Tuesday 7 October 2008

Reliance Industries plunges 7%

Reliance Industries has touched a 52-week low of Rs 1,558. At 10:12 am, the share was quoting at Rs 1,558.25, down Rs 117.15, or 6.99%.

It was trading with volumes of 229,862 shares. Yesterday the share closed up 2.04% or Rs 33.50 at Rs 1,675.40

Source: MoneyControl

Block deal in JP Associates, stk hits 52-week low

Jaiprakash Associates has touched a 52-week low of Rs 93. At 10:03 am, the share was quoting at Rs 94.55, down Rs 6.4, or 6.34%.

There was a block deal of 2 crore JP Associates shares on BSE at Rs 94.10 per share, reports CNBC-TV18.

It was trading with volumes of 162,692 shares. Yesterday the share closed up 0.60% or Rs 0.60 at Rs 100.95.

Source: MoneyControl

Indiabulls Real declares result, stk down 10%

Indiabulls Real Estate has touched a 52-week low of Rs 116.25. At 10:10 am, the share was quoting at Rs 117.90, down Rs 13.3, or 10.14%.

The company's Q2 net profit was at Rs 8 crore versus Rs 34 crore, YoY, reports CNBC-TV18.

It was trading with volumes of 102,879 shares. Yesterday the share closed down 9.42% or Rs 13.65 at Rs 131.20.

Source: MoneyControl

HDIL touches a 52-week low

Housing Development and Infrastructure, HDIL has touched a 52-week low of Rs 108.10. At 11:04 am, the share was quoting at Rs 108.50, down Rs 18.55, or 14.6%.

It was trading with volumes of 653,87 shares. Yesterday the share closed down 8.43% or Rs 11.70 at Rs 127.05.

Source: MoneyControl

Be ready for a long bear mkt: IL&FS Investsmart

Vibhav Kumar of IL&FS Investsmart feels investors are in for a longer bear market than earlier expected. “The force with which the Nifty broke the 3.800 level showed how important a level it was.” Kumar said that global financial crisis is once-in-a-lifetime and that the best of analysts cannot predict its fallout. “It’s difficult to predict the market range given the situation that we are in,” Kumar said.

Source: MoneyControl

FIIs maintain cautious view on Indian IT

With earnings season round the corner, Goldman Sachs said it has trimmed the Indian IT sector’s FY09 dollar revenue and EPS estimates by 2% and has cut the price targets by an average of 30%, reports CNBC-TV18.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley said that warning signs indicate, that worst is yet to come for the Indian IT services. It said though the dramatic slowdown in business conditions is not fully priced in, yet it maintains cautious view on the sector, the report added.

Meanwhile, a Cowen IT survey sees high probability of freeze in technology spending and funding, reports CNBC-TV18. The freeze could last for many quarters, the survey found. It maintains the offshore sector's positive long-term prospects.

With reference to earnings, the survey revealed that it is difficult to call a bottom on contraction in price to earnings multiples. The technology companies may see earnings misses for the September quarter, the survey said. The companies may see further revenue and earnings per share reductions for next two quarters, it added. It maintains outperform on Infosys for the six-twelve month horizon.

Source: MoneyControl

Brokers bullish on Balrampur Chini, Hind Unilever

Goldman Sachs has downgraded Satyam to neutral rating, with a target of Rs 311

Goldman Sachs has downgraded TCS to sell rating, with a target of Rs 559

Goldman Sachs has downgraded Wipro to sell rating, with a target of Rs 285

Credit Suisse has maintained underperform rating on SBI, with a target of Rs 993

Morgan Stanley has maintained overweight rating on Bharti, with a target of Rs 993

Macquarie has maintained overweight rating on L&T, with a target of Rs 1708

India Infoline has maintained reduce rating on India Cement, with a target of Rs 122

HDFC Sec has maintained buy rating on Balrampur Chini, with a target of Rs 126

Sharekhan has kept buy rating on Hind Unilever, with a target of Rs 280

Source: MoneyControl

Buy NTPC at Rs 165-151: N Pillai

Neppolian Pillai of Modern Shares & Stock Brokers is of the view that one can buy NTPC at Rs 165-151.

Pillai told CNBC-TV18, "The best price to buy NTPC will be Rs 165-151 band where it actually moved up from. That is the level I would target, if it comes there I would buy into."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst nad his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy ABB at Rs 680-620: N Pillai

Neppolian Pillai of Modern Shares & Stock Brokers is of the view that one can buy ABB at Rs 680-620.

Pillai told CNBC-TV18, "Capital Goods sector is still holding up. When we came for the monthly check, we said two sectors are still strong enough to withstand this fall those are capital goods and banking. ABB becomes part of that, I think Rs 680-620 is the range that I would put try to buy in, being a contrarion, for a probable target of about Rs 780. In today’s carnage that could be one pick apart from L&T; Rs 950 to about Rs 915 is the target that we are looking for Larsen. If it comes there, we are likely to put in a buy trade. Do not give up on this stock from the capital good sector as of now."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst nad his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Infosys Q2 net seen up 9.6% to Rs 1427.5 cr

Infosys Technologies is to announce its second quarter FY09 numbers. According to CNBC-TV18 estimates, its net profit is seen going up by 9.6% to Rs 1427.5 crore from Rs 1302 crore (QoQ). (Guidance reported at Rs 1345–Rs 1370 crore)

Its revenues are expected to go up by 9.7% to Rs 5327.3 crore from Rs 4854 crore. (Guidance was at Rs 5229–Rs 5272 crore)

EBIDTA is likely to go up by 14.1% to Rs 1686.9 crore versus Rs 1479 crore. Margin is likely to improve to 31.7% from 30.5%.

EPS is seen at Rs 24.95 versus 22.75 (Guidance reported at Rs 23.52–Rs 23.95)

Source: MoneyControl

Metals, realty, IT, cap goods witness heavy sell-off

There was a whiff of panic in Wednesday's trading as selling triggered more selling, and investors simply dumped shares in order to obtain ca
sh. All sectoral indices were languishing in the negative terrain with metals, technology, realty and capital goods were the worst hit.

Non ferrous stocks like Sterlite Industries hit a 52-week low of Rs 280.7 within minutes of opening of trade on Wednesday. Similarily, Hindalco touched a 52-week low in early Wednesday trade at Rs 91.8. Brokers point out that the street is concerned that a potential recession in the USA in the short term, could put further pressure on LME non-ferrous prices over the next few quarters. Also, contributing to lacklustre interest in the non-ferrous metal sector is the uncertainty regarding the subscription levels for the current rights issue of Hindalco. The BSE Metal Index slumped 7.06 per cent to 7,001.76.

Among technology stocks, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro had their stock rating cut to 'sell' from 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs revised Satyam Computer Services' rating from 'buy' to 'neutral'. Tata Consultancy dropped to its 52-week low to Rs 516.95, down nearly 9 per cent, Wipro fell 6.59 per cent, Satyam declined 9.78 per cent and Infosys Technologies shed 6.1 per cent.

The real estate pack collapsed sending the BSE Realty Index nearly 8 per cent lower. Indiabulls Realty, down 13.03 per cent reached a 52-week low after the realtor
posted a 77 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit of Rs 7.89 crore for the quarter to Sep 30. Mahindra Life Sciences was down 11.35 per cent, Sobha Developers lost 9.64 per cent, HDIL shed 12.24 per cent while industry biggies Unitech and DLF were down more than 6 per cent.

Weighing on the BSE Capital Goods Index were Larsen and Toubro, down 5.86 per cent, slipped below Rs 1000 and was trading at Rs 949. Reliance Industrial Infrastructure lost 11.27 per cent, Suzlon Energy hit a fresh low of Rs 106.60, down 14.45 per cent and BHEL shed 4.33 per cent.

