Post Session Indian stock Market Commentary, 19/08/2009

Stock market lost its opening strength and extended its losses towards the closing to end the session with losses backed by significant selling pressure. Weak Asian markets along with negative European stocks took huge strike on the bourses. Lower US index futures also weighed on sentiments. Investors were worried regarding the weak monsoon rain that is putting pressure on food prices and energy supplies. However, market pared some losses during last trading hours on a little buying in key stocks. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment in India stood at $2.58 billion in June, with rise of 8% as compared with the same month last year. The BSE Sensex ended below 14,850 level and NSE Nifty closed below 4,400 mark.

Market opened slightly higher tracking positive cues from the US markets. On Tuesday, the US stocks markets rebounded from previous session’s sharp fall to close higher as buyers picked up stocks at low prices to give a good start for the markets. The rally was directed by financial, retail and technology as stocks posted gains over the ground. However, Indian stocks suddenly turned choppy backed by lower Asian markets. Further, benchmark indices continued to trade with losses on profit booking pressure at higher level. The selling pressure was mainly led by more than 4% fall in the Chinese markets. During final trading hours, market managed to reduce losses a bit but was still in negative territory. From the sectoral front, all indices ended in red. Besides, Oil & Gas, Metal, Auto, Power, PSU, Realty, Power and Teck stocks contributed to most of the selling pressure. Broader markets also remained out of favour as BSE Midcap and Smallcap stocks closed with losses.

Among the Sensex pack 27 stocks ended in red territory and 3 stocks ended in green territory. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained negative as 1490 stocks closed in green while 1134 stocks closed in red and 89 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 225.62 points or (1.50%) at 14,809.64 and NSE Nifty ended down by 64.80 points or (1.45%) at 4,394.10. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 62.49 and 33.06 points at 5,434.06 and 6,308.69 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 15,096.94 and intraday low of 14,684.45.

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are ACC Ltd (5.08%), Reliance Infra (4.86%), RCom (4.38%), Grasim Industries (4.20%), Tata Steel (3.93%), M&M Ltd (3.58%), Reliance (3.23%), Hindalco (3.20%), JP Associates (2.80%), SBI (2.46%), Herohonda Motors (2.27%), Tata Motors (2.27%), TCS Ltd (2.11%), ONGC Ltd (1.99%), NTPC Ltd (1.90%), Bharti Airtel (1.44%) and Wipro Ltd (1.43%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are HDFC (1.56%), HDFC Bank (0.44%) and L&T Ltd (0.22%).

Foreign direct investment (FDI ) in India stood at $2.58 billion in June, with rise of 8 per cent as compared with the same month last year, a senior official said. In June 2008, the FDI inflow was $2.39 billion.

On the global markets front the Asian markets that opened before the Indian market, ended with losses with financial and airline stocks weighed on the markets. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Nikkei 225, Singapore''s Straits Times Index and Seoul Composite closed lower by 125.30, 352.04, 80.96, 44.94 and 4.28 points at 2,785.58, 19,954.23, 10,204, 2,522.78 and 1,545.96 respectively.

European markets, which opened after the Indian market, are trading in red, as equities had slid across Asia. In Frankfurt the DAX index is trading lower 68.69 points at 5,182.05 and in London FTSE 100 is trading down by 39.96 points at 4,645.82.

The BSE Oil & Gas index dropped by (2.68%) or 254.71 points at 9,259.60 despite crude oil gained for the first time in three days overnight. Losers are Essar Oil Ltd (4.60%), Reliance (3.23%), RNRL (3.19%), Reliance Petroleum (2.66%) and Gail India (2.31%).

The BSE Metal index closed tumbled (2.33%) or 284.33 points at 11,929.02. Losers are Gujarat NRE C (3.98%), Tata Steel (3.93%), Sesa Goa Ltd (3.30%), Hindalco (3.20%) and JSW Steel (2.98%).

The BSE Auto index lost (2.14%) or 115.48 points at 5,277.76 on worries arising from scanty rains as auto firms derive larger revenue from rural India. Main losers are Bharat Forge (5.59%), Ashok Leyland (3.63%), M&M Ltd (3.58%), Bajaj Auto (3.52%) and Cummins Indi (3.25%).

