Dow's 30 titans

Dow's 30 titans

The 30 titans in Dow Jones' India index
August 14, 2008

Dow Jones has announced a new blue-chip index for India to track stocks that they feel are the largest and most liquid stocks traded in the country. It will be licensed, says News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch (News Corp now owns Dow Jones), to financial institutions as the basis for investment products, such as exchange-traded funds.

The index will be calculated both in terms of the dollar and the Indian rupee and will be reviewed every March.

The India Titans Index, as it has been christened, will track 30 companies. Topping the list -- and this should not come as a surprise to anyone -- is one of India's richest companies, Reliance Industries Limited.

According to the company website, one of every four investors in India is a Reliance shareholder. The company, which has more than 3 million share holders, has reported and annual turnover of $35.9 billion and a profit of $4.85 billion for the year ending March 2008.

Reliance's core competency is the oil business, but it has successfully diversified into many businesses including petroleum products, petrochemicals, textiles, plastics and the retail industry.
Reliance has been listed in Fortune's Global 500 list for the fourth year in a row; it has improved its ranking from 269 last year to 206 this year.

The company, which was launched by Dhirubai Ambani in 1966 and is now led by Chairman and CEO Mukesh Ambani, was also listed among the Top 200 companies in terms of profit and among the top 50 companies when it came to increase in revenue. It has been ranked among the 25 fastest climbers by Fortune and as one of the world's 25 most innovative companies by Business Week.

Next

For full article:Dow's 30 titans

SOurce: Rediff

Sensex extends losses, ends 369 pts down

Sensex extends losses, ends 369 pts down

It was another day in the red for bank, realty, capital goods and power stocks as participants pressed heavy sales in these sectors amid growing concerns over declining growth. Oil, auto and FMCG stocks too had a weak outing.

Metal stocks opened on a firm note but pared their gains as the session progressed. Select pharma stocks edged higher on stock specific support. Information technology stocks moved up thanks to the rupee's decline against the US dollar.

Stockometer Top gainers Worst losers
Weak US and Asian markets, a surge in crude oil prices and the market regulator SEBI's decision to refrain from altering the guidelines on FII investments through participatory notes were among the factors that contributed to the market's fall today. Also, investors appeared reluctant to pick up stocks ahead of release of inflation data and a long weekend.

While the 30 share BSE sensitive index Sensex, which nosedived to a low of 14,686.66 in late afternoon trade, ended the day with a loss of 368.94 points or 2.44% at 14,724.18, the broader 50 stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange settled with a loss of 98.35 points or 2.17% at 4430.70, near its intra-day low of 4421.25.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (3.95%) ruled firm right through the session today. Satyam Computer Services gained 1.4%. Tata Consultancy Services edged up by 0.45% while Wipro failed to retain gains and ended in the negative territory.

Tata Power (1.6%), Sterlite Industries (1.2%) and Tata Steel (0.95%) closed on a firm note. Ranbaxy Laboratories edged up marginally. Realty stock DLF went down by 8.65%. Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure lost around 7.75%. State Bank of India eased by 6.2%. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank lost over 5%.

Capital goods heavyweights Larsen & Toubro (down 4.8%) and BHEL (down 4.45%) posted sharp losses. Reliance Communications slipped by 3.75%. HDFC Bank ended 3.45% down. Maruti Suzuki, ACC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco and NTPC lost 2.5% - 3%.

Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Grasim Industries also closed with sharp losses. Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel lost around a quarter per cent each.

Punjab National Bank, Unitech, Tata Communications, Hero Honda, Ambuja Cements, Zee Entertainment, Nalco, Power Grid Corporation, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, BPCL, Idea Cellular and ABB ended sharply lower today. HCL Technologies, Cairn India, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Cipla closed on a positive note.