Source: EconomicTimes

Panic on Bernanke remark,Sensex below 11k

Markets opened sharply lower on Wednesday in line with other global markets following distressing comments from the US Federal Reserve Chairm
an Ben Bernanke.

He cautioned that downside risks to economic growth have worsened and signaled that policy makers are ready to lower interest rates as the credit freeze poses an escalating danger to the economy. He added that the world financial system is under 'extraordinary stress' and history shows that severe instability can take a heavy toll on the broader economy if left unchecked.

At 10:30 am, Bombay Stock Exchange’ Sensex broke crucial 11,000 level and was at day's low at 10,998.05, down 697.19 points or 5.96 per cent. It touched a low of 11,008.20 in opening trade. The benchmark heavyweights like Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies were down over 6 per cent.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 3397.60, down 209 points or 5.79 per cent. The broader index broke two important supports of 3500 and 3400 in trade so far.

BSE Midcap Index was down 5.37 per cent and BSE Smallcap index fell 4.29 per cent.

Sterlite Industries (-11.99%), Satyam Computer Services (-9.78%), TCS (-8.87%), Tata Power (-7.92%) and Jaiprakash Associates (-7.13%) were the major Sensex losers.

Source: EconomicTimes

Sensex drops over 600-pt on bad global cues; Metal melts - 8th October

Benchmark indices have opened with sharp cut in early trade following bad cues from global markets, as Bank of America pre-announced disappointing earnings, cautious comments from Ben Bernanke and IMF comments triggered heavy sell-off in US markets.

Selling pressure is seen across the board, all indices are in red. Major crack is seen in metal, technology, capital goods, realty, telecom, power, oil and banking stocks. Midcap and small cap stocks are witnessing huge beating on the bourses.

At 10:06 am, the Sensex fell 609 points to 11,085 and the Nifty dropped 170 points to 3,436. CNX Midcap fell 3.68% to 4,270.

Asian markets are trading sharply lower. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi, Taiwan and Jakarta fell 3-5.5%.

US markets plunged in the dying minutes of trade as comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to soothe jittery markets. Dow Jones lost about 508 points, a figure eerily similar to the close on black Monday in 1987. The Dow plunged 508.39 points, or 5.11%, to 9,447.11. The S&P 500 slipped 60.66 points, or 5.74%, to 996.23. The Nasdaq composite index lost 108.08 points, or 5.80%, to 1,754.88.

Source: MoneyControl

Market to open gap-down as financial crisis worsens

Stocks are headed for a downhill journey on Wednesday as the global financial crisis worsened after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's r
emarks indicated the central bank's record loans to unblock credit markets are insufficient to prevent a deeper economic downturn.

US stocks plunged on Tuesday in their fifth straight declining session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 508.39 points, or 5.11 per cent, to end at 9,447.11, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 108.08 points, or 5.8 per cent, to close at 1,754.88 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 60.66 points, or 5.74 per cent, to 996.23 - the first time the benchmark index has closed below the 1,000 level in more than five years.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did little to reassure markets when he cautioned that downside risks to economic growth have worsened. He signaled policy makers are ready to lower interest rates as the credit freeze poses an escalating danger to the economy. The world financial system is under 'extraordinary stress' and history shows that severe instability can take a heavy toll on the broader economy if left unchecked, Bernanke said.

Extending the global rout, Asian markets declined sending Hong Kong's Hang Seng below 16,000 for the first time in two years. The Nikkei slumped 4 per cent, Straits Times plunged 3.23 per cent, CSI 300 fell 2.08 per cent and Kospi lost 2.86 per cent.

Source: EconomicTimes

TCS sheds 7%

The TCS stock fell a whopping 6.7% to Rs 578 on Tuesday while in intra-day trading, it touched a 52-week low of Rs 567. Analysts at foreign brokerage houses point out that TCS generated nearly 43.6% of its consolidated FY08 revenues of $5.63 bn — approximately Rs 23,944 crore — from the banking, financial and insurance sector (BFSI).

In addition, TCS’ exposure to the financial sector in terms of generating revenues is the highest amongst the top 5 Indian IT companies, with Satyam at the lowest.

And given the current uncertainties in the global financial system due to the collapse of several iconic American and European institutions, market sources point out that punters are exiting from stocks like TCS in droves.

Punters on the Street point out that all eyes will be on this IT company’s quarterly results that will be announced shortly, in a bid to understand the impact of a possible slowdown in IT spending in USA on players, including TCS, which would be key to the future direction of TCS’ stock price.

Source: EconomicTimes

Tata Motors’ share price rides on Nano

With the news of the Ratan Tata’s dream car Nano’s mother plant to be set up at Sanand in Gujarat pouring in, Tata Motors share got the mu
ch-needed support. The news came as a breather for the the company’s falling scrip. The share price of Tata Motors which had been declining over the last 10 consecutive sessions closed on a positive note on Tuesday at Rs 316.60. Earlier, Tata Motors’ share had been declining and had come down from Rs 422.85 on September 19 to Rs 313.85 on October 6. The share had touched an all-time high of Rs 830 on November 10, 2007 after which it had been on the downswing.

However on Tuesday, despite a major market upheaval, the price of Tata Motors share remained stable. During the day, it touched a high of Rs 325.80.

Source: EconomicTimes

Foreign companies may be allowed to buy stocks from market

In a move that could step up capital flows, check the stock market slide and arrest depreciation of the rupee, the government may allow f
oreign companies to buy shares from the stock market. As of now, only FIIs are allowed to buy shares from the secondary market through stock exchange deals.

The department of industrial policy and promotion (Dipp) and the finance ministry are discussing a proposal to allow foreign investors — who usually operate through the FDI window — to access the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS), which is now open only for FIIs.

According to highly-placed government sources, the department of economic affairs (DEA) is consulting market regulator Sebi on the implications of clearing the proposal. “The Dipp does not have any objection to the proposal and the DEA is expected to firm up its views on the basis of Sebi’s comments,” the sources said. If the proposal goes through, a foreign company that has a joint venture in India can acquire the shares of the JV from the secondary market. Such stock market deals would mean that backing of Indian promoters would not be needed for a foreign company to hike its stake in a joint venture.

The move is significant since the government protects interests of Indian promoters of JVs by making it mandatory for the foreign partner to get a no-objection certificate before inventing another JV or a subsidiary in the same field of business. Over the years, the requirement has been relaxed and it does not apply to new joint ventures.

Source: EconomicTimes

Rupee falls to toward 6-year low early

The rupee fell towards a six-year low early on Wednesday as a sharp fall in Asian stocks intensified concerns about accelerated foreign fund
withdrawals.

At 9:03 a.m. (0333 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 48.28 per dollar, its lowest since Dec. 2, 2002. On Tuesday, it closed at 47.915/93.

Source: EconomicTimes

Asia stocks drop for 5th day on unending crisis

Asian stocks fell about 4 per cent, down for a fifth consecutive day, and government bond prices rose on Wednesday as fears of a looming
global recession grew with no sign of a coordinated response or an end to the worsening financial meltdown.

The yen climbed as investors clung to anything resembling stability after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned turmoil in markets could cause U.S. economic activity to be subdued into 2009 and signalled a readiness to cut interest rates.

"The deteriorating outlook for the economy and the deepening financial crisis are pushing fears to their limit," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Japan. Tokyo's Nikkei share average dropped 4.5 per cent, hitting a fresh 5-year low, taking losses for the past five days to 15 per cent.

Source: EconomicTimes

Liquidity pressure may ease in Nov

Bankers are betting on Rs 1,00,000-crore inflows into the banking system easing liquidity pressures by November.

According to bankers, about Rs 20,000 crore will be released in the next couple of days on account of the cash reserve ratio cut. Another Rs 25,000 crore will be the inflow due to farm loan waiver.