The BSE Power index tumbled (1.93%) or 55.49 points at 2,812.57 as Reliance Infra (4.86%), Suzlon Energy (3.90%), GMR Infra (3.10%), Siemens Ltd (2.81%) and Crompton Greaves (2.75%) ended in red.

The BSE PSU index closed lower by (1.88%) or 153.87 points at 8,048.22. Losers are Rashtriya Chem & Fert (4.07%), Canara Bank (3.50%), Corporation (3.41%), MRPL (3.30%) and Power Financ (3.08%).

The BSE Realty index ended down by (1.86%) or 69.63 points at 3,680.77 on profit taking. Losers are Unitech Ltd (3.28%), Orbit Co (3.03%), Housing Dev (2.76%), Penland Ltd (2.68%) and Anant Raj (2.42%).

DLF Ltd lost 1.08%. The company is set to bag India''s largest land deal in Gurgaon, Haryana as DLF has emerged as the sole bidder for the 350.71-acre land parcel in Gurgaon put up for auction by a Haryana state corporation. The state corporation has fixed the minimum reserve price as Rs 1,700 crore for the land.

Cairn India dropped by 1.88%. The company and state-owned ONGC will jointly invest $4 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) in an attempt to scale up the production capacity of their oil fields at Barmer in Rajasthan by 25,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) to two lakh bopd.

Glenmark Pharma tumbled 14.68%. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals S.A. (Switzerland), a subsidiary of the company and Forest Laboratories, Inc announced top-line results from a Phase lib dose range finding study of Oglemilast in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd fell 0.46% despite a block deal of five lakh shares was executed on NSE at Rs. 100 per share.

Bharat Forge Ltd plunged 5.59% on profit booking after the stock rose 8.50% in the preceding trading session.

Dish TV surged 1.84% on back of plans to raise funds up to $200 million. As per reports, the company plans to raise $200 million (around Rs 1,000 crore) by way of equity issue in either domestic or international markets.

PSL Ltd ended up by 2.58%. The company has secured an order valued approximately Rs 500 crore from Gail (India) Limited for supplying quality API 5L X-80 grade PSL-2 Pipes for their Dahej-Vijaipur Pipe Line Upgradation Project (DVPL-II).

Market shrunk on weak global cues

Stock Market plunged after swinging between the positive and negative terrain at the early trade of the trading session led by huge sell-off in Oil&Gas, Realty, Metals and Auto stocks, drifted the bourses towards southward journey. A sustained fall was reported as most of Asian stocks slipped into negative terrain. Scanty monsoon rains pushed India to the edge of drought, forcing pressure on food prices and energy supplies. Meanwhile, India''s merchandise exports soften for the 10th straight month in July 2009, but its balance-of-trade account improved as imports declined at a faster pace, according to the sources.

On the sectoral front, all indices declined. Oil exploration stocks slipped despite crude oil gained for the first time in three days overnight, on better-than-estimated earnings at Home Depot Inc. and Target Corp of US. Auto, Realty and Bank stocks fell on profit taking after recent gains on bargain hunting.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak On BSE, out of 2,576 stocks traded so far, 903 shares advanced while 1,580 shares declined. Nearly 93 shares are unchanged.

At 1.22PM, the BSE Sensex is trading lower by 313.72 points at 14,721.53 whereas NSE Nifty is down by 91.69 points at 4,367.20.

The BSE Mid Cap is trading lower by 81.00 points at 5,415.55 and Small cap is trading down by 55.38 points at 6,286.06.

Major losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are Reliance Infrastructure Ltd plunged 4.20% to Rs. 1,088.00, ACC Ltd by 4.02% to Rs. 765.00, Tata Steel by 3.82% to Rs. 434.20, Grasim Industries Ltd by 3.59% to Rs. 2,481, Reliance Industries Ltd by 3.53% to Rs. 1,877.75, State Bank of India by 3.22% to Rs. 1,678, Reliance Communication Ltd by 3.10% to Rs. 243.45, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd by 3.04% to Rs. 745, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd by 2.99% to Rs. 206 and Hero Honda Motors Ltd by 2.79% to Rs. 1,351.90.

Major gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Housing Development Finance Co Ltd by 1.69% to Rs. 2,360.30 and Tata Power Ltd by 0.63% to Rs. 1,270.00.

