Index Trends & Stock In Action For 2nd May 2013

The Indian markets saw a volatile trading session on Tuesday but managed to close in green led by strong gains in FMGC major HUL following a stake hike by its parent company, Unilever PLC. The National Stock Exchange’s 50 share index closed up by 26 points at 5930. As we mentioned in our last write up, the Nifty is looking in good shape and every dip should be used to build up a long position the Nifty. It took support around 5870-5860 and bounced back to the day’s high. Going forward, on the higher side, the Nifty needs to sustain above levels of 5980-6000 for a fresh up-move. At the same time, support for the Nifty is at around levels of 5880-5850.

NTPC has crossed a major hurdle by securing an approval for its Rs 11640 crore Madhya Pradesh project from the environment ministry. Once commissioned, the project will add 1600 MW to the company’s current capacity. Since the order of the main plant equipment was already placed with BHEL, this stage had become crucial for NTPC. Certain conditions set for the project are caps on Sulphur and ash content used in the coal to be used, check on gas emissions and monitoring of the water quality of Narmada river. Stock prices of NTPC are likely to see some upward movement on having crossed this hurdle.

Automobile manufacturers released their sales numbers yesterday. However, since markets were closed yesterday, these numbers are likely to affect the respective stocks in today’s trading session. Maruti Suzuki’s sales declined by 3% YoY and Tata Motor’s by 14.85%. Mahindra & Mahindra posted an increase in sales by 1.76%, which is way lower than its usual growth rate. All these stocks are expected to remain under pressure today.

Among two-wheelers Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor announced their April 2013 sales volume figures. Hero reported a YoY decline of 9.51%. TVS too displayed a dismal performance with a drop of 5% YoY in April 2013. Both, Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor are likely to remain under pressure today.

Finolex Cables announced its Q4FY13 results yesterday. The company reported a growth of 5% in net sales to Rs 625.4 crore, on YoY basis. The net profit of the company declined by 13% to Rs 38.7 crore, on a yearly basis. This is likely to negatively impact the stock prices of Finolex Cables today.

Alembic Pharma, Andhra Bank, AstraZeneca Pharma, Automotive Axles, Bharti Airtel, Canara Bank, Gujarat Pipavav Port, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mangalam Cement, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank and Tube Investments of India are expected to announce their quarterly numbers today. Shares of these companies are likely to remain volatile today. Their directional trend will be dependent on the results they announce.