Index Trends and Stocks In Action For 17th January 2013

Markets snapped their two day winning streak to end lower, as traders booked profits in rate sensitive stocks after hopes of a rate cut remained mysterious on comments from the RBI governor that “Inflation is not in its comfort zone”. The Nifty ended the day in the red. It closed down by 0.90% at 6002. The bias is still in favor of the bulls as long as they hold on to the levels of 5935 on a closing basis. Going forward the Nifty is likely to seek support around 5970-5945 levels. While resistance comes in at 6037 and 6065.

Germany's Heidelberg Cement has commissioned the first phase of its planned expansion. This will take its production to 5 MTPA. In 2006, the company had acquired Mysore Cement which had a capacity of 3.1 MTPA. It is also enhancing its capacity in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh to raise it to 6 MTPA. It has invested a total of Rs 1400 crore in these expansions and the stock is expected to remain in the limelight today following the disclosure of these developments.

Gammon Infrastructure has bagged a contract for the construction of a coal handling terminal at the Mormugao Port in Goa. The company has offered Mormugao Port a revenue share of 33.66% in this terminal. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 300 crore with a capacity of 2.33 million tonnes per annum. The company is also in the race to develop a minor port near Jamnagar, in Gujarat. The developments coming to light will see the Gammon Infrastructure stock remain in focus for the day.

Havells India will double the production capacity of its Baddi plant in Himachal Pradesh to 10 lakh stock keeping units per day in the next 6-9 months. The company has not shared how much of money it will invest to carry out this expansion. This expansion will basically be intended towards meeting the growing demand of consumers and also increasing the market share over the next one year. The Stock of Havells is likely to remain volatile for the day.

Coal India, in order to meet its obligations under the fuel supply agreements may finally start importing coal in the current fiscal itself. The company has received a requisition for 5 million tonnes of coal to meet which it would resort to imports. This requisition has come from customers in Andhra Pardesh and some private players. We expect the stock of Coal India to remain volatile for the day.

Some of the major companies announcing their Q3FY13 results today include Infotech Enterprises, Hero Motocorp, HCL Technologies, Federal Bank and Exide Industries. These stocks are likely to remain volatile for today.