The statement will be released on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. E.T. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, gained 0.3% to 72.83.

Generally, a stronger dollar pressures demand for dollar-denominated commodities, such as crude oil and gold, which become more expensive for holders of other currencies. On the other hand, a lower dollar pushes up precious metal prices as their demand lessens as it becomes cheaper for traders holding other currencies.

Gold, as a dollar-denominated commodity, suffers from dollar strength. On the contrary, gold prices rise with falling dollar as inflationary concerns boosts the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge.

The Fed has reduced its benchmark interest rate by 3 percentage points to 2.25 percent since last September as a housing slump and credit squeeze threatened to push the economy into a recession. Since last September, Fed has axed interest rates six times. The ECB has kept rates unchanged at 4% since June. Traders are looking forward to Fed's decision on interest rates in its next forthcoming meeting tomorrow.

Gold witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007 as lower interest rates had sent the dollar tumbling, and crude-oil prices rose to a record. The Fed reduced federal funds rate three times in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%. Gold has tripled in five years as investment demand has soared and mine supplies have remained low.

At the MCX, gold prices for June delivery closed lower by Rs 136 (1.2%) at Rs 11,479 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 11,612 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 11,465 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed Rs 321 (1.4%) lower at Rs 22,142/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 22,385/kg and fell to a low of Rs 22,051/Kg during the day's trading.

Crude witnesses a deep plunge

 Prices slip by more than $3 as supply related concerns ease

Crude prices dropped by more than $3 today, Tuesday, 29 April, as supply concerns eased. BP restarted a North Sea oil pipeline and the dollar strengthened, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors. Gloomy economic news in the U.S. and forecasts that U.S. crude inventories have gained for a second week also weighed on Tuesday's oil prices. Yesterday, prices had touched an all time high of $119.93 during intra day trading.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for June delivery closed at $115.63/barrel (lower by $3.12/barrel or 2.6%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell to an intraday low of $114.95 earlier. For the year, crude is up by 19.4% till date. Oil increased 77% in the past year as supply failed to keep up with surging demand in China, India and the Middle East.

As per BP, it expects to resume normal throughput at its 700,000 barrel-a-day Forties crude oil pipeline system in the North Sea within several days. The company closed the Forties Pipeline System, carrying 40% of the U.K.'s oil production, after a strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland cut power supplies.

In the currency market today, the U.S. currency headed for its first monthly advance this year against the euro as traders increased bets the Fed will stop lowering bank-borrowing costs after cutting the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points tomorrow. The Federal Reserve's interest-rate meeting begins Tuesday afternoon. The statement will be released on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. E.T. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, gained 0.3% to 72.83.

Brent crude oil for June settlement today fell $3.31 (2.8%) to $113.43 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London benchmark rose 54% in FY 2007, the most since 1999 when prices more than doubled.

Natural gas advances 45% this year

Natural gas declined as crude oil fell from a record and the dollar strengthened against the euro. Gas for June delivery fell 48.7 cents (4.3%) to settle at $10.842 per million British thermal units,

Against this backdrop, June reformulated gasoline fell 9.15 cents to $2.9392 a gallon and June heating oil dropped 5.23 cents to $3.2465 a gallon.

Traders anticipated today that an Energy Department report tomorrow will probably show that U.S. crude-oil supplies advanced 950,000 barrels in the week ended 25 April.

At the pump at USA, retail regular gas averaged $3.607 a gallon, a new record high. Average gas prices in San Francisco surpassed $4 a gallon for the first time.

Crude had ended FY 2007 substantially higher by $35 or 57%. It was crude's biggest yearly gain in five years.

At the MCX, crude oil for May delivery closed at Rs 4,664/barrel, lower by Rs 94 (1.9%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for July delivery closed at Rs 441.2/mmbtu, lower by Rs 16.4/mmbtu (3.6%).

Nifty May 2008 futures above 5,200

Turnover in F&O segment surges

Nifty May 2008 futures were at 5217.40, a premium of 21.90 points as compared to spot closing of 5,195.50.

Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment spurted to Rs 41,819.49 crore, as compared to Rs 25,459.22 crore on Monday, 28 April 2008.

