Inflation, IIP spook market; Sensex ends 456 points down

Stocks on Dalal Street were slaughtered Friday after a host of negative data on the macro-economic front spooked investors. Inflation raced ahead, industrial growth showed a slowdown and crude oil resumed its northward journey. The pessimism was so strong that the market even snubbed IT bellwether Infosys Technologies' better-than-expected Q1 results. The day began on a positive note in reaction to Infosys' 4.24 percent rise in quarterly profit. The IT major raised its full-year revenue forecast in local currency but kept it flat in dollar terms. This did not go too well with investors, thus taking a toll on its shares, and in turn, dragging the entire IT pack in the first few minutes of trade. According to analysts, the outlook disappointed and underscored the increasingly difficult business conditions, particularly in the United States, the main market for Infosys. Infosys reported for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, a net profit of Rs 1,302 crore, up 4.24 per cent from Rs 1,249 crore in the preceding quarter ended on March 31, 2008. The IT major has guided for consolidated revenues of $1,215 million to $1,225 million for the quarter ending on September 30; year on year growth of 18.9-19.9 per cent. Consolidated earnings per American depositary shares is expected to be in the range of $0.55 to $0.56; YoY growth of 14.6-16.7 per cent. Inflation data was the next dampener. Inflation rose 11.89 per cent for the week to June 28. It was forecast to have risen to 11.75 per cent from 11.63 per cent a week earlier. Even the government has hinted that inflation could hit 13 per cent in the coming weeks and that any ease off in prices cannot be expected before the end of the year. To add the woes, India's industrial output rose 3.8 percent in May from a year earlier, sharply below the previous month's downwardly revised 6.2 percent and well below a forecast for growth of 7.2 per cent. This worsened the already jittery sentiment and selling pressure intensified. Capital goods took the sharpest knock. Meanwhile, crude oil rallied to a record high of $145.98 a barrel on concerns that Israel may be preparing to attack Iran, while a strike in Brazil and renewed militant activity in Nigeria would threaten to cut supplies. Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex settled at 13,469.85, down 3.28 per cent or 456 points after oscillating between a high of 14066.36 and low of 13351.34. National Stock Exchange's Nifty ended 103 points or 2.47 per cent down at 4059.35. The broader index moved between a high of 4215.50 and low of 4014.45. Midcaps and smallcaps were relatively less affected as compared to frontline stocks. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 2.01 per cent and 1.4 per cent lower respectively. Biggest Sensex losers comprised Jaiprakash Associates (-8.48%), Tata Consultancy Services (8.03%), Satyam Computer (-7.19%), Infosys Technologies (-7.18%), Larsen & Toubro (-6.89%) and Reliance Infrastructure (-6.28%). Ambuja Cements (1.9%), HDFC Bank (1.21%), Hindalco Industries (1.01%), Bharti Airtel (0.44%) were the only gainers. Market breadth remained weak through the day. On BSE, 1655 declines outnumbered 995 advances, while on NSE, there were 318 gainers and 921 losers.

