IT, auto stocks nudge higher

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) led gains on the bourses on first trading day of the week. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 98 points or 0.5%, up about 120 points from the day's low and off close to 20 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped on profit taking. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.

The Sensex has gained 169.46 points or 0.86% in first three trading sessions of May 2013 (till 6 May 2013). The Sensex has gained 246.93 points or 1.27% in calendar 2013 so far (till 6 May 2013). From a 52-week high of 20,203.66 on 29 January 2013, the Sensex has declined 530.02 points or 2.62%. From a 52-week low of 15,748.98 on 4 June 2012, the Sensex has surged 3,924.66 points or 24.92%.

Coming back to today's trade, IT stocks were in demand on an upbeat April job report. Metal stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries reversed direction after scaling a record high. Adani Power fell after reporting weak Q4 March 2013 results.

Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade on firm Asian stocks. A bout of volatility was witnessed as the key benchmark indices regained positive zone after slipping into the red in morning trade. The market retained positive zone in mid-morning trade. Volatility continued as key benchmark indices pared gains after striking fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. The market regained positive terrain after slipping into the red for a brief period in afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices retained positive zone in mid-afternoon trade. The market retained positive zone in late trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 98 points or 0.5% to settle at 19,673.64, its highest closing level since 2 May 2013. The index jumped 118.65 points at the day's high of 19,694.29 in early afternoon trade. The index declined 21.33 points at the day's low of 19,554.31 in morning trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 27.05 points or 0.46% to 5,971.05, its highest closing level since 2 May 2013. The index hit a high of 5,976.50 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,928.45 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 2 May 2013.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.16% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.96%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Metal index (up 1.98%), BSE IT index (up 1.88%), BSE Teck index (up 1.55%), BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.51%), BSE Auto index (up 1.39%), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.04%), and outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE FMCG index (down 0.77%), BSE PSU index (down 0.25%), BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.09%), BSE Bankex (down 0.01%), BSE Power index (up 0.18%), BSE Realty index (up 0.21%) and BSE HealthCare index (up 0.44%), underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,337 shares advanced and 1,003 shares declined. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks gained while rest of them declined.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1809 crore, lower than Rs 2229.98 crore on Friday, 3 May 2013.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2.53% to Rs 821.50. The scrip hit high of Rs 824.70 and a low of Rs 802.50.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC shed 1.35% to Rs 326.30 on profit booking. The scrip hit high of Rs 332.40 and a low of Rs 325.40. The stock had hit record high of Rs 335.90 in intraday on 30 April 2013. The Centre raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14.

IT stocks were in demand on an upbeat April job report. US is the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. Infosys gained 1.46%. Wipro rose 0.42%. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) advanced 3.25%.

HCL Technologies shed 0.12% to Rs 749.25. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 809 in intraday trade on 17 April 2013 after the company reported strong Q3 results.

Metal stocks rose on renewed buying. Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.95%), JSW Steel (up 1.46%), Tata Steel (up 3.7%), Sail (up 1.1%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 2.6%) edged higher.

Shares of copper producers rose after benchmark copper jumped 6.09% to settle at $7,265 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange on Friday, 3 May 2013. Hindalco Industries (up 3.52%), Sterlite Industries (India) (up 1.76%) and Hindustan Copper (up 1.05%) edged higher

Asian Paints rose 3.39%. The company has announced the results of Berger International (BIL), Singapore which is an indirect subsidiary of the company. BIL has reported net profit attributable to shareholders of Rs 3.49 crore for Q4 March 2013 as against a loss of Rs 2.21 crore in Q4 March 2012. BIL's total revenue rose 12.4% to Rs 117.99 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.

Asian Paints has scheduled a board meeting on 9 May 2013 to consider sub-division of equity shares.

Pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 0.17% to Rs 982.60. The stock reversed direction after scaling a record high of Rs 994.45 in intraday trade today, 6 May 2013.

Adani Power shed 0.51% after the company reported a net loss of Rs 586 crore in Q4 March 2013, higher than net loss of Rs 292 crore in Q4 March 2012. The result was announced during trading hours today, 6 May 2013. The company said the increase in net loss in Q4 March 2013 was mainly on account of higher prices of imported coal and transmission constraints. Consolidated total income surged 79% to Rs 1889 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.