Reliance Petroleum (RPL) May 2008 futures were the most active with turnover of Rs 1398.41 crore. RPL May 2008 futures were at 204, a premium compared to the spot closing of 202.55.

However, Reliance Industries (RIL) May 2008 futures were at discount at 2658 compared to the spot closing of 2261.

Sesa Goa May 2008 futures were at premium at 4175 compared to the spot closing of 4165.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty advanced 105.85 points or 2.08% at 5,195.50.

NSE Bulk Deal Watch - Apr 29 2008

 Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
29-APR-2008,BOMDYEING,Bombay Dyeing & Mfg Co.,P R B SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD,BUY,201047,923.69,-
29-APR-2008,IBSEC,Indiabulls Securities Lim,CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS MAURITIUS PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,2100000,129.63,-
29-APR-2008,IDEA,Idea Cellular Limited,HSBC INVESTMENTS (HK) LTD A/C HGIF INDIA EQUITY FUND,BUY,19000000,105.00,-
29-APR-2008,KSERAPRO,K Sera Sera Productions L,EDELWEISS ESTATES PRIVATE LIMITED,BUY,406359,31.53,-
29-APR-2008,MCDHOLDING,McDowell Holdings Limited,BIRLA MUTUAL FUND,BUY,83896,178.00,-
29-APR-2008,SELAN,Selan Exploration Technol,ARUN KRISHAN PURI,BUY,90000,260.26,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,BUY,344422,61.52,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,AMBIT SECURITIES BROKING PVT. LTD.,BUY,128862,61.66,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,DIPAK RAMANBHAI RATHOD,BUY,194625,61.78,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,GOPAL TRADERS,BUY,158324,61.18,-
29-APR-2008,ANSALHSG,Ansal Housing and Constru,CLSA (MAURITIUS) LIMITED,SELL,103000,156.98,-
29-APR-2008,BOMDYEING,Bombay Dyeing & Mfg Co.,P R B SECURITIES PRIVATE LTD,SELL,201347,925.12,-
29-APR-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,ELARA INDIA OPPORTUNITIES FUND LIMITED,SELL,79058,100.00,-
29-APR-2008,IDEA,Idea Cellular Limited,CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS MAURITIUS PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,51300000,105.03,-
29-APR-2008,INDIACEM,India Cements Ltd.,PICTET AND CIE,SELL,1521284,169.98,-
29-APR-2008,KSERAPRO,K Sera Sera Productions L,EDELWEISS ESTATES PRIVATE LIMITED,SELL,371203,31.50,-
29-APR-2008,MCDHOLDING,McDowell Holdings Limited,BIRLA MUTUAL FUND,SELL,83896,178.00,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,ADROIT FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD,SELL,344422,61.49,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,AMBIT SECURITIES BROKING PVT. LTD.,SELL,128862,61.71,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,DIPAK RAMANBHAI RATHOD,SELL,194625,61.28,-
29-APR-2008,SITASHREE,Sita Shree Food Products,GOPAL TRADERS,SELL,127390,61.84,-

