US markets rebound on good economic reports

The US markets pulled back and closed higher on Thursday on the back of good economic reports helping investors put aside fears over Japan’s nuclear crisis. The Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell more than economists expected last week. Ongoing claims dropped to the lowest level since October 2008. In other economic reports, the survey from the Federal Reserve's Philadelphia branch showed new orders soared, while a gauge of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region jumped in February to the highest point since January 1984.

The Labor Department in separate report showed consumer prices edged higher in February. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent last month. Core prices, which exclude food and fuel costs, edged higher by 0.2 percent, the same as the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 161.29 points, or 1.39 percent, to 11,774.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 16.84 points, or 1.34 percent, at 1,273.72, while the Nasdaq rose by 19.23 points, or 0.73 percent, at 2,636.05.

Most of the Indian ADRs closed in green on Thursday, Infosys was up by 0.43%, ICICI Bank was up by 0.12%, MTNL was up by 0.04% and Tata Motors was up by 0.24%.

On the other hand, Wipro was down by 0.18% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.53%.

M&M, Bharti Airtel, HCL Infosystem and Monnnet Ispat likely to witness some action today

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to focus on developing the Ssangyong brand. M&M plans to give the highest priority to product development as the Korean SUV majors' pipeline of products is not very strong.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has increased prices of 62 drugs, which are mainly based on indigenously manufactured insulin. The companies which would be affected by the price revision of drugs include Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, GSK, Biocon, Wockhardt, Lupin and Cipla

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) today said it has increased prices of 62 drugs, which are mainly based on indigenously manufactured insulin

Tata Group's consumer durables firm, Voltas, plans to hike prices of its air-conditioners by another three per cent in April, the second this year, to offset the rise in metal prices it consumes.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) will add new facilities at its Vizag refinery to convert low-value heavy oils into premium products, which will significantly increase refining margins.

In a bid to end fuel woes of power plants in Andhra Pradesh, state-owned gas utility GAIL India will supply gas to the electricity generating units by swaping Reliance Industries' KG-D6 gas with LNG imported.

Monnet Ispat is close to acquiring a coal mine in Sumatra, Indonesia. Acquisition of the coal mine may be completed by this week.

Bangalore-based biotechnogy firm Biocon's drug development partner Optimer has received US patent for drug Fidaxomicin. The drug is used to treat diarrhea and intestinal diseases.

Retail food chain company McDonald's India has joined hands with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to increase its presence in petrol stations in West and South and aims to more than double its sales by 2014 from both these regions.

Bharti Airtel is likely to buy yet-to-be-launched Indian wireless broadband business of Qualcomm. The US-based chip maker is set to be in an advanced stage of discussions with the country's largest telecom operator to sell its BWA licenses in all four circles.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications has drawn the first tranche of Rs 3,000 crore ($665 million) from China Development Bank.

Jubilant FoodWorks that operates Dominos Pizza chain in India plans to diversify into new areas, including operating hotels and other non-food segments such as garments and fashion accessories.

FMCG player Jyothy Laboratories is eyeing a controlling stake in Henkel India after acquiring 14.9 per cent stake in the company from Tamil Nadu Petro Products (TNPL).

Sundram Fasteners, part of the TVS group, will make its biggest capital investment in 2011-12 in an attempt to target the wind energy and automotive segments with new products.

The coal assets of one of Australia's largest thermal coal explorers - Bandanna Energy - in a deal could be valued at $1.5 billion. GVK, state-owned consortium ICVL and Reliance Power have shown early interest in bidding for the assets estimated to have reserves of over 1.3 billion tonnes of thermal coal.

ONGC India is expected to face a 'hard' market when it approaches international underwriters next week to renew its $28.5 billion insurance policy. ONGC is the holder of the biggest insurance policy in India.

IT hardware firm HCL Infosystems has bagged an order from the Indian Air Force to deploy Wideband CDMA-based portable wireless network at a cost of over Rs 300 crore.

Banks have committed to refinance nearly half of the Rs 9,500-crore debt on the books of Ispat Industries.

In its first open-market transaction in India, Blackstone, the global private equity major, has bought a two per cent share in India’s largest travel wear manufacturer, VIP Industries, which is valued at Rs 36-40 crore.