Telecom stocks were in demand. Bharti Airtel rose 0.72%, with the stock extending Friday's 0.32% rise. The company on Friday, 3 May 2013, announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE), under which Bharti will issue 19.98 crore of its new shares to QFE representing a shareholding of 5% in the company, post issuance of the new shares. As per the agreement, QFE will subscribe to 19.98 crore new shares of Bharti at a price of Rs 340 per share amounting to a total consideration of $1.26 billion (Rs 6796 crore). The investment will further strengthen the capital structure and provide further flexibility for the company to deliver on its growth strategy, Bharti said.

Reliance Communications (RCom) rose 2.36%. The company has reportedly increased voice call prices on some of its plans by about a fifth and cut promotional offers and discounts on some others by up to 65%.

MTNL (up 11.79%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.61%) gained.

Idea Cellular fell 1.93%.

Many capital goods stocks edged higher on renewed buying. ABB, Siemens, Bhel and BEML rose by 0.08% to 4.6%. But, L&T fell 0.51%.

Realty stocks edged reversed intraday losses. DLF, Unitech and D B Realty and HDIL rose by 0.01% to 2.23%.

Auto stocks were in demand on renewed buying. Tata Motors rose 2.02%. The company's total sales fell 15% to 51,160 in April 2013 over April 2012. Total domestic sales fell 17% to 47,595 in April 2013 over April 2012. Exports rose 28% to 3,565 during the period.

Car maker Maruti Suzuki India gained 1.65%. The company's total sales fell 3.1% to 97,302 units in April 2013 over April 2012. The company's domestic sales rose 0.3% to 90,523 units in April 2013 over April 2012. Exports fell 33.3% to 6,779 units in April 2013 over April 2012. The company announced its sales figures on 1 May 2013.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.56%. The company's automotive division reported a 2% rise in total sales to 41,432 in April 2013 over April 2012. Total domestic sales rose 2% to 39,902 in April 2013 over April 2012. Exports rose 8% to 1,530 during the period.

M&M's Farm Equipment Sector (FES) reported 38% rise in total sales to 23,202 units in April 2013 over April 2012. Total domestic sales rose 38% to 22,196 in April 2013 over April 2012. Exports rose 34% to 1,006 during the period.

Bajaj Auto rose 0.83%. The company's total sales fell 10% to 3.44 lakh units in April 2013 over April 2012. Motorcycle sales fell 12% to 3 lakh units in April 2013 over April 2012. Commercial vehicle sales rose 10% to 43,351 units in April 2013 over April 2012. Exports fell 23% to 1.30 lakh units in April 2013 over April 2012. The company announced the sales figures during market hours on 2 May 2013.

Hero MotoCorp advanced 2.32%. The company said on 1 May 2013, its total sales fell 9.5% to 4.99 lakh in April 2013 over April 2012.

Bank stocks were mixed after online portal Cobrapost today, 6 May 2013, claied that its sting operation showed that a total of 23 major Indian banks, both public and private, and insurance companies, are running a nation-wide money laundering racket. Cobrapost said that in all, 23 banks and insurance companies have been exposed, namely, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, all public sector banks, and their insurance associates; Yes Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Federal Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, all private banks, and their insurance allies; besides the state-owned LIC of India, Reliance Life Insurance and Birla Sunlife, and Tata AIG, among private sector insurers.

Shares of India's biggest commercial bank in terms of branch network, State Bank of India (SBI) rose 0.39%.

HDFC Bank dropped 0.91%.

ICICI Bank rose 1.23%. Axis Bank declined 0.85%.

Cobrapost said its undercover investigation conducted for more than half a year, and spanning many states including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, shows that money laundering practices are part and parcel of banking and insurance business across the board. Even a walk-in customer can avail of such services that help him launder all his unaccounted cash, Cobrapost said. Money laundering services are being offered by banks and insurance companies openly as a standard product across the board, Cobrapost said.

The second round of secret videos have revealed violation of several provisions of the Income Tax Act, FEMA, RBI regulations, KYC norms, the Banking Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said Cobrapost in a press release.

Today's expose is the second by Cobrapost after the online portal had on 13 March 2013 alleged that HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were involved in money laundering.