The government has promised to pay banks 63% of the farm loan waiver in cash in the first week of November. This means that out of Rs 54,000 crore of the waiver, Rs 25,000 crore will be credited to banks. A further Rs 20,000 crore will come back to banks as repayment of fertiliser loans. In the last week of August, banks had given loans of Rs 22,000 crore to fertiliser companies for three months which would be due in the last week of November.

The other factors, which will improve the liquidity position, are government spending and spending by government employees. Arrears to central government employees will be released before Diwali. This is estimated to Rs 20,000 crore, or 40% of the arrears which would be released in the first week of November. These factors alone would contribute about
Rs 87,000 crore.

Over and above, government spending is expected to take off in a big way in the last two quarters of this fiscal year.

Source: EconomicTimes

UK poised to unveil bank rescue plan: Report

Britain's government is poised to announce a "comprehensive" rescue package for the banking system, a news channel reported on Tuesday, incl
uding the possibility of injecting capital into banks.

"It will be big, it is the government's attempt to stabilize the banking system," BBC economics correspondent Robert Peston reported. "The Treasury has been working on the plan for weeks."

The plan is said to include provision for a stand-by facility that would effectively ensure that no banks would be able to run out of cash, he said.

Sky Television said the plan would be unveiled on Wednesday morning.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, and the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, held talks on the financial crisis on Tuesday evening.

Source: EconomicTimes

Asian markets plunge; Hang Seng, Nikkei down over 4.5%

Asian markets were tarding lower. China's Shanghai Composite lost 2.49% or 53.82 points at 2,104.01.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 4.72% or 793.85 points at 16,009.91.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled 4.54% or 460.78 points at 9,695.12.

Singapore's Straits Times fell 2.97% or 64.58 points at 2,112.97.

South Korea's Seoul Composite was down 2.83% or 38.6 points at 1,327.5.

Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted slipped 3.25% or 179.71 points at 5,344.95.

Source: MoneyControl

Wall St plunges on caution comments from Ben Bernanke

In the US markets, stocks plunged in the dying minutes of trade as comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to soothe jittery markets. Dow Jones lost about 508 points, a figure eerily similar to the close on black Monday in 1987.

Nasdaq, in fact was the worst hit with a drop of almost 6%. Interestingly the VIX, notched a second straight record, closing at nearly 54.

The Dow plunged 508.39 points, or 5.11%, to 9,447.11. The S&P 500 slipped 60.66 points, or 5.74%, to 996.23. The Nasdaq composite index lost 108.08 points, or 5.80%, to 1,754.88.

Source: MoneyControl

Day Trading Guide - October 8, 2008



ICICI Bank

Fresh short-position can be initiated if the stock declines below Rs 465, with tight stop-loss.

Infosys

The stock is testing the support level at Rs 1,300. We are negatively biased in this counter and recommend a sell for the session.

L&T

In the last trading session, the stock conclusively penetrated the significant support level of Rs 1,050 by plummeting 7 per cent, with high volume. We recommend a sell in this counter.

ONGC

The stock is experiencing selling pressure at higher levels. Utilise rallies to sell the stock with stop-loss at Rs 1,032 level.

Reliance Capital

On Tuesday, the stock was volatile and formed a spinning top candlestick pattern indicating indecisiveness. Avoid trading in this counter for the day.

Reliance Communications

We reaffirm our sell recommendation in this counter.

Reliance Industries

The stock is currently pausing. Sell the stock in rallies with tight stop-loss at Rs 1,750 level.

Satyam Computer

The near-term outlook is bearish for the stock. We recommend a sell.

SBI

Initiate fresh short-position only if the stock declines below Rs 1,375 with stiff stop-loss.

TCS

The stock penetrated the key support level of Rs 600 by declining 7 per cent. We recommend a sell.

Source: Hindu Business Line

Sell ITC



CMP: Rs 174.55

We recommend a sell in ITC from a short-term horizon. The chart of ITC depicts that it has been on an intermediate-term downtrend since its May peak of Rs 232. However, in July, the stock found support at around Rs 160 and made a corrective up move to Rs 195-level (retracing 50 per cent fibonacci retracement level of its prior decline). The stock encountered significant resistance at Rs 195 and resumed its downtrend during late September. Recently, the stock penetrated 21- and 50-day moving averages by tumbling 5 per cent. Moreover, on October 7, ITC broke through the support level of Rs 180 accompanied with high volume, reinforcing the downtrend. The daily and weekly relative strength indices are featuring in the bearish zone. The daily moving average convergence and divergence has entered the negative territory. The intermediate-term down trendline is still in place. We are bearish on the stock from a short-term perspective. We anticipate the stock to decline further and find support at our price target of Rs 157 in the approaching trading sessions. Traders with short-term perspective can sell the stock while maintaining a stop-loss at Rs 184.

Source: Hindu Business Line

Post Market Report - October 7, 2008

In dilemma

After gyrating 679 points during intra-day trades, the Sensex ended with marginal losses on selective buying.
The market seemed to indecisive today. It moved up the back of CRR cut and lifting of curbs on P-notes announced by RBI yesterday and slid down on falling markets across the globe.

The market displayed volatility and witnessed fluctuating trend during intra-day trades before selective buying towards the fag end saw the Sensex end with modest loss. Although the Sensex started on a firm note at 12,068, the market was choppy for a while before a strong bout of buying support lifted the index above the 12,150 mark to an intra-day high of 12,181. However, the gains faded by mid-morning trades on resumption of selling, with the index falling sharply in the afternoon to touch the day's low of 11,502. Sensex thereafter steadily erased its losses and finally ended the session with a loss of 106 points at 11,695, while Nifty added four points to close at 3,607.

The market breadth was extremely negative. Of the 2,683 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,822 stocks declined whereas 787 stocks advanced. Seventy four stocks ended unchanged. On sectoral front, the BSE Oil & Gas was the major gainer and moved up by 1.30% at 8,012, while BSE PSU and BSE Power were up around 0.50% each. However, the BSE CG, BSE IT, BSE Bankex, BSE FMCG and BSE FMCG were the main laggards. The remaining indices were marginally down.

Buying in select blue chips helped the index end in the positive territory. Among the gainers, NTPC gained nearly 4.27% at Rs175.90, Ranbaxy Laboratories added 3.88% at Rs256, BHEL jumped 3.26% at Rs1,496.70, Bharti Airtel jumped 2.66% at Rs749.05, Reliance Industries added 2.04% at Rs1,675.40 and Tata Steel moved up by 2.03% at Rs357.35. Reliance Infrastructure, Grasim Industries, Maruti Suzuki India, ONGC and Tata Motors ended with steady gains. Selling was witnessed in several frontline counters. Tata Consultancy Services shed 7.02% at Rs575.80, Larsen & Toubro dropped 6.94% at Rs1,008.10, Sterlite Industries declined 6.35% at Rs314.05, HDFC Bank fell by 6.17% at Rs1,127.70 and Mahindra & Mahindra lost 5.84% at Rs473 while Satyam Computer Services, Wipro, Tata Motors, ITC and State Bank of India ended with losses in the range of 1-4%.

Over 1.41 crore Reliance Natural Resouces shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Idea Cellular (1.18 crore shares), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (1.02 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum (82.07 lakh shares) and IFCI (77.66 lakh shares).

Source: Sharekhan

Some signs of buying at lower levels pretty encouraging

Here is a verbatim transcript of Udayan Mukherjee's comments on CNBC-TV18.

The market is very volatile this afternoon. At one point, it looked like we are going down under once again and from there a small recovery has been struck out. We can see many peaks and troughs in today’s trade. The start was good, and then we fell off, recovered again only to slip alarmingly in the last half an hour, but then coming back closer to 3,600.

Trade is still extremely choppy. Two big waves up and down have played out in today’s trade and some of the largecap names have come under quite a bit of selling pressure. So, we are not out of the woods, but choppiness maybe after such a fall is not such a bad thing.

