Welspun Corp zooms on bagging orders worth Rs 1,182 crore

Welspun Corp is currently trading at Rs 204.20, up by 6.00 points or 3.03% from its previous closing of Rs 198.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs 204.90 and has touched a high and low of Rs 212.40 and Rs 202.10 respectively. So far 177357 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 295.70 on 07-Apr-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 144.35 on 18-Jan-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 212.40 and Rs 196.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 4228.46 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 41.08% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 32.75% and 26.17% respectively. Welspun Corp the second largest line pipe company in the world, has won pipe orders worth Rs 1,182 crore (approx 155 KMT) largely from international clients. These new orders are likely to be executed over a period of one year.
With the addition of these orders the current order book of the company stands at Rs 6,153 crore (approximately 932 KMT for pipes and external plate orders of 40 KMT) without excluding the orders being executed in Q4 FY 2011.
The company will continue to open newer avenues and deliver superior customer value and sustain the leadership position in the world markets.
Welspun Corp is engaged in manufacturing of pipes. The company was declared the 2nd largest steel pipe producer in the world (Large Diameter) by Financial Times. The company is among the top 3 SAW pipe company in the world according to CLSA Asia Pacific Market Research.

Puravankara Projects gain on launching Purva Midtown Residences

Puravankara Projects is currently trading at Rs. 111.00, up by 0.40 points or 0.36% from its previous closing of Rs. 110.60 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 111.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 113.00 and Rs. 110.55 respectively. So far 2,703 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 145.25 on 27-Sep-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 76.40 on 01-Jun-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 118.80 and Rs. 101.25 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2397.82 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 89.96% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 8.46% and 1.57% respectively.

Puravankara Projects launched a new mid segment property which institutes the idea of Smart Living - Purva Midtown Residences in East Bangalore. The total project value is Rs. 135 crore and this launch follows the launch of Purva Windermere, a luxury project in Chennai.

This property comprises a total of 307 apartments which is centrally located off Old Madras Road, near C.V. Raman Nagar on a 4.2 acre land parcel. The mix of 2 and 3 bedroom apartments are ranging from 1208 sq. ft. to 1677 sq. ft. and are the epitome of comfort, convenience with an elegance attached to it. These apartments have been designed keeping in mind the double income working population of Bangalore.

Recently, Puravankara Projects has launched a new luxury property - Purva Oceana - in the most premium location on Marine Drive, Kochi. Purva Oceana which is strategically timing the launch closer to completion will be ready for occupation shortly. Purva Oceana, a 12 storied building, with 2 levels of parking, is located on the picturesque Marine Drive waterfront overlooking the Bolgatty Palace and the Marina.

Since inception in 1975, Puravankara has one mantra for success, part from this, values like uncompromising business ethos, focused customer centric approach, robust engineering, in house Research and Development has created the leading real estate brand. 

Deepak Fertilisers gains on establishing its global foot print

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals is currently trading at Rs. 165.60, up by 6.95 points or 4.38% from its previous closing of Rs. 158.65 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 162.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 167.80 and Rs. 161.00 respectively. So far 56,486 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 212.40 on 03-Nov-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 102.15 on 25-May-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 167.80 and Rs. 152.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1402.02 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 42.61% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.14% and 36.25% respectively.

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation (DFPCL) proposing to “go global” is accordingly working  towards setting up 300 kpta TAN plant is South Australia in the State of Australia to enable the state to realize its ambitious growth plans in resource (minning) and infrastructure sectors. This would be first such plant in SA and will provide cost-effective TAN supplies primarily to local end users. Beyond supplies, the company will also bring in deep knowledge base of products application engineering in mines.

The government of SA has indentified a potentially suitable site for the project, which will be the subject for further feasibility study. The site is close to a deep sea port and nearby city having a long established industrial history with complete infrastructure, skilled workforce etc, thereby providing the project with a more favorable cost competitive construction and operating environment compared to many parts of Australia.

This positive step from the government of SA will enable the company to proceed with the Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR), Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study and other statutory clearance in the course of next 12-15months and the project will be completed 24 months thereafter. The estimated cost of the projects is around $350 million. While the project is expected to bring in significant socio-economic benefits to the region, the SA state and Australia as a nation, it will enable DFPCL to establish a global foot prints.

FII DII DATA 31/02/2011

Net Index Futures (769), Net Stock Futures (-292), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,65,995 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 36,067 cr)

Indian ADRs Update 31/03/2011

 INFOSYS Up 0.0 (0.0%), WIPRO Up 0.2 (1.4%), ICICI BANK Up 0.6 (1.3%), HDFC BANK Up 1.6 (1.0%)

Global Markets update 31/03/2011

DJIA Up 71 (0.6%) NSDQ Up 19.9 (0.7%) FTSE 100 Up 16.1 (0.3%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Down 2.88 (0.03%) HANG SENG Up 45.7 (0.19) SGX NIFTY Up 2

Super Spinning Mills wholly owned subsidiary acquires Elgi Building Products

Super Spinning Mills wholly owned subsidiary - Sara Elgi Arteriors acquired 58.32% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products, a leading manufacturer of PVC extrusions used in the manufacture of UPVC doors and windows.
With this acquisition Elgi Building Products became a subsidiary of Sara Elgi Arteriors and thereby step down subsidiary of Super Spinning Mills. Super Spinning Mills also holds the balance of 41.68% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products.
Super Spinning Mills commenced operations with the manufacture of grey, gassed, mercerised and dyed cotton yarn. Today, the company has carved a niche for itself on the textile map of country.

Prism Informatics to acquire GOD Barcode Marketing

Prism Informatics has entered into agreement with the promoters/owners of GOD Barcode Marketing mbH (GODBM), Germany for acquiring 100% stake in the company. The acquisition highlights the continued focus by Prism Informatics on strategic acquisition.

The investment of Prism Informatics in GODBM will bring many new competencies and the possibility to deliver those solutions not only to Germany but also to Europe.GODBM is a technology and service provider with key focus in the logistics and supply chain domains, serving clients for close to three decades. The acquisition is expected to strengthen supply chain and logistics domains within these verticals and will allow Prism to grow their clientbase and leverage cross selling across established clients in diverse geographies.

Recently, Prism Informatics has won a contract for Business Intelligence from 'The Mega Home Store - @home, India'. The company will implement Business Objects and Business Warehouse for @home.

Prism Informatics is a mid-sized software development company. Prism's focus has been on delivering cutting edge software solutions coupled with building client relationships. Promoted by Pradeep Kothari, a young technocrat, the Prism team is constantly on the endeavor to contribute to the success of the organization.

AP Paper Mills, M&M, Ashok Leyland and Tata Global Beverages to hog limelight today

Paper sector is likely to be in limelight today, as in a surprising deal International Paper Company, the US based paper and packaging giant, has bought 53.5% in Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills from its promoters for around Rs 1160 crore, the valuation comes well over 175% from its closing in previous session.

Mahindra & Mahindra plans to take 100 of its top vendors to South Korea in May as it aims to integrate sourcing operations and launch Ssangyong's products in India.

Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, will invest around 50 million pounds in its research & development base in the Midlands over the next two years, in a vote of confidence for UK manufacturing.

After three years of joint working, Ashok Leyland Nissan vehicles, the 50:50 JV between ALL and Nissan Motor, has unveiled its first light commercial product, 'Ashok Leyland Dost'. The 1.25 tonne payload capacity vehicle is to hit the market in the second quarter of 2011-12.

PepsiCo India's joint venture with Tata Global Beverages is set to launch a glucose-based beverage next week. Lehar Gluco Plus, a lemon-flavoured , noncarbonated drink, will be rolled out in pockets of Maharashtra through a pilot project and will be priced at Rs 5.

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp may skip April naphtha exports from Hazira port for the third month in a row due to a delay in start up of a mooring facility.

US-based International Paper said it has entered into agreements with the promoters of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills (APPM) to buy their 53.5 per cent stake for USD 257 million (nearly Rs 1,150 crore).

Close on the heels of closing Rs 60-crore securitisation deal with a non-banking financial company (NBFC), SKS Microfinance - the largest microfinance institution in the country - has completed another deal worth Rs 550 crore with two banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has questioned the valuation and structure of the high-profile deal cut by private lender Axis Bank last November to buy Enam Securities-an influential Dalal Street brokerage and investment bank.

Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto, the two largest motorcycle manufacturers in India, are getting embroiled in a battle for the fast-growing premium two-wheeler business. The BM Munjal group company wants to step up efforts to counter falling market share in the premium segment.

India's premier bank, State Bank of India, inaugurated its first affordable housing loan cell in Mumbai, which will provide a platform for its customers to interact with the bank.

