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.

Post Session Indian stock Market Commentary

Indian stock market ended the session with handsome gains backed by significant buying that emerged after Asian markets reversed losses. Higher US index futures also added to sentiments. Market touched the day’s high during afternoon trade mirroring firm European markets though afterwards pared gains a bit. However, monsoon worries continued to remain a key concern as 9 States have declared drought. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that government has no proposal to write off loans taken by farmers as it did in 2008 in its first term in office. Further, India’s July export is down 26% from a year earlier. The BSE Sensex ended above 15,000 level and NSE Nifty closed above 4,450 mark.

Market opened on flat note today after reporting heavy selling in previous session. The US stocks markets closed lower on Monday, marking the worst single-session percentage loss in six weeks due to huge selling pressure. Slower-than-expected economic growth in Japan prompted a global sell-off on worries that an economic rebound may be further off than previously considered. Investors were not exciting by the news that the empire state manufacturing index moved into positive territory, signaling growth for the first time since April 2008. Further, Indian benchmark indices bounced back, as investors looked for some bargain chasing after yesterday’s sharp fall. Market touched day’s high during afternoon trade in line with recovery in other Asian stocks along with positive European markets.

Finally, market closed on positive note on account of sustained buying. From the sectoral front, all indices ended in green. Among those, most of the buying was seen in Capital Goods, Realty, Metal, Power, PSU, Auto, Bank, and FMCG stocks. Broader markets also followed the same trend as BSE Midcap and Smallcap stocks gained more than 2% each.

Among the Sensex pack 26 stocks ended in green territory and 4 stocks ended in red territory. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market remained positive as 1741 stocks closed in red while 896 stocks closed in green and 78 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 250.34 points or (1.69%) at 15,035.26 and NSE Nifty ended up by 71 points or (1.62%) at 4,458.90. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 111.04 and 129.74 points at 5,496.55 and 6,341.45 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 15,134.51 and intraday low of 14,740.26.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Hindalco (6.08%), JP Associates (4.73%), L&T Ltd (4.66%), HUL (3.45%), Tata Steel (3.14%), HDFC (3.06%), DLF Ltd (2.95%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (2.89%), Bharti Airtel (2.87%), BHEL (2.76%), HDFC Bank (2.39%), RCom (2.36%), ICICI Bank (2.10%), Reliance Infra (2.08%), Maruti Suzuki (2.04%), ONGC (1.46%) and SBI (1.21%).

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Infosys Tech (0.59%), Grasim Industries (0.35%), TCS Ltd (0.19%), Sun Pharma (0.19%).

India''s exports fell 26% from a year earlier in July, federal Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said on Tuesday. The country''s imports during July fell 35%-36% from the same month last year.

On the global markets front the Asian markets that opened before the Indian market, ended with gains. Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng, Nikkei 225, Singapore''s Straits Times Index and Seoul Composite closed higher by 40.25, 169.20, 16.35, 21.74 and 3.18 points at 2,910.88, 20,306.27, 10,284.96, 2,567.72 and 1,550.24 respectively.

European markets, which opened after the Indian market, are trading in green helped by some upbeat German economic data. In Frankfurt the DAX index is trading higher 29.77 points at 5,231.38 and in London FTSE 100 is trading up by 31.39 points at 4,676.40.

The BSE Capital Goods index was at 12,313.50 up by 432.33 points or by (3.64%). The main gainers were Siemens Ltd up by (5.2%), Punj Lloyd up by (4.86%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. up by (4.66%), Aiaengineer up by (3.98%) and Jyoti Struct up by (3.68%).

The BSE Realty index was at 3,750.40 up by 87.70 points or by (2.39%). The main gainers were Indbul Real up by (5.47%), Housing Dev up by (4.01%), Penland Ltd up by (3.43%), Anant Raj In up by (3.03%) and DLF Ltd up by (2.95%).

The BSE Metal index was at 12,213.25 up by 274.34 points or by (2.3%). The main gainers were Hindalco up by (6.08%), JSW Steel up by (3.8%), Nalco up by (3.55%), Jindal Saw up by (3.48%) and Welsp Guj Sr up by (3.27%).

The BSE Power index was at 2,868.06 up by 59.30 points or by (2.11%). The main gainers were Siemens Ltd up by (5.2%) at Rs.453.95, Suzlon Energy up by (3.57%), Gmr Infrastr up by (3.44%), Crompton Greaves Ltd. up by (3.12%) and BHEL up by (2.76%).

The BSE PSU index was at 8,202.09 up by 144.20 points or by (1.79%). The main gainers were Andhra Bank up by (5.1%) at, Power Finan up by (5%), Corporation up by (4.47%), Contain Corp up by (4.38%) and Mangalore Refineries & Petroch up by (3.81%).