As selling pressure took a toll of midcap and smallcap stocks as well, the market breadth was weak today. Out of a total of 2730 stocks traded on BSE, 1849 stocks closed weak. 811 stocks ended higher and 70 stocks closed flat.
---------------------------------------------
Other Top stories:
Windfall pay revision for Central staff
Rate sensitives drive market lower
Reliance Comm adds 1.75 million users in July

Govt nods 21% pay hike
Govt nod for 6th Pay Commission report
Impact on inflation factored in: FM
Analysts' view on wage hike
Pvt PFs can invest 15% assets in shares

3G rollout may be delayed on ministry hurdle
Facebook pips MySpace to become top social networking site
Bharti set to beat BSNL as biggest
BHEL lines up $2.5 bn investment in next 4 years
India most optimistic economy: Report

India Inc logs $27 bn fall in M&As: Report
Cabinet approves Sixth Pay Commission recommendations

Source:Sify,ET,UTV

Inflation soars to the high of 12.44 percent

Inflation soars to fresh 13-yr high of 12.44%
Inflation moves up to 12.44%

Showing no sign of reversing its rising graph, inflation soared to a fresh 13-year high of 12.44 per cent for the week ended August 2, on the back of rising food and fuel prices. While the index for fuel items, for instance, rose by 0.9 per cent, the index for food items was also up by 0.9 per cent. Raw rubber rose by 5 per cent and maize 4 per cent. WPI for all commodities was up by 0.3 per cent. Earlier during the day a strong wave of selling towards end of session saw the Sensex end at day’s lows.

The market was abuzz that inflation numbers would be above 12.4 per cent against media expectations of 12.16 per cent. Traders also squared off positions ahead of an extended weekend. Annual inflation based on wholesale prices crossed the 12 per cent mark during the week ended July 26, fuelled by costlier manufactured products, fuel and food items other than vegetables. Vegetable prices showed a decline of 8 per cent from the year-ago period. However food products rose by 0.1 per cent, non-food articles 0.4 per cent and textiles by 0.4 per cent. Similarly, primary articles were up 0.1 per cent and chemical and chemical products 0.5 per cent. Fuel and petroleum remained unchanged.

The RBI recently raised its key lending rate for the third time in two months, taking it to its highest in seven years to quell price pressures, dampen demand and keep inflation expectations in check. The apex bank hiked the benchmark short-term rate by 50 basis points, about 25 bps more than what the market had expected, and the cash reserve ratio, the amount of funds banks must keep on deposit with it, by 25 basis points to 9 per cent to absorb surplus cash in the banking system.

"Bringing down inflation from the current high levels and stabilising inflation expectations assume the highest priority in the stance of monetary policy,” the RBI said in its quarterly review. However, the government’s fiscal and monetary measures have so far failed to tame the rising prices, and another round of monetary tightening is feared. “Inflation may peak in November-December and slip into single-digit by March 2009. Going by the current price situation, there may be another round of monetary tightening,” said Prime Minister’s economic advisory council member Saumitra Choudhury recently. Finance ministry’s chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani, however, is cautiously optimistic. At a recent CII conference in Chennai, he said: “The uncertain oil prices make it difficult to make short-term predictions, but in the next 12 months, the inflation rate would return to normal levels of 5-6 per cent.”

-----------------------------------------
Source: ET,UTV

VC, PE updates (Last week)

VCcircle.com

Tesco Finally Gets Indian Partner, Tata’s Trent
Oman Investment Fund, Others Invest $185M In Quippo Telecom
Russell Investments To Increase Exposure To Indian Real Estate
Why SPV Is A Preferred Route For Real Estate Investors Now
Credit Suisse PE Invests $100 Million In Hydrabad’s Indu Projects

Australia’s IPGA Buys Into Real Estate Portal RealAcres.com
Helion Ventures Invests $4 Million In HummingBird Suites
News Roundup: Pharma Co Bags $35M UNICEF Order, RPG Big On Telecom Towers
WL Ross & Goldman Sachs To Put In $100 Million In SpiceJet
Vistaar Religare Film Fund Gets SEBI Approval; Plans To Raise $50 Million