Top 20 IT Software and Service Exporters, Top 15 BPO rankings

Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is an information technology consulting, services, and business process outsourcing organization that envisioned and pioneered the adoption of the flexible global business practices that today enable companies to operate more efficiently and produce more value.With over 28,000 of the world's best trained IT consultants located in 32 countries, they are uniquely positioned to deliver their flexible world class services seamlessly to any location.More than 75 per cent of their customers reward reliability, passion, creativity, and unique ability to handle the broadest range of their IT needs by continually extending and deepening their partnerships with them.They are part of one of Asia's largest conglomerates - the TATA Group - which, with its interests in Energy, Telecommunications, Financial Services, Chemicals, Engineering & Materials, provides us with a grounded understanding of specific business challenges facing global companies.
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Infosys Technologies Ltd. was started in 1981 by seven people with US$ 250. Today, they are a global leader in the "next generation" of IT and consulting with revenues of over US$ 4 billion.Infosys has a global footprint with over 40 offices and development centers in India, China, Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the UK, Canada and Japan. Infosys has over 91,000 employees.Infosys' service offerings span business and technology consulting, application services, systems integration, product engineering, custom software development, maintenance, re-engineering, independent testing and validation services, IT infrastructure services and business process outsourcing.Infosys pioneered the Global Delivery Model (GDM), which emerged as a disruptive force in the industry leading to the rise of offshore outsourcing. The GDM is based on the principle of taking work to the location where the best talent is available, where it makes the best economic sense, with the least amount of acceptable risk.
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Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven business solutions that meets the strategic objectives of their clients. Wipro has 40+ ‘Centers of Excellence’ that create solutions around specific needs of industries.With over 50 industry facing ‘Centers of Excellence', it has 647 clients - 72000+ employees and 53 development centers across the globe, iIt also has 500+ technology consultants and 10,000+ itinerant employees.
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Satyam Computer Services Ltd. is a global IT consulting and services provider, offering a range of expertise aimed at helping customers re-engineer and re-invent their businesses to compete successfully in an ever-changing market.More than 51,000 highly-skilled professionals in Satyam work Onsite, Offsite, Offshore and Nearshore, to provide customized IT solutions for companies across several industries.Satyam’s ideas and products have resulted in technology-intensive transformations that have met the most stringent of international quality standards.Satyam Development Centers in India, the USA, the UK, the UAE, Canada, Hungary, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and Australia serve 654 global companies, of which 185 are Fortune Global 500 and Fortune US 500 corporations.Satyam’s presence spans 63 countries, across six continents.
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HCL Technologies provides software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management services and BPO. Having made a foray into the global IT landscape in 1999 after its IPO, HCL Technologies focuses on Transformational Outsourcing, working with clients in areas that impact and re-define the core of their business.The company leverages an extensive global offshore infrastructure and its global network of offices in 18 countries to deliver solutions across select verticals including Financial Services, Retail & Consumer, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Hi-Tech & Manufacturing, Telecom and Media & Entertainment (M&E).For the quarter ended 31st March 2008, HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries had last twelve months (LTM) revenue of US $ 1.8 billion (Rs. 7083 crores) and employed 49,802 professionals.The HCL team comprises approximately 55,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, who operate from 18 countries including 360 points of presence in India.3087 software engineers were added last year which meant a growth of 51 per cent. They have offices in 15 countries worldwide. Their customers include NTT Data, VDO, Toshiba and Intelsat.
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Tech Mahindra is a global systems integrator and business transformation consulting firm focused on the communications industry.With the convergence of media and telecom, the changing landscape of the telecom industry is becoming extremely competitive. As companies rapidly strive to gain a competitive advantage, Tech Mahindra helps companies innovate and transform by leveraging its unique insights, differentiated services and flexible partnering models.
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Patni Computer Systems Ltd. is one of the global providers of Information Technology services and business solutions.Over 15,000 professionals service clients across diverse industries, from 22 sales offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and 20 Global Delivery Centers in strategic locations across the world.They have serviced more than 400 FORTUNE 1000 companies, for over two decades.
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I-flex Solutions Ltd.
It provides comprehensive IT solutions exclusively to the financial services industry worldwide.I-flex's de-risked revenue model continues to deliver consistent results despite changing global economic conditions. The company is not overly dependent on any one country or geographical region and has a diversified revenue stream from a widespread customer base.
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MphasiS consistently delivers global Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing, Applications Services Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing services through a combination of technology know-how, domain and process expertise.MphasiS Limited was formed in June 2000 after the merger of the US-based IT consulting company MphasiS Corporation (founded in 1998) and the Indian IT services company BFL Software Limited (founded in 1993).
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Larsen& Toubro Infotech is an offshoot of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) - a technology, engineering, manufacturing and construction conglomerate, with global operations. It is has a 7 decade history in India as premier engineering company and major infrastructure builder.
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For more Ranking Details

Top 20 IT Software and Service Exporters FY07-08

Top 20 IT-BPO Employers

Top 15 BPO ranking for FY07-08

Source: The Economic Times.

Oil surges past $141 (Nearly $6) on Iran tensions, Nigeria

Oil surges past $141 on Iran tensions, Nigeria

Oil prices jumped 4 percent to above $141 a barrel on Thursday amid threats to production in Nigeria and Brazil and an additional missile test by Iran that escalated tensions with the West.
Further support came from the weak dollar, which fell on renewed credit worries after capital concerns dragged down shares in major mortgage finance sources Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
U.S. crude settled up $5.60 at $141.65 a barrel, off a session high of $142.10 a barrel. London Brent crude settled $5.45 higher at $142.03 a barrel.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant group in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta, said it was abandoning a cease-fire to protest a British offer to help tackle lawlessness in the region, raising concern of further disruptions to the OPEC nation's exporters.
"The cease-fire in Nigeria is ending on the 12th, and that's creating some jitters as far as supply is concerned," said Rob Kurzatkowski, futures analyst with optionsXpress.