United Phosphorus  (UPL), one of the leading agro chemical and seeds company in the country, has set the target of doubling its agro chemical business in India from the present Rs 900 crore to Rs 1,800 crores in the next three years time (by FY 2013-14).

Venus Remedies, an existing EU-GMP certified Pharmaceutical manufacturing company, has been awarded a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) registration. This approval holds significance and is prestigious since such registrations are obtained by the manufacturing facilities which meet world class standards and where quality is of the prime essence.

Allcargo Global Logistics plans to enter third-party logistics business in a few months and expand its warehousing capacity to 400,000 sq ft.

Power Grid Corporation of India’s board of directors granted their nod for three investment approvals.

Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) has secured a contract worth Rs 7,200 crore for 2,400 MW gas based combined cycle power project at Samalkot.

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has received two orders from Hindalco Industries for 6 x 150 MW Captive Power Plant - Aditya Aluminium Project at Sambalpur, Orissa.

Domestic markets likely to make positive start on good global cues

The Indian markets suffered sharp decline in previous session, the global cues weighed on the sentiments though there was a credit policy announcement too and the RBI on expected lines announced 25 basis point hike in key policy rates but the investors concentrated mainly on the global cues. Today the start is likely to be good as the global cues are indicating for a positive start. Rate sensitive too may stabilize as the rate hike was already discounted. Domestic pharma companies are likely to get a boost with the decision of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) increasing prices of 62 drugs, which are mainly based on indigenously manufactured insulin. The majority of the drugs, whose prices have been increased, are used in treatment of diabetes and tuberclosis. The companies which would be affected by the price revision of drugs include Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, GSK, Biocon, Wockhardt, Lupin and Cipla. NPPA said that raw material cost and revision in the norms of conversion cost, packing charges and packaging materials as notified on December 16, 2010 necessitated the move.

However the rising international crude prices are likely to put pressure on the local PSU oil marketing companies and the markets too. The conflict in Libya and diplomatic efforts to forge a response has once again raised the crude prices.

The US markets made a good pullback effort on Thursday and all the major indices gained by 1-1.5 percent, it was the slew of good economic reports that helped the markets recover from steep fall of last two session and to put aside the fear of Japanese crisis. The Asian markets have made a good start and most of the indices are trading higher with Japanese Nikkei gaining around 2 percent as G7 industrial nations agreed on Friday to jointly intervene in the currency market to stem a sharp yen rise.

Back home, stock markets in India carried forward this week’s trend of closing in the negative territory after every positive close as they settled in the red after taking cuts of around a percent a day after garnering about a percentage points. Although RBI’s eighth hike in benchmark interest rates since March 2010 by 25 basis points was in line with market expectations, sentiments however went awry as marketmen feared that escalating domestic inflation would eat in to the overall growth of Indian economy. The RBI also hiked the forecast of inflation for the current fiscal year to around 8% from its previous estimate of 7% as it expected that economic growth will be impacted from surging global commodity prices, especially crude oil prices. While weakness in the Asian markets amid concerns of aggravating nuclear crisis in Japan too undermined local sentiments. The jump of around one and half a percent in crude oil prices also took sheen off the local bourses as traders shrugged the optimistic cues from the European counterparts. Meanwhile, marginal decline in food inflation to a three-and-a-half-month low of 9.42% for the week ended March 5 failed to enthuse the investor sentiment. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, managed to hold on to the crucial 5,450 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, Sensex closed with a two hundred point cut around the psychological 18,150 mark. The broader markets traded with some resilience and finished with moderate losses thereby outperforming their larger peers by quite a margin. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a gap down start as investors squared off positions tracking discouraging leads from the overnight US markets coupled with renewed fears that a partial meltdown may have occurred at a nuclear plant in Japan which undermined sentiments significantly. The markets gained some traction from thereon till the reports of marginal fall in inflation and hike in key policy rates hit the street. Thereafter, investors opted to take profits off the table from rate sensitive sectors like Banks, Auto and Realty as RBI’s raising of March-end inflation estimate to 8% from 7% projected earlier, had an adverse impact on the domestic sentiments. The bourses after touching intraday lows in the dying hours pared some portion of decline to eventually settle with losses of over a percent. Finally, the BSE Sensex plunged by 208.82 points or 1.14% to settle at 18149.87 while the S&P CNX Nifty fell by 64.50 points or 1.17% to end at 5,446.65.