The BSE Auto index was at 5,393.24 up by 89.74 points or by (1.69%). The main gainers were Bharat Forge up by (8.5%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd up by (2.89%), Ashok Leylnd up by (2.73%), Escorts Ltd. up by (2.44%) and Apollo Tyre up by (2.3%).

Ahluwalia Contracts India Ltd advanced by 4.13%. The company informed regarding the recent Awards of New Projects worth of Rs 215.06 Crores.

HDFC ended up by 3.06%. The leading mortgage lender has started its Rs 4,300 crore immediate fund raising exercise. The amount to be raised from the issue of NCDs would be about Rs 4,000 crore. Further the company is issuing 1.1 crore warrants, each convertible into one equity share of the company within three years, at a price of Rs 3,000. The stock is now trading higher by (3.12%) at Rs. 2,320.

Bharti Airtel ended higher by 2.87% after telecom major received bids from more than a dozen overseas banks keen to fund its around USD 23-bn merger deal with top South African mobile company MTN.

Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd spurted 7.18% after the Reserve Bank of India raised the foreign portfolio investment limit in the company to 40%.

Moser Baer increased by 1.88%. The company launched new optical Media high-end products in India.

HCL Technologies Ltd. lost 0.85%. The company said that it has been informed by Reader''s Digest Association (RDA) that the latest developments at its end do not affect its relationship and engagement with HCL.

Tata Communications closed lower by 0.56%. The company, together with its supplier, Tyco Telecommunications, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, today announced that they have completed the installation, testing and commissioning of the TGN-lntra Asia {TGN-IA) Cable System.

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.

Weak monsoon may hurt economic rebound: FM

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated that the inadequate rainfall is the reason for the decline in the economy this year while the previous year it had started moving upward due to two stimulus packages. However, when asked about the slowdown of credit between September, 2008 and June, 2009 he said that the agriculture minister is making the evaluation and trying hard to handle the situation.

In addition, it had its worst impact when the there was a major financial crisis all over the world and the industrial crisis surrounded developed countries however, credit is necessary for investment, for carrying business and utilizing it for fruitful purposes. Moreover, even if the government takes action now by amending the credit policy, it will take some more time to get its full impact on the whole economy.

Indian Stock Market Commentary : Pre Session Indian Stock Market Headline Date, Aug-10-2009

Today domestic markets are likely to open positive as majority of Asian markets are trading in green on the back of positive closing of US markets last Friday. The US job losses for the month of July clicked at 247,000 as against the consensus estimates of 350,000. And also the unemployment rate has eased at 9.4% from 9.5%. Majority of markets across Asian have cheered the positive macro economic news coming from US. In the domestic arena one could witness a positive opening followed by northward trend.

On Friday, Market extended yesterday’s losses and opened sharply lower backed by negative cues from the global markets. The US stocks markets ended on downbeat note on Thursday for the second straight session after a solid start. The major indices opened higher following smaller-than-expected weekly initial jobless claims, even though continuing claims were more-than-expected. Further, benchmark indices were trading with volatility and managed to lessen some of the losses. However, market was unable to hold the same momentum and slipped again as profit booking continued across the sectorial indices. Further, the weak cues across the Asian markets also fueled the sentiments today. Market continued to extend losses and slipped sharply during final trading to end the day with huge losses. From the sectoral front, all indices closed in red. Among those, Consumer Durables, Auto, Realty, Bank, Power, Capital Goods, FMCG and Metal stocks were major draggers, which pulled down the market. Continuous selling also pulled down the border market indices as BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended lower.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 353.79 points or (2.28%) at 15,160.24 and NSE Nifty ended down by 104.10 points or (2.27%) at 4,481.40. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 126.01 and 121.03 points at 5,433.25 and 6,193.76 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 15,501.94 and intraday low of 15,104.

On Friday, US stock markets closed higher. Markets opened with phenomenal gains backed by broad based buying. There was strong positive sentiment prevailing across the broader level on the back of better than expected Nonfarm payrolls data. Job losses for the month of July recorded at 247,000 much lower than the consensus estimate of 350,000. Further, the unemployment rate eased back for the first time since April by coming in at 9.4%, down from 9.5% and also lower than the expected 9.6%. Nine of the major 10 sectors finished higher. Energy stocks fell by 0.1% due to strengthening dollar that further pulled the oil prices by 1.5%. AIG (AIG 27.14, +4.61) was top gainer in the financial sector after posting its first profit since 2007. US light crude oil futures for September delivery closed at $70.88 per barrel lower by 1.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed higher by 113.81 points at 9,370.07, NASDAQ index inclined by 27.09 points to 2,000.25 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed higher by 13.40 points at 1,010.48.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Friday. In the IT space, Satyam Computers was down 1.25%, Infosys was up 0.14%, Patni Computers was up 2.16% and Wipro was up 1.25%. In the banking space, HDFC Bank was up 0.95% and ICICI Bank was down 5.41%. In the telecom space, MTNL was down 0.96% and Tata Communication was up1.73%. In other sectors, Sterlite Industries was down 0.07%, Dr Reddy''s Labs was up 2.38% and Tata Motors was up 1.06%.

The FIIs on Friday stood as net sellers in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 2,580.90 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,827.40 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 228.50 Crore, while gross debt sold stood at Rs 295.40 Crore. The net investment of equity reported was Rs (246.50) Crore and net debt was Rs (66.90) Crore.

On Friday, the partially convertible rupee ended at 47.85/86, 0.35% weaker than its previous close at 47.68/69. The rupee lost grounds due to downtrend in local stock markets which fell sharply for the second consecutive day.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 40.78 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 5,442.57 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 91.45 Crore and total turnover was Rs 17,655.37 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with total volume traded 60167483 shares, followed by Suzlon Energy with 46799627, Tata Steel with 17035801, DLF with 13363854 and Hindalco with 12576733 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 822708 with a total turnover of Rs 17,580.66 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 549564 with a total turnover of Rs 16,973.98 crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1239865 with a total turnover of Rs 28,846.15 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 57212 and notional turnover was Rs 1,830.48 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 4,515 and resistance at 4,572 and BSE Sensex has support at 15,215 and resistance at 15,396.

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.

Market Reports Headline : Foreign Market

Thursday, the US stocks markets closed lower for the second straight session after a solid start. The major indices opened higher following a smaller-than-expected weekly initial jobless claims, even though continuing claims were more-than-expected. The tech stocks dragged for the entire session as Cisco Systems issued an uninspiring revenue forecast even though it posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The financials also gave up their gaining streak and finished 0.7% lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 24.71 points at 9256.26, NASDAQ index fell 19.89 points to 1973.16 and the S&P 500 (SPX) fell by 5.64 points to close at 997.08 points.

The Monthly same-store sales figures for the month of July were largely unimpressive, but upside guidance from retailers like Gap, Kohl''s, and Macy''s helped push the group up 1.1%.

On the economic front, the initial jobless claims fell more than expected, as it came in at 550,000. However, continuing claims climb more than expected at 6.31 million, up from the previous week.

US light crude oil futures for September delivery closed at $71.84 per barrel down by 0.2% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures for the month of December delivery finished the session lower at $962.90 per ounce down by 0.4% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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.

Commodities News Headline: Commodities News Headline

On Thursday, the physical rubber prices remained weak. According to observers there were no quantity buyers in the main marketing centres to keep the market firm though the domestic and international futures were in a bullish mood. Sheet rubber fell to Rs 100 from Rs 100.50 a kg on buyer resistance.

The August futures for RSS 4 went up to Rs 102.10 (101.28), September to Rs 99.73 (98.66), October to Rs 97.05 (96.63) and November to Rs 97 (96.52) a kg on National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). RSS 3 improved at its August futures to Yen 191 (Yen 189) (Rs 95.37), September to Yen 187.3 (Yen 185.4), October to Yen 189 (Yen 187.3), November to Yen 190.9 (Yen 189.2), December to Yen 193.1 (Yen 191.5) and January to Yen 195.8 (Yen 194.5) a kg during the day session on TOCOM. The grade moved up further at its October futures to Yen 190.2, November to Yen 192, December to Yen 194.6 and January to Yen 197.3 a kg while the August and September futures remained inactive on late trades. RSS 3 weakened to Rs 93.67 (94.42) a kg on Singapore Commodity Exchange (SICOM). It improved to Rs 95.52 (95.13) a kg at Bangkok.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 100 (100.50); RSS-5: 98 (98.50); Ungraded: 96 (96); ISNR 20: 91.75 (92.50) and latex 60 per cent: 82.50 (83).

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.

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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.

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.

IRDA likely to allow banks to sell policies of rival insurers

The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) is expected to allow banks to sell policies of rival insurers in order to give more choices to the customers. IRDA is evaluating the norms that limit banks from selling policies of rival insurance companies. According to the existing norms, a bank can sell insurance products of one life and one general insurance company and only insurance brokers are allowed to sell policies of rivals. The plan may impinge on the multi-crore distribution arrangements between banks and insurers. Life insurers earn an important part of their premium through sales by a group bank. Banks are getting commissions for passing on customers to life insurers. Insurers also worried that banks would push the products of those who pay the maximum commission, after getting freedom to sell policies of multiple companies.

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.