Rebel attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, the world's No. 8 exporter, have helped push crude prices to record highs over $145 this month, adding to a nearly 50 percent rise in prices this year.

Concerns that tensions between Iran, another OPEC member, and the West over Tehran's nuclear program could lead to an oil supply disruption have added to bullish sentiment.
Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.

But a U.S. official said there was no information to confirm rumors of a third Iran missile test late on Thursday as prices surged near the settlement. There was no mention of a third test on Iranian satellite channels Press TV or Al Alam on their broadcast on Thursday evening. Continued...
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U.S. STOCKS - Market rises on Dow Chemical deal, Bernanke
FACTBOX - India's draft nuclear inspections pact with IAEA
Prime Minister calls for vote of confidence

Source: Reuters India

India's GDP to be close to global average: Sify Special

`India's GDP to be close to global average'


With a clear shift in economic patterns across the globe, India is fast approaching its goal to be one among the largest economies of the world in terms of GDP, reveals a report by Goldman Sachs on the Expanding Middle – the exploding world middle class and falling global inequality. By 2030, incomes in China and India are projected to be close to the global average.

A simple way to see this is to look at the list of the seven largest economies (the ‘true G7’) in 1960, 2007 and 2050. In 1960, the largest economies were all essentially ‘developed’ countries from the higher income groups. By 2007, that has already clearly begun to change, with China in the top seven and Brazil, India and Russia not far behind. But developed countries still dominate the rankings.

From here on, the shift is likely to accelerate. These shifts could be a significant influence on spending patterns, resource use, and environmental and political pressures. In 2050, India would have the 3rd rank on the top seven nations list with an income ranking of 61.

For Graphics, Visit: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14712240

There are two ways to look at it:

The first is the shift in spending power towards middle-income economies (and away from the richest countries), to a point where they may dominate global spending for the first time in decades, as the largest population countries enter the middle-income group

The second is the shift in spending power towards middle-income people and the explosion of what we think of as a global ‘middle class’ on a scale never seen before. Over the last ten years, we have already seen unprecedented expansion in this group.

Here, Goldman Sachs refers to global middle class as those with incomes between $6,000 and $30,000 per annum. According to the report, shifts in China and India are clearly an important part of the story, though peak growth in China is likely to come much earlier than in India. What is striking, though, is that the Expanding Middle, the narrowing of the global income distribution and the expansion of the global middle class is clear whether or not either or both of these giants is included, at least in the recent past and projected future.

The global income distribution is getting narrower, not wider. So while there is a lot of focus on widening inequality and the embattled middle class in developed countries, globally the opposite is true, the report points out. By 2030, two billion new people may join the world middle class.
The distribution of global incomes could narrow significantly further, even if inequality within some countries remains high or rises further, as middle income countries continue to move through the pack. World could outstrip anything which exists globally for decades, and will peak (at around 20 million per year) around the same time as India. Already by 2020, one third of the new entrants to the world middle class will come from outside China and India. And this percentage could reach half by 2030.

A result of these shifts would be a world that could continue to be dominated by the rise of the BRICs, the N-11 (The Next Eleven - Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam - are identified by Goldman Sachs as having a high potential of becoming the world's largest economies) and a handful of other emerging countries.

The first dimension of the `Expanding Middle’ is already visible. Spending power has already been shifting away from the richest countries towards a growing middle-income group. As a result of these shifts, the purchasing power of middle-income countries is rising and set to rise much more.

This group, which will be dominated by a subset - China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, and Vietnam- of the BRICs and N11 will matter more and more for global spending patterns. The second dimension is also visible in the distribution of income across people.

A welcome side effect is that if our growth projections are met, poverty rates should continue to decline sharply. The BRICs continue to emerge as dominant forces in the global economy going forward. The report reveals the BRICs as four of the five largest economies in 2050.


Source: Sify.com

Sensex ends with a marginal loss after a choppy ride

Sensex ends with a marginal loss after a choppy ride

After opening with a negative gap, the market bounced back into the positive zone in early trade this morning but plunged sharply into the red thereafter due to heavy selling in IT, bank and several other blue chip stocks.

A couple of smart rallies from lower levels thanks to some strong buying in select blue chip stocks notwithstanding, the benchmark BSE index Sensex ended the day on a negative note today. The Nifty, however, finished with a minor gain.

The Sensex, which sailed past the magical 14,000 mark to a high of 14,047.43 this morning, ended with a loss of 38.02 points or 0.27% at 13,926.24, around 162 points off its low of 13,763.94. The Nifty, which dropped down to a low of 4110.40 in intra-day trades, ended with a small gain of 5.10 points at 4162.20.