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Apr 30 2008

 Deal Date Scrip Code Scrip Name Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
29/4/2008 530135 AKANKSH FINV ASHOK GUPTA B 150000 4.23
29/4/2008 507828 ANSAL HSG CN CLSA MAURITIUS LIMITED S 88706 156.96
29/4/2008 532946 BANG CHANDRA FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT. LTD. B 75000 213.47
29/4/2008 532946 BANG MARUTI SECURITIES LTD S 109295 207.98
29/4/2008 517001 BIRLA POWER AYODHYAPATI INVESTMENT PVT LTD S 236702 41.60
29/4/2008 530545 COSCO INDIA BDS SHARE BROKERS PVT LTD B 25339 30.46
29/4/2008 530545 COSCO INDIA NAVENDU INVESTMENT CO PVT LTD S 185000 27.74
29/4/2008 530545 COSCO INDIA BDS SHARE BROKERS PVT LTD S 24339 31.29
29/4/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF NEWGENINTERNATIONAL PVT LTD S 468770 7.01
29/4/2008 532656 FACOR ALLOYS SHREERAM DURGAPRASAD ORES P LTD S 1600000 15.13
29/4/2008 531137 GEMSTONE INV BHAVESH PRAKASH PABARI B 50000 16.01
29/4/2008 531968 INDO GREEN P USHA KAMAL SINGHANIA S 1606900 38.00
29/4/2008 531968 INDO GREEN P KAMAL SHIVBHAGWAN SINGHANIA S 897000 38.00
29/4/2008 513252 JAY USHIN LT PKJ SHARE BROKER LTD S 22290 95.20
29/4/2008 516078 JUMBO BAG LT RINA ASHISHBHAI SHAH B 43935 45.73
29/4/2008 531363 KARUR KCP PK NITIN ANAND B 167344 27.16
29/4/2008 532283 KASHYAP TEC OM EDUCATION IT PVT LTD B 3097209 2.00
29/4/2008 531602 KOFF BR PICT UNIVERSAL CREDIT B 30000 21.00
29/4/2008 524570 PODDAR PIGME GUJARAT FLUOROCHEMICALS LIMITE S 141500 29.82
29/4/2008 531219 POONAM PHARM SWARN GANGA TRADING PVT. LTD. B 170000 3.75
29/4/2008 503873 PRIYA SPIN L ARVIND KUMAR AGGARWAL B 120000 19.65
29/4/2008 531273 RADHE DEVELO SHYAM RAMBHAI PATEL S 60000 129.65
29/4/2008 531583 RAP MEDIA CENTRUM CAPITAL LTD B 81000 144.00
29/4/2008 531583 RAP MEDIA ARORA RUPINDERSHING DILAWARSIN S 81000 144.00
29/4/2008 505529 SHYAMLAL HOL MANISH D.LADAGE S 3950 5.15
29/4/2008 532961 SITA SHREE DEVANG M SHAH B 178255 61.61
29/4/2008 532961 SITA SHREE N D NISSAR B 148244 61.36
29/4/2008 532961 SITA SHREE DEVANG M SHAH S 178255 61.66
29/4/2008 532961 SITA SHREE N D NISSAR S 148244 61.50

Sensex scales two-month high as market shrugs off monetary tightening by RBI

The market which had declined yesterday ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's annual monetary policy review, bounced back today after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged. Rate sensitive banking, auto and realty stocks surged. IT stocks surged after the Finance Minister extended tax exemption for the IT sector by a year. Metal stocks rose. The market breadth was strong.

The central bank raised the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points and the stance of its monetary policy was hawkish. The market had witnessed a bout of volatility earlier in the day ahead of monetary policy announcement.

Asian markets which opened before Indian market were mixed. European markets which opened after Indian markets were mixed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 362.50 points or 2.13% at 17,378.46. Sensex hit a high of 17,424.94 in late trade, its highest level in two months. At the day's high, Sensex rose 408.98 points. Sensex hit a low of 17011.60 in mid-morning trade. At day's low Sensex fell 4.36 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was up 105.85 points or 2.08% at 5,195.50

From a recent low of 16698.04 on 23 April 2008, Sensex has gained 680.42 points or 4.07% to 17378.46 on 29 April 2008. From a low of 14809.49 on 17 March 2008, Sensex has risen 2568.97 points or 17.34%. The barometer index is off 3828.31 points or 18.05% from a all time high of 21206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

The turnover on BSE stood at Rs 7262 crore as compared to a turnover of Rs 5544.33 crore on Monday, 28 April 2008. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment spurted to Rs 41,819.49 crore, as compared to Rs 25,459.22 crore on Monday, 28 April 2008.

Nifty May 2008 futures were at 5217.40, a premium of 21.90 points as compared to spot closing of 5,195.50.

The CRR is the percentage of banks' deposits which they must keep as cash with the central bank. It may be recalled that RBI had earlier this month announced a two-stage rise in CRR to 8%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said managing liquidity would continue to receive priority in its policy objectives and warned it would act swiftly to curb any signs of adverse developments in inflation expectations.

