Index Trends & Stocks In Action for 12th February 2013

The markets on Monday witnessed a choppy session. The Nifty moved in narrow range of 20 points. And ended lower for the eighth straight day, weighed down by profit booking in Consumer durables and IT. At end of the day it closed 5 points down at 5897.  Going ahead the Nifty has a strong support at 5880 and 5820 levels. On the higher side resistance will come in at 5925-5950.

Apollo Hospitals is likely to witness some volatility after reports that private equity firm Apax has sold its holding in the company. Apax has been reported to have offloaded 6.385 million shares of the company at an average price of Rs 830 per share valuing the deal at Rs 530 crore. Keep an eye on this stock which was down by a quarter of a percent yesterday. We expect some action in this counter to continue over today.

Sugar stocks seem to be coming into the limelight once again. After talks of price decontrol on the commodity buoyed up the overall sentiment for the sector, here is some stock specific action that is expected. Shree Renuka Sugars is reported to be planning a refinery in Sri Lanka. It has reportedly signed an agreement with the Board of Investment, a state investment arm of Sri Lanka for setting up a sugar refinery complex at Hambantota in the south. Watch out for this stock today, as the development is likely to keep it in focus among traders and investors.

The Governments’ announcement that the Nalco divestment will be held after the budget will keep the stock in action today. It is expected to bring in as much as Rs 1400 crore for the government in the first week of March itself.

Cipla’s flip flop on acquiring a controlling stake in South African generic drug maker Cipla Medpro is likely to keep the stock in a very volatile mood today. It has reportedly put on hold a USD 215 million bid it made for acquiring the stake. The management hasn’t come out with why it had put on hold the bid to acquire the stake and this could bring in some nervousness in the counter.

Another drug maker likely to remain in focus today is Pfizer. In what is termed as yet another setback for multinational pharmaceutical companies intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board has rejected the company’s patent claim on Sutent (Sunitinib) which is used in the treatment of liver and kidney cancer.