Sterlite, Tata Power Enter BSE Index - June 14, 2008

MUMBAI: Sterlite Industries, non-ferrous metals company, and Tata Power Co Ltd will enter the country's benchmark BSE Index after a rejig, the stock exchange said.

The two stocks replace Ambuja Cements Ltd and Cipla Ltd, the statement, released on Friday, said.

The revisions will be effective from July 28, it added.

Market Opens With Marginal Gains

The market today opens marginally higher. The buying is seen in the selective scrips mainly led by the IT, Oil & Gas, Realty and Auto stocks. with a bang backed by the strong global cues. The broader market however lost its momentum in the opening trade and is now trading marginally down.

On the primary market front, Gammon Infrastructure has listed at Rs 180 on the BSE and Rs 170 on NSE. The company had priced the initial public offer (IPO) at Rs 167. The price babnd range between Rs 167 - Rs 200 price band.
GIPL was an infrastructure development company undertaking projects on a public-private partnership basis (PPP). Presently, GIPL undertakes and develops projects such as roads, bridges, ports, hydroelectric power and biomass power projects on a PPP basis.

The overall market breadth is positive as 911 stocks are advancing whereas 787 stocks are declining on BSE.

At 10.30AM, the BSE Sensex was up by 83.39 points at 15,833.79 and the Nifty was up by 27.40 points to 4,781.60.

The BSE Mid Cap decreased by 0.73 points to 6,412.24 and the BSE Small Cap slipped by 20.56 points to 7,891.58.

Wipro reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack. It is trading with a gain of 2.20% at Rs.423.50 while Reliance Energy the top loser declined by 3.28% to Rs.1,189.95.

BSE Oil & Gas index surged by 102.32 points to trade at 10,430.40. The top gainers are Cairn India inclined by (2.70%) to Rs.228, RPL increased by (1.21%) at Rs.167 followed by ONGC up by (0.89%) to Rs.1,022.

BSE IT index improved by 32.78 points to trade at 3,677.13. The major gainers are Wipro, HCL Technologies, TCS and Infosys Technologies grew by (2.20%), (1.32%), (1.25%) and (0.89%) to Rs.423.50, Rs.250, Rs.861.50 and Rs.1,495.10 respectively.

Mahindra & Mahindra is trading higher by (1.35%) at Rs.676. The company along with the private equity firm ICICI Venture Funds has signed an agreement to buy Italian gear manufacturer Metalcastello.

Market Gives Up All Its Initial Gains

The market gives up all its initial gains as the profit booking across the counters prevails. The volatility grips the market since the initial bell. Also, the rising inflation remains a concern and the government announced certain measures to control it like banned of non-basmati rice exports along with Scrap import duty on crude edible oil and cut duty on refined edible oils to 7.5%, The market breadth is strong as 1488 stocks are trading in green while 721 stocks are trading in red.

At 11.34AM, BSE Sensex is trading lower by 70 points at 15,574 and NSE Nifty is trading down by 25.85 points at 4,708.65. The BSE Mid Cap is trading lower by 21.63 point at 6,501.16 while BSE Small Cap is trading up by 38.36 points at 7,940.34.

Losers from the BSE are Bajaj Holdings trading lower by (6.73%) at Rs644.90 in line with Tel Eighteen by (5.33%) at Rs375, Bhel by (4.98%) at Rs1954.10, Jai Corp by (4.98%) at Rs488.95, Welspun Guj by (4.76%) at Rs365, ABG Shipyard by (4.59%) at Rs686.60 and Sesa Goa by (4.11%) at Rs3001.75.

The Capital goods index is trading lower by 242.08 points at 13,766.94. Pulling it are Bhel trading down by (4.69%) at Rs1960 along with Elecon Eng by (3.94%) at Rs181.75, Alstom Projects by (2.04%) at Rs570, L&T by (1.98%) at Rs2965, Praj Inds by (1.98%) at Rs133.45, Thermax by (1.83%) at Rs589.95, Kalpataru Power by (1.40%) at Rs1084 and Siemens by (1.34%) at Rs609.

The Consumer durables index is trading up by 41.43 points at 3,924.72. Pushing it are Rajesh Exports trading higher by (2.77%) at Rs79.80 in line with Videocon inds by (2.59%) at Rs314.90, Lloyd Ele by (1.31%) at Rs96.95, Gitanjali GE by (0.50%) at Rs222.50 and Titan inds by (0.11%) at Rs1063.50.