The bulls, who had lifted the market up sharply yesterday, stayed out of the ring for a major part of the session as global sentiment remained weak. While Wall Street ended on a negative note yesterday, Asian markets displayed a mixed trend. The trend on the European bourses was not encouraging either.


Though the market had shrugged off Left parties' withdrawal of support to the ruling coalition yesterday, investors appeared reluctant to step up buying what with the government set to face a confidence vote during the special session of the parliament on the 20th and 21st of this month.
A sharp rise in metal prices on the London Metal Exchange buoyed up metal stocks this afternoon. IT stocks remained sluggish as investors stayed cautious ahead of results from sector major Infosys Technologies.

Cement stocks ACC (3.15%) and Ambuja Cements (2.5%) and metal majors Tata Steel (3.15%) and Hindalco (5.5%) were among the star performers from the Sensex pack today. Realty major DLF attracted attention ahead of the company's board meeting to consider a share buy-back. Though the stock drifted down a bit after the board approved the proposal, it still ended the day on the positive side with a sharp gain of 1.8%.

Reliance Infrastructure moved up by 2.35%. HDFC, Cipla, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Reliance Communications ended with sharp to moderate gains. Ranbaxy Laboratories edged up by around a quarter per cent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries eased by 1.7%. Maruti Suzuki declined by a little over 3.5%. FMCG major ITC lost 2.3%. Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Satyam Computer Services lost 0.5% - 1%.

More: Sensex ends with a marginal loss after a choppy ride

DLF says to buy back up to 22 m shares
Panacea vaccine receives WHO pre-qualification
STC plans to acquire land in Surinam, Indonesia
Allied Digital acquires US firm for $30 m

RIL ranked 206 in Global Fortune 500 in sales
Ranbaxy-Daiichi merger: An emerging Ardhnarishwar model?
Deep Inds to explore marginal oil and gas fields
Sintex Ind Q1 net at Rs 44 cr

Bharti adds 2.56 m mobile users in June
BSEL nears Indonesia deal /TCS is top exporter
Why investors hold dud stocks


Source: www.Sify.com/finance

Q1 2009 Results: Sintex, Bajaj Auto etc

Sintex Industries net profit rises 43.06% in the June 2008 quarter
Sales rise 36.92% to Rs 410.75 crore

Bajaj Auto reports net profit of Rs 175.11 crore in the June 2008 quarter

Bajaj Holdings & Investment reports net profit of Rs 15.20 crore in the June 2008 quarter
Sales reported at Rs 20.42 crore

GTL net profit rises 12.32% in the June 2008 quarter
Sales decline 5.20% to Rs 318.76 crore

Prithvi Information Solutions net profit declines 29.70% in the year ended March 2008



SOurce: Capitalmarket.com

RIL tops list of private sector Fortune 500 firms in India

RIL tops list of private sector Fortune 500 firms in India

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has emerged as the top Indian private company on the latest Fortune 500 Global list, where the country's presence has grown to seven firms with a debut by Tata Steel.

The list, released by the US business magazine Fortune today, includes two private (RIL and Tata Steel) and five public sector companies from India, topped by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), and including BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and SBI. IOC is the top-ranked Indian company among both private and public sectors at 116th position in the worldwide list, topped by US retail giant Wal-Mart. Besides making its debut at 315th position, Ratan Tata-led Tata Steel has also been named as the company with highest revenue growth of over 353 per cent over the past year.

Tata Steel recorded 17th fastest growth in profit among all the companies globally, Fortune said. RIL, which has been ranked at 30th in terms of revenue growth, has jumped 63 places to grab the 206th rank. SBI has been ranked at 21st place in terms of revenue growth.

RIL is ranked second after IOC among all the Indian companies and is followed by Bharat Petroleum (287), Hindustan Petroleum (290), ONGC(335) and State Bank of India (380). SBI is the seventh biggest climber among all the global companies, while RIL and BPCL have been ranked at 23rd and 50th in terms of gains from the previous year rankings.

Other companies figuring among the ten largest worldwide include Chevron (6th), ING Group (7th), Total (8th), General Motors (9th) and ConocoPhillips (10th). The US continues to have the largest presence with 153 companies, even as the number is down from 169 in the last year. China has 29 companies on the list. Besides seven Indian companies, a number of firms run by Indian-origin people have also made to the list.