The US markets pulled back and closed higher on Thursday on the back of good economic reports helping investors put aside fears over Japan’s nuclear crisis. The Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell more than economists expected last week. Ongoing claims dropped to the lowest level since October 2008. In other economic reports, the survey from the Federal Reserve's Philadelphia branch showed new orders soared, while a gauge of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region jumped in February to the highest point since January 1984.

The Labor Department in separate report showed consumer prices edged higher in February. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent last month. Core prices, which exclude food and fuel costs, edged higher by 0.2 percent, the same as the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 161.29 points, or 1.39 percent, to 11,774.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 16.84 points, or 1.34 percent, at 1,273.72, while the Nasdaq rose by 19.23 points, or 0.73 percent, at 2,636.05.

Crude prices surged on Thursday by about 4 percent edging back above $100 a barrel mark on escalating tensions between Libya and governments working on a response at the United Nations and on continuing unrest in the Middle East and Bahrain that kept investors worried about potential supply disruptions. The trading volume remained low and the expiration of the April contract added some volatility to the prices.

The United Nations Security Council authorized military strikes on Libya, and US and European officials said last night that air attacks against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces were possible 'within hours'.

Benchmark crude for April rose $3.40 to expire at $101.38 a barrel, after trading in a range from $96.60 to $101.99 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, ICE Brent crude for May rose $4.30, or 3.89 percent, to settle at $114.90 a barrel on the ICE.

Hindustan Composites sells its Jalna unit

Hindustan Composites has sold its Jalna unit for a total consideration of Rs 5.83 crore to Spitmaan Group of companies.

Hindustan Composites is a pioneer in the development, manufacture and marketing of industrial products and friction materials in India for over 45 years.

The company has got wide range of products suitable for a number of general and specialised applications, has been catering to the diversified needs of core sector industries, such as Railways, Engineering, Mining, Aerospace, Steel, Chemical, Petrochemical, Fertilizer, power generation, Ship building, Atomic Energy, Electrical, Oil exploration, Automotive, etc.

The products of this company are being exported to more than 30 countries. This company operates in Latin America, Greece, Middle East and South East Asia. Export turnover of this company is US $ 2 Million

Gitanjali Gems acquires N & J Finstocks

Gitanjali Gems has acquired 100% stake in N & J Finstocks and after the acquisition N & J Finstocks  - earlier a promoter group company has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The company is also planning to acquire assets of DIT Group S.p.A. (DIT), an Italy based jewellery company, which operates in the area of manufacturing, marketing, and sale of jewels and owns some of the reputed brands like Stefan Hafner, IO Si, Roberta Porrati and LA Nouvelle Bague etc.

Gitanjali Gems is one of leading players in jewellery segment. It was the first group company to engage in cutting and polishing of diamonds in Surat, Gujarat. Today this $900 million multinational group is one of largest manufacturer, retailers and exporters of diamonds.

The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 100.56 crores for the quarter ended December, 2010 against Rs 80.03 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Its net sales grew to Rs 2654.17 crore from Rs 2509.71 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

FII DII DATA 18/03/2011

 Net Index Futures (-566), Net Stock Futures (-176), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,41,853 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 31,988 cr)

BHEL leads the gainer list of ‘BSE Power’ space

BHEL is currently trading at Rs. 1,960.90, up by 34.00 points or 1.76% from its previous closing of Rs. 1,926.90 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 1,911.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1,964.80 and Rs. 1,905.00 respectively. So far 71,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 2,695.00 on 07-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1,905.35 on 15-Mar-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2,044.00 and Rs. 1,905.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 95879.83 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.72% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 25.95% and 6.33% respectively.

Recently, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) - a professional body and an engineering society, has awarded the high pressure boiler plant of Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) with ‘N’ and ‘NPT’ certificates.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has also bagged a contract worth Rs 1,445 crore for 600 MW thermal power plant. The contract envisages setting up a 1x600 MW thermal power generating unit for Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation’s (APGenco) upcoming coal-based thermal power project, located at Rayalaseema in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.

