The market may edge higher in early trade on firm Asian stocks. Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 8.50 points at the opening bell. Asian stocks rose on Wednesday on optimism the global economy is strengthening.
Tata Steel announced after market hours on Tuesday, 14 January 2014, that it opened the UK's largest profiling centre for steel plate in the West Midlands, increasing its plate processing capacity in the region by up to 50%.
The new Profiling Centre, at Steelpark in Wednesfield, transforms steel plate into a multitude of shaped and machined components, from high-volume production runs for offroad vehicle wheels and booms for earth-moving equipment, to large one-off components for construction projects and specialist engineering applications. The 3.1 million facility provides a step change in Tata Steel's capability to supply plate that has been cut and finished to exact size, shape and quality specifications. Steelpark's profiling capacity will be increased to 47,000 tonnes per annum, the company said in a statement.
Paul Steele, Managing Director at Tata Steel Distribution UK and Ireland, said: "This investment is one of a series of developments that is strengthening Steelpark's position as one of the key foundations for UK manufacturing. We are transforming the UK's largest steel service centre into an operation that is entirely focused on meeting customer requirements and supporting their success."
The development amalgamates Tata Steel's plate cutting and machining capability into a single facility able to offer a comprehensive suite of tailored processing services to meet customers' specific requirements, the company said.
The investment will shorten order and delivery times, enabling Tata Steel to offer a range of benefits to customers in the lifting & excavating and construction sectors, including greater consistency of quality and a single point of contact for the purchasing process, it said.
Paul Steele added: "We have a unique ability to support our customers because of our Tata Steel ownership, which makes us the only steel distribution group