Kerala-based Muthoot Fincorp, the flagship company of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, announced its foray into the housing finance segment after securing licence from National Housing Bank (NHB).

At a time momentum is building to allow foreign players into front-end retail, Future group and Walmart have met at least five times in the past four months, raising the possibility of an alliance between India's largest retailer and the world's largest retailer. If the alliance fructifies, it could reconfigure organised retail in India.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a proposal for Rs 4,500 crore foreign direct investment (FDI) in Hero Investments, one of the main shareholders in the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda, by two private equity firms.

Computer maker HCL Infosystems announced its foray into the tablet space, with launch of its ME range of tabs starting at Rs 14,990.

India's largest IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will expand operations in Europe in sectors like healthcare.

Tata Chemicals introduced its water purifier brand 'Tata Swach' in the Gujarat market as a part of the week long celebrations post the World Water Day.

Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma is going in for large-scale automation of its manufacturing processes as part of a corrective action plan to reduce manual intervention.

With an aim to increase the productivity and an income of farmers, the major agro chemical and Seeds Company in the country- United Phosphorus (UPL) has taken a novel initiative for farmers since the past one year.

Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund, a diversified, closed-end management investment company, today bought around 426,000 shares in Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals.

Housing Development Finance Corp plans to raise at least 2.5 billion rupees through 5-year bonds at 9.6 percent. The issue opens and closes on April 7 and ICICI Bank is the sole arranger of the deal.

Hotel Leelaventure will invest Rs 100 crore to upgrade its property in Goa this year and is looking to expand presence in India by opening new company-owned properties and taking up management contracts.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is to buy into Rs 3,000 crore rights issue by Tata Teleservices, set to be announced this week.

Broadcasting majors STAR India and NDTV Group have signed a pact, where STAR India's ad sales team will now handle the advertising sales function of NDTV news channels.

Karur Vysya Bank is in the process of opening its three new branches at Tirupattur and Chengam in Tamil Nadu and Ramanagara in Karnataka.

Energy Development Company in consortium has bagged contract worth Rs 20 crore for design, detailed engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing, commissioning and putting into commercial use of turbine, generator and associated equipment in respect of Kumbhe Hydro Electric Project (1 x 10 MW) from the Government of Maharashtra.

Public sector lender United Bank of India on announced that it will foray into merchant banking and loan syndication business by this year-end.

Textile sector gets Rs 7,400 crore funds for technology upgradation

In a move that will help boost the prospects of Indian textile players in an increasingly competitive global export market, the government has on Tuesday increased the allocation for modernization of the textiles industry to Rs 15,404 crore from earlier sanction of Rs 8,000 crore to be disbursed within the current Five Year Plan ending March 2012.

Not only has it increased the allocation for the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) but has also restructured the same to make it more effective. A wider gamut of players and particularly the smaller players will be able to get greater benefit and improve their scale of operations from the revised and restructured scheme according to the textile ministry. A decision to this effect was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday.

As per the restructured scheme, out of the fresh allocation a total of Rs 1972 crore would be available for fresh sanctions while the remaining Rs 5,432 crore will be utilized for meeting the already made commitments. Following the meeting of the CCEA, textile ministry stated that the approval from Cabinet will enable immediate lifting of the pause button imposed on the scheme by it since June 29, 2010. The scheme was put on hold last year following lack of funds.

According to the textile players, one way through which the restructuring will improve the reach of the scheme is the fact that capital ceiling under the margin money has been raised and this would encourage the weaving sector to go in for more number of looms and thus would also boost large-scale investments as well. So far, most of the investments were into second-hand looms.

TUFS was launched in 2007-08 to help the industry upgrade to advanced technology in order to improve competitiveness against other exporting countries.  The scheme mainly provides for reimbursement of 5% interest charged by the financial institutions/banks for technology upgradation projects in conformity with the policy. In case of overseas loans, it gives the option of availing a cover for exchange rate erosion of up to 5% per annum instead of 5% interest support. As per the changes made in the scheme the government under the re-structured scheme, 10% capital sops would also be provided on brand new looms.

India can resort to capital control as and when needed: RBI

Capital controls were a legitimate response to a surge in volatile capital inflows and India’s central bank will resort to the same if and when the need arises, said D Subbarao, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday, adding that global perception of capital controls as an economic tool had improved.

Subbarao said that there was a broad consensus among most central banks about making capital controls a legitimate component of the policy response to surges in capital flows. While delivering a speech in Colombo on the occasion of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Governor said the multi-speed recovery around the world and the consequent differential exit from accommodative monetary policy have triggered speculative capital flows into emerging market economies (EMEs).

'The most high profile problem thrown up by capital flows, in excess of a country's absorptive capacity, is currency appreciation which erodes export competitiveness,' he said adding that ideally capital inflows to EMEs should be stable on a medium term basis to benefit the host country and also be roughly equal to the economy's absorptive capacity.

He noted that while multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) used to see capital controls as a form of protectionism, the views of most economists even in the developed world has changed since the financial crisis of 2008. 'The crisis has changed the terms of that debate. It is now broadly accepted that there could be circumstances in which capital controls can be a legitimate component of the policy response to surges in capital flows,' Subbarao said.

India has so far not imposed any capital inflows, but some other countries including Brazil had resorted to such restrictions. Capital controls are generally in form of some Tobin Tax, named after James Tobin, who was first to propose that cross boarder capital movement should attract a small tax to discourage volatile flows. Since India runs a significant current account deficit (CAD) of around 2.5-3% of its gross domestic product (GDP), it has been following a wait and watch policy on inflows so far. 

While there was a surge in capital inflows by middle of the current financial year, off late, foreign funds have been on the sell mode due to concerns including a high inflation and potential slowdown. Recovery in advanced regions has also lead to slowdown in inflows into emerging economies in recent months. Subbarao stressed that there was a need for economists from both developing and rich world to develop consensus on how temporary surge in inflows or outflows should be handled so as to bring more stability in global financial system.

Super Spinning Mills zooms on its subsidiary acquiring Elgi Building Products

Super Spinning Mills is currently trading at Rs. 11.05, up by 0.65 points or 6.05% from its previous closing of Rs. 10.42 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 10.85 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 11.45 and Rs. 10.60 respectively. So far 4480 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Re. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 20.40 on 28-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 10.00 on 26-May-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 11.45 and Rs. 10.11 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 57.20 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 39.57% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 2.75% and 57.68% respectively.
Super Spinning Mills wholly owned subsidiary - Sara Elgi Arteriors acquired 58.32% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products, a leading manufacturer of PVC extrusions used in the manufacture of UPVC doors and windows.
With this acquisition Elgi Building Products became a subsidiary of Sara Elgi Arteriors and thereby step down subsidiary of Super Spinning Mills. Super Spinning Mills also holds the balance of 41.68% of equity share capital of Elgi Building Products.
Super Spinning Mills commenced operations with the manufacture of grey, gassed, mercerised and dyed cotton yarn. Today, the company has carved a niche for itself on the textile map of country.

TCS shines on plan of expanding its operation in European market

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is currently trading at Rs 1,159.40, up by 20.15 points or 1.77% from its previous closing of Rs 1,139.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 1,147.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1,163.00 and Rs 1,145.00 respectively. So far 49,800 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 1,221.00 on 24-Jan-2011 and a 52 week low of Rs 692.00 on 25-May-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 1,163.00 and Rs 1,069.40 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 226059.03 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.05% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 20.68% and 5.27% respectively. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, is planning to expand its operations in Europe in healthcare sectors. The company which derives about 27% of its revenues from Europe is aiming to concentrate more on the European market.

The infotech major is also planning to acquire companies in the German market which can bring certain domain expertise, particularly in the healthcare segment. The Japan’s calamity didn’t have much impact on the company and it moved its employees from there but will go back once the normalcy returns.

The company is looking forward to expand or enter into banking, financial services and insurance, retail, pharma, utilities and manufacturing segments. The company is already pursuing 20 large deals with investment of $50 million each in Asia and Latin America where ample opportunities is present.

Recently, TCS has announced that CUA, Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution has selected its world-leading TCS BaNCS banking platform to deliver CUA’s new core banking system. The Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank has also selected company’s BaNCS Core Banking solution to achieve a competitive advantage.