For Acumen Fund, ROI = Profits + Social Impact
SHCIL, IFCI Offload NSE Shares; Reported Valuation Of NSE $4B
Deutsche Telekom Invests $75 Million In Devas Multimedia
Govt Rejects SBI-SocGen JV Proposal For Depository Services
News Roundup: ICICI Ventures Eyeing KIMS, ONGC In Race For Marathon’s Angola Field

Last Week’s Top Stories

Anil Ambani And Spielberg Close To Signing A Deal: Report
Rajan Anandan New MD, Microsoft India; Jaspreet Bindra To Head Entertainment Div
Walt Disney Picks Up 15% Stake In UTV’s Broadcasting Arm
Capvent Readies $250-Million To Invest In First & Second Time Funds
PE Funds To Pick Up 11% Stake In Banglore’s Dynamatic Technolgies For $18M

AMP Capital Announces $750-M Asian Infra Fund; To Invest In India
News Roundup: Suzlon Eyes Shanthi Gears, BSNL Unions Reject ESOP Offer
Government To Draft New Norms For VC/PE Industry
ICICI Venture’s Mezzanine Fund Invests $10M In MAS Financial
E-Publishing Firm PreMedia Raises $4 Million From NEA IndoUS Ventures

Seedfund Is Now Targeting $50 Million Fund: Report
Publicis Buys Google’s Search Engine Marketing Business
Mumbai Angels Invests $500K In Mobile TV Company
Lighthouse Announces First Closing Of Rs 500-Crore India 2020 Fund
Fabiani’s Frontline Strategy Invests $7 Million in Krishna Saa Fabs

Voice Search Firm Ubona Gets Series A Funding From Capital18
News Analysis: Who All Will Benefit From 3G?
------------------------------------------------
IndiaPE.com

PEs buy in as realtors face a cash crunch
VC firm sets up incubation centre in India to spot fundable start-ups
Private equity lures B-schools
Ross, Goldman to invest $100m in SpiceJet
ICSA plans buyouts in US, SE Asia

Quippo Telecom to raise $185 mn
VCs continue their bargain hunt
VC in Bollywood promises directors to newer platforms
ICICI Venture eyes stake in KIMS
Direct Logistics eyes cos in N America & Europe

BoR to raise Rs 250 crore through private placement
Australian Firm To Acquire Stake In Indian Online Portal
Deutsche Tele picks up 17% stake in Devas Multimedia
EVENT ALERT: HEDGE FUNDS INVESTMENT AND RISK ANALYSIS to be held on 20-21 October 2008 in Singapore
PEs still heading to India


Source: Above sites.

India's 10 prosperous cities

India's 10 prosperous cities

A study jointly conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research's Rajesh Shukla and Future Capital Research's Roopa Purushothaman says that on conservative estimates, 379 million people will be added to India's urban spaces over the next 40 years -- more than the entire population of the United States today.

The study also mentions which cities have India's richest households and identifies 20 key cities to track. These cities together account for just under 10 per cent of India's population, but generate 30.8 per cent of disposable income.

The cities have been put in three categories: Megacities, which are the largest cities in terms of population and overall consumer markets; Boomtowns, which stand out as the next set of big-population cities with high expenditure per household; and Niche Cities, which are smaller in terms of overall population but still hit well above their weight in spending per household.

The Megacities are -- (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune); the Boomtowns are -- (Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Bhopal, and Coimbatore); and the Niche Cities -- (Faridabad, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Jalandhar).