These include Nagpur-born Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup at the 17th position, billionaire steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal- promoted ArcelorMittal (39th) and Indra Nooyi-led PepsiCo (184th). Vodafone, whose Indian-origin CEO Arun Sarin is retiring this month, has been ranked 85th. Citigroup has been ranked third among the banks, while SBI is at 54th position. PepsiCo is at third position in the food consumer products ranking. Besides, ArcelorMittal is ranked at the top in metals sector, while Tata Steel is at the 8th position.

Amongst the petroleum refining companies across the world, IOC has been ranked at 18th, RIL at 23rd, BPCL at 28th and HPCL at 29th out of 39 companies from the sector present on the list. ONGC has been ranked at the 7th in the mining and crude oil production space. RIL has also been ranked at 46th in terms of return on assets.
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Indian-origin executives head a dozen Fortune 500 firms
Fortune 500 list: US companies' worst show in 10 years
Wal-Mart tops global Fortune 500 firms list
Nifty July discount narrows, short covering in select stocks


Source: ET

Sensex gains 615 pts, settles near 14,000

Sensex gains 615 pts, settles near 14,000

Global markets turned buoyant following a sharp fall in crude oil prices, and taking cues, the Indian bulls assembled in full strength as the session opened, and more importantly, stayed on right till the end to guide the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty to a highly positive close today.

With the Left parties officially parting ways with the ruling coalition following their differences on the Indo - US civilian nuclear deal issue, the uncertainties that had clouded the market came to an end. On expectations that the government will now speed up certain reforms, market participants started picking up stocks in a frenzied manner almost right through the session today.

Stocks, irrespective of sectors or size, had a nice ride up the charts as the mood remained quite upbeat till the end. Realty, bank, power and capital goods stocks sparkled. FMCG, oil, IT, auto and metal stocks, despite turning a bit sticky at times, had a fine run as well. Pharma and consumer durables stocks also closed on a high note.

The Sensex, which opened with a positive gap of over 230 points at 13,581.41 and hit a high of 13,998.48 in late afternoon trade, ended with a thumping gain of 614.61 points or 4.6% at 13,964.26 today. The Nifty recorded a gain of 168.55 points or 4.23% as it settled at 4157.10, a few points down from a high of 4169.40 it touched a few minutes before the closing bell.

Reliance Infrastructure (10.7%) and Jaiprakash Associates (10%) remained high up in the positive territory right through the day. Tata Motors, which rallied sharply in afternoon trade, took the third place in the list with a handsome gain of 7.5%.
ITC closed stronger by 6.8%. Reliance Communications moved up by 6.15%. Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, BHEL and Reliance Industries gained 5% - 6%. Bharti Airtel ended nearly 5% up at Rs 747.40. Infosys Technologies (4.9%), Grasim Industries (4.85%), DLF (4.85%), ICICI Bank (4.75%), Larsen & Toubro (4.7%), NTPC (4.3%), HDFC (4.2%) and Tata Steel (4.1%) sparkled.

More @ Sensex gains 615 pts, settles near 14,000

Source: www.Sify.com/finance

Oil drops $6 on easing storm worry, dollar

Oil drops $6 on easing storm worry, dollar

Oil tumbled to below $136 on Tuesday, dropping by about $10 this week, as the dollar gained and concern eased over an Atlantic hurricane.

U.S. light crude fell more than $6 to as low as $135.14 a barrel, the lowest since June 26. It traded $5.21 lower at $136.16 by 12:53 p.m. EDT. London Brent crude fell $5.37to $136.50.
Oil had hit a record $145.85 last week, propelled by tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and worries a brewing storm could hit the Gulf of Mexico's offshore oil fields.

Hurricane Bertha became a "major" hurricane on Monday, but none of the computer models used to predict storm tracks indicated it would steer toward the Gulf of Mexico.
"It seems the tone is easing for now and the hurricane (concern) is gone," a broker said.
Dealers added the gain in the U.S. dollar triggered some technical selling,
The dollar rebounded from earlier losses on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank may keep an emergency lending facility open beyond the end of the year for big Wall Street firms.

But analysts said the market focus would shift later this week to U.S. weekly oil statistics and a monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which will give a fresh look at the demand-supply situation amid a slowing world economy.Continued...
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Sensex dips 176 pts despite late buying
Govt's new ally not rigid on economy
Siemens to cut 16,750 jobs amid economic downturn
Tata Motors launches fuel-efficient buses
China willing to cooperate with India
Meeting SP’s demand on EOU, windfall tax may not be easy
Tata Power may divest assets, holdings to part-finance capex
Setback for UP sugar mills


Source: Reuters, BusinessLine, Sify..