Opening Bias
The Indian equity markets may start the week on a positive note as investors on D-Street shift their focus to the March quarter earnings from FMCG major Hindustan Unilever and telecom incumbent Bharti Airtel, amongst many others. The SGX Nifty is trading up by 15 points at 5,223, indicating a gap up opening to the markets today.
| Benchmark Indices |
|---|
| Index | Closing | % Change |
|---|
| SENSEX | 17187.34 | 0.31 |
| NIFTY | 5209.00 | 0.35 |
| Dow Jones | 13228.31 | 0.18 |
| S&P 500 | 1403.36 | 0.24 |
| NASDAQ | 3069.2 | 0.61 |
| Bovespa | 61691.21 | -0.81 |
| FTSE | 5777.11 | 0.49 |
| DAX | 6801.32 | 0.91 |
| CAC | 3266.27 | 1.14 |
| LIVE |
| Hang Seng | 20942.31 | 0.97 |
| Nikkei | 9520.89 | 0.00 |
| Shanghai | 2396.32 | 0.00 |
Last week, the Indian equity markets ended on a negative note as investor sentiments were impacted by the so-called unwarranted downgrade by rating agency Standard & Poor (S&P). However, the scenario on the global front looks a bit optimistic as the US Fed is expecting improvement in its growth prospects. The Fed in its latest meet, while leaving the door open for further stimulus measures in the US economy, said that the labour and housing markets have shown some signs of recovery and the overall growth in the economy will pick up gradually and moderate soon.
Back home, the markets have also shown some resilience to the bad news from the S&P downgrade and not reacted in a very sharp manner. Despite the spate of negative news flow during the week, the markets have managed to perform better than expected. While one would have usually expected a sell-off at such times, the markets have surprised many by remaining strong.
| Currency Rates |
|---|
| Particulars | Rs/$ | Rs/Euro | Rs/GBP | Rs100/JYP |
|---|
| RBI Rate | 52.6813 | 69.3815 | 85.1224 | 65.1800 |
| Future | 52.8825 | 69.9700 | 85.7325 | 65.5125 |
Going forward, it seems that the Indian equity markets would track vital cues from the global markets as well as our very own March quarter earnings’ season. Amongst the many corporates expected to announce their March quarter numbers, we believe that the markets would keenly await the earnings from HUL and Bharti Airtel, which could help shrug off some negative concerns over a lingering taxation burden on FIIs and the rating downgrade from S&P due to which the markets tanked last week.
| Key Global Indicators |
|---|
| Particulars | Gold (Rs/10gm) | Crude ($/bbl) |
|---|
| Spot | 28976 | 119.83 |
| % change | - | -0.16 |
| Future | 29107 | 104.75 |
| % change | 0.08 | -0.17 |
In conclusion, for today we see the markets recovering from last week’s fall but would advise investors to remain cautious going ahead. With the March quarter results’ season picking up pace, one has keep a close track of stocks which are going to announce their March quarter results since the management guidance will provide cues for the stock as well as for the sector.
Stocks In Action
In a setback to state-owned HPCL, the Andhra Pradesh government has cancelled the land allotted to the company for setting up its proposed Rs 45,000 crore petrochemical complex at Visakhapatnam due to delay in executing the project. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) was allotted 1,500 acres in 2007 for setting up the petrochemical complex in the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) coming up between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam on the east coast.
After keeping away from lending to realty developers for over a year following the bribes-for- loans scam, LIC Housing Finance (LICHF) plans to push up on the segment and is targeting to double disbursals in the high-margin area in the current fiscal.
The net profit of State Bank of Travancore (SBT), an associate of SBI, fell to Rs 510.46 crore in 2011-12 against Rs 727.73 crore in the previous year. The bank, however, registered a growth of 6.19 per cent in operating profit at Rs 1,249 crore against Rs 1,176 crore last year. The fall in net profit was attributed to various factors like additional provisions for staff, NPA and income tax payment.