Havells India surges on plan of expanding its business prospects

Havells India is currently trading at Rs 361.00, up by 5.85 points or 1.65% from its previous closing of Rs 355.15 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs 359.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 365.50 and Rs 359.00 respectively. So far 14789 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 446.50 on 05-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 264.38 on 09-Jun-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 377.00 and Rs 353.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 4511.86 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 61.56% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 18.69% and 19.75% respectively. In a bid to expand its business prospects, Electrical components maker Havells India has opened its new European headquarters in London. The company is very bullish about the future prospects of business and focusing on energy efficiency products.
The company has four plants in Europe - one in the UK, one in Belgium, one in France, one in Germany, two in Latin America and nine in India and in the last one year, the company has hired 60 to 70 people in sales. It has 1,850 employees in Europe, including 300 in the UK.
Earlier, the European headquarters of the company was in Germany, but it has been shifted to London, where a lot of innovation is being done.
Havells India reported a net profit of Rs 61.12 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 58.93 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, up 3.72%. Its total income increased by 23.10% to Rs 728.01 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 from Rs 591.40 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Tata Motors rises on plan of spending 50 million pounds on UK’s R&D base

Tata Motors is currently trading at Rs 1251.00, up by 11.80 points or 0.95% from its previous closing of Rs 1239.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs 1240.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1258.00 and Rs 1239.80 respectively. So far 63172 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 1381.40 on 06-Dec-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs 670.00 on 25-May-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs 1258.00 and Rs 1145.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs 67082.27 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 34.93% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 38.16% and 8.67% respectively. Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, is investing around 50 million pounds in its research and development base in the Midlands over the next two years, in a vote of confidence for UK manufacturing.
The company is planning to hire 100 new engineers at the Tata Motors' European Technical Centre (TMETC), thereby boosting the workforce by more than 40% to 340, as the company steps up its focus on low-carbon technologies. TMETC has developed Tata's Vista electric vehicle and the Pixel city car, which the company is targeting at European drivers.
The centre is based at the University of Warwick and is operated in partnership with WMG, formerly known as the Warwick Manufacturing Group. Tata has invested 85 million pounds since incorporating TMETC in 2005.

Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills touches the roof on International Paper's plan to acquire 53.5% stake in it

Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills is currently locked at its upper circuit limit of Rs. 236.15, up by 39.35 points or 19.99 % from its previous closing of Rs. 196.80 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 236.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 236.15 and Rs. 236.15 respectively. So far 9,781 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 244.00 on 06-Sep-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 76.50 on 31-Mar-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 236.15 and Rs. 172.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 939.17 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 53.46 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 21.36 % and 25.19 % respectively.

International Paper has entered into agreements with LN Bangur, and related family members and affiliates to purchase about 53.5% of the outstanding shares of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills (APPM) for about $257 million in cash. In addition, International Paper has agreed to pay a $62 million non-compete payment to the sellers.

Pursuant to Indian securities law, International Paper will also launch a mandatory public tender offer to acquire up to an additional 21.5% of the outstanding shares of APPM for approximately $104 million in cash. International Paper anticipates acquiring up to 75% of the company’s outstanding shares through these two transactions.

APPM is one of the leading integrated paper manufacturers in India, with two mills with combined capacity of about 250,000 tonnes of uncoated freesheet paper annually. The existing and capable management team and 2,500 employees of APPM will continue to operate the business, supplemented by additional IP leadership and technical resources.

Paper stocks trade higher on the bourses

All the paper stocks are trading with a huge gain in the trade today as in a surprising deal International Paper Company, the US based paper and packaging giant, has bought 53.5% in Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills from its promoters for around Rs 1160 crore, the valuation comes well over 175% from its closing in previous session.
Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills is currently trading at Rs 236.15, up by 39.35 points or 19.99% from its previous closing of Rs 196.80 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 236.15 and has touched a high and low of Rs 236.15 and Rs 236.15 respectively. So far 9781 shares were traded on the counter.
Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers is currently trading at Rs 136.15, up by 13.75 points or 11.23% from its previous closing of Rs 122.40 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 128.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 146.00 and Rs 128.00 respectively. So far 145904 shares were traded on the counter.

NTPC gains on synchronizing its 500 MW unit of Simhadri Super Thermal Power Project

NTPC is currently trading at Rs. 189.05, up by 1.00 points or 0.53% from its previous closing of Rs. 188.05 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 188.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 189.95 and Rs. 188.00 respectively. So far 16,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 222.20 on 04-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 168.60 on 25-Feb-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 189.95 and Rs. 175.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 156334.01 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 84.50% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 11.78% and 3.72% respectively.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has successfully synchronized Unit 3 (500 MW) of Simhadri Super Thermal Power Project with grid on coal firing on March 29, 2011.

Recently, NTPC has commissioned unit 6 of 500 MW of Farakka Super Thermal Power Station. Following the commissioning, the total capacity of the company has become 33,694 MW. With the coming of unit 6, the total installed capacity of Farakka Super Thermal Power Station has become 2,100 MW.

The company had also started Stage-III commercial operation at Unit-VII of 500 MW of Korba Super Thermal Power Project with effect from March 21, 2011.

NTPC posted a marginal increase of 0.27% in its net profit of Rs 2371.48 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 2364.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Its total income has increased from Rs 11961.31 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 to Rs 14165.90 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

PTC India Financial Services makes a sluggish debut

PTC India Financial Services debuted at Rs 28 at its issue price on the BSE
The scrip is currently trading at Rs 25.35, down by 2.65 points or 9.46% from its issue price and has touched a high and low of Rs 28.00  and Rs 24.65 respectively. So far 3870647 shares were traded on the counter.
Indian non-banking financial institution promoted by PTC India has fixed the issue price at Rs 28, at the higher end of price band of Rs 26-28 a share. The issue was subscribed 1.7 times.
It is a special purpose investment vehicle to provide total financial services to the entities in energy value chain, which inter-alia includes investing in equity and/or extending debt to power projects in generation, transmission, distribution; fuel sources, fuel related infrastructure like gas pipelines, LNG terminals, ports, equipment manufacturers and EPC contractors etc. It also provides non-fund based financial services adding value to green field and brown field projects at various stages of growth and development.

Kirloskar Oil Engines jumps on entering into license agreement with Daihatsu Diesel Manufacturing

Kirloskar Oil Engines is currently trading at Rs. 155.00, up by 13.40 points or 9.46% from its previous closing of Rs. 141.60 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 150.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 160.05 and Rs. 150.00 respectively. So far 1,045 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 261.90 on 24-Dec-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 130.05 on 11-Mar-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 160.05 and Rs. 137.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2062.11 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 62.37% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.69% and 14.94% respectively.

Kirloskar Oil Engines has entered into a license agreement with Daihatsu Diesel Manufacturing Company of Japan for manufacturing of diesel engines in range of 610 KW to 2560 KW, to cater to the commercial marine market segment.

The effective date of this agreement is subject to the necessary approvals and permissions.

Recently, Kirloskar Oil Engines (KOEL) is eying 20 per cent year-on-year sales growth for the next two years by FY 2012-13. The company is also looking at its expansion plan and is in process of increasing its product range and volume.

KOEL manufactures the widest range of diesel engines in India. Its other product range includes irrigation pump sets, diesel generating sets and engine bearings.

FII DII DATA 30/03/2011

Net Index Futures (98), Net Stock Futures (-108), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,62,045 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 35,808 cr)

Indian ADRs Update 30/03/2011

INFOSYS Up 1.3 (1.9%), WIPRO Up 0.2 (1.5%), ICICI BANK Up 1.5 (0.7%), HDFC BANK Up 1.8 (2.9%)

Global Markets update 30/03/2011

DJIA Up 81.1 (0.7%) NSDQ Up 26.2 (1.0%) FTSE 100 Up 27.7 (0.5%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Up 116 (1.22%) HANG SENG Up 313 (1.36) SGX NIFTY Down 21.50

Tata Steel aims to slash steelmaking costs

Tata Steel is working on a pilot project that will enable it to use waste material in iron ore. It has devised a novel way to produce iron-ore from waste, which will cut steelmaking costs. The company is in talks with the central government for a pilot project.
The company will produce sponge iron and make use of lean materials that have higher alumina. The sponge iron produced would be used for producing steel through the electric arc furnace route and may be used in future projects of Tata Steel. Tata Steel, so far, has been producing steel using the blast furnace technology. Tata Steel signed a memorandum of understanding with the institutes for the purpose.
As part of the plan, the Jamshedpur Human Resource Development Centre in association with Veltech would be established. The proposed post graduate diploma in iron and steel making would be a self-funded three year diploma course after BSc for employment in the officer’ category. It would entail active involvement of Tata Steel such as conditional placement at the officer level. 

Usher Agro starts commercial production of its expanded Rice Milling Facilities in UP

Usher Agro has commenced commercial production of its expanded rice milling facilities at Chhata, District Mathura, UP, which has an additional installed capacity of 2,91,600 MTPA with effect from March 28, 2011. After successful completion of the expansion, the total operational and installed rice milling capacity of the company has been increased to 5, 43,600 MTPA. Out of the said total rice milling capacity, the company has capacity to process and produce 'Par Boiled Rice' up to 4,50,000 MTPA, which is one of the largest in the country.