The BSE Realty is lower by 81.50 points or 2.17% at 3,668.90. Stocks declined include Unitech Ltd 3.40% to Rs. 82.40, Anant Raj Industries 2.98% to Rs. 130.25, Orbitco Ltd by 2.97% to Rs. 168, Housing Development by 2.76% to Rs. 271.25, Penland Ltd 2.55% to Rs. 76.40, Ansal Infra Ltd 2.47% to Rs. 59.25, Parsvnath Ltd by 1.61% to Rs. 110.05 and DLF Ltd 1.43% to Rs. 369.80 among others.

Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd fell 0.41% to Rs. 98.00 despite a block deal of five lakh shares was executed on NSE at Rs. 100 per share.

PSL Ltd advanced 0.78% to Rs. 142.30 after the company bagged an order worth Rs. 210 crore from GAIL.

Sintex Industries Ltd improved 0.40% to Rs. 198.35 after a block deal of 3.28 lakh shares was executed on BSE at Rs 200 per share.

Bharat Forge Ltd plunged 5.07% to Rs. 218.05 on profit booking after the stock rose 8.50% in the preceding trading session.

Rallis India Ltd gusted up 2.85% to Rs. 750.80 on buzz the Tata Group is considering merging Rallis India with Tata Chemicals.

Market on a selling spree

After a flat start, the key benchmark indices are continuously trading with negative sentiments on the back of mixed cues from the global market. The frontline stocks are facing resistance at upper level and witnessing profit booking pressure on a regular interval. On a stock specific move, DLF Ltd has emerged as the sole bidder for the 350.71-acre land parcel in Gurgaon put up for auction by Haryana State Corporation. With a reserve price of Rs 1,700 crore, the land deal would be the biggest since March 2008. The stock is currently trading lower by 0.24%. During the last hours’ trading session heavy selling pressure has emerged across Auto, Oil & Gas and Banking counters. Among BSE sectoral indices, Auto, Oil & Gas and Bankex is trading lower by 1.68%, 1.37% and 1.25% respectively, while a moderate buying interest seen across Consumer Durable counter. Overall the market breadth is positive as out of total 2,211 stocks traded in BSE, 1,110 advanced, 1,023 declined and 78 remained unchanged.

At 11:28:26 AM BSE SENSEX was at 14,836.92 down by 198.34 points or by (1.32%) and the NSE Nifty was at 4403.00 down by 55.9 points or by (1.25%). The BSE MIDCAP was at 5,459.27 down by 37.28 points or by (0.68%) and the BSE SMLCAP was at 6,333.85 down by 7.6 points or by (0.12%)

Losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are Hero Honda down by (3.07%) to Rs. 1,348, along with Rel Infra by (2.80%) to Rs. 1,103, Jaiprakash associate by (2.45%) to Rs. 207.15, TCS Ltd by (2.40%) at Rs. 497.50, RIL by (2.38%) at Rs. 1,900 and Tata Steel by (2.31%) at Rs. 441.

Losers from the NSE Nifty Pack are Hero Honda decreased by (2.99%) at Rs. 1,350 along with Reliance infrastructure by (2.44%) at Rs. 1,107.6, Wipro Ltd by (2.12%) at Rs. 489.8, ACC Ltd by (2.04%) at Rs. 781.55, SBI by (1.99%) at Rs. 1,699.85 and Tata Steel by (1.97%) at Rs. 442.8.

BSE AUTO index was at 5,302.56 down by 90.68 points or by (1.68%) The main losers were Bharat Forge down by (5.29%) at Rs.217.55, Cummins Indi down by (4.08%) at Rs.314.25, Herohonda M down by (3.07%) at Rs. 1,348, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. down by (2.06%) at Rs.752.5, Bajaj Auto down by (2.03%) at Rs.1,114.8. The main gainers were Apollo Tyre up by (1.75%) at Rs. 40.7, Bosch Ltd up by (0.93%) at Rs.3900, Exide Indus up by (0.65%) at Rs.84.75.

BSE OIL&GAS index was at 9,383.90 down by 130.41 points or by (1.37%) The main losers were Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. down by (3.08%) at Rs. 358.4, Reliance down by (2.38%) at Rs. 1,900 Essar Oil Ltd. down by (2.19%) at Rs. 131.95, Ril Nat Res down by (2.02%) at Rs. 79.9, Bharat Petroleum Corporation L down by (2%) at Rs. 508. The main gainers were Cairn Ind up by (0.19%) at Rs. 239.4.