OMCs losses mount as government holds retail fuel prices

The publically controlled OMCs sell diesel and cooking fuels at prices that are generally lower than the cost. These are generally compensated by upstream companies and the government but such compensation is often not complete and OMCs have to absorb some loses. While the government has historically born 33% of the oil subsidy, the oil ministry has been asking the government to hike its share given the surge in under-recoveries.

The oil ministry has made it clear that upstream companies, which provide discounts on crude oil supplies to downstream companies as their share of under-recovery, will not bear more than 33% of the losses of retailers. This leaves the rest to be divided between the government and downstream companies. Since the OMCs does not have the financial muscle to absorb anything more than say 10-15% of the under-recovery, the government will have to hike its share to over 50% to ensure that financial health of fuel retailers is not impacted.

Just In: RBI raises repo, reverse repo rates by 25 bps

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday raised repo and reverse repo rates by 25 basis points despite some international uncertainties as domestic inflation scenario remains the biggest concern.
The new repo and reverse repo rates are 6.75% and 5.75% respectively. This was eighth increase in benchmark policy rates by the central bank in current financial year.

Videocon d2h launches HD DVR with 3D

Videocon group’s DTH arm Videocon d2h has launched India’s first HD-DVR, HD Digital Video Recorder with 3D. The company has witnessed excellent growth from the time of its inception and its objective is to increase penetration by offering channels and services across genres, increase subscriber base and better it’s ARPU’s.
Videocon d2h is a pioneer in the Indian DTH market through continuous product innovations and upgrade of technology. Videocon d2h has the maximum number of 288 channels and services with a strong regional content for its specific audiences.
High Definition Digital Video Recorder with 3D acts as a bridge between the 3D Television and the 3D Channel feed. This product would set a new precedent in the DTH market and would enable customers to move from cable to DTH.  

SBI garners Rs 5,496.90 crore through retail bonds

Rs 10,000 each and 47,65,918 Series 4 Lower Tier-II Bonds of face value Rs 10,000 to the eligible applicants. The bank thus managed to raise Rs 5,496.9 crore, as in all 54,96,996 applicants received bonds worth Rs 10,000 each.
The issue, which had opened on February 21 and closed on February 28 attracted many investors because of its competitive coupon rate and the timing. This issue is part of the Rs 10,000-crore retail bond programme SBI has planned for FY11 through FY12.
The bank had raised Rs 1,000 crore through the retail bonds in the first tranche, issued in October, 2010, which was oversubscribed 19 times. That was the first retail bond offering in the country by any bank.
State Bank of India (SBI) posted a marginal increase of 14.07% in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 at Rs 2828.06 crore where as the same was at Rs 2479.05 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

Apar Industries’ conductor division bags order worth Rs 250 crore

Apar Industries’ conductor division has bagged order worth Rs 250 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) for manufacture and supply of ACSR Conductors.

Further, the company has received orders from other customers for supply of High Temperature Conductors (HTC) worth Rs 25 crore. This will strengthen the order book position and improve the performance of the division.

The company’s conductor division is among the top five in the world, catering to world’s leading power generation and transmission companies with decades of ongoing relationship and repeat business.

Apar caters to a wide range of industries such as power, rubber, tyre, ink, cosmetics, food, pharmaceutical, health care, steel, aluminium, petrochemical, plastic, paper, sugar, cement, automotive etc. Further, it has product presence across Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Australia and Far East.

Jyothy Lab, TVS Motors, Biocon and P&G to garner investor’s attention today

Mumbai-based Jyothy Laboratories has acquired a 14.9% stake in Henkel India from Tamil Nadu Petro Products for Rs 60.73 crore in an all-cash deal.

Chennai-based Ashok Leyland Defence Systems (ALDS) has entered into a tie up with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) GmbH and Co KG, Germany, to co-operate in developing advanced defence systems for Indian defence establishment as well as other defence forces worldwide.

Hero Honda has set aside a kitty of Rs 100 crore to create a new brand identity that will lead to a new company name and corporate logo to be etched on every bike and scooter it sells in the Indian market. The promoter of Hero Honda, Hero Investments (HIPL) has pledged further shares of the company to IL&FS Trust Company, raising an estimated Rs 200 crore.