The company is of the view that the operations of the expanded capacity will have a positive bearing on the top line and the profitability of the company.

Usher Agro is engaged in the production and sale of agricultural products. For the quarter ended September 30, 2010, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 8.14 crore on the back of revenues of Rs 114.48 crore.

CARE reaffirms ratings assigned to bank facilities of Vivimed Labs

Credit rating agency, CARE has reaffirmed BBB+ rating assigned to Rs 94.24 crore long term bank facilities of Vivimed Labs. The rating agency has also reaffirmed PR2+ rating assigned to Rs 26 crore short term bank facilities of the company.

The ratings continue to draw strength from the company’s track record in the business of active ingredients for the home and personal care industry, reputed customer base, contract research and manufacturing, specialty pharmaceuticals, adequate profitability and diversification of products/segments.

Vivimed Labs is engaged in the business of manufacturing ingredients for the home and personal care (H&PC) industry and Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS). It carries on its business from 4 manufacturing facilities which are located at Bidar (Karnataka), Jeedimetla (Hyderabad), Bonthapally (Hyderabad) and Kashipur (Uttaranchal).

Karur Vysya Bank opens its 365th branch at Chennimalai

Karur Vysya Bank has opened its 365th branch at Chennimalai, situated between Erode and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on March 28, 2011. The bank is also in the process of opening its 366th branch at Dharapuram Road, Aravakurichi on March 30, 2011. Aravakurichi is a panchayat town in Karur district in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in this month, the bank had opened two new branches at Tamil Nadu. The first branch which is located at Salem Main Road, Vengamedu was opened on March 10, 2011 while the second branch is located at Rajapalayam Main Road, Sankarankoil was inaugurated on March 16, 2011.

The bank registered an increase in its net profit by 49.23% for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, which stood at Rs 113.22 crore against Rs 75.87 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2009. The Bank has posted total income of Rs 645.87 crore for quarter ended December 31, 2010 against Rs 512.11 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2009, up by 26.12%.

Cairn India submits bids for 2 blocks at NELP-IX

Cairn India bid for 2 out of 34 oil and gas exploration blocks on offer in the 9th round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Out of 34 blocks, 19 blocks are totally new areas - 7 in deep sea, 2 in shallow water and 10 onland blocks. The remaining 15 - 1 in deep water, 5 in shallow water and 9 onland blocks are recycled blocks.
Cairn India submitted offers for only two blocks, one onland and one offshore. It did not bid for any two exploration blocks on offer in Rajasthan.
The Mangala oilfield in Cairn India's prolific RJ-ON-90/1 block in the Thar desert of Rajasthan is currently producing 125,000 barrels per day and the entire area, where the company has made number of oil discoveries, has the potential to produce up to 300,000 bpd (15 million tonnes a year).

Reliance Communications inks pact with handygo Technologies

handygo Technologies, the mobile value-added service provider has entered into a partnership with Reliance Communications (RCom), to offer information regarding health, education and finance, besides other areas, to rural subscribers.

The unique voice-based rural solution which is available in all regional languages along with Hindi and English by handygo provides credible and authentic information to rural subscribers.

For the latest and reliable updates, handygo has partnered with various organizations such as Care India, Aviva Life Insurance, Indian Metrological Department, Hariyali Kisan Bazaar, Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing, Transparency International India, India Financial Services and plethora of other organizations.

Recently, RCom’s plan to sell its 50,000 towers asset faces a set back as American Tower Corporation (ATC) is not eyeing these towers. There was an increased speculation that Reliance Communications was being wooed by players to pick up the company’s asset with US headquartered - ATC one among them.

The telecom service provider has also added 3.3 million mobile customers in February. Following the said addition, the company’s total subscriber’s base stood at 132.2 million.

Tantia Constructions bags two orders worth Rs 36 crore

Tantia Constructions has bagged two orders aggregating worth Rs 36 crore. The company has secured its first order worth Rs 26 crore from Municipal Corporation, Gwalior for providing laying, jointing, testing of RCC (S&S) IS: 458-1988 marked NP-3 mains and trunk sewer and IS: 15328 marked PVC-U sewers for household connections including excavations, refilling, restoration of roads, constructions of manhole chambers and bedding, supply of manhole covers with frames including labour and material in all respect with connections to old existing sewers within limit of Municipal Corporation in Gwalior

The company has won its second contract worth Rs 10 crore from PWD, Highway, Mizoram for execution of periodical Renewal from Km. 183/00 to 208.00 on NH-54 in the State of Mizoram.

Tantia Constructions operates as an infrastructure construction company in India. It is involved in the construction, widening, conversion, maintenance, strengthening, and beautification of roadways, road bridges, highways, and flyovers.

SREI Infrastructure eying 30 percent growth in profit

Driven by the growth momentum in the infrastructure sector, SREI Infrastructure Finance is looking to clock up to 30 per cent growth both in profit as well as disbursement in FY12.
From the estimated Rs 204 crore in FY11, SREI Infra expects the profit after tax to be around Rs 265 crore in FY12. Similarly compared to the estimated Rs 11,700 crore in FY11 the total disbursement is expected at around Rs 15,210 crore in FY12.
In the coming fiscal, company is expecting to get 35-40 new projects and would be looking at financing projects related to water, solid waste management and urban utility development areas. However, several hurdles like the 2G scam is likely to put a break on the growth momentum and the sector might not achieve the estimated double digit growth.
Recently, SREI Infrastructure Finance has been classified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC) within the overall classification of Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC).
At present, the company’s businesses include infrastructure equipment leasing and finance, infrastructure project finance, advisory and development, insurance broking, venture capital, capital market and Sahaj e -Village. It has a pan-India presence with a network of 73 offices and has also replicated its business model overseas with three offices in Russia.

CSS Technergy enrolls more than 2.5 lakh residents under the UID-Aadhaar program across 4 states

CSS Technergy has successfully enrolled more than 2.5 lakh residents under the UID-Aadhaar program across 4 states. Further, the company informed that the resources required for the project are being ramped up on continuous basis, due to which the number of enrollments are likely to go up substantially.
CSTL has been successfully implementing e-governance projects since 1994 and has executed projects in several states of India.
CSS Technergy  was appointed as Enrolment Agency (EA) for UID Aadhar Project by State Bank of India for 22 Districts spread across Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa states.
CSS Technergy (CSSTL) provides business support processes, engineering and Information Technology service functions for various functional and technical domains. It provides competitive advantage to businesses using technology and quality assurance practices and help the customers remain competitive and focus on their core business areas.

Aptech to foray into Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe

Aptech, the software education services provider, is planning to expand in Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe. It plans to start IT courses in French and Spanish in 2-3 years and has been short-listed for India’s unique identification program’s IT training contract.
Indian IT training companies like Aptech and NIIT Technologies have been seeing higher demand globally for their services led by cheaper English medium courses by skilled professionals. Aptech teaches in Chinese as it has a JV in China. Its Chinese JV, which filed for an initial public offering in 2009, is still considering listing in the New York.
The company’s next targets include Portuguese, Vietnamese, Russian, French and Spanish. The firm, which is already present in Brazil and 40 other countries, also has plans to foray further into Latin America.

Uflex trades in green on its plan to set up a polyester films project in USA

Uflex is currently trading at Rs. 144.40, up by 1.00 points or 0.70 % from its previous closing of Rs. 143.40 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 144.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 146.40 and Rs. 143.10 respectively. So far 100631 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 325.00 on 26-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 91.60 on 29-Mar-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 148.50 and Rs. 128.55 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1032.91 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.55 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 6.23 % and 42.65 % respectively.
Uflex has decided to set up a polyester films project in USA through its wholly owned subsidiary. In this regard, the company will invest about $80-85 million.
Earlier in January this year, the company had received its board’s approval for its proposal for setting up a new plant for manufacturing of 30,000 MTs of polyester film at Poland through its wholly owned subsidiary - Flex Middle East FZE - Dubai (UAE).
Uflex manufactures flexible packaging solutions. Earlier known as Flex Industries, currently it is the largest flexible packaging company in India. Being one of the leading companies in Asia pacific region; UFLEX has capacity of 25000 TPA.

CARE assigns ratings to the various bank facilities of Sabero Organics Gujarat

Credit rating agency, CARE has assigned ‘CARE BBB+’ ratings to Sabero Organics Gujarat (SOGL) long-term bank facilities for Rs 100.57 crore. The agency has also assigned ‘PR3+’ ratings to SOGL’s short-term bank facilities for Rs 173.75 crore.
Further, the agency has also assigned ‘CARE BBB+/PR3+’ ratings to SOGL’s long-term/short-term bank facilities for Rs 62.75 crore.
The ratings are further strengthened by modest financial position with moderate leverage and debt servicing indicators and healthy profitability margins.
Sabero Organics is an established player in the agrochemical industry which manufactures and sells a variety of specialty chemicals and crop protection products. It has a diversified product portfolio for insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and specialty chemicals.