The only good thing is that it manages to claw back somewhat from the intraday falls that we have seen and that is not too bad. At least we are seeing some amount of resistance at lower levels because in the last couple of days we haven’t even seen that.

It is still distressing to see the breadth of the market and how things have panned out there, and the kind of stock-specific selling, which has come through. But we are seeing a little bit of support coming in at least around 3,550 kinds of levels. Maybe after such a one-way fall this volatility is indicative of the fact that some amount of base building is happening, though it is difficult to say with any kind of conviction.

So, it is all over the place now. You don’t even know whether the Nifty pulls back and closes above 3,600 or loses a lot more ground in the last one hour and goes back to 3,500 levels. I don’t think any big technical levels are at play now. I don’t think traders have any big levels in mind that are sacrosanct that they are playing with. So, it is a bit of a free for all going on there. But there are at least some signs of buying at lower levels, which is encouraging.

Source: MoneyControl

Barclays, RBS in talks with European banks for funding

Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are in talks with European banks and the government for around USD 79 billion funding, reports CNBC-TV18, quoting reports. RBS CEO Fred Goodwin declined to comment on Government recapitalization, reports CNBC.

Amid talks, RBS fell 39% after ratings agency Standards & Poor’s cut the company's credit rating for the first time in almost a decade, the report said.

However, a Dow Jones report said Barclays has 'categorically not' requested capital infusion from the UK government.

Richard Morrish, Head of Research, MIG Investments said that the reason the two banks are considering recapitalization is because they have got a large number of short-term maturity bonds which they themselves had issued; will come into maturity up until the beginning of March. “And because of the credit crisis that is existing at the moment, it is very difficult to raise money in the corporate bond market,” he added.

Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with Richard Morrish on CNBC-TV18.

Q: We are hearing some concerning noises about banks like Royal Bank of Scotland etc- what are you hearing there over there about recapitalization programmes?

A: Yes, the situation with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Bank in the UK which are the two bigger high street clearing banks in the UK have approached the UK government asking for finance of 45 billion pounds, approximately USD 79 billion. The reason they had to do this is because they have got a large number of short-term maturity bonds which they themselves have issued which will come into maturity up until the beginning of March and because of the credit crisis that is existing at the moment it is very difficult to raise money in the corporate bond market. Hence the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Bank has gone to the UK government asking for a temporary facility to actually tide them through this process until the corporate bond markets upon up.

This is more of what the real issue of the credit crisis really. As the credit crisis has deepened and spread across from America into the European markets, it has tightened out the corporate bond market which thus makes it difficult for companies whether they are Barclays Bank or in fact any major company to actual be able raise financing. So the situation we are seeing is the banks which obviously we need to keep running, have found this closure of the corporate bond market as a bitterer pill for themselves as it is for all the major companies who are manufacturing companies and in the markets at the moment.

Q: What do you expect over the next couple of days in terms of news flow from Europe- do you think we will be presented with the kind of news flow that tumbled out of US a fortnight back, will things get as bad as that in Europe as well?

A: I think this is the thing people must bear in mind in the whole of the situation a lot of the European situation that have risen for European banks have actually had their root problems from the US subsidiaries of these banks. I think we are going to see a lot more tightening in the credit markets.

I have lived through three credit crisis and I can tell you that the current solutions that have been proposed from the US by cutting interest rate, is not the way you solve a fractured credit market. In fact you need interest rates to rise and it brings back savers and investment and that way you then stabilize the situation. So at the moment the Central Banks are going in the wrong direction. Having said that I think we are going to be in for a very turbulent equity markets over the course of this week and probably the next couple of months.

Certainly for the UK market in particular it could become a very-very pressured environment because they have to do something because UK has this big mortgage issue as the US has and in terms of debt per capita, the debt per capita is larger than that in the US. So UK could very much become a sharp focus for the markets ahead.

We have got the Bank of England meeting on Thursday; they are expected to cut interest rates. The market calls were for 25 bps, we believes they will cut at least a 100 bps and they may go in for a real ---cut of nearly 200 points but a 100 basis points is where we think they will go because they themselves are going to have to issue a lot of debt and obviously they want to do as cheaply as possible.

But I think what we will see is more flight to safety over the next week or so. The currencies that will benefit will obviously be the Swiss Franc to a degree and but the yen will be one of the major ones.

Source: MoneyControl

September slide: Shareholders lose Rs 2.3-lakh cr on US crisis

An estimated Rs 2.30-lakh-crore (Rs 2.30 trillion) of shareholders' wealth has been eroded in September following the meltdown in the US fina
ncial markets, leading rating agency Crisil has said.

The Indian equity market continued to slide in September with the S&P CNX NIFTY posting its second sharpest fall since January, declining around 10 per cent.

The fall in the US markets was, however, lower with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones declining by around 9 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, while emerging markets lost around 18 per cent during the month, Crisil said.

Pessimism in the financial markets following the filing for bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch's sell-off, the bail-out of AIG and perceived uncertainty around the US bail-out package added to investor fears, it said.
Investor sentiment was also affected on news of the possibility of Fortis filing for bankruptcy, indicating problems in the European financial markets as well.

"The BSE Realty Index and the BSE Metal Index were the most severely affected during the month, dropping by 32 per cent and 25 per cent respectively," Crisil Research, Head-Equities, Chetan Majithia, said. "Concerns over slowing demand in the real estate market due to a liquidity crunch and increased cost of funding weighed in on investor sentiment in the realty sector," he said.

Source: EconomicTimes

Where was our US bailout? asks Lehman's Fuld

Richard Fuld, the disgraced head of Lehman Brothers, said he would wonder "until they put me in the ground" why the US government did not rescue the 158-year-old Wall Street firm and claimed regulators knew the full scale of its condition far before its collapse.

Fuld said he took full responsibility for his actions ahead of the downfall of Lehman, but said US regulators were aware of everything at the firm and knew how it was pricing its distressed assets in the months prior to its bankruptcy.

Despite his acceptance of his role before the collapse, U.S. lawmakers expressed outrage to Fuld about Lehman on Monday, saying that Fuld, board members, regulators and Congress all shared blame for its downfall.

"I want to be very clear. I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took based on the information that we had at the time," Fuld told a congressional panel. "I feel horrible about what has happened to the company and its effects on so many."

Fuld said he did not know why the U.S. government chose to help other financial companies, but not Lehman as it hurtled toward disaster.

Several lawmakers asked why the government stepped in to help insurance company American International Group.

"Until the day they put me in the ground I will wonder," Fuld said in his first public comments since Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection. "I do not know why we were the only one" that was not rescued.

One day after Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection, U.S. authorities stepped in to rescue AIG with a plan to lend the insurer up to $85 billion. The panel will hear from former AIG executives on Tuesday.

Fuld said Lehman took steps to reduce its leverage as market conditions worsened and by Sept 10 it had reduced its balance sheet by close to $200 billion.

Federal prosecutors in New York are looking into whether Lehman executives misled investors by making upbeat comments during a conference call that day, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, and lawmakers grilled Fuld on those comments.

Five days later, Lehman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving three major investment banks. Since then, Merrill Lynch & Co agreed to be taken over by Bank of America Corp, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley said they would become commercial banks.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission loosely supervised the five largest investment banks, including Bear Stearns, for capital and liquidity levels. However, that supervision was voluntary, and the SEC ended that program given that those banks have either collapsed or reorganized.

Source: EconomicTimes

Indian IPO market witnessed just one IPO in the month of September

The Indian IPO market saw just one initial public offering making the mark in September, by wilting under the global financial crisis.
In the past six years, this is the first time during the month of September when the world's largest economy and capital market saw not a single IPO.

The white mineral manufacturer 20 Microns was the only firm in the Indian primary market, which bring out its IPO in September, even as the global crisis continued to take a lead on the local bourses. Though the issue was small received good response from investors that subscribed over four times. The issue price has been fixed at Rs 55 per share, the upper end of the price band.