Market gusted northward on bargain hunting

The indian stock market after opening lower, regained strength on bargain hunting with traders buying out in Realty, Capital Goods and Metals stocks despite heavy losses in Chinese equities, which turned lower amid fears that the summer rally could have over heaped the index too far, too fast. Meanwhile, the monsoon situation remains fragile with the country heading into the worst drought year over the last two decades.

On the sectoral front, all indices inclined. Oil exploration stocks gained as crude oil rose, as the dollar''s decline spurred investors to purchase commodities as an alternative investment. Realty and Bank stocks advanced on bargain hunting after being hammered in recent past.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was strong On BSE, out of 2,532 stocks traded so far, 1,714 shares advanced while 737 shares declined. Nearly 81 shares are unchanged.

At 1.22PM, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 289.35 points at 15,074.27 whereas NSE Nifty is up by 82.95 points at 4,470.85.

The BSE Mid Cap is trading higher by 110.51 points at 5,496.03 and Small cap is trading up by 127.80 points at 6,339.51.

Major gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Hindalco Industries Ltd by 5.59% to Rs. 105.85 along with, Jaiprakash Associates Ltd surged 4.00% to Rs. 210.85, DLF Ltd by 3.92% to Rs. 378.70, Larsen & Toubro Ltd by 3.80% to Rs. 1,465.55, Tata Steel Ltd by 3.78% to Rs. 454.25, HDFC Bank Ltd by 2.97% to Rs. 1,449.00, Hindustan Uniliver Ltd by 2.93% to Rs. 256.75, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd by 2.86% to Rs. 1,313.00, Housing Development Finance Co by 2.78% to Rs. 2,314.80, Reliance Communication Ltd by 2.65% to Rs. 251.95, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd by 2.52% to Rs. 765.60, Wipro Ltd by 2.44% to Rs. 508.50 and Bharti Airtel Ltd by 2.44% to Rs. 408.90.

Major losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are TCS Ltd plunged 0.61% to Rs. 507.6 and Infosys Technologies Ltd by 0.25% to Rs. 1,978.10.

The BSE Realty is higher by 133.21 points or 3.64% at 3,795.91. Stocks inclined include Phoenix Mills Ltd 5.33% to Rs. 131.50, Indiabulls Realty 4.96% to Rs. 229.50, Ansal Infrastructure Ltd by 4.39% to Rs. 61.85, Housing Development by 4.33% to Rs. 279.80, Penland Ltd 4.22% to Rs. 79.00, DLF Ltd 3.92% to Rs. 378.70, Anant Raj by 3.22% to Rs. 134.50 and Sobha Developers Ltd 3.08% to Rs. 209.45 among others.

Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd spurted 7.17% to Rs. 372.40 after the Reserve Bank of India raised the foreign portfolio investment limit in the company to 40%.

Numeric Power Systems Ltd gusted by 19.99% to Rs. 446.20 after it said its board will meet on 22 August 2009 to consider issue of bonus shares.

MVL Ltd improved 2.40% to Rs. 160.10 after its board approved splitting one share of face value Rs. 10 into five shares of face value Rs. 2 each.

Everonn Systems India Ltd gained 1.42% to Rs. 354.25 after a block deal of 2.94 lakh shares was executed on NSE at Rs. 353 per share.

Kiri Dyes & Chemicals Ltd spurted 5.98% to Rs. 410.25 after the company said it is looking for an overseas acquisition.

Cisco earnings fall 46% but beat expectations

Cisco Systems said that their profit will beat Wall Street expectations even though their earnings fell by 46% last quarter and it may have been at the bottom of the recession-related downturn. The company expects a slight increase in revenue in the current quarter compared with the just-ended one. Cisco is the world''s largest maker of computer networking gear and it has witnessed sales hit hard as clients delayed investments and capital improvements. However, good profit margins and a large pile of cash have helped it to get out of the downturn.