Rishab Special Yarns to revive the texturising of Polyester Yarn

Rishab Special Yarns is in process of reviving the Texturising of Polyester Yarn, which is a part of its earlier business at Bhilwara, a new location identified by the management. The Company is in process of arranging funds for the project.
The company did not report any net sales income for the previous accounting year ended March 31, 2010 as its commercial/Manufacturing activities remains suspended except giving part of land and building on rent. However, other income for the 9 months ended December 31, 2010 includes profit on sale of land and building to the extent of Rs 35.49 lakhs of unit - II( i.e. B-130 A, Ambaji Industrial Area, Abu Road).

SesaGoa leads the gainer list of ‘BSE Metal’ space

SesaGoa is currently trading at Rs. 281.50, up by 6.75 points or 2.46% from its previous closing of Rs. 274.75 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 275.60 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 283.10 and Rs. 275.10 respectively. So far 2,00,000 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Re. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 494.30 on 08-Apr-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 220.55 on 07-Mar-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 283.10 and Rs. 263.45 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 23995.89 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 55.73% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 28.84% and 15.43% respectively.
Recently, Sesa Goa, the largest exporter of iron ore, has acquired the assets of the upcoming steel plant unit of Bellary steel & alloys (BSAL) for an all cash consideration of Rs. 220 crore. The secured creditors to BSAL represented by IFCI had taken over possession of properties of the BSAL in association with the official liquidator. IFCI then conducted sale process for the asset of the BSAL under the SARFAESI Act, 2002.

Coal India lowered down its production target to 440 MT

Coal India (CIL) has lowered the production target to 440.20 million tonnes from 460.50 million tonnes for the current fiscal. This has been reviewed at the time of finalization of annual plan 2011-12. Though, the achievement made up to Feb 2011 is 380.625 million tonnes.

The Ministry of Coal has reviewed the production level of CIL at several levels including reviews at Planning Commission. Accordingly, the government will be continuing to intensify its efforts to provide the support required by the coal companies to achieve the targets.

CIL has planned to take some major steps to achieve the targets during the next financial year which includes increasing efficiency of the equipments, regular monitoring, mechanization as programmed and strict supervision of the existing mines and ongoing projects, capacity addition from new and future projects, and intensively pursuing with the Government for resolving issues of environmental and forestry clearances, land acquisition and law and order problems

CUA opts TCS BaNCS for core banking system overhaul

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting  and  business solutions firm, announced that CUA, Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution has selected its world-leading TCS BaNCS banking platform to deliver CUA’s new core banking system.
CUA will revolutionize its core banking system and back office processes over the next two years to provide greater flexibility and integration across the business and deliver an enhanced customer experience. This major project will underpin CUA’s growth strategy.
TCS BaNCS Core Banking solution will not only assist CUA for driving new product development but will also improve its efficiencies. Further, the company will be utilizing its local industry knowledge and extensive global experience to ensure CUA’s new banking platform will be scalable and flexible enough to meet its long-term customer service expectations as well as its back-end operational and data management requirements.
A recent report by Forrester Research Inc - The Forrester WaveTM: Global Banking Platforms, Q4 2010 --rated TCS as a “leader” in world-leading banking platform products.  TCS BaNCS received high scores for banking platform functionality, deployment and operations, and both product and corporate strategy.
Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, CUA is emerging as a competitive force in Australian banking. CUA provides banking services to more than 400,000 Australians across the country.

Uflex to set up a polyester films project in USA

Uflex has decided to set up a polyester films project in USA through its wholly owned subsidiary. In this regard, the company will invest about $80-85 million.

Earlier in January this year, the company had received its board’s approval for its proposal for setting up a new plant for manufacturing of 30,000 MTs of polyester film at Poland through its wholly owned subsidiary - Flex Middle East FZE - Dubai (UAE).

Uflex manufactures flexible packaging solutions. Earlier known as Flex Industries, currently it is the largest flexible packaging company in India. Being one of the leading companies in Asia pacific region; UFLEX has capacity of 25000 TPA.

CRISIL Equities assigns fundamental grade 4/5 to eClerx Services

CRISIL Equities has assigned a CRISIL IER fundamental grade of 4/5 to eClerx Services. The grade indicates that the company’s fundamentals are superior relative to other listed equity securities in India. CRISIL Equities has assigned a valuation grade of 3/5 to the company, indicating that market price is ‘aligned’ with the fair value.
The assigned fundamental grade showcases eClerx’s strong domain focus, niche service offering and the resultant client stickiness. This has enabled it to grow at a much faster pace than the industry in past and is expected to support its future growth as well.
eClerx Services’ portfolio of services comprises data analytics, operations management, data audits, metrics management and reporting services. It provides service solutions using a mix of custom designed data processes, delivery teams comprising generalists and domain specialists, and in-house software to automate processes.

Essar Oil defers the planned shutdown of its refinery at Vadinar, Gujarat

Essar Oil has decided to defer the planned shutdown of its refinery at Vadinar, Gujarat during May - June 2011. The company has deferred the shutdown until September and October 2011, after the monsoon season due to requests from major public sector consumers mainly Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to continue production due to tightness in the Asian market for petroleum products, particularly gasoil, following recent events in the Middle East and Japan.
However, the deferment will not impact the schedule for commissioning of Vadinar Phase I refinery expansion. The ramp up of the new units will commence in Q3 2011 with majority of the increased production expected from mid Q4 2011.
The planned 35 day shutdown is being undertaken to integrate and synchronize the existing refinery with the new units associated with the Vadinar Phase I refinery expansion. This expansion will increase the capacity from around 300,000 barrels per stream day to 375,000 barrels and increase the complexity from 6.1 to 11.8. The increase in complexity will allow the refinery to process ultra heavy and heavy crude oils, and to produce high grade Euro V fuels which can be sold into International Markets.

SREI Infrastructure gets IFC status from RBI

SREI Infrastructure Finance has been classified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC) within the overall classification of Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC).

IFC status provides more flexibility in terms of accessing debt and providing loans to the infrastructure sector compared to other lending agencies. An IFC can provide loans to any single borrower more than 10% of its owned fund while banks cannot.

At present, the company’s businesses include infrastructure equipment leasing and finance, infrastructure project finance, advisory and development, insurance broking, venture capital, capital market and Sahaj e -Village. It has a pan-India presence with a network of 73 offices and has also replicated its business model overseas with three offices in Russia.

Cals Refineries award Saipem with the detailed feasibility report for refinery project at Haldia

Cals Refineries and the Hardt group has awarded Saipem, Italy, a subsidiary of Eni S.p.A., and one of the largest and best balanced turnkey contractors in Oil and Gas industry, the detailed feasibility report for the 200,000 Barrels per day refinery project at Haldia, West Bengal.
The Company will award Saipem the lump sum Engineering-procurement-Construction -Commissioning (EPCC) contract for the Project if the parties would reach an agreement on the terms of proposed feasibility report within 80 days.
Cals Refineries’ business strategy is to create an independent value-added integrated refining / petrochemical business with significant economies of scale and operational efficiency, producing world-class refining and petrochemical products with competitive domestic and international marketing strategy.

Indiabulls Financial Services gets SEBI approval for Indiabulls Mutual Fund

Indiabulls Financial Services has received SEBI’s final approval for Indiabulls Mutual Fund sponsored by the company. This enables commencement of mutual fund business and launching of mutual fund schemes in due course. SEBI has granted its 'Certificate of Registration' on March 24, 2011.
SEBI has also granted its approval to Indiabulls Asset Management Company, a 100% subsidiary of the company to act as Asset Management Company to Indiabulls Mutual Fund.
In January, this year Indiabulls Financial Services has sold its 26% stake, held by it, in Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX), to Reliance Exchangenext, a holding company of Reliance Spot Exchange (RSX) and a subsidiary of Reliance Capital. The company now holds 14% stake in ICEX.
Indiabulls Financial Services is engaged in the business of offering various services in the area of consumer finance, housing finance, commercial loans, life insurance, asset management and advisory services. It has reported a decline of 204.59% in net profit to Rs 173.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 against Rs 57.12 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Kajaria Ceramics commences commercial production at its U.P. facility

Kajaria Ceramics has successfully completed the conversion of part of ceramic tile production facility into vitrified at Sikandrabad (U.P.). The facility has commenced commercial production on March 28, 2011 with an effective capacity of 2.60 million square meter annually.
In February this year, Kajaria Ceramics has acquired 51% stake in Gujarat-based - Soriso Ceramic - for a total consideration of Rs 5.60 crore. Consequently, Soriso Ceramic became the subsidiary of Kajaria Ceramics.
Earlier in January this year, the company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eczacibasi Yapi Gerecleri A.S., (Eczasibasi), a Turkey based manufacturer of various products including the sanitary ware and CP Fittings under the brand name of 'VitrA', which they intend to market in India.
Kajaria Ceramics manufactures more than 400 options of flooring solutions such as wall tiles, floor tiles, vitrified tiles and Spanish and Italian tiles. The tiles major market these products under the brand name Kajaria, Kerrogres, Eternity, Aparici, Saloni ceramica, Ergon and GRESPANIA Ceramica.