As per the experts the primary market is witnessing a lull because of the bearish conditions in the secondary market that discouraging the firms to enter the capital markets.

This year US has seen the highest volume ever of IPOs which were withdrawn or postponed. As per Dealogic data, the volume of withdrawn or postponed IPOs from US issuers aggregated to $13.1 billion via 71 deals till August in 2008.

The Dealogic report also stated the global IPO volume reported a fall of 49 per cent to $97.2 billion in the first eights months this year from $188.8 billion in the same period in 2007.

EXCO Partners' IPO is the largest US IPO withdrawn or postponed this year, which was planning to enter the market with a $1.7 billion IPO along with Tommy Hilfiger's $750 million IPO.

According to president of Religare Securities, Amitabh Chakraborty "Certainly primary market is seeing a lull as it is becoming more difficult for companies to raise money in recent times. Given the current uncertainty and volatility we expect that companies which plan to raise large amount of money have to wait for some more period of time till sanity returns to the markets,"

Source: BusinessToday

NTPC shell out highest ever dividend of Rs 28.86 bn

NTPC has paid a total dividend of Rs 28.86 billion for the financial year (FY) 2007-08 which amounts to 35% of its paid up capital. This is the highest ever dividend declared by the company.

The shareholders of the company approved a final dividend of 8% amounting Rs 6.60 billion at the 32nd annual general meeting (AGM) of the company held on Sep. 17, 2008.

A cheque amounting Rs 5.90 billion was presented by R. S. Sharma, CMD, NTPC to Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Minister of Power, being share of Government of India (GoI) towards final dividend for the FY 2007-08 in New Delhi.

The company had earlier paid an Interim dividend of Rs 19.93 billion in February 2008.
Thus, NTPC has made a total dividend payment of Rs 25.83 billion to GoI for the FY 2007-08 as against Rs. 23.61 billion in the last FY 2006-07.

This is the 15th consecutive year that NTPC has paid dividend.

Shares of the company gained Rs 6.2, or 3.68%, to trade at Rs 175. The total volume of shares traded was 1,932,806 at the BSE (3.33 p.m., Tuesday).

Source: MyIris

Buy Suzlon Energy, target of Rs 194: Nirmal Bang

Nirmal Bang has assigned a buy rating on Suzlon Energy with a target of Rs 194 in its October 7, 2008 research report. "We expect Suzlon to report a CAGR of 38.5% during FY08 to FY12E in net sales on the back drop of strong order book position and significant expansion plans of the company. These coupled with unprecedented demand for wind energy will drive growth for the company going forward. We expect Suzlon to report net profit CAGR of 54.7% during FY08 to FY12E. We assign a buy rating on the stock with the target price of Rs.194.0 per share which is 12X FY10 Diluted EPS of Rs 16.16 implying an upside of 52.6% from current levels," says Nirmal Bang's research report.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: Moneycontrol

Reduce Jubilant Org, target of Rs 267: IIFL

IIFL has downgraded its rating on Jubilant Organosys from buy to reduce with a reduced target price of Rs 267 in its October 6, 2008 research report. "We are reducing our FY09 EPS estimate from Rs 11.8 to Rs 3.6, mostly to account for forex losses of 2QFY09. We are also cutting our core earnings estimates for FY09-11 by 2.5-11% and reducing our target price to Rs 267, 15x FY10ii core earnings,and downgrade the stock from BUY to REDUCE," says IIFL's research report.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: Moneycontrol

Buy Bank Of Baroda at Rs 270-272: Mathew

Technical Analyst, E Mathew is of the view that one can buy Bank Of Baroda at Rs 270-272. One could look for a medium-term target of Rs 330-340.

Mathew told CNBC-TV18, "Bank of Baroda is certainly outperforming but here I must add that I had noticed a new tendency in the market now. I guess the guys who are going short are now identifying those strong stocks and then they are coming and hitting it. But inspite of that I do feel that Bank of Baroda on declines maybe if there is a big panic and the stock declines to around Rs 270-272 zones could make for a good buy. Incidentally the Rs 270 is a strong support zone as of now and I do feel that fundamentally also it’s sound counter. But technically also if could get it around Rs 270-272 it could be a good buy. One could look for a medium-term target of Rs 330-340."

Source: Moneycontrol

Below Rs 1090, HDFC Bank may slip to Rs 950: Mathew

Technical Analyst, E Mathew is of the view that below Rs 1090 HDFC Bank may slip to Rs 950.

Mathew told CNBC-TV18, "HDFC Bank has unfortunately broken very important support zone. It should have never been quoting at this level and the fact that now its trading below Rs 1,200 and it’s dangerous. I am afraid the downward momentum is so much. We are almost near another important support of Rs 1,090. I sincerely hope Rs 1,090 holds out; it's an important support zone because in the event of that being broken, I am not trying to creating any panic but I guess people are in a mood to sell anything and everything. So temporarily and I am not saying it’s going to be a long-term phenomenon but temporarily if Rs 1,090 is broken you may find the stock drifting down to somewhere around Rs 950."

Source: Moneycontrol

Ignore technology space: Dhawan

Sajiv Dhawan of JV Capital Services is of the view that one should ignore technology space.

Dhawan told CNBC-TV18, "For the tech sector we have been saying ignore till results and that advice remains the same. I am not seeing any reason to go and buy these stocks. Too many people have been trying to play the sector based on the rupee movements and I don’t think that’s been a good strategy. One has to wait as it only a mater of few days now. Even if the stock moves up 5% in the next few days, you would get a clearer picture when the management speaks. It is a relatively transparent company and they would give an honest answer."

He further added, "Reliance has got to be one of the stocks, which are going to lead the market bounce back. It is barometer of sentiment for average retail investor who has it in his portfolio in whatever the quantities. So if I was going to buy, apart from the Nifty, Reliance, SBI, L&T; the stocks which corrected sharply today would be the first stocks I would buyback into after these sharp corrections. But again I would reiterate that don’t be aggressive at the moment. If you are buying the Nifty for a one-year time period, fine, but don’t try and pick Reliance or a stock for a 5% upmove."

"It is just not worth the risk and too many investors have had too much leverage. They have not managed to reduce that leverage and that’s adding to the pain in the markets. One is seeing some margin pressures from a lot of investors who have gone way beyond their limits and their capabilities and when the markets do bounce back, I am afraid a lot of these investors would be left out because they would just have no capital left to come back and trade again when the markets settle, whether that’s six-months or one-year from now."

Source: Moneycontrol

Reliance Cap can go up by Rs 50-75: Bhambwani

Technical Analyst, Vijay Bhambwani is of the view that Reliance Capital can go up by Rs 50-75.

Bhambwani told CNBC-TV18, "Reliance Capital is better poised to recover whenever the markets do bottom out or even go higher. From the current levels, the risk reward ratio is favouring the bulls over the next two-three week timeframe. I would not really be surprised to see Rs 50-75 upmove from here though the downsides may not be more than Rs 25-30."

Source: Moneycontrol

Stay out of Gujarat NRE: Bhambwani

Technical Analyst, Vijay Bhambwani is of the view that one should stay out of Gujarat NRE Coke.

Bhambwani told CNBC-TV18, "I am not really very gung-ho about Gujarat NRE Coke, I think the stock might be fairly weak looking at the way it has been behaving in the past couple of sessions."

He further added, "Welspun Gujarat with the markets yes, it could see some amount of a pullback rally tomorrow or day after whenever the markets do happen to pick up but certainly stay out of Gujarat NRE Coke."

Source: Moneycontrol

Buy engineering stocks with 6-8 months timeframe: Bhambwani

Technical Analyst, Vijay Bhambwani is of the view that one can buy engineering & capital goods stocks at lower level with a minimum of 6-8 months timeframe.