The country’s third largest two-wheeler manufacturer, TVS Motors, is mulling a low-priced motorcycle to shore up volumes in the Indian market. The product, when introduced, would be the cheapest motorcycle in the country.

SKS Microfinance will raise additional funds from banks, a move likely to help it tide over liquidity shortage.

FMCG giant Procter and Gamble (P&G) is reducing the price of its sanitary napkins and baby diapers by up to 15 per cent as a result of the excise duty cut announced during the recent Union Budget.

FMCG major, Nestle India will not only be undertaking selective price hikes but will also be reducing the weight for its chocolate products in order to combat rising raw material costs.

Retail chain Shoppers Stop may increase prices of its products by 6-7 per cent from April this year in order to offset the 10 per cent excise duty imposed on branded apparel in the Budget 2011-12.

As per the government - Idea Cellular, Etisalat and state-owned BSNL subscribers are facing the problem of frequent call drops and they are not meeting the TRAI benchmark regarding it.

State-run Coal India (CIL) is negotiating 10-year contracts with overseas suppliers in an attempt to insulate Indian consumers from any volatility in global coal prices.

Hindustan Zinc (HZL), the world's largest integrated producer of zinc, has paid Rs 995 crore as advance tax in the current fiscal year, which is 35% higher than that last year.

The drug price regulator has allowed local pharma companies Wockhardt and Biocon to increase prices of their insulin brands due to rising input costs.

Kolkata-based consumer goods firm Emami has appointed Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the brand ambassador for its digestive tonic -- Zandu Pancharishta.

Tata Group's hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company subsidiary Roots Corporation will sell a minority stake to the Singapore based Omega TC Holdings for Rs 150 crore.

Kingfisher and Paramount are defaulting airlines in payment to the Airports Authority of India for services including landing charges, parking and housing charges and licence fees for space/land allotments.

Delhi-based real estate company, Parsvnath Developers is close to selling stake in its Parsvnath City project in Sonepat for Rs 100 - 150 cr.

IT Solutions provider, 3i Infotech is all set to sell its US subsidiary, Regulus for $100 million. The deal is expected to be closed within the next 3 months.

The country’s largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), is using ‘out-of-home’ aggressively to grow its foods business. Out-of-home here means initiatives undertaken beyond just selling products.

Nine bidders, including JSW Energy-Leighton Contractors and GVK-Samsung consortia, are in the race to develop the Rs 3,000-crore Tadadi port project in Karnataka.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has raised Rs 5,496.9 crore from retail bonds to fund its expansion plans. State Bank Of India had accorded approval for raising Tier II Capital for an aggregate amount of Rs. 10,000 crore.

German multinational Siemens has set-up a financial services arm Siemens Financial Services (SFSPL) in India.

The world's seventh-largest steelmaker - Tata Steel has decided to raise money by selling Rs 1,500 crore ($332 million) of perpetual bonds. The Tier-I bonds carry a coupon of 11.8 per cent payable semi annually.

Telecom service provider Reliance Communications has partnered with mobile solutions provider TELibrahma to deliver video updates and replays from the ICC World Cup Cricket matches on mobiles for all cricket lovers.

ARSS Infrastructure Projects has signed the concession agreement with Commerce and Transport Dept, Government of Orissa for development of modern bus terminal at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

Educomp Solutions’ ICT division has bagged two multimedia content development projects totaling Rs 6.81 crore from the Government of Gujarat and Assam.

Aurum Soft Systems inks business transfer agreement with Accel IT Resources

Aurum Soft Systems has entered into a business transfer agreement on March 15, 2011 with Accel IT Resources (AITRL) for acquisition of the latter’s IT Resourcing Business for a total consideration of Rs. 5 crores. As part of the acquisition which would be effective from April 01, 2011, around 1400 employees of AITRL would become employees of Aurum Soft systems.

Aurum Soft Systems would continue to render IT resourcing services to Accel group companies, which is currently being rendered by AITRL to its group companies. The revenue from the IT Resourcing business over the next five year period is estimated at Rs 75 crores with a margin of around Rs 7 crores.

Aurum Soft Systems is a leading provider of Enterprise Applications and flexible IT Solutions. The company specializes in providing unique business solutions to the Hospitality, Manufacturing, Trading and Retail sectors by continuous innovation and domain focused approach.