RBI has forecast economic growth of 8% to 8.5% in the fiscal year that began this month, after an estimated 8.7% growth in 2007/08. RBI said it aims for inflation of around 5.5% this fiscal year with the goal of lowering it close to 5% as soon as possible.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1588 shares advancing as compared to 1121 that declined. 61 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.13% to 7146.95 and BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.87% to 8,785.31.

BSE Realty index (up 5.9% to 8,650.24), BSE Metal index (up 3.64% to 16192.97), BSE IT index (up 5.24% to 4237.81), BSE Consumer Durables index (up 2.81% to 4585.97), outperformed Sensex.

BSE Oil & Gas index (up 2.02% to 11661.26), BSE Bankex (up 1.68% to 8,964.75), BSE PSU index (up 1.65% to 8008.99), BSE Auto index (up 1.52% to 4,646.62), BSE Capital Goods index (up 1.28% to 13931.17), BSE HealthCare index (up 0.78% to 4,248.62), BSE Power index (up 0.96% to 3,336.34) and BSE FMCG index (up 0.52% to 2,412.61) underperformed Sensex

As per the provisional figures, foreign institutional investors (FII)s bought shares worth Rs 232.18 crore today 29 April 2008 and domestic funds bought shares worth Rs 403.27 crore.

Realty stocks surged in late trade. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 3.06% to Rs 557.35), DLF (up 8.57% to Rs 725.85) and Unitech (up 8.18% to Rs 317.50) rose.

IT stocks surged. Satyam Computer Services (up 8.22% to Rs 479.35), Infosys (up 5.15% to Rs 1,750.75), Wipro (up 4.7% to Rs 479.20) and Tata Consultancy Services (up 3.15% to Rs 910.80) edged higher.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram extended by a year a tax holiday scheme for export-driven software companies as he outlined some changes to the federal budget for 2008-09. The scheme for facilities based in technology parks was set to expire in March 2009.

Metal stocks rose. Tata Steel (up 4.01% to Rs 808.90), National Aluminium Company (up 4.37% to Rs 458.70), Hindalco Industries (up 6.44% to Rs 198.20), Steel Authority of India (up 2.08% to Rs 179.40), Sterlite Industries (up 4.77% to Rs 898.85) edged higher.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said government will impose export tax on basmati rice and some steel products, and cut import duties on key inputs like ferro alloys and metallurgical coke. He said the measures were being taken to improve domestic supplies and to moderate prices.

Banking stocks surged after the RBI's policy announcement. State Bank of India (up 3.27% to Rs 1,793.50), HDFC Bank (up 1.95% to Rs 1,547.50) and ICICI Bank (up 0.71% to Rs 901.30) edged higher.

Auto Stocks edged higher. Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.17% to Rs 642.70), Tata Motors (up 1% to Rs 639.95) Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.24% to Rs 731.30), Hero Honda Motors (up 5.34% to Rs 861.85), rose.

HDFC (up 5.95% to Rs 2881.45), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.09% to Rs 3007.40) Jaiprakash Associates (up 5.95% to Rs 266.10), Ambuja Cements (up 1.32% to Rs 114.85), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 1.29% to Rs 1891.85), Reliance Industries (up 2.35% to Rs 2,653) edged higher from Sensex pack.

Hindustan Unilever rose 1.48% to Rs 250.85. Net profit of Hindustan Unilever declined 3.04% to Rs 380.95 crore on 19.14% rise in sales to Rs 3793.94 crore in Q1 March 2008 Q1 March 2007. The board of the company has approved the change in the financial year to April-March.

Reliance Communications declined 1.73% to Rs 574.70 while Bharti Airtel fell 2.67% to Rs 904.50. Reliance Communications said on Monday, 28 April 2008, it would offer unlimited national long distance calls within its network for a fixed rental with immediate effect. Earlier yesterday, sector leader Bharti Airtel slashed long distance and roaming tariffs by 43% effective 30 April 2008.

Reliance Natural Resources clocked the highest volume of 2.15 crore shares on BSE. Ispat Industries (1.71 crore shares), IFCI (1.56 crore shares), Indiabulls Securities (1.51 crore shares) and Reliance Petroleum (1.47 crore shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.

Reliance Capital clocked the highest turnover of Rs 317.11 crore on BSE. Sesa Goa (Rs 309.43 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 295.31 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 270.24 crore) and Reliance Industries (Rs 231.64 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.