The Rajasthan government has scrapped tenders worth Rs 12,000 crore that were bagged by Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) more than a year ago for two separate thermal power projects in the state. Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RVUN), a state government company, has scrapped the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) tenders for the upcoming new super-critical units of Suratgarh and Chhabra thermal power stations, sources said. RVUN cancelled the separate tenders floated for two 660 MW units - each for Suratgarh and Chhabra respectively without specifying any particular reasons, sources added.
The promoter holding in Vijay Mallya-led UB Group’s Kingfisher Airlines has slipped below the psychological level of 50 per cent for the first time in about four years. While over 90 per cent of the promoters’ total shares in the troubled air carrier are pledged with the lenders, their total holding has now dropped to 47.28 per cent from 50.20 per cent at the end of the last quarter ended March 31, 2012. After taking into account the shares pledged by the promoters, their total holding of non-encumbered shares account for a mere 4.67 per cent stake in Kingfisher Airlines, as per the latest shareholding data filed by it with the BSE.
To cash in on the burgeoning sales of lifestyle products, Bajaj Finance has forayed into financing of products like furniture, home furnishings, fitness equipment, luxury watches, etc at zero per cent interest.
Competition watchdog CCI has approved the proposal of HSBC to acquire the retail and commercial assets of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS NV) and the wealth management business of RBS Financial Services (RBS FSPL) in India. In an order, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) noted that HSBC and RBS FSPL have relatively very few branches in India and there was a presence of a large number of banks that provide services similar to the services provided by HSBC, RBS NV and RBS FSPL
The Indian government will kick-start its disinvestment programme for the current fiscal from June with stake sale in steel major Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) through an initial public offering (IPO) that could fetch about Rs 2,500 crore to the exchequer.
After going slow on the international launches of its sports utility vehicle to meet the domestic demand, auto major Mahindra & Mahindra is gearing up to introduce XUV500 in Italy, Australia and Chile soon.
Maruti Suzuki beat street expectations on Saturday as its fourth quarter net profit fell lower than expected by 3 per cent from a year ago to Rs 640 crore, helped by a rebound in sales and a surge in other income. The net sales for the three-month period were up by 17 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,486.4 crore
Corporate Action
| Stocks Paying Dividend (Ex-Date) |
|---|
| Scrip Name | Action | Rs |
|---|
| Disa India | Dividend | 200 |
| Corp Action |
|---|
| Scrip Name | Action | Ratio |
|---|
| ARIH SUPER | Rights Issue | 1:2 |
| BSE Institutional Turnover |
|---|
| | FII | DII |
|---|
| Trade Date | Buy | Sales | Net | Buy | Sales | Net |
|---|
| 28-Apr-12 | 6.20 | 0.03 | 6.17 | 8.89 | 19.57 | -10.68 |
| 27-Apr-12 | 2,078.31 | 2,454.53 | -376.22 | 967.17 | 824.61 | 142.56 |
| 26-Apr-12 | 3,356.74 | 3,732.82 | -376.08 | 1,491.42 | 1,427.93 | 63.49 |
| April , 12 | 35,629.27 | 37,765.99 | -2,136.72 | 18,373.91 | 17,354.77 | 1,019.14 |
| FII DERIVATIVES STATISTICS FOR 28-April-2012 |
|---|
| | Buy | Sell | OI (End of day) | Net Position |
|---|
| Particulars | Rs (crore) | Rs (crore) | No. of contracts | Rs (crore) | Rs (crore) |
|---|
| Index Futures | 17.28 | 2.77 | 329239 | 8568.89 | 14.52 |
| Index Options | 30.63 | 0.00 | 952938 | 24818.36 | 30.63 |
| Stock Futures | 9.93 | 5.70 | 796483 | 20246.61 | 4.23 |
| Stock Options | 0.00 | 0.00 | 17800 | 466.37 | 0.00 |
| Total | 57.85 | 8.47 | 2096460 | 54100.22 | 49.38 |