Bhambwani told CNBC-TV18, "I would feel comfortable with Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) maybe 4-5% lower from here because that’s when it will start getting into the oversold territory. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is a counter, which is holding out some promise although I would reduce my weightage on BHEL at these levels as compared to L&T at 5% lower levels from here but anything that you buy in this space has to be for delivery and with a minimum of 6-8 months timeframe, if not more."

Source: Moneycontrol

HDFC Bank likely to lead the sector up: Bhambwani

Technical Analyst, Vijay Bhambwani is of the view that HDFC Bank is likely to lead the banking sector up.

Bhambwani told CNBC-TV18, "The private sector banks will lead the way and I am completely biased in favour of HDFC Bank. This stock is likely to lead the sector up."

He further added, "From the PSU space, State Bank of India (SBI) and then Indian Bank in that order of preference seem better poised to lead a bounce back."

Source: Moneycontrol

DLF's Rs 1,100 cr buyback offer to start on Oct 15

Country's largest developer DLF on Monday said its Rs 1,100-crore buy back offer will start on October 15.


The buyback will open on October 15, this year and would close on July 9, 2009, that is 12 months from the date the board of directors approve the offer, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

However, the board in its absolute discretion may decide to close the buy-back at an earlier date if the minimum offer shares have been purchased under the buy-back, even if the maximum offer size has not been reached or the maximum offer shares have not been bought back, the company added.

In July, the company had announced its plan to buy back shares from existing shareholders at a price not exceeding Rs 600 a share.

The company is planning to buy a maximum of 22 million equity shares, or 11 per cent, of the 202 million shares held by the public. Post-buyback, the shareholding of the promoters would increase from 88.16 per cent to 89.32 per cent.

JM Financial and Merrill Lynch are the merchant bankers for the plan. "It is right time for the company to buy shares from shareholders as the stock is trading at low levels. The buyback was announced to bolster investors' confidence," said an analyst from a Mumbai-based brokerage.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 301.65, down 10.33 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Source: EconomicTimes

Stocks end higher amid high volatility

A day marked with extreme volatility; key indices flip-flopped between positive and negative territory to finally end with gains, as investor
s remained jittery about global economic woes even after liquidity boosting measures by regulators.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex ended 0.15 per cent or 17.54 points lower at 11,784.16 after swinging between a high of 12181.43 and low of 11501.85 intra-day.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty closed 1.04 per cent or 37.45 points higher at 3639.80. The index fell to a low of 3537 from a high of 3732.65.

Midcaps and smallcaps were relatively more affected. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended down 1.34 per cent and 1.54 per cent respectively.

Sectorwise, capital goods and technology stocks faced selling pressure. Oil & gas counters posted decent gains on the back of falling crude oil prices.

Larsen & Toubro (-6.72%), Sterlite Industries (-6.68%), Tata Consultancy Services (6.34%), HDFC Bank (5.82%) and Satyam Computer (-4.76%) were under severe pressure.

Ranbaxy Laboratories (5.09%), NTPC (4.8%), BHEL (3.57%), Bharti Airtel (2.47%) and Reliance Industries (2.39%) were the biggest Sensex gainers.

Market breadth remained weak. On BSE, 1802 declines outnumbered 809 advances.

Source: EconomicTimes

RBS shares fall 39% on talks of govt injecting $87 bn

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC plunged 39 per cent in early trading on Tuesday, as investors worried the British government is not doing enough to boost banks' balance sheets in the financial crisis.

Treasury chief Alistair Darling and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King met on Tuesday with the heads of Britain's biggest banks, according to two people familiar with the situation, who requested to remain anonymous because of the confidential nature of the meeting.

The talks, which included RBS's chief Fred Goodwin and Barclays PLC's John Varley, addressed possible government plans to inject as much as 50 billion pounds ($87 billion) in banks in order to shore up their balance sheets and restore confidence in the institutions.

However, the government did not go so far as to give details of how much or when the plan would come into effect, the sources said.

As a result, shares at other British banks began falling as soon as the London Stock Exchange opened on Tuesday morning. RBS' shares were hit the hardest, after having its credit rating downgraded by a leading credit agency on Monday, with falls of 39 percent to 90 pence (US$1.56). Financial regulators halted trading in the shares.

Source: EconomicTimes

Time right to pick large caps, invest in SIP/STPs

Amidst the pall of gloom in the markets, investors are advised to take an informed approach in managing their portfolio and not panic.

In the long term, equity as an asset class has historically beaten other classes. Data shows, between July 1999 and April 2008, BSE Sensex gave an annualised return of 16.5 per cent as against a return of 15.2 per cent if one invested in gold, 9.7 per cent in fixed income options like bank deposits and 3.9 per cent in liquid funds.

“Given the current market condition, long term investors should invest either through systematic investment plan or systematic transfer plan. It will give you the benefit of cost averaging in a volatile market,” says Maneesh Kumar, head-wealth management solutions, ASK Wealth Advisors.

The financial consulting firm sees good long term return potential in sectors like engineering, capital, oil and gas, and FMCG.

“Bearish phase is a part of the market cycle. The crisis situation in the market has also created an opportunity to pick up fundamentally strong large caps at an attractive level. Do not invest in mid-cap or small-cap stocks in this situation,” said Manish Sonthalia, vice president – equity strategy, Motilal Oswal.

Large cap stocks with good financials like Tata Steel (10.94%), BHEL (7.72%), Reliance Industries (6.80%), Bharti Airtel (3.77%) remain good buys for long term investors.

For those already invested substantially in the markets but now incurring mark to market losses, it is the right time to cost average looking at the earnings potential.

“Look at the earning visibility of the company you invested and then go for cost averaging. If you do not find any worth, stay invested till Sensex plunges back to 14,000 to 15,000 levels and then get out of the scrip,” counsels Sonthalia.

Motilal Oswal suggests investors take exposure in sectors like telecom and capital goods (on earnings potential), commodity (on valuation basis) and banking (on economic growth potential and subject to interest rates) with 3-5 year time horizon.

There are meaningful avenues other than equity markets. According to ASK Wealth's Kumar, investment in gold can be a very good alternative to equity. Between July 1999 and April 2008, gold surged because of which its returns are almost equal to equity (15.2% and 16.5% respectively). One can also opt for longer term debt papers or long term income fund.

“In another three months, investors should go for bank fixed deposits and FMPs as I expect the market to fall by at least by 10 per cent,” suggests Uma Shashikant, head - Centre for Investment Education and Learning.

Most strategists advise going for FMPs which invest in bank-related certificate of deposits.

Source: EconomicTimes

Buy Aban offshore

ABAN OFFSHORE : It is a good time to enter at these levels. Moreover, it is one such stock that can give 100 per cent returns within 2-year period.: Vikram Bhatt: Director: Ajmera Associates: (10/6/2008 2:37:16 PM).

Source: ndtvprofit

Exit Suzlon Energy, says Mohoni

Technical Analyst, Deepak Mohoni is of the view that one should exit Suzlon Energy.

Mohoni told CNBC-TV18, "Suzlon Energy is a stock in a severe downtrend; it’s not just a bear market effect it goes beyond that. The stock has lost 75% since January and if you look at the first two-months of the bear market it lost 50% then only before all the bad news and all the rights issue and all came in. For whatever reason the market has not been like this stock very much for the last 8-9 months and that’s a pretty good reason to stay out of the stock. I would switch out of the stock into some of the sectors, which looks safer right now like banks, pharma or if you take the petroleum stocks are fairly good. Those are better bets, safer right now."