However, not including the cost of stock-based compensation and other items, Cisco''s earnings were 31 cents per share and are expecting earnings of 29 cents per share on $8.5 billion in revenue. Additionally, for the present quarter they are expecting revenue drop of 15% to 17% from a year ago, or an increase of 1% to 3% from the last quarter which implies revenue of $8.55 billion to $8.76 billion however, they have been forecasting $8.59 billion in revenue.

Board Meeting Headline : Board Meeting on 07-08-2009

Rathi Steel & Power
Manjushree Techno
Munoth Capital M
MMTC Ltd.
Gati Ltd.
C G Impex L
Neha Internation
Ackruti City
MTZ Polyfilms Ltd.
Maharaja Shree U
Core Emballage L
Info-Drive Softw
KIC Metaliks
Greaves Cotton

Commodities News Headline: Chilli exports may drop on low demand from Pak

Exporters said on Thursday that reduction in demand from Pakistan along with hard competition from China may hit India’s chilli exports in 2009-10 (April-March).

Weak global economy will also weigh on chilli exports, which accounted for 40 per cent of the total 470,520 tonnes of spices India exported in 2008-09, they said. According to Spices Board, chilli exports dropped 44 per cent from a year ago to 37,500 tonnes in April-June.

Export income reduced 31 per cent year on year to Rs 228 crore, the data showed. “China is selling to Pakistan, which is hitting Indian exports. But, it is difficult to get any accurate data from China,” said Alkesh Patel, managing director of Mumbai-based Amrutva Exports.

Commodities News Headline: Soyameal export declines 80 per cent in July on poor demand

India''s soyameal export fell 80 per cent in July. The drop is backed by gradual decline in demand abroad, an industry body said on August 6. The export of soyameal during July was 58,040 tonnes, compared with 2,84,990 tonnes in the corresponding month last year, Indore-based Soybean Processors Association (SOPA) said in a statement. The overseas shipment of soyameal, used mainly as animal feed, has dropped by 76 per cent so far this fiscal to 3,31,923 tonnes, SOPA said.

Indian IT cos looking at domestic market to counter export slide

Indian IT companies are looking at the domestic market to balance for the lost revenue since export revenues are shrinking. However, there is still hope of development in the industry though at a lower rate companies have already started focusing on their domestic business. In spite of being confident over the recovery by mid-2010, the Indian IT industry is likely to post single-digit growth of 4-7% for its software and services export during 2009-10.

However, while the domestic IT-BPO market is anticipated to grow by 15-18% to Rs 650-670 billion in 2009-10, Nasscom has halved its export growth projections to 4-7% for the current fiscal to touch $48-50 billion. Talking about the hiring scenario in the industry, it is said that net hiring is expected to continue to increase this year hence, the companies will take in the people to whom offer letters were given and so the net hiring would be up.

MARG Signs MoU With BSNL

MARG Ltd, India''s fastest growing Integrated infrastructure company, inked an MoU with BSNL to provide world class telecommunication facilities in the upcoming mega Infrastructure project, MARG Swarnabhoomi. As part of the MoU, BSNL will provide complete telecom solutions, including voice, data, WiFi hotspots, video and audio conferencing facility, broadband, leased lines and wireless services at MARG Swarnabhoomi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Harlnarain said, "We are committed to providing the . occupants of MARG Swarnabhoomi reliable, and state-of-the-art secured networks with a bouquet of voice,, video and data services at competitive prices on a single window basis. We are pleased to partner with BSNL In this endeavour."

BSNL will cater to all the telecommunications requirements of the industries, hospitals, school, and residential buildings conning up In MARG Swarnatahooml, BSNL would start work immediately as the BVM Global School at MARG Swarnabhoomi Is scheduled to be operational by July 2009, The basic Infrastructure to lay the cables and exchange facilities will be provided by MARG,

Various services that will be provided by BSNL Include landllnes with CLIP phones, free phoner plus services, free centrex In each apartment block, mobile services, Broadband and WiFi services, EPBAX and voice solutions, Mobile CUG, VSAT solutions, Blackberry solutions and smart PCOs etc. BSNL will also take care of the specific needs of various types of industries that will come up In the two SEZs.

Reliance unit files for insolvency in Germany

Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday said that Trevira, a European textile unit, had applied in a German court to start the proceedings of insolvency with a restructuring plan.

The move follows major efforts by the company to overcome the impact of industrial slowdown in Europe particularly of the automotive and textile sectors to whom it is an important supplier, Reliance said in a statement.