More @ http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/aug/11sl1.htm


Source: Rediff.com

New 39 FNO stocks from Aug 21,2008

http://www.nseindia.com/content/circulars/faop11119.htm
NSE/FAOP/11119

Introduction of futures and options contracts on 39 additional individual securities

With reference to circulars no NSE/F&O/0014/2001 dated June 29, 2001, NSE/F&O/0027/2001 dated November 07, 2001, SEBI circular SMDRP/DNPD/CIR -26/2004/07/16 dated July 16, 2004, and approval received from SEBI, members are hereby notified that the following 39 additional securities will be available for trading in F&O with effect from August 21, 2008:



Sr No Symbol Security Name
1 ABGSHIP ABG SHIPYARD LTD
2 AKRUTI AKRUTI CITY LIMITED
3 ASIANPAINT ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED
4 BALAJITELE BALAJI TELEFILMS LIMITED.
5 CONCOR CONTAINER CORP OF IND LTD
6 COREPROTEC CORE PROJ. & TECH. LTD.
7 DCHL DECCAN CHRONICLE HOLD LTD
8 DISHTV DISH TV INDIA LTD.
9 EVERONN EVERONN SYSTEMS IND. LTD
10 FSL FIRSTSOURCE SOLU. LTD.
11 GSPL GUJARAT STATE PETRO LTD
12 GTLINFRA GTL INFRA.LTD
13 GVKPIL GVK POW. & INFRA LTD.
14 HCL-INSYS HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD
15 IBREALEST INDIABULLS REAL EST. LTD
16 ICSA ICSA (INDIA) LIMITED
17 KLGSYSTEL KLG SYSTEL LTD.
18 KSOILS K S OILS LIMITED
19 MIC MIC ELECTRONICS LIMITED
20 MINDTREE MINDTREE LIMITED
21 MLL MERCATOR LINES LIMITED
22 MONNETISPA MONNET ISPAT LTD
23 MRF MRF LTD
24 NBVENTURES NAVA BHARAT VENTURES LIMI
25 NOIDATOLL NOIDA TOLL BRIDGE CO LTD
26 OPTOCIRCUI OPTO CIRCUITS (I) LTD.
27 ORBITCORP ORBIT CORP. LTD.
28 PRISMCEM PRISM CEMENTS LTD
29 PTC PTC INDIA LIMITED
30 RIIL RELIANCE INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTU LTD
31 SINTEX SINTEX INDUSTRIES LTD
32 SREINTFIN SREI INFRASTRUCTURE FINAN
33 THERMAX THERMAX LTD
34 TORNTPOWER TORRENT POWER LTD
35 TV-18 TV18 INDIA LIMITED
36 UCOBANK UCO BANK
37 UTVSOF UTV SOFT. COMM. LTD.
38 VOLTAMP VOLTAMP TRANSFORMERS LTD
39 WALCHANNAG WALCHANDNAGAR INDUSTRIES

The details of market lot and list of contracts being made available for trading in the above securities will be informed to members separately through a circular on August 20, 2008.

For any clarification members are requested to contact following officials
Sachin Dhar & Janardhan Gujaran on 022-26598151, 022-26598152


-----------------------------------
These stks may get action in near term. Watch this space.

Source: NSEindia.com

P-Notes back on SEBI agenda

P-Notes back on SEBI agenda

Participatory Notes are once again on the agenda of the capital market regulator, with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) set to begin a review of the entire “regulatory framework” governing these instruments at its board meeting on August 13.

The PN virus! SEBI announces new payment system for IPOs

The return of PNs to the agenda of the SEBI board has triggered expectations among market participants that the capital market regulator may look at easing some of the restrictions that were introduced in October 2007 as there has been a change in the economic environment and also in the market conditions.

At the time, SEBI had proposed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and their sub-accounts cannot issue or renew PNs with underlying as derivatives with immediate effect.

Sebi for easing financial reporting norms SEBI disgorges Rs 80.34 lakh from 33 entities

They had to unwind their current position within 18 months. The capital market regulator had also said that FIIs cannot hold over 40 per cent of assets in PNs. Official sources indicated that part of the review could include a fresh look at the 18-month deadline in view of the recent developments in the market.

“A lot of data has flowed in on PNs since October last year. This would help us in the review on August 13,” official sources said. They added that any decision on policy change was unlikely on the same day as it would be the first meeting on the subject.