It its latest report on macroeconomic and monetary developments in 2007/08 released on Monday, 28 April 2008, RBI has said that the global food prices were likely to remain firm as supply side pressures did not appear to be abating. The central bank said steps takes by the government to rein in prices should help curb inflation. It, however, said the inflation risks on account of oil prices remain incipient.

RBI has noted that freely priced fuel items such as naphtha had increased substantially since February 2007 alongside rising global oil prices, while prices of petrol and diesel, which are government-controlled, had partially adjusted. But prices of kerosene and cooking gas had not been raised by the government for several years.

RBI felt there were some demand-side pressures. Domestic iron and steel prices saw a sharp increase in line with recent hardening in international steel prices, it said, while cement price rises could be attributed largely to strong demand from construction domestically. A survey of professional forecasters by the central bank showed that the Indian economy is expected to grow 8.1% in the 2008/09 fiscal year that began this month. In 2007/08, the gross domestic product is estimated to have grown 8.7%.

A cause for concern is the fall in business confidence index. A survey of 392 companies by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), showed that concerns about an economic slowdown, inflation and rising costs hurt business confidence of Indian firms during October-December 2007 period. The FICCI business confidence index declined to a new five-year low of 55.3 points in the third quarter of 2007/08, from 61.2 in the previous quarter.

On the flip side, a pointer to the fact that the long term India growth story remains intact is the outcome of the latest 2008 US-India Business Council (USIBC) survey, according to which, India is, and will continue to be, a premier destination for investment by US firms, with a large number of respondents rating future economic growth in India as highly sustainable. Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha is slated to pass the Finance Bill 2008-09 today, 29 April 2008.

The two-day US Federal Reserve policy meeting ends on Wednesday, 30 April 2008. The market expects the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2% and then signal that its rate-cutting cycle may be over for now in the face of mounting global energy and food inflation pressure.

US stocks ended flat on Monday, 28 April 2008, as a $23 billion takeover of Wm Wrigley Jr Co, the world's largest chewing gum maker, by Mars Inc, the maker of M&Ms candy, helped offset downbeat comments by influential investor Warren Buffett about the economy. Buffett said US could be mired in a longer and deeper recession than most people think.

Asian stocks were mixed today. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong and China were up by between 1.05% to 1.4%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea were down by between 0.64% to 2.07%. Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday.

European markets were mixed. France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX and were down between 0.35%-0.56% while UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.4%.

Market ends firm on IT-led surge

The market posted significant gains with buying, particularly, in IT and realty stocks, followed by decent gains in metal and other select counters jacking up the sentiment. However, the market witnessed sharp volatility within minutes of the commencement of the trading session. After resuming 35 points above its previous close of 17,051, the Sensex moved down 4 points and touched the day's low of 17,011. The index soon rebounded into positive territory on smart gains and rose sharply to an intra-day high of 17,425 in noon trades. While it moved in a range with a positive bias thereafter, the Sensex ended the session with gains of 363 points at 17,378. The Nifty moved up by 106 points to close at 5,196.

The market breadth was firm. Of the 2,770 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,586 stocks advanced, 1,121 stocks declined and 63 stocks ended unchanged. Among the sectoral indices, all the indices closed in positive territory. BSE Realty index rose 5.90%, the BSE IT index advanced 5.24% and the BSE Metal was up 3.64%. The BSE CD index, however, tumbled 2.31%, while the BSE CD, Teck and Oil & Gas index gained over 2% each. All the remaining indices gained ended with marginal gains.

IT pivotals among the index stocks led the upsurge. Tech Mahindra soared 10.51% at Rs902. While Satyam advanced 8.22% at Rs479.35, HCL Techno at Rs286.40, NIIT Technology moved up 7.27% at Rs137.95 and Infosys gained 5.15% at Rs1,750.75. Among the other movers of the IT Index, Mphasis added 4.97% at Rs237.55, Wipro scaled up 4.70% at Rs479.20, Patni Computer moved up by 4.70% at Rs479.20, Aptech rose 4.37% at Rs260.10, TCS climbed 3.15% at Rs910.80 and NIIT was up nearly 2.09% at Rs102.40.