ACC shed 1.57%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 189.2% to Rs 438.29 crore on 2.9% decline in net sales to Rs 2911.11 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012. The company announced Q1 results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.

ACC's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined 24.09% to Rs 491.57 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012.

Despite lower EBITDA, net profit jumped by 189.2% year-on-year in Q1 March 2013 due to recognition of additional depreciation charge of Rs 335.38 crore in Q1 March 2012 and write back of tax provision of Rs 140.83 crore in Q1 March 2013.

ACC said that the demand for cement in the first quarter of the year is usually expected to be robust. However, this year the industry did not witness the normal seasonal pattern on account of an overall slowdown in infrastructure and general construction segments, the company said. The slackening of demand also saw subdued realizations, ACC said in a statement.

ACC said that the company's on-going improvement programme aimed at achieving cost leadership and delivering enhanced customer value has contributed particularly in the areas of manufacturing, sales, logistics and procurement processes. This helped the company to contain much of the inflationary pressures on the costs of its major inputs and transportation, ACC said in a statement.

Grasim Industries shed 0.37%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 1% to Rs 818 crore on 5% increase in net revenue to Rs 7672 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Profit before interest, depreciation and taxes (PBIDT) fell 5% to Rs 1786 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Despite record volumes, profitability of the viscose staple fibre (VSF) business was adversely affected by decline in realization, Grasim said. The company said profits of the cement business were adversely affected due to lower volumes and higher logistics costs. Cement and VSF are the two key businesses of Grasim. The company's exposure to the cement business is through its subsidiary UltraTech Cement.

Consolidated net profit rose 2% to Rs 2704 crore on 11% increase in net revenue to Rs 25245 crore in the year ended March 2013 (FY13) over the year ended March 2012 (FY12).

PBIDT rose 4% to Rs 6543 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012 led by improved volumes in its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business and cost optimization. The board of Grasim has recommended a dividend of Rs 22.50 per share, same as last year.

Grasim said that given the prevailing global economic conditions, coupled with the surplus capacity in China, the VSF industry is expected to remain under pressure in the short term. With regard to the outlook on the cement business, Grasim said that cement demand in India is expected to grow by an average 8% in the long term with housing, infrastructure and allied spending being the key value drivers. The capacity utilization of the cement industry is likely to improve to 80% in FY 2016 as the pace of capacity addition will slow down, Grasim said. Cost pressures are easing off with the decline in global commodity prices, particularly energy, the company said.

Capacity expansions in VSF and capacities under implementation/unutilized in cement will provide additional volumes, driving growth and further consolidation of the company's leadership, Grasim said. The company will utilise these capacities at the earliest in the present difficult situation, Grasim said. The company will continue to focus on cost reduction measures, improving asset productivity to maintain its position as the lowest costs producer and expanding specialty products portfolio for sustained shareholder value creation, Grasim said.

Jaiprakash Associates gained 0.56%, with the stock reversing intraday losses. The company's net profit fell 56.48% to Rs 123.50 crore on 3.95% decline in total income to Rs 3932.07 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The result was announced on Saturday, 4 May 2013. The company's net profit fell 51.16% to Rs 501.28 crore on 3% growth in total income to Rs 13512.08 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year March 2012.

On a consolidated basis, net profit fell 27.04% to Rs 461.79 crore on 26.51% rise in total income to Rs 19128.67 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year ended March 2012.

Titan Industries advanced 1.15% on good Q4 results. The company's net profit rose 28.2% to Rs 184.97 crore on 14.54% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 2613.24 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The company announced the results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.

Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.8% to Rs 725.18 crore on 14.41% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10112.67 crore in the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013) over the year ended 31 March 2012 (FY 2012).

On consolidated basis, Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.6% to Rs 725.38 crore on 14.4% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10123.29 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012.

Titan Industries' board of directors at a meeting held on Friday, 3 May 2013, recommended a dividend of Rs 2.10 per share for FY 2013.

Titan Industries said its good financial performance in FY 2013, which was the silver jubilee year for the company, was despite a challenging economic environment. Titan Industries said it had pursued growth during 2012-13 in all its business. The company invested in many strategic initiatives taking into account long term and sustainable growth. All these backed by the talent and commitment of employees and business associates have helped Titan Industries register this encouraging growth in a difficult year, Titan Industries said in a statement.