FIIs are concerned that their sub-accounts have been barred from participating in futures and options. Moreover, the capital market regulator had ordered winding up of PNs issued to investors in unregulated jurisdictions.

PNs are offshore derivative instruments that allow foreign investors to invest indirectly in a country’s stock markets without disclosing their identity. The October 2007 restrictions on PNs were brought in the backdrop of copious capital flows into the country.

Ever since the curbs on PNs were announced, the FIIs had been net sellers, initially due to these restrictions and later beginning January 2008 on account of global financial turmoil following deepening of US sub-prime crisis.

“Since the start of the calendar year, it is difficult to say whether FII selling was driven by curbs on PNs or was it due to global financial turmoil. It looked to be combination of factors,” sources said.

In the meanwhile, SEBI had overhauled the entire FII regulations and also simplified the process of their registration with the regulator. Official sources said that there was no problem as such on FII registrations now and indicated that the board would not consider this subject on August 13.

However, of late, there are concerns of market business being driven out of India to places like the Singapore stock exchange, where volumes of trading on Nifty futures and options have surged in recent times. This may now compel SEBI to take measures to discourage participants to shift to alternative market places.

Source: SIfy

Reliance in talks with HPCL, CPCL, KRL for D6 oil

Reliance in talks with HPCL, CPCL, KRL for D6 oil

Reliance Industries is in talks with state refiners for sale of crude oil it plans to start pumping from its eastern offshore KG-D6 block from next month. The company is in advanced talks with Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Chennai Refinery and Kochi Refineries for sale of 34,000 barrels per day of oil it will start producing from the gas-rich KG-D6 block on Krishna Godavari basin from September. "We do not intend to use the D6 oil in our Jamnagar refinery and are close to tying up sales with state-refiners," a company source said.

The company is investing USD 2.234 billion in developing the MA-1 and MA-2 oil fields in the predominantly gas-rich block. Oil reserves in the block are estimated at 53.5 million barrels and production will last 11 years, beginning with 20,000 bpd in first year and rising to 30,000 bpd in second year before beginning to decline.

Sources said the Aker Smart-1 floating production storage and offloading system (FPSO) is expected on the field any day now. It may take 4-6 weeks to install at the field and oil production will begin soon after. The FPSO, contracted for USD 733 million, will help eliminate the need for piping the oil to the shore for onward transportation to refineries.

Oil tankers can directly load at the FPSO and carry the oil to the destined refineries. Reliance is separately investing USD 5.2 billion in phase I of its gas field development plan, the first output of which is expected around the same time as oil.


Other ET top stories:
What made RIL a global player?
Tesco to invest Rs 480 cr in India, ties up with Tata
Market Review: Investors book profit ahead of P-notes meet
Infosys cuts down hiring target by 10,000 this fiscal
UBS posts Q2 losses, writedowns of $5.1 bn

Min No To Special Oil Tax
Bindra magic: Now, corporates to sponsor shooting
Cabinet forms committee to review impact of high ATF prices
Min No To Special Oil Tax
Award damages if gas pact with RIL doesn't work out: RNRL

L&T bags Rs 38.16 bn order from metal industry
Reliance Retail to bring UK's Hamleys toys to India

Stocks to watch: Elder Pharma
Stocks to watch: Jindal Saw
AnandRathi assigns 'buy' to Crompton Greaves; target Rs 320
Buy Punj Lloyd for target Rs 532: Sharekhan
ULJK assigns accumulate on Voltamp Transformers; target Rs 1025

Stocks to watch : Punjab National Bank
Stocks to watch: Panacea Biotec, Texmaco
MF Global Sify puts hold on VIP Industries
Sharekhan puts 'buy' on Aban Offshore; target Rs 4829


Source:ET, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/headlines.cms

Industrial growth slows down to 5.4% in June

Industrial growth slows down to 5.4% in June
Investors book profit ahead of P-notes meet
Market tanks on false alarm over IIP

A slowdown in the manufacturing sector pulled down India's industrial growth in June to 5.4 per cent from 8.9 per cent a year ago, but consumer sector nursed its way back to health growing 10 per cent. Growth in manufacturing sector, which accounts for over two-third of the Index of Industrial Production, fell drastically to 5.9 per cent from 9.7 per cent a year ago. Manufacturing exhibited a similar trend in the first quarter as well, growing by a poor 5.6 per cent compared with 11.1 per cent last year.