Action was also seen in Sensex stocks. DLF flared up 8.57% at Rs725.85, Hindalco jumped by 6.44% at Rs198.20 and HDFC rose 5.95% at Rs2,881.45. Jaiprakash Associates at Rs266.10, Tata Steel at Rs808.90, SBI at Rs1,793, RIL at Rs2,653 and L&T at Rs3,007 gained 2-5% each.

Over 2.15 crore Reliance Natural Resources Ltd shares changed hands on the BSE followed by ISPAT Industries (1.71 crore shares), IFCI (1.56 crore shares), IB Securities (1.51 crore shares) and RPL (1.47 crore shares).

Reliance Capital clocked a turnover of Rs317 crore followed by Sesa Goa (Rs309 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs295 crore), Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (Rs270 crore) and RIL (Rs231 crore).

Post Market Commentary - Apr 29 2008

The Indian Market made a smart turnaround soon after the announcement of the monetary policy by the RBI in which it kept all the key interest rates unchanged but it raised the Cash Reserve Ratio by 25 basis point As per this, the scheduled banks required to maintain CRR of 8.25% with effect from the fortnight beginning May 24, 2008. But earlier there are rumors of hike in repo rate and revere repo rate but RBI beat all the expectations by keeping these rates unchanged. This led to the boosting of the sentiments among the investors and heavy buying was witnessed from the realty, metal and bakex indices baskets. In this review, RBI expects the economy to grew by 8-8.5% in 2008-09 also inflation remained a serious concern and as per RBI it would be brought down to around 5.5% in 2008-09 and the preference would be to bring it close to 5%. Though the market opened on a firm note but pared all its gains before the announcement of the policy but gained he momentum soon after the declaration of monetary policy review. The market breadth was strong as 1588 stocks closed in green while 1121 stocks closed in red.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 362.50 points at 17,378.46 and NSE Nifty closed up by 105.85 points to close at 5,195.50. The BSE Mid Caps closed up by 79.55 points at 7,146.95 and Small Cap grew by 75.49 points to close at 8,785.31.

Major losers from the BSE are Grasim inds (6.16%), Welspun Guj (5.17%), India Infoline (4.01%), Idea Cellular (3.67%), Spice Tele (3.58%), United SPR (3.33%), Akruti City (3.12%), Bharti Airtel (2.79%).

Major gainers from the BSE are Bombay Dyeing (13.27%), Sesa Goa (12.56%), Tech Mahindra (10.51%), Titan inds (9.41%), DLF (8.57%), Satyam Comp (8.22%), Unitech (8.18%).

The Realty index increased drastically by 482.17 points to close at 8,650.24. Scrips that jumped are DLF (8.57%), Unitech (8.18%), HDIL (6.61%), Ansal Infra (5.72%), Parsvanath (3.60%), Omaxe (3.06%), Penland (2.86%), Mahindra Life (2.77%) and Sobha Dev (3.45%).

The Metal index surged 568.75 points to close at 16,192.97. Major gainers are Sesa Goa (12.56%), Hindalco inds (6.44%), Sterlite inds (4.77%), Nalco (4.37%), Tata Steel (4.01%), Bhushan Steel (2.72%), Ispat inds (2.64%) and Jindal Steel (2.31%).

The Capital Goods index closed up by 176.13 points at 13,931.17. Scrips that gained are Havells India (4.89%), Punj Lloyd (3.87%), Bharat Elec (3.27%), Suzlon Energy (2.93%), L&T (2.09%), Praj inds (1.61%) and BHEL (1.29%).

The Bankex index grew by 147.91 points to close at 8,964.75. Gainers are SBI (3.27%), Axis bank (2.74%), Oriental bank (2.65%), Canara bank (2.41%), Federal bank (2.38%), PNB (2.04%), Yes bank (1.91%) and Union bank (1.33%).

The Oil & Gas index closed higher by 231.24 points at 11,661.26. Scrips that grew are RPL (4.28%), Essar Oil (3.11%), RNRL (2.59%), Reliance inds (2.35%), BPCL (1.36%), IOCL (0.76%).