The strength of company's brands contributed to sales growth across all retail formats of watches, jewellery and eyewear, Titan Industries said in a statement.

The Watches business of the company recorded an income of Rs 1675.87 crore in FY 2013, a year-on-year growth of 9.6%. This was achieved through excellent planning and execution of key initiatives, Titan said. The income from Jewellery segment rose 14.8% at Rs 8107.99 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012. The income from other segments comprising of Precision Engineering, a B2B Business, the Eyewear business and accessories surged 25.9% to Rs.414.03 crore in FY 2013, Titan Industries said in a statement.

Titan Industries said that FY 2013 witnessed aggressive expansion of its retail network with a net addition of 126 stores by Watches, Jewellery and Eyewear businesses. As on 31 March 2013, the company had 953 stores, with over 1.27 million sq.ft of retail space delivering a retail turnover in excess of Rs 9980 crore, Titan Industries said in a statement.

Commenting on the company's performance, Mr. Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Industries said, "The year 2012-13 was a challenging year given the economic environment that was subdued and other adverse factors like the high price of gold that impacted our jewellery business. It has however been a fruitful year for Titan Industries with healthy growth and the fourth quarter in particular, was very encouraging with 28% growth in profit. Given the high expectations of all our stakeholders and aspirations of our employees, we move confidently into the new financial year with aggressive plans".

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on its probe into the coal blocks allocation today, 6 May 2013, that changes were made by law minister, coal ministry, attorney general and officials of the Prime Minister's Office in CBI's draft status report on coal scam. Last week, the Supreme Court had issued strong observations against CBI sharing the draft coal block scam report with the government. The apex court had asserted that the probe agency must be liberated and should not be controlled by political masters.

The stock exchanges have decided to conduct a special trading session for a short duration on Saturday, 11 May 2013, as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is testing its disaster recovery software. Trading will start at 11:15 IST and end at 12:45 IST.

The focus of the market is on Q4 results. HDFC and Lupin unveil Q4 results on Wednesday, 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Asian Paints and Punjab National Bank unveil Q4 results on Thursday, 9 May 2013. NTPC announces Q4 results on Friday, 10 May 2013. Bank of Baroda unveils Q4 results on 13 May 2013. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013. Bajaj Auto announces Q4 results on 16 May 2013. BPCL announces Q4 results on 29 May 2013. M&M and Tata Power unveil Q4 results on 30 May 2013.

Indian services sector growth eased sharply during April as new orders came in at a much slower pace, a business survey showed today, 6 May 2013. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a survey of around 400 companies, fell to 50.7 in April 2013, its lowest since October 2011. It was the third straight month of decline, and took the index dangerously close to the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. The index had stood at 51.4 in March. Services make up over 60% of India's economy.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will issue data on industrial production for March 2013 on Friday, 10 May 2013. Industrial production rose 0.6% in February 2013.

The Budget session of the Parliament ends on Friday, 10 May 2013.

The RBI on Friday, 3 May 2013, cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25% and kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks unchanged at 4% after a monetary policy review. RBI said that the balance of risks stemming from its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing. The central bank said that with upside risks to inflation still significant in the near term in view of sectoral demand supply imbalances, ongoing correction in administered prices and pressures stemming from MSP increases, monetary policy cannot afford to lower its guard against the possibility of resurgence of inflation pressures. The RBI said it will endeavour to condition the evolution of inflation to a level of 5% by March 2014, using all instruments at its command.

The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017.

European stocks edged lower on Monday. Key benchmark indices in France and Germany fell by 0.05% to 0.35%. The stock market in UK was closed for a holiday.

Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors gave thumbs up to an upbeat US labor force report that sent Wall Street to an all-time closing high on Friday, 3 May 2013. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore rose by 0.37% to 1.35%. South Korea's KOSPI Composite index fell 0.22%. Japanese financial markets are shut on Monday for a public holiday and will reopen on Tuesday.

Trading in US index futures indicated a flat opening of US stocks on Monday, 6 May 2013. US stocks on Friday, 3 May 2013, rose to record highs, with the Dow industrials soaring above 15,000 and the S&P 500 index above 1,600, as Wall Street celebrated an upbeat April jobs report. US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5%, the Labor Department said on Friday, 3 May 2013.

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