FII DII DATA 17/03/2011

Net Index Futures (707), Net Stock Futures (288), Derivative Market: Total Open Interest (Rs 1,41,406 cr), Stock Futures Open Interest (Rs 31,954 cr)

Markets likely to make a weak start; RBI policy action eyed

The Indian markets swayed along with the global cues and made a good recovery after a big fall in last session. All the rate sensitive sectors surged shrugging off the fear of rate hike by RBI in its mid quarterly policy review. Today the start is likely to be soft-to-cautious as the global cues once again have turned negative on concerns of devastating impact of Japanese crisis aftermath. Today all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of India for its policy announcement; the general expectation is that the apex bank will go for a 25 basis point hike in policy rates to rein in the rising inflation; however 25 basis point hike in the repo rate is not likely to push up lending rates considerably and the rate sensitive might not go for a frenzy with it as it has already been discounted however, anything higher will impact shares negatively. If the central bank raises both the repo and the reverse repo by quarter of a percentage point each, the repo rate could move up to 6.75 per cent and the reverse repo to 5.75 per cent.  Also the weekly inflation numbers will be announced and that will give direction for the further course of action. Data for February showed headline WPI rising to 8.31 per cent, much higher than the estimates and also above the RBI’s projection of 7 per cent by the end of March.

The US markets suffered sharp fall on Wednesday and major indices erased nearly all of their gains for the year. The crisis in Japan deepened while the economic news too were not supportive that led the decline in the markets. Most of the Asian markets have made a weak start and majority of the indices are trading lower by about a percent with Japanese Nikkei suffering the most.

Back home, Indian benchmarks elegantly convalesced majority of Tuesday’s losses to snap last day’s session above crucial resistance levels as investors covered the hefty short positions that got built in previous session amid the global weakness due to aftershock in Japan. The sanguinity in the global markets got transmitted into the domestic frontline indices after investors in Tokyo resorted to intense bottom fishing in the fundamentally strong but highly undervalued shares. At home too investors piled up huge positions in rate sensitive counters like realty, banks and auto ahead of RBI’s mid-quarterly policy review on March 17. However, the bounce back in crude oil prices coupled with weakness in European markets in the dying hours of trade pulled the bourses off the day’s high level but they still settled with gains of a percent each. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, pared some of its gains in the end but managed to hold on to the crucial 5,500 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex closed a tad short of double century gains above the psychological 18,350 mark. The broader markets too finished with strong gains and managed to outperform their larger peers. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to an optimistic start as the index bounced back taking cues from the rebound in other Asian markets on bargain buying and a further decline in crude oil prices. The markets continued to trade firm through the day’s trade thanks to sustained buying in several front line stocks. The bourses after touching intraday highs in the second half pared some portion of their gains due to rebound in crude oil prices coupled with somber cues from the European peers. Eventually markets managed to perform largely in line with Asian peers and settle with over a percent gain. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 191.05 points or 1.05% to settle at 18358.69 while the S&P CNX Nifty rose by 61.50 points or 1.13% to end at 5,511.15.

The US markets plunged on Wednesday closing lower for the third consecutive day, fears that a partial meltdown may have occurred at a nuclear plant in Japan led the markets for a sharp selloff. The mood was somber from the beginning after the European Union's energy chief said that Japan’s nuclear crisis could get worse. Japan temporarily suspended work at a stricken nuclear plant after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain there. There was a weak economy report that catalysed the fall, the Commerce Department reported that new home construction fell to the second-lowest level on record in February, reflecting weak demand.

Home construction plunged 22.5 percent in February from January to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes. Single-family homes, which make up roughly 80 percent of home construction, fell 11.8 percent in February. Apartment and condominium construction dropped 47 percent, reversing much of January's gains. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell 8.1 percent last month to the lowest level on records dating back to 1960.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 242.12 points, or 2.04 percent, to 11,613.30. The S&P index fell by 24.99 points, or 1.95 percent, to 1,256.88, while the Nasdaq composite index closed lower by 50.51 points or 1.89 percent, to 2,616.12.

Crude prices recovered on Wednesday after witnessing a sharp fall in previous session, though the trade remained volatile as Middle East unrest came on the forefront again after violent clashes in Bahrain and Yemen, near top oil producer Saudi Arabia. Also, mounting concern over Japan’s nuclear crisis and weak equities too weighed and limited the rise.