Electrotherm (India) incorporates its wholly owned subsidiary

Electrotherm (India) has incorporated it’s wholly owned subsidiary - Electrotherm Mali SARL in the Republic of Mali, Africa.
Last year in June, Electrotherm (India) has acquired the 100% shareholding of Hans Ispat and remaining shareholding of Shree Hans Papers, a subsidiary of Hans Ispat. In April the company had agreed to buy entire stake in Shree Ram Electro Cast at a total consideration of up to Rs 85 crore.
Electrotherm India is engaged in the manufacture of a wide spectrum of products for the metal melting industry.

REC to set up 3 Projects Specific Purpose Vehicles

Rural Electrification Corporation’s (REC) wholly owned subsidiary - REC Transmission Projects Company (RECTPCL) - has been appointed as the bid process coordinator (BPC) for three transmission projects. Out of which, the first includes Transmission System Associated with IPPs of Vemagiri Area- Package A, Vemagiri Pooling Station-Khammam 765 kV 1xD/c (1st ckt.) line and Khamam - Hyderabad 765 kV D/C (1st ckt.) line. The Transmission System Associated with IPPs of Vemagiri Area- Package B, Vemagiri Pooling Station-Khammam 765 kV 1xD/C (2nd ckt.) line and Khamam - Hyderabad 765 kV D/C (2nd ckt.) line.
The third project includes Transmission System Associated with IPPs of Vemagiri Area- Package C and Wardha-Jabalpur Pooling Station 765 kV 1xD/c line. The company for the same is in process to incorporate three Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) as its wholly owned subsidiary companies.
Since, RECTPLCL is wholly owned subsidiary of REC, the company’s board of directors have approved the proposal of incorporation of three SPVs as subsidiary companies of RECTPCL, which will also be the subsidiaries of the company.

Markets likely to make a flat-to-cautious start

The Indian markets continued their bull run for the fifth straight day in previous trading despite weak global cues. While most of the sectoral gauges moved higher, the benchmarks added another more than half a percent. Today the start is likely to be cautious-to-flat for the markets and some consolidation may appear after a series of rally while some sectors may witness profit booking too. The F&O series expiry week is likely to bring volatility. Some of India’s leading industrialists like Ratan Tata and Anil Ambani will appear next week before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee in the alleged 2G spectrum scam. Meanwhile, the Telecom Ministry will be taking a final decision on 2G spectrum pricing and on those holding airwaves beyond contracted limit of 6.2 Mhz, based on recommendations of TRAI, within next three months before seeking Telecom Commission’s approval.

The finance ministry has said that the draft guidelines for giving new banking licences would be announced by the Reserve Bank of India in the next few days. In Budget 2011-12, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the RBI plans to issue guidelines for the grant of new banking licences before the close of this financial year.

The US markets snapped the gaining streak on Monday on concerns of Japan’s nuclear crisis and violence in the Middle East and North Africa though, there were good economic reports but investors opted to remain sideways. The Asian markets have made a mixed start with Japanese Nikkei suffering on reports that most of the companies will not be able to report the financials on time while the dividend declaration too may be delayed.

Back home, stock markets in India extended the uptrend on the first day of the F&O expiry week, after vivaciously rallying over two percent on Friday, and managed to finish a choppy session of trade on an optimistic note as the joy of closing in the positive territory got quintupled. The benchmarks displayed resilience as they traded firmly in the green for most part of the day’s trade on the back of heavy buying in rate sensitive counters like Auto and Baking and managed to touch two month high levels. Investors traded with some conviction as growth concerns over Europe weighed on crude oil prices. However, the frontline indices met with stern resistance at the psychological levels of 5,700 and 19,000 as investors took profits off the table around those levels after reports of fierce retaliation between Western forces and forces loyal to Col Gaddafi emerged. The bourses climbed over half a percent in the session despite tepid leads from markets across the globe as investors speculated most of the headwinds have been factored in by the markets and that the companies will report strong quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, local sentiments also took cues from CII Survey which opined that the ongoing high inflation and resulting rapid increase in costs has so far been unable to significantly dent the performance of India Inc. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a soft start as fresh worries over high levels of radiation in Japan emerged which delayed efforts to stabilize a crippled nuclear power plant and shoddier than expected earnings reported by some blue chips companies weighed on cautious investor mood. After hitting intraday lows in the early hours, the frontline indices rose to higher levels on the back of buying in blue chips and fertilizer stocks. However, the session largely remained characterized by choppiness as investors seemed reluctant to pile up hefty positions after the recent over five percent rally. On the sectoral front, rate sensitive Auto pocket surged by 1.52% led by heavyweight Tata Motors which zoomed over 3%, being the top gainer on Sensex while stocks like Maruti Suzuki and Cummins India too gained around 1.50% each. The Capital Goods index too remained amid the thick of things. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 127.50 points or 0.68% to settle at 18,943.14 while the S&P CNX Nifty climbed 33.00 points or 0.58% to end at 5,687.25.

US markets closed modestly lower on Monday despite some good economic reports as traders showed concern over Japan's nuclear crisis and violence in the Middle East and North Africa. Oil prices eased a bit as rebels in Libya, gained ground against Moammar Gadhafi with the help of international airstrikes against Gadhafi’s forces. On the domestic front, the Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose at its fastest pace in four months in February, though some of the increase was driven by higher gas prices.

On the same time, the National Association of Realtors said more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in February than economists were expecting. Sales rose in every region but the Northeast, but remained below what is considered a healthy level. Sales agreements for homes unexpectedly rose 2.1 percent last month to a reading of 90.8. Signings were 19.6 percent above June's index reading, the low point since the housing bust.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 22.71 points, or 0.19 percent, to 12,197.88. The broader S&P 500 index dipped by 3.61 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,310.19, while the Nasdaq composite declined by 12.38 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,730.68.

Crude prices fell on Monday on report of Libya's rebels successes against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. Qatar became the first Arab country to recognize Libya’s rebels as the people's sole legitimate representative, a day after a senior Libyan rebel official said Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from east Libyan fields no longer under the control of leader Muammar Gaddafi. However the dollar grew stronger which can pressure oil prices by making dollar-denominated commodities more expensive.

Benchmark crude for May delivery fell $1.78, or 1.7 percent, to $103.62 a barrel, after trading in a range of $103.60 to $105.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude futures for May delivery settled down 79 cents at $114.80 a barrel on the ICE.

ONGC, Hero Honda and Idea may be in limelight today

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has emerged the provisional winner for close to 10 out of the 29 blocks it has bid for in the ninth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

Reliance Industries has bid for six oil and gas exploration blocks while Cairn India submitted offers for two out of the 34 on offer in the 9th round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Meanwhile, the oil regulator DGH said that Reliance Industries has not kept its commitment on drilling wells on the prolific eastern offshore KG-D6 field that has seen drastic fall in production.

The Union Cabinet is likely to approve tomorrow the induction of Rs 4,500 crore foreign equity by Hero Investments (HIPL), mainly to fund the buyout of 26 per cent stake of Japan's Honda in Hero Honda.

Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Idea Cellular would invest Rs 4,200-crore in 3G network infrastructure, including erecting around 16,000 towers by March, 2012.

SREI Infrastructure Finance is eyeing to clock up to 30 per cent growth both in profit as well as disbursement in FY12, driven by growing momentum in the sector.

ITC Hotels, the hotels division of the tobacco-to hospitality major ITC, is foraying into retail mall and service apartments. Most of the new mega hotel projects of the company will have luxury retail space and service apartments.

Delhi-based realtor Unitech had objected to Uninor India's proposed rights issue at a board meeting earlier this year and had demanded that a business plan be finalised before the modalities of fund raising are decided but its objection was over-ruled by its Norwegian partner, Telenor.

Country's largest software firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has bagged an order from Australian financial institution CUA for deployment of its banking solution. Software education services provider Aptech plans to expand in Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the $1.22 billion (more than Rs 5,400 crore) takeover of India's sixth largest IT firm Patni Computer by US-based iGate.