Source: MoneyControl

Buy Infosys, target of Rs 2000: Karvy

Karvy Stock Broking has maintained its buy rating on Infosys Technologies with a target of Rs 2000 in its October 7, 2008 research report. "Infosys for Q2FY09 is likely to report a sequential revenue growth of 8.6%, with revenues from offshore likely to grow by 9.7% and the fixed price projects revenues would continue to grow at a faster clip. We expect its net profit to increase by 8.2% sequentially, which on a YoY basis work out to 28.1%. At the current price we continue with our Buy rating with a price target of Rs 2000," says Karvy Stock Broking's research report.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy TCS, target of Rs 950: Karvy

Karvy Stock Broking has recommended a buy rating on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with a target of Rs 950 in its October 7, 2008 research report. "We expect TCS to report a sequential revenue growth of 8.5% in Q2FY09. We expect the earnings growth for FY09 and FY10 – to be at 18% and 18.4% respectively and at the current valuations it is very attractive. We recommending the stock as a BUY with a price target of Rs 950," says Karvy Stock Broking's research report.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy Shree Cements, target of Rs 803: HDFC Securities

HDFC Securities has maintained its buy rating on Shree Cements (SCM) with a target of Rs 803 in its October 7, 2008. "We expect the earnings of SCM to grow at a CAGR of 17% over FY08 to FY10E. We have valued the company on 4x FY09E EV/EBITDA, which gives us a target price of Rs 803 per share, an upside of 62% over its CMP. At our target price of Rs 803, the stock will trade at 6.4x FY09E and 7.8x FY10E EPS. We maintain BUY rating on the stock," says HDFC Securities' research report.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy Axis Bank above Rs 679: ICICIdirect.com

ICICIdirect.com has recommended to buy Axis Bank above Rs 679 with a stoploss of Rs 678 and targets of Rs 690/710/higher.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy Bank Of Baroda above Rs 291: ICICIdirect.com

ICICIdirect.com has recommended to buy Bank Of Baroda above Rs 291 with a stoploss of Rs 290 and targets of Rs 294/300/higher.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Source: MoneyControl

Hindustan Zinc plunges 14%

Hindustan Zinc has touched a 52-week low of Rs 315.45. At 11:23 am, the share was quoting at Rs 320, down Rs 54, or 14.44%.

It was trading with volumes of 43,464 shares. Yesterday the share closed down 7.61% or Rs 30.80 at Rs 374

Source: MoneyControl

Block deal in Idea Cellular, stock down

Idea Cellular has touched a 52-week low of Rs 66.50. At 11:19 am, the share was quoting at Rs 68.50, down Rs 0.85, or 1.23%.

There was a block deal of 1 crore Idea Cellular shares on BSE at Rs 67.45 per share, reports CNBC-TV18.

It was trading with volumes of 10,838,107 shares. Yesterday the share closed down 4.48% or Rs 3.25 at Rs 69.35.

Source: MoneyControl

Sterlite Ind top loser on the Nifty

Sterlite Industries is the top loser on the Nifty. It has touched a 52 week low of Rs 311. At 1:40 pm, the share was quoting at Rs 313.95, down Rs 21.55, or 6.42%.

It was trading with volumes of 2,318,598 shares. Yesterday the share closed down 15.45% or Rs 61.30 at Rs 335.50.

Source: MoneyControl

Fed offers banks $900bn cash loans to infuse liquidity

In a bid to inject liquidity in the cash-starved market, the Federal Reserve has offered to provide USD 900 billion in cash loans to the squeezed banks.

The Fed tried to ease Wall Street’s pain by saying that the 28-day and 84-day cash loans being made available to banks will be boosted to USD 150 billion apiece, effective Monday. Also loans that will be made available in November to banks also will be increased to USD 150 billion each. That makes a total of $900 billion in credit potentially outstanding over the year-end. Even as that announcement came, the US markets didn’t find much respite in it and slumped.

Experts, however, did not look impressed at the Fed announcements. John Manley of Citi Smith Barney said, “Firstly, the Fed has to make a risk-free investment effectively and should lower short-term interest rates. They just flood the markets with money. Secondly, there has to be sort of clarity in what way confidence will be back in the market place.” Manley added that we are doing things that weren’t even thought of during 1929. “So while it’s bad, it’s not 1929.”

Donald Straszheim, Vice Chairman, Roth Capital Partners, said, “It’s hard to find investors who are optimistic. This happens at the end of every bear market. But, unfortunately, I don’t think we are quite at the end yet. There is a lot of bad economic news waiting to come and there is this turmoil in the financial markets all over the world. I am convinced it is nowhere near being over.”

Richard Fuld, CEO of now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers said in a statement that nobody foresaw the financial crisis. “Nobody, including me, anticipated how the problems that started in the mortgage markets would spread to our credit markets and banking systems and now threaten our entire financial system and our country. Lehman Brothers got caught in this financial tsunami.”

Source: MoneyControl

Mkts highly volatile; Europe off highs

Markets are trading with extreme choppiness. Realty, oil & gas and power stocks are witnessing good buying interest while FMCG, capital goods, pharma and metal stocks witnessing selling pressure. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices are down over 1%.

On the global front, Europen markets trading in green but off days high. CAC 40 up 1.31% at 3760, DAX up 0.09% at 5391 and FTSE up 0.53% at 4613.

At 1.27 pm, the Sensex is down 22.99 points or 0.19% at 11778.71, and the Nifty up 33.85 points or 0.94% at 3636.20.

About 986 shares have advanced, 1967 shares declined, and 229 shares are unchanged.

Top gainers on the Sensex are Ranbaxy Labs at Rs 257 up 4.28%, DLF at Rs 311 up 3.10% and NTPC at Rs 173.80 up 3.02%.

However, top losers on the Sensex are L&T at Rs 1,024 down 5.47%, ITC at Rs 171.30 down 4.89% and M&M at Rs 482 down 4.05%.

Source: MoneyControl

JSW Steel may slip to Rs 290: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that JSW Steel can go as low as about Rs 290.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "All steel stocks are in freefall mode right now, so there is very little to choose from. We need basing formations in these stocks before they will bottom out. JSW Steel could go as low as about Rs 290 before it finds significant support and resistance here could be closer to about Rs 399-395."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Praj Industries has support at Rs 70: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that Praj Industries has support at Rs 70 and resistance at Rs 107-110. One can exit on rallies.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "Praj Industries is falling like a rock like most other midcaps. It’s got support now at Rs 70; it will probably find resistance around Rs 107 to 110. It’s become one of those stocks that you exit on rallies."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Balrampur Chini may test Rs 85: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral feels that on the bounce back Balrampur Chini may test Rs 85. It’s standing right at support Rs 68-70.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "Balrampur Chini is the sugar stock that is holding up. So if you had to buy sugar probably this would be the choice. Its standing right at support Rs 68-70, probably a bounce back from here could make it go up to Rs 85 levels odd. But broadly sugar is off the radar."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that in the private sector bank one can buy Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and probably HDFC Bank.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "Kotak Mahindra Bank earlier found support around Rs 420 levels odd and it’s probably trying to have some sort of a relief rally. But needs to get pass Rs 578 before the downtrend in this stock is over. I think the only private sector bank that looks good is probably HDFC Bank, which hasn’t really fallen at all in this decline. But overall Axis Bank continues to maintain in a range of Rs 600 to about Rs 800. I do not think smaller banks are good idea to get into. So if you want to buy private sector banks Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and probably HDFC Bank would tend to do much better."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Exit Jaiprakash Associates on rallies: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that one should exit Jaiprakash Associates on rallies.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "Punj Lloyd seems to be strongest because it’s held out in this decline. If you can get it around Rs 190-195 you could easily ride it back up to Rs 300 if the market comes back."

He further added, "JP Associates is probably a dead stock for a bit. It needs to make a basing formation probably around Rs 90 to Rs 100 levels before it can move up. So any sort of rally around Rs 120-125 is probably an exit."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Sell ITC at Rs 180: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that one should sell ITC at Rs 180.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "FMCG stocks are bit like gold; they would hold up in difficult times but as soon as risk appetite comes back or the market starts rallying you would see them drop off. So this probably a good time as defensive, they have done their job you cannot expect them to go much higher from here. So it’s a good idea to book some profits if somebody got into Hindustan Unilever at Rs 190-195; I do not think its going to cross Rs 260-265 easily. Also ITC around Rs 180, it’s a decent sell because it’s not going to move much higher."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Chambal Fertilisers has support at Rs 37: Gujral

Technical Analyst, Ashwani Gujral is of the view that Chambal Fertilisers has support at Rs 37.