Reliance said that Trevira was "severely impacted" by the recent global financial downturn that resulted in considerable contraction in demand in its'' principal market segment. Trevira makes polyester fibres as well as filament yarns. It has production units in Germany as well as Denmark, Poland and Belgium, the website showed.

Reliance Industries had acquired Trevira in 2004.

Wipro''s revenue will not be affected by GM''s bankruptcy

The revenues of Wipro will not be affected due to the bankruptcy of its client, General Motors Corp, the IT firm said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. "General Motors accounts for less than 1% of Wipro''s IT services segment revenue, and our assessment is that a substantial portion is expected to continue," the company statement said.

It also added "Our accounts receivable as on the date of filing is under $8 million. Based on our current assessment, we do not expect significant adverse impact on account of this development,".

Educomp bags Rs 83.82 crores contract from Gujarat Government

Educomp Solutions, India''s leading education company has bagged Rs 83.82 crore order from Gujarat Government to introduce computer-aided learning (CAL) in Secondary/Senior Secondary Schools in the state. This will cover around 8,50,000 students in class 9th to 12th.

Soumya Kanti, President, Edureach (Educomp''s ICT Division) said, "We have signed an agreement with Commissioner MDM and Schools, Gandhinagar, Gujarat for Implementation of Computer Aided Learning in 1780 Secondary/Senior Secondary Schools in two Zones namely, North Gujarat (905 schools) and Saurashtra & Kutcch (875 schools) for the period of five Years on BOOT basis including supply of Hardware, Software, Manpower Services, Teacher Training and Maintenance of the Systems,"

Key Deliverables include supply, installation and maintenance of Computer Hardware, Software and connected accessories, providing Computer Aided education, impart training to teachers for using computers for operation & using the software and making provision for Internet connection at each school. One project manager per zone and one school coordinator/computer assistant for each set of five schools will also be provided by Educomp.

With the current project, the total number of schools under ICT implementation by Educomp in Gujarat is 5099 and the total number of schools across India stands at 13792.
The Public Private Partnership model has emerged as the most successful model for bridging the digital divide in the country and Educomp is leading the initiative in this segment. ICT in education, especially computer-aided learning has overall had an extremely positive impact on raising learning standards as well as in reducing drop out rates among children in these schools across the country.

Geometric releases GeomCaliper version 2.3

Geometric Limited, a leader in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions and technologies, announced the release of version 2.3 of GeomCaliper with support and integration with CATIA V5R19 and enhanced features primarily for performance improvement.

Major advancements in this release include:

* Support and integration for CATIA V5R19

* Improved accuracy of the Thickness Checker tool; the tool now displays important and more relevant results only, by filtering out non-critical results

* Ability to create and load different templates of Options/Settings for different types of thickness analysis

* Editable colour band that allows you to change GeomCaliper results file after importing it in CATIA V5

A free 15 day trial version of GeomCaliper for CATIA and Pro/ENGINEER platforms can be downloaded from http://geomcaliper.geometricglobal.com/

GeomCaliper is an innovative tool that facilitates measurement and checking of wall thickness of 3D CAD models. It accelerates the design review process for manufacturability, enabling faster prototyping and production of designs, thus reducing the overall design cycle time. Unlike other traditional measurement methods, GeomCaliper is fast, accurate and easy to use.

RBI extends time period for realization of bad assets

On Friday, the Reserve Bank extended the period for final realization of bad assets from the existing five to seven years to decrease the pressure of NPAs rising on companies. The Bank increased the time limit for reconstruction and securitisation companies (SCs/RCs) for realisation for reconstruction of assets taken by it. "As an interim measure, the Bank has accorded permission to give an extension of two more years for realisation of the assets in respect of the security receipts (SRs) issued by SCs/RCs which have completed five years," said the Reserve Bank in a notification The Central bank had received representations from many asset reconstruction and securitisation companies which had not been able to realize the financial asset acquired within the given time frame.