The only silver lining was that consumer durables growth gathered momentum in June registering a growth of 3.5 per cent against a negative growth of 3.6 per cent last year, pushing up the overall consumer sector growth to 10 per cent. Electricity sector growth fell to 2.6 per cent against 6.8 per cent a year ago, while mining sector bounced back to post 2.9 per cent growth compared with 1.5 per cent.

Industrial growth almost halved to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2008-09 from 10.3 per cent a year ago. Even though industrial growth slowed down in June year-on- year, the pace was much less in the earlier two months of this fiscal compared to a year ago. According to revised figures, IIP grew by 4.19 per cent in May against 10.6 per cent a year ago and 6.2 per cent in April against 11.3 per cent in the first month of 2007-08.

For the quarter under review, electricity growth slowed down to two per cent against 8.3 per cent, but mining growth was up by 4.7 per cent against 2.7 per cent. Consumer goods sector, which bore the brunt of rising interest rates, showed revival with durables segment coming out from negative growth in June and also the first quarter. In the first quarter, consumer durables grew by 3.8 per cent against -0.7 per cent.

Consumer non-durables segment growth was up by a whopping 12.2 per cent in June against 6.3 per cent a year ago. However, for the first quarter, the growth in consumer non-durables was 10.1 per cent against 12.4 per cent because of less growth in April and May. Overall consumer goods sector grew by 8.5 per cent in the first quarter from nine per cent a year ago.

However capital goods production, which is crucial for future industrial production, grew by just 5.6 per cent in June against 23.1 per cent a year ago. Intermediate goods growth was 2.9 per cent in June against 8.6 per cent and basic goods 2.9 per cent from 9.2 per cent. In terms of industries, ten out of 17 industry groups have shown positive growth in June. The industry group Beverages, Tobacco and Related Products have shown the highest growth of 22.3 per cent, followed by 12.6 per cent in Transport Equipment and Parts and 11.5 per cent in Basic Chemicals and Chemical Products.

----------------------------------------------
Mkts fall 291 pts

Investors overlooked June IIP data and declining crude oil prices to book profit on Tuesday, bringing an end to five-day rally. They were also cautious ahead of SEBI meet on participatory notes Wednesday, marketmen said. India's industrial output grew by 5.4 per cent in June compared with a growth of 8.9 per cent a year ago. However, the growth was in line with market expectation of 5 per cent. Manufacturing sector, which accounts for over two-third of the Index of Industrial Production, grew by 5.9 per cent against 9.7 per cent a year ago.

“IIP numbers for June were in line with expectations. The growth has definitely slowed compared to last year. Though this moderation raises some concerns on the overall growth, we do not see the situation worsening. The moderation in IIP is due to previous tightening by RBI. Inflation being the key priority, both RBI and the finance ministry have traded growth for containing inflation,” said Krupesh Thakkar of India Capital Markets.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 15,212.13, down 291.79 points or 1.88 per cent. The index touched a high of 15579.78 and low of 15124.91 during the day. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4555.50, down 1.40 per cent or 65 points. It touched an intra-day high of 4649.85 and low of 4525.75.

“Rally in the market for the last three weeks has been sentiment based, which took benchmarks up by 24 per cent. We are still in a bear market and it was right time to book profits. IIP figures have disappointed to some extent,” said Vinod Nair, deputy head of research at Religare Securities.

Source: ET