Gujral told CNBC-TV18, "Chambal Fertilisers has broken down below Rs 55 now it has support around Rs 37 and probably for an uptrend to resume it needs to get back above Rs 52."

Disclosure: It is safe to assume that analyst and his clients may have an investment interest in the above stock/sector.

Source: MoneyControl

Buy RIL for trading bounce: Subramanian

R Venkat Subramanian, Head - Alternate Investments Group at Kotak Securities is of the view that one can buy Reliance Industries for trading bounce.

Subramanian told CNBC-TV18, "Reliance and Infosys are good for trading bounce but I think the longer-term problem for Infosys are not quite well known yet in terms of how it’s impacted them, we are waiting to hear from the company whether the crisis in Europe is going to effect them and whether what kind of slowdown they are seeing in their business from US. So to some extent the position with Infosys is not very clear while it is very cheap on historical valuation basis. The fact that the currency in their favour is tempting to buy the stock and the assessment of how bad this financial crisis is affected, we need to hear from the management."

He further added, "As far as Reliance is concerned, I would buy it for a trading bounce but you have to keep in mind that the refining margins and the petrochem margins are falling. The stock is not cheap and the only trigger for that is the upstream news flow, so to that extent Reliance may not have made its ultimate bottom, it has just started cracking in the last leg of this fall. So I would be a little more cautious about Reliance may be from a trading point of view you can buy it here but no more than that."

Source: MoneyControl

Avoid Sterlite Industries: Subramanian

R Venkat Subramanian, Head - Alternate Investments Group at Kotak Securities is of the view that one can ignore Sterlite Industries.

Subramanian told CNBC-TV18, "Sterlite Industries is no more the issue of the restructuring etc, it is now the global commodity movements. Yesterday you saw the Brazil market was down 15%. The commodity cycle is turning, where will that stop is difficult to guess. So from that point of view may be the market is somewhat overshooting the current cycle but I would avoid. I think you will get better opportunities, even if it were to go up little bit, when you have some stability in the commodity markets and you have some ability to estimate what the prices are going to be at that time you may be able to trade out of Sterlite. But to call the bottom is risky and obviously the company management actions don’t give you comfort. So I would perhaps ignore that."

Source: MoneyControl

Jaipuria positive on banking stocks

Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, HOR of DSP Merrill Lynch is positive on banking stocks.

Jaipuria told CNBC-TV18, "We have mixed views on banking lot and real estate in a sense we are positive on banks, we are overweight on banks and we are underweight on real estate. The reason we are underweight on real estate is that interest rates has been one problem, which has hit the demand side, but there are couple of other factors to think about in real estate the supply, which is going to come up is very high. At the same time even if interest rates come down there was a lot of speculative demand, which is going to go away. From the company point of view what is happening is lot of them are leveraged, a lot of them need money to be raised so that they can sell-off some of the existing assets, which they are building, which is going to be a problem in today’s environment. So to that extent we think there is still pain left in the real estate sector over the next six-months. I would expect real estate prices to come down per se that would be negative for the stocks in the real estate sector."

He further added, "Banks are interesting because they have come down in valuations, interest rates should come down and the advances are going to be very strong because people are not able to raise money internationally. So they are coming to the Indian banks to raise money and that’s why credit growth will continue to remain very strong. That’s why banks will do well in terms of earnings outlook and we are positive on the banks."

Source: MoneyControl

India's first moon mission to take off on Oct 22

India will launch a locally built rocket for the country's first unmanned mission to the moon on Oct 22, the head of the project said on T
uesday.

"If at all there is any delay, it will be because of the weather, otherwise I don't foresee any technical difficulties," M Annadurai said.

The launch, earlier scheduled for April but delayed due to technical difficulties, has been given a window between Oct 20 and Oct 28 for takeoff from a southern India town.

Six countries, including the United States, are directly involved in the project, which will cost an estimated 3.86 bn rupees ($80.8 mon). It aims to map a three-dimensional atlas of the moon through high-resolution remote sensing and map the surface's chemical and mineral composition.

Despite limited funding, India operates an extensive space programme consisting of launch vehicles, satellites and data-processing centres. India plans to send an astronaut into space by 2014 and a manned mission to moon by 2020.

As part of preparations for that, it launched four satellites on a single rocket for the first time in January 2007, including one that was brought back to earth. India's space programme was launched as a scientific research effort, but has now begun to make money from commercial launches.

At least 16 Indian satellites currently orbit the earth, supporting telecommunications, TV broadcasting, earth observation, weather forecasting, remote education and healthcare.

India's constellation of seven earth-observation satellites is the largest of its kind in the world, but its space programme lags behind its Asian rival China, which in 2003 became only the third nation after the United States and the former Soviet Union to launch a man into space aboard its own rocket. China celebrated the completion of the country's first spacewalk last month, hailed as a major victory by its leaders.

Source: EconomicTimes

Rupee weakens further to past 48 per dollar

The Indian rupee weakened past 48 per dollar on Tuesday for the first time since January 2003 as concerns intensified about foreign fund out
flows amid a global financial crisis.

At 9:03 a.m. (0333 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 48.01/48.02 per dollar, after falling 1.5 percent on Monday to 47.80/81.

Source: EconomicTimes

Asian markets stabilize after Australia's rate cut

Asian markets showed signs of life on Tuesday as investors cheered a big interest rate cut by the Australian central bank aimed at alleviatin
g the unfolding global credit crisis.

A late rally on Wall Street that pared earlier huge losses also gave investors a bit of sorely needed confidence, analysts said. Citing ``heightened instability'' in markets, the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed its key rate by 1 full percentage point to 6 per cent. Analysts had expected a half-point cut. The move sent Sydney's S&P/ASX-200 index up 1.7 per cent to 4,618.7 after opening down 3.7 per cent.

Other markets seemed to react positively to the bold move: Main indices in South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan all edged higher, perhaps staunching a global market sell-off on Monday.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index erased some of its early losses to closed down 3 per cent at 10,155.90. Earlier, it had plunged over 5 per cent to below 10,000 for the first time in almost five years.

Source: EconomicTimes

Tata to roll out Nano from Gujarat

It’s now official. Tatas have decided to roll out the Nano car from Gujarat. It is a huge gift for Narendra Modi as he completes seven years in office as Gujarat chief minister on Tuesday.

The air was thick with anticipation as top Tata Motors honchos flew down from Mumbai late on Monday evening to take one final look at the site near Sanand, 25 kms from the western fringes of Ahmedabad, which has been identified for relocation of the Nano plant.

Sources said the decks have been cleared for transfer of 1,000 acres of land to the Tatas. Modi's council of ministers will meet at 10 am before the Tata team arrives. The land which the Tatas have to finally select is located within a 2200-acre campus owned by the Anand Agriculture University which serves as a cattle and seed farm.

The university has already transferred 1,000 acres back to the government which went into an overdrive to woo Tata Motors ever since the situation started worsening at Singur in West Bengal. Government officials were hopeful that the deal will be clinched on Tuesday, after a final round of negotiations on the concessions Tata Motors will be seeking.

Source: EconomicTimes

DISCLAIMER: The author is not a registered stockbroker nor a registered advisor and does not give investment advice. His comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to buy or sell a stock, option, future, bond, commodity, index or any other financial instrument at any time. While he believes his statements to be true, they always depend on the reliability of his own credible sources. The author recommends that you consult with a qualified investment advisor, one licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies in your legal jurisdiction, before making any investment decisions, and that you confirm the facts on your own before making important investment commitments.