Growth Of Jobs In IT Sector Has Fallen - Jan 23,2009

The growth of jobs created in India''s IT sector has fallen by 46 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 as against the quarter ended December 2007, with the Satyam case further denting the sentiment, according to a study. The sector during this period has witnessed a growth rate of 484 per cent growth rate, industry body Assocham has said.

The study said in October-December 2008, in three sectors together - IT, financial services and hospitality, the number of jobs created fell by 38 per cent as against preceding quarter of the previous year. While on the other hand, employment creation registered a growth rate of 124 per cent in the July-September period, while it posted 238 per cent growth in April-June. However, most of the sectors during October-December 2008 were reeling under the global recession along with the lack of demand, and credit crunch at the domestic front, which has adversely affected growth of jobs. Apart from this, in the wake of recent Stayam incidents, the employment outlook in the sector stands bleak in the coming months as well.

The study also said that not only this sector but also the financial services sector, including mutual funds, brokerage firms and investment advisory units, has been significantly affected by the global meltdown. During October-December, its growth dipped to 21 per cent as compared to 13 per cent in the third quarter.

Mkts Shed Some Gains @ 10:44 Hrs

PSU, realty, auto, capital goods and power stocks have moved up sharply this morning. There are smart gains for select oil, FMCG, metal, pharma and bank stocks as well. Consumer durables and information technology stocks have drifted lower due to lack of support.

The Sensex, which shot up to a high of 17,480.74 earlier in the day, has drifted down to 17,412.21 now, but remains in the positive territory with a marginal gain of 33.75 points or 0.19%. At 5210.60, around 20 points down from a high of 25230.75 it had touched earlier this morning, the Nifty is up 0.29% or 15.10 points over its previous closing mark.

Besides a number of large cap stocks, several midcap and smallcap stocks have also risen sharply on strong buying enquiries this morning. Thanks to widespread buying, the market breadth remains pretty strong at present.

MMTC, the biggest gainer in the PSU index, is up by 5% at Rs 29,845.85. NMDC has notched up a gain of 3.5%. Rural Electrification Corporation, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have gained 2% - 2.5% on sustained buying support. Maruti Suzuki, Unitech, SAIL, Suzlon Energy, NTPC, Tata Power, Reliance Petroleum, GAIL India, DLF and BPCL have also moved up sharply.

Siemens, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Zee Entertainment, ITC, Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Power Grid, Cairn India, BHEL, State Bank of India and ABB have posted modest gains.

Realty stock Mahindra Lifespace has vaulted more than 10% to Rs 542. Puravankara Projects has gained 6.15% at Rs 286. Ansal Infrastructure has gained 5.4%. Sobha Developers (3.65%), Akruti City (2.7%), HDIL (2.55%), Omaxe (2.4%), Unitech (2.4%), Parsvnath Developers (1.45%) and Penland (01%) have also risen sharply. India Bulls Real Estate is up with a modest gain of 0.65%.

Indian Shares Rise 1 Pct In Early Deals

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares rose as much as 1 percent in early deals on Friday morning, led by top mobile operator Bharti Airtel Ltd, but high inflation kept investors wary ahead of a central bank policy review next week.

Shares in Bharti Airtel rose more than 6 percent to their highest since Feb. 7 after it beat expectations with a 37 percent rise in March quarter net profit, as it added more users in the world's fastest growing mobile market.

Data due around noon (0630 GMT) is expected to show annual inflation at 7.38 percent as at April 12, up from the previous week's 7.14 percent. In late March, inflation hit a three-year high of 7.41 percent.

"Traders should watch out for the inflation numbers today, which is a major cause of concern coupled with RBI policy meet on 29th April," brokerage IndiaInfoline said in a client note.

"Till then, investors should remain on the fringes and do selective buying in large-cap scrips," it said.

Analysts are divided on whether the Reserve Bank of India will raise interest rates at its monetary policy review on April 29 to fight inflation.

Last week, the central bank announced a 50 basis point rise in the proportion of deposits that banks must keep with it.

At 10:15 a.m., the benchmark BSE 30-share index was up 0.73 percent or 121.93 points at 16,843.01, with 18 components gaining. It is still down 17 percent in 2008.

In the broader market 982 gainers beat 624 losers on volume of more than 42 million shares.

No. 2 lender ICICI Bank rose 1.6 percent to 890 rupees ahead of its quarterly results on Saturday which analysts expect will show a 10 percent rise in net profit, its slowest growth in four quarters.

Shares in top private firm Reliance Industries Ltd rose 0.6 percent to 2,596.05 rupees after it said the government had approved a plan to produce oil and gas from a field in its block off the east coast of India.

Key companies reporting results next week include Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Reliance Energy Ltd and top lender State Bank of India.

The 50-share NSE index was up 0.85 percent at 5,042.55.

Elsewhere in the region, Karachi's 100-Share index was down 0.11 percent at 15,287.83 points, while Colombo's All-Share index had gained 0.2 percent to 2,682.98.

Market Opens Marginally Higher.

The market today opens marginally higher and suddenly turned volatile within a few minutes of trading. The buying momentum is seen in the Realty, Capital Goods Auto and Pharma stocks. However, the Metal, Bank and Consumer Durables stocks are reeling under pressure in the opening trade. The broader market however outperformed the benchmark index in the opening trade.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1134 stocks are advancing whereas 653 stocks are declining on BSE.

At 10.30AM, the BSE Sensex was down by 33.78 points at 16,750.08 while the Nifty was marginally up by 2.20 points to 5,051.50.

The BSE Mid Cap increased by 57.78 points to 7,095.41 and the BSE Small Cap advanced by 21.16 points to 8,819.24.

DLF reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack. It is trading with a gain of 2.23% at Rs.689.45 while Tata Steel reported the top loser down by 2.51% at Rs.761.30.

BSE Realty index surged by 240.29 points to trade at 8,146.43. The major gainers are India Bull Real, Ansal Infra, Omaxe Ltd. and Unitech grew by (5.56%), (4.18%), (3.35%) and (3.74%) to Rs.529.10, Rs.170.75, Rs.231.40 and Rs.291 respectively.

BSE Capital Goods index advanced by 150.58 points to trade at 14,079.29. The top gainers are Praj Industries inclined by (4.33%) to Rs.183, L&T increased by (1.61%) at Rs.2,967.55 followed by Bharat Electrical and BEML up by (1.41%) and (0.83%) to Rs.1,250 and Rs.1,105.

Ranbaxy Laboratories is trading higher by (0.30%) at Rs.489. The company has decided to enter into a business alliance with Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, rather than mount a hostile takeover bid through an open offer by wholly-owned subsidiary Solrex Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Indian Stocks Resume Fall, Down More Than 12 pct

MUMBAI, Jan 22 - Indian shares resumed their fall soon after trading restarted following an automatic halt, with the main BSE index down 12 percent and the larger 50-issue index down more than 14 percent on the day.

By 11:53 p.m or 0623 GMT, the 30-share BSE index was down 12.71 percent or 2,238.0 points at 15,367.37, with all its components in the red.

The NSE index was down 14.20 percent or 739.45 points at 4,469.35.

Trading on The Bombay Stock Exchange had been halted for one hour after a sharp fall in opening deals triggered automatic circuit breakers.

If the market extends its fall to 15 percent before 1 p.m. (0730 GMT), trade will halted for two hours. If the 15 percent fall occurs between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., trading would be halted for one hour, and after 2 p.m. trading would be halted for the rest of the day.

If the 15 percent limit was triggered before 2 p.m. and trade resumed, a fall of 20 percent would then shut the market for the day.