Stocks In Action For 3rd September 2012

According to media reports, Tech Mahindra announced that it would buy Hutchison Whampoa’s call centre business which is worth USD 100-120 million. What gives the speculation some basis is that Tech Mahindra is holding a press conference today to make a strategic announcement. The stock is expected to see volatility today with an upward bias.

Kingfisher Airlines is taking steps towards optimising their operations by working on their headcount and other human resource variables. Other measures listed by the company to work towards optimisation include schedule efficiency, working on the branding, revising sales and distribution among others. With some action towards sustained improvement in operations, the stock may see an upward trend today.

Ashok Leyland reported a 30.40 per cent increase in sales volume of Commercial Vehicles for the month of August 2012 over the corresponding month in the previous year. This jump in sales will be accompanied with an upward trend in stock prices today.

To revamp the affected export sales in Sri Lanka due to an increase in duties, the sales of Hero Motors were drastically affected in the last few months. The company has now announced the appointment of ABANS Group as its sole distributor to sell products in Sri Lanka through a channel of 50 outlets. It also started working on the branding and introduction of models to strengthen sales. The company also plans to make an entry into other emerging markets to boost sales and mark an international presence. The stock prices of Hero may see some upward momentum today.

According to Business Standard, State-owned miner Coal India (CIL) has chalked out a whopping Rs 59,400 crore capex programme for the current Five Year Plan period ending March, 2017 including Rs 25,000 crore for overseas acquisitions. With this, the stock may see positivity in today’s trading session.

According to Economic Times, engineering major L&T’s construction arm, L&T Construction, has bagged orders worth Rs 1,063 crore across various business segments in August. The company has won a Rs 377 crore order from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for constructing an elevated viaduct and stations, part of Phase III of the Delhi metro project. In its railway business segment, the company has bagged a Rs 212 crore order from Rail Vikas Nigam. This is for doubling the Rewari-Manheru section in the Bikaner division of the North Western Railway.

According to Business Standard, the aviation sector shares of Jet Airways and Spice witnessed downward action yesterday and may continue this trend in today’s trade also after the state-owned oil marketing companies hiked jet fuel price by 7.6 per cent from Friday midnight due to firm international oil prices and a weakening of the rupee against the dollar. Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline’s operating costs and the increase in prices will put a fresh burden on the cash-strapped airlines. Due to this the airline stocks would continue facing pressure and the stocks may remain volatile in today’s trade.