Tata Steel is working on a pilot project that will enable it to use waste material in iron ore.

Swift Fundamental Research and Education Society (SFRES), the education arm for the Rs 1,600-crore Ind Swift group (manufacturer as well as exporter of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and finished doses) is geared to venture in global education with the plan of setting up of a college in the United Kingdom.

Back office services firm Firstsource Solutions expects to clock a growth of about 10% in FY11 and expects to improve on that next fiscal.

The government said Coal India has lowered the production target to 440.20 million tonnes from 460.50 million tonnes for the current fiscal.

SREI Infrastructure Finance has been classified as Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC) by the Reserve Bank.

India's Essar Oil may defer its planned refinery shutdown to September-October from a planned May-June.

Reliance Communications has introduced Star Talk, a mobile voice platform service to reach out to one’s favorite celebs. Star Talk service includes round the clock celebrity entertainment news, gossips, film news, star interviews, movie masala, movie reviews, archives, etc.

Tata Sponge Iron has decided to install an AFBC based 25 MW power plant, subject to obtaining all necessary and statutory approvals / clearances.

Natco Pharma’s novel anti-cancer drug has received Orphan Drug Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for three indications- Glioma (brain tumor), pancreatic cancer and chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Asian equities tread cautiously on Tuesday; Nikkei deposes 1.47%

Asian equity markets are treading in a cautious mood on a mixed note in Tuesday's morning session led by Japanese benchmark which fell the most in the space, on concerns over high levels of nuclear radiations from the ill fated Fukushima nuclear plant and the impact of the natural disaster on corporate earnings. Overnight leads from the Wall Street too remained subdued despite some good economic reports as traders showed concern over Japan's nuclear crisis and violence in the Middle East and North Africa. South Korean shares receded on the back of profit booking after the recent eight-session streak of net purchases by foreign funds. Stocks in China rose marginally as steelmakers provided the much needed support on expectations of higher exports to Japan for use in the country's post-earthquake reconstruction drive.

Shanghai Composite rose 3.89 points or 0.13% to 2,987.90, Hang Seng advanced 5.54 points or 0.02% to 23,073.73, KLSE Composite gained 2.00 points or 0.13% to 1,516.25, Seoul Composite added 0.35 points or 0.02% to 2,056.74 and Taiwan Weighted increased 16.34 points or 0.19% to 8,569.40.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite shaved off 28.05 points or 0.78% to 3,574.81, Nikkei 225 plunged 139.55 points or 1.47% to 9,338.98 and Straits Times fell 3.54 points or 0.12% to 3,053.84.

US markets snap their winning streak on Monday

US markets closed modestly lower on Monday despite some good economic reports as traders showed concern over Japan's nuclear crisis and violence in the Middle East and North Africa. Oil prices eased a bit as rebels in Libya, gained ground against Moammar Gadhafi with the help of international airstrikes against Gadhafi’s forces. On the domestic front, the Commerce Department said that consumer spending rose at its fastest pace in four months in February, though some of the increase was driven by higher gas prices.

On the same time, the National Association of Realtors said more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in February than economists were expecting. Sales rose in every region but the Northeast, but remained below what is considered a healthy level. Sales agreements for homes unexpectedly rose 2.1 percent last month to a reading of 90.8. Signings were 19.6 percent above June's index reading, the low point since the housing bust.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 22.71 points, or 0.19 percent, to 12,197.88. The broader S&P 500 index dipped by 3.61 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,310.19, while the Nasdaq composite declined by 12.38 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,730.68.

Indian ADRs made a mixed closing on Monday, Infosys was up by 0.18%, HDFC Bank was up by 0.70%, ICICI Bank was up by 0.93% and Tata Motors was up by 0.06%.
On the others hand MTNL was down by 0.02% and Wipro was down by 0.04%

ONGC rises on the bourses

ONGC is currently trading at Rs. 280.45, up by 1.25 points or 0.45% from its previous closing of Rs. 279.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 280.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 281.35 and Rs. 280.15 respectively. So far 9,207 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 368.00 on 28-Sep-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 249.34 on 22-Apr-2010.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 281.45 and Rs. 269.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 238869.28 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.14% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 12.30% and 13.56% respectively.
In the 9th round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), ONGC bid for 28 out of 34 oil and gas exploration blocks. In all, 75 bids were received for 33 out of 34 oil and gas blocks on offer with Oil India bidding for 17. Further, Reliance Industries bid for six while Cairn India submitted offers for two out of the 34 on offer.
The government has hired UK-based Fugro Data Solutions to market the NELP-IX blocks. There were total 34 oil and gas blocks which include eight in deepwater areas, seven in shallow water and nineteen onshore properties.
In the eight rounds of NELP since 1999, 235 blocks have been awarded till date. This has resulted in enhancement of exploration coverage from 11% to about 58 per cent of the total Indian sedimentary basin area in the country between 2000 and 2010.
Recently, ONGC is facing problems in getting Cairn India's approval for developing its KG basin discoveries, where the private energy firm is a minority partner. ONGC has made 10 gas discoveries in the block. However, Cairn has not signed the DOC (declaration of commerciality) of northern discovery in the KG-DWN-98 /2 blocks and has held back some budget approvals.

BANKNIFTY FOR SUPPORT 29/03/2011

BANKNIFTY (2nd Resistance) 11818.43
(1st Resistance) 11688.87
Pivot point 11512.43
(1st Support) 11382.87
(2nd support) 11206.43

NIFTY FOR SUPPORT 29/03/2011

NIFTY (2nd Resistance) 5762.85
(1st Resistance) 5731.25
Pivot point 5697.4
(1st Support) 5665.8
(2nd support) 5631.95

Global Markets update 29/03/2011

DJIA Down 22.7 (0.2%) NSDQ Down 12.4 (0.5%) FTSE 100 Up 3.7 (0.1%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Down 140 (1.47%) HANG SENG Up 6 (0.03) SGX NIFTY Down 5

CARE reaffirms the ratings to Websol Energy Systems' long/medium term facilities

Credit rating agency, CARE has reaffirmed the ‘ CARE BBB-‘ ratings assigned to Websol Energy Systems' long/medium term facilities. The agency has also reaffirmed the assigned ‘PR3’ ratings to the company’s short term facilities.

The aforesaid credit ratings are provided to long / medium term and short term banking facilities availed by the company from its bankers / financial institutions.

Recently, Websol Energy Systems has signed a Joint Venture (JV) pact with Gopika Infrastructure LLP for the development of its land situated at Plot No. 1, Block - GP, Salt Lake Electronics Complex in Kolkata. The said JV agreement will help the company in generating long term value.

Earlier in February, the company had commenced the commercial production of 30 MW with effect from February 21, 2011.

Webel-Sl Energy Systems is a leading producer of Solar Photovotaic Cells and Modules in India. It is one of the fastest growing companies within the solar photovoltaic industry in India with a 30 per cent annual growth rate.  Webel Solar has established the reputation for making highly reliable photovoltaic modules for various domestic and commercial applications.

Simbhaoli Sugars zooms on its plan to hive-off its IMFL and Power biz to the new subsidiary companies

Simbhaoli Sugars is currently trading at Rs. 45.90, up by 3.05 points or 7.12% from its previous closing of Rs. 42.85 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 43.85 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 46.00 and Rs. 43.85 respectively. So far 36,356 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 53.80 on 11-Nov-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 32.50 on 25-May-2010.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 46.00 and Rs. 42.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 116.19 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.58 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 4.51 % and 51.91 % respectively. 

Simbhaoli Sugars (SSL), one of the country’s largest sugar refiners would be hiving off of its Simbhaoli Distillery mainly comprising of its potable alcohol (IMFL) business and Power Businesses to new subsidiary companies. These new companies shall be wholly owned subsidiaries of SSL and will chalk out their own growth plans.

The business of the Simbhaoli Distillery which includes Potable Alcohol Business is being carved out into a separate company. The main objective behind this exercise shall be to achieve growth in potable alcohol business by exploring new business and marketing areas for creation of new brands, their promotion and capacity enhancement. The potable alcohol business has an aggressive growth plan with a back drop of 10 to 12% year on year basis natural growth in domestic drinking alcohol segment.

Presently alcohol manufacturing is carried out in all the three units of the Company namely Simbhaoli Distillery (90 kld capacity), Brijnathpur Ethanol Division and Chilwaria Ethanol Division. The Simbhaoli Distillery business achieved a gross turnover of Rs 316.7 crore in FY10. All the three facilities of SSL have power generation capacities aggregating 64 mwh and two of the units have a capacity to export 34 mwh of surplus power to the State Grid.