Meanwhile, US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed gasoline stockpiles fell 4.17 million barrels last week. Distillate stocks also dropped more than expected, lifting US heating oil futures, while crude stockpiles increased more than expected.

Benchmark crude for April rose 80 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $97.98 a barrel, after trading in a range from $96.22 to $99.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Expiring ICE Brent crude for April rose $2.10, or 1.94 percent, to settle at $110.62 a barrel on the ICE

Indian ADRs Update 17/03/2011

INFOSYS Down 1.7 (2.6%), WIPRO Up 0.1 (0.9%), ICICI BANK Up 0.0 (0.1%), HDFC BANK Down 3.0 (1.9%)

Global Markets update 17/03/2011

 DJIA Down 242 (2.0%) NSDQ Down 50 (1.9%) FTSE 100 Down 97 (1.7%) Asian Markets as on 8.45 AM  NIKKEI Down 190 (2.09%) HANG SENG Down 522 (2.3%) SGX NIFTY Down 52

BHEL gains on receiving ‘N’ and ‘NPT’ certificates from ASME

BHEL is currently trading at Rs 1934.70, up by 12.80 points or 0.67% from its previous closing of Rs 1921.90 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs 1944.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1944.00 and Rs 1932.00 respectively. So far 4,420 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs 2695.00 on 07-Oct-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1905.35 on 15-Mar-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 2058.00 and Rs. 1905.35 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 94080.85 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.72% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 25.95% and 6.33% respectively.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) - a professional body and an engineering society, has awarded the high pressure boiler plant of Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) with ‘N’ and ‘NPT’ certificates. BHEL is now authorized to use N and NPT stamps for Nuclear vessels to Cl 1, 2, 3 requirements, piping systems to Cl 1, 2, 3 requirements, storage tanks to Cl 2,3 requirements, shop assembly and fabrication without design responsibility to Cl 1, 2 and 3 requirements.

Upon receiving the certification which is valid for three years from January 31, 2001, it is also recognized as a materials organization by ASME. BHEL has been awarded after in-house efforts of the company for nearly a year and rigorous audits by ASME auditors of the quality systems of the company to meet the stringent requirements of the nuclear components.

Since nuclear power is fast growing as a source of electricity in India after thermal, hydro and renewable sources, the authorization assumes important for BHEL. India has 19 nuclear power plants in operation generating 4,560 MW while four others are under construction and are expected to generate an additional 2,720 MW of energy.

ASME - one of the oldest standards-developing organizations in the world, the society produces approximately 600 codes and standards, covering many technical areas, such as boiler components, elevators, and measurement of fluid flow in closed conduits, hand and machine tools.

Voltas jumps on its plans of launching 70 new air conditioners this year

Voltas is currently trading at Rs. 156.90, up by 5.15 points or 3.39% from its previous closing of Rs. 151.75 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 154.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 158.00 and Rs. 154.00 respectively. So far 27,000 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 262.50 on 11-Nov-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 147.35 on 14-Mar-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 158.20 and Rs. 147.35 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 5133.68 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 30.58% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 47.30% and 22.12% respectively.

Voltas, India’s premiere air conditioning and engineering services company from the house of Tatas, today introduced its new, powerful range of air conditioners in the capacity band of 0.75 tons to 3 tons. The company this year has planned to penetrate the market with a varied set of 70 air conditioners.

Amongst the new models, highlights for this year will be Vertis Elegant, Vertis Gemini, Vertis Pluto, Vertis Pearl and Platina, and the re-launch of the revolutionary DC Inverter Technology. The company’s brand is a premier player to have introduced a large assortment of 5 star rated AC’s in the 2T category, with one of a kind scroll compressor inbuilt into its product that assure maximum efficiency.

The company will back the launch of these new products with a marketing budget of Rs.50 crores for the current year. Voltas’ AC is sold from over 5000 touch points across India and expected to grow by 20% next year.

The company reported a decrease of 2.59% in net profit after tax to Rs 67.01 crore for the quarter ended December 2010 from Rs 68.79 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter rose 8.75% to Rs 1006.88 crore as compared to Rs 925.83 crore in the same quarter last year.