Banks'' non performing assets to triple by 2011: Crisil

The economic slowdown as well as aging of loans will deteriorate the banks’ assets in the next two years, said a report from Crisil, the rating agency. The report also said that the banking sectors’ gross non-performing assets are likely to witness a growth to touch 5 per cent by 2011 as against 2.3 per cent in 2008. The gross NPAs in absolute terms would grew to around three times from the March 2008 level of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 1.9 lakh crore. This rise in NPA include the demand slowdown as well as lack of funding, lengthy working capital cycles and foreign exchange rate fluctuation, said Mr Tarun Bhatia, Head, Finance Sector Ratings, Crisil.

However, in the retail front, the gross NPAs are likely to reach 4.7 per cent by March 2011 from 3.2 per cent in March 2008. But the impact will be limited as most of the banks as well as financial entities have not increased their incremental exposure to unsecured loans portfolio, the report said. The bottom line of the banking sector will have a negative impact due to increase in defaults cases but with the banks having to keep aside about 25-40 per cent of their profits as provisions for their non-performing assets this fiscal, Mr Bhatia said.

Government appoints Kiran Karnik as Satyam chairman

The government on Friday announced the appointment of Nasscom past-president Kiran Karnik as chairman of its six-member board a day after A S Murty was named as the CEO of the company.

The announcement was made by corporate affairs minister P C Gupta. Gupta, said that the probe of the government had extended to cover 325 companies and 25 individuals linked to Satyam as well as the auditor Price Waterhouse.

The government initially had constituted the board of Satyam with three members that includes Karnik along with HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and past presiding officer of Securities Appellate Tribunal C Achutan. Later, government expanded the Satyam''s board by nominating three more members including CII chief mentor Tarun Das along with LIC nominee S Balakrishna Mainak and past president of ICAI T N Manoharan.

Karnik, who will head Satyam, was Nasscom president in 2001-02 and has earlier held several key positions in the IT sector.

Apart from this, the minister also said that there was nothing wrong in Satyam''s new CEO A S Murty selling about 40,000 shares of the company days ahead of an acquisition announcement.

Rs.1,750-cr. package for primary agricultural cooperative societies

For around 4,110 primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) in the State, a revival package of about Rs.1,750 crore has been worked out. Of the total amount, the share of the Centre would be Rs.1,344.53 crore; State government - Rs. 207.51 and PACS - Rs. 196.95 crore. The Centre''s share will be released through the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The total assistance amount of Rs.1,748.99 crore was finalised at a State-level Implementing and Monitoring Committee meeting last month. This would cover 4,111 PACS affiliated to 22 District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs).

The State government and the NABARD signed a memorandum of understanding in January last year to implement the recommendations of the Task Force. On Wednesday, the State government sanctioned Rs.207.51 crore.

The decision of the committee was based on the proposals of the district-level panels, which were framed subsequent to the special audit of 4,337 PACS. However, only 4,111 societies were eligible for the assistance. In view of the stipulation that the Centre would release 25 per cent of its share only after the State government met all its commitments that includes the holding the elections to cooperative bodies, the State-level committee, at its meeting, approved an amount of Rs.1,008.4 crore as the share of the Union government.

JM Financial MF declares dividend

JM Financial Mutual Fund has declared dividend under JM Interval Fund-Quarterly Plan 3 (JM-QIF-3) dividend option and fixed. The record date for the same is February 9, 2009. The fund house has decided to distribute realized appreciation in the NAV of the plan/option till the record date as dividend (inclusive of dividend distribution tax) in both regular and institutional plan under the scheme.

JM Interval Fund-Quarterly Plan 3 is a debt oriented interval fund with an aim to seek to generate predictable returns over a predetermined period by investing in a portfolio of fixed income securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the respective plans.

BHEL bags order to set up 500MW plant at MP

Bharat Heavy Electricals LTD (BHEL), state-run power equipment maker said on December 22, it has bagged contract of worth a Rs 1,175-crore for setting up a 500 MW thermal power plant at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. The order has been placed by Bina Power Company Ltd, a Jaypee Group company. The company would install two units of 250 MW each for the project which is scheduled for synchronization during the 11th-Plan Period (2007-12). The company''s scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of boilers, turbines and associated auxiliaries. The company plans to invest Rs 4,200 crore to enhance its capacity from 10,000 MW to 15,000 MW in two years. It also plans to invest about Rs 10,000 crore for new ventures in the coming years. For achieving this target, its production units at Tiruchirappaly, Bhopal, Haridwar, Jhansi and Hyderabad are in the process of modernization and expansion.