The Company has also decided to transfer its existing business of power generation in to a separate entity. The total power generation capacity of the group at present is 64 mwh and is expected to increase to 115 mwh in three years time. New entity will tie up its own financing and implement the project in time bound manner.

Further, the Company is planning to create connectivity to the grid by laying down the transmission lines at its Brijnathpur power unit, with a present capacity o f 8 mwh. Bio mass/ bagasse shall be transferred to the new Company for conversion into steam and power.

Financial Technologies leads the gainer list of ‘BSE IT’ space

Financial Technologies is currently trading at Rs. 816.00, up by 46.85 points or 6.09% from its previous closing of Rs. 769.15 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 775.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 823.75 and Rs. 775.00 respectively. So far 39,267 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1652.00 on 30-Mar-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 689.05 on 28-Jan-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 823.75 and Rs. 720.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3723.15 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.39% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 31.34% and 22.90% respectively.
Financial Technologies (India) (FTIL) is a flagship company of the Financial Technologies Group. It provides technology solutions and domain expertise for digital transactions and financial markets across all asset class including equity, commodities, currency and debt. The company's flagship product ODIN is used for trading in securities and commodities and accounts for 80% of market share in India.
The company has posted a net profit of Rs 78.79 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 61.75 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, up 27.60%.

Usha Martin jumps on raising $125 million via ECB to fund its capex needs

Usha Martin is currently trading at Rs. 61.50, up by 4.70 points or 8.27% from its previous closing of Rs. 56.80 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 59.10 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 62.00 and Rs. 58.30 respectively. So far 38,000 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Re. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 106.95 on 07-Apr-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 49.30 on 08-Mar-2011.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 62.00 and Rs. 52.65 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1730.93 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 38.38% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 50.17% and 9.90% respectively.
Usha Martin has raised $125 million via external commercial borrowing [ECB] from State Bank of India as sole mandated lead arranger and book runner with DBS Bank, State Bank of India [Canada] and The Bank of Tokyo - Mitsubishi UFJ as other participating lenders.
This exercise of company is for parting finance for its capex plans of Rs 1200 crore in order to strengthen its cost competitiveness in steel business and also maintain its global leadership position in the wire and wire rope industry.
Usha Martin is engaged in the manufacturing of wire rods, bright bars, steel wires, specialty wires, wire ropes, strand, conveyor cord, wire drawing and cable machinery. The company was incorporated as a joint venture between Usha Martin Industries and Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation, AEG Kabel, Germany (now Kabelrhydt and a member of the Alcatel group) and DEG, Germany.

Asian markets sustain sanguinity on last trading day of week with a positive start

Asian equity indices ascended this Friday morning as investors continued to pile up positions tracking buoyant leads from Wall Street overnight which went for a smart rally on the back of confident corporate earnings and signs of a stronger job market. Stock markets in Japan have bounced back from the recent downtrend as construction firms gained on optimism that demand will grow as Japan rebuilds after being grappled with a deluge of destruction. The South Korean benchmark climbed over half a percent as Won strengthened to a two-week high on speculations that global economic recovery will withstand Europe’s financial crisis.

Shanghai Composite advanced 16.56 points or 0.56% to 2,963.26, Hang Seng climbed 193.77 points or 0.85% to 23,109.05, Jakarta Composite zoomed 76.12 points or 2.14% to 3,632.35, KLSE Composite rose 4.03 points or 0.27% to 1,517.87, Nikkei 225 jumped 94.13 points or 1.00% to 9,529.14, Straits Times surged 28.20 points or 0.93% to 3,071.23, Seoul Composite increased 12.62 points or 0.62% to 2,049.40 and Taiwan Weighted added 40.39 points or 0.47% to 8,616.79.

FII DII DATA 25/02/2011

Net Index Futures (686), Net Stock Futures (-97), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,47,554 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 34,219 cr)

Indian ADRs Update 25/03/2011

 INFOSYS Up 2.1 (3.2%), WIPRO Up 0.2 (1.5%), ICICI BANK Up 1.3 (2.8%), HDFC BANK Up 3.3 (2.1%)

Global Markets update 25/03/2011

DJIA Up 84.5 (0.7%) NSDQ Up 38.1 (1.4%) FTSE 100 Up 85 (1.5%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Up 94 (1%) HANG SENG Up 207 (0.9) SGX NIFTY Up 34

Domestic markets may extend the rally mood with positive start

The Indian markets despite a dull day of trade were able to garner gain of about a percent in previous session, not only the blue chips but the broader markets too participated equally in the rally. All the rate sensitive’s gained despite the inflation returning into double digit, food price index rose 10.02% on annual basis during week-ended March 12, as compared with 9.42% recorded in the previous week. Today the start is likely to be good on sanguine global cues; also the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that it would be possible to maintain inflation at a moderate level on account of measures taken by the government. He further said the Centre and the states have to work collectively to remove supply bottlenecks, a move to tame inflation. Meanwhile, India is expected to see 5.4 per cent growth in the farm sector in the current fiscal 2010-11. In the Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation under Ministry of Agriculture, the department has expressed satisfaction over the growth of investment and capital formation in agriculture in the recent past. However, the PSU oil marketing companies are not likely to get any respite soon, as the international crude prices are continuing to remain at elevated levels while it has been reported that the government has no plans to raise petrol and diesel prices until the completion of elections in some states.

The US markets added strength on Thursday supported by strong corporate earnings and fall in jobless claims data indicating the labor market is healing and employers may be stepping up hiring. Most of the Asian markets have made a good start with Japanese leading the pack as construction firms gained on optimism that demand will grow as Japan rebuilds after its worst earthquake.

Back home, it turned out to be a stable day for the Indian benchmarks which sustained sanguinity for the third successive session and climbed well over half a percent point and managed to get the better of the crucial support levels. Optimistic cues from across the globe underpinned the investors’ conviction locally as they overlooked the worrisome food inflation numbers which increased for the second consecutive week ended March 12. After early weakness, the crude oil prices bounced back due to rising fears over supply disruptions as Gaddafi denied surrendering to Western forces in any circumstances and data showing US gasoline stocks fell more than expected in the week to March 18. While marketmen remained of the belief that spiraling oil prices and towering inflation numbers are going to make it difficult for an emerging market like India to log higher than expected growth regardless of scoring higher on the GDP scale. The decline in index heavyweight Reliance which shaved off around a quarter percent point was off-set by the upsurge in rate-sensitive counters. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, which traded below 5,400 levels three sessions ago, ricocheted above the crucial 5,500 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, Sensex garnered close to one hundred fifty points and regained the psychological 18,350 mark. The broader markets too traded on healthy note and performed in tandem with their larger peers. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a gap up start as leads from the global front underpinned regional sentiments. Optimistic close on Wall Street, in-line growth in New Zealand’s Q4 GDP numbers, and the marginal wilt in crude oil prices filliped investors’ mood as they overlooked the weakness in Japanese markets which fell on worries over parts shortage and production halt. The frontline indices traded in a narrow band through the day’s trade led by gains in realty and auto stocks. The fifty stock nifty slipped below the crucial 5,500 level in the early moments of second half but recovered immediately to eventually settle around the high point of the day because of sustained buying interests across the board. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 144.58 points or 0.79% to settle at 18,350.74 while the S&P CNX Nifty climbed 42.15 points or 0.77% to end at 5,522.40.

The US markets went for a smart rally on Thursday on the back of confident corporate earnings and signs of a stronger job market. Earnings growth has been strong across US companies and Software company Red Hat Inc., chip maker Micron Technology Inc. and Chef Boyardee maker ConAgra Foods Inc. all reported profits that beat expectations. There was good news from the jobs market too; government said fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week.

The Labor Department reported that the number of people seeking benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 382,000 in the week ended March 19, the fourth drop in the past five weeks. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 385,250, the lowest since July 2008. However, in a disappointment the Commerce Department separately released February durable goods orders data, which showed companies trimmed their orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, signaling business investment falling for a second month.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 84.54 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 12,170.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose by 12.12 points, or 0.93 percent, to 1,309.66, while the Nasdaq composite index closed higher by 38.12 points, or 1.41 percent, to 2,736.42.

Crude prices edged up on Thursday in a choppy trading as Middle East unrest and the Libya conflict raised concerns about supply disruption supporting the prices, while euro zone debt problems weighed on Brent prices. Though, Portugal is unlikely to ask the European Union for a financial bailout during an EU leaders' summit, but it cannot be ruled out. There were mixed economic reports, the durable goods report offset a report showing US initial jobless claims fell.

Benchmark crude for May rose 22 cents or 0.2 percent to $105.97 a barrel, after trading from $105.11 to $106.69 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for May rose 17 cents to settle at $115.72 a barrel on the ICE.