BPCL is trading up by (2.2%) at Rs418 as Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd company’s joint venture with Oman oil company has filed Draft Red Hearing prospectus for an initial public offering with Sebi. The company has filed papers for IPO of the joint venture company that is setting up a Rs10,400 crore refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. BORL intends to raise Rs 3,850 crore equity for the refinery project having capacity of six-million-ton a year at Bina. This equity includes contribution by BPCL, government of Madhya Pradesh and the public.

Satyam is trading higher by (1.01%) at Rs400 as the company announced establishment of Pega Business Process management centre of excellence at Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The company teamed up with US based company “Pegasystems” and the company will leverage the capabilities of Pegasystems SmartBPM Suite.

Stocks To Watch On Friday

MUMBAI: Renewed credit concerns triggered a sell-off across global markets which is likely to weigh down Indian equities as well. US stocks fell for the first time this week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that a scarcity of credit will restrain economic growth.

Stocks ended a three-day winning streak as the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.39 per cent, Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.34 per cent and Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.74 per cent. Asian stocks tumbled as Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5 per cent, Hang Seng shed 1.77 per cent, Kospi declined 0.82 per cent and Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Mastek is likely to acquire a US-based IT firm Systems Task Group International for an estimated $30 million, reports The Economic Times. Shares of Mastek ended at Rs 255.55, up 5.77 per cent on the BSE. L N Mittal and Farallon Capital, a US-based fund, have jointly bought 28.6 per cent stake in unlisted Indiabulls Power Services for Rs 1,580 crore. The company, till now, was a 100 per cent subsidiary of Indiabulls Real Estate. Post this deal, it is valued at about Rs 5,525 crore. Shares of Indiabulls Real Estate ended at Rs 623.85, up 8.86 per cent on the BSE.

The Department of Telecommunications is planning to hike spectrum fees. It plans to change spectrum usage charges levied on telecom companies to a fixed percentage of revenues for each category of circles. Telecom shares are likely to see some action on the news. On Thursday, Reliance Communications ended 9.26 per cent higher at Rs 609.75, Tata Teleservices closed up 7.45 per cent at Rs 36.05, Bharti Airtel was up 2.36 per cent at Rs 877.95 and Idea Cellular ended at Rs 109.05, up 6.44 per cent.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications is looking for a possible takeover of French IT services group Capgemini, a report in the online edition of The Times on Thursday said. When contacted by media, a Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment. The report said that Reliance Communications has held early-stage talks with Capgemini. Shares of Reliance Communications closed at Rs 609.75, up 9.26 per cent on the BSE.

Deccan Aviation has sold a new Airbus A320 aircraft and plans to sell another in two weeks. The deals are likely to fetch at least $10 million in profit, reports Reuters. GR Gopinath, founder of Air Deccan is now planning to venture into cargo business. Shares of Deccan Aviation closed at Rs 182.40, up 13.72 per cent.

NTPC would be investing up to $40 billion over the next five years to transform itself into an integrated regional energy player, from being just a national power utility, reports The Hindu Business Line. The company is eyeing an entry into the LNG value chain, besides plans to beef up its presence in newly diversified areas, including hydropower, coal mining, power trading, oil and gas exploration and consultancy services, a senior official said.

The power major also plans to spread out operations across Asia and Africa, with upcoming projects in South Asia, Africa and possibly West Asia, besides plans to bag coal assets in countries, including Indonesia, Mozambique and Australia. This is likely to spur the company's shares, which ended 6.84 per cent higher at Rs 200.75.

Sensex Plunges Below 20K

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tumbled over 346 points to dip below the 20K level in early trade on Wednesday on heavy selling by investors, who moped up funds to invest in the mega issue of Reliance Power.

The BSE-30 index, which had lost over 477 points in previous day trade, fell further by 346.52 points to 19,904.57 in the first five minutes.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange benchmark Nifty dipped by 118.15 points to 5,956.10.

Marketman said major players were taking out money from secondary market to invest in the current mega issue by Reliance Power which was subscribed over ten times on the first day of trade.

They said trading sentiment also dampened following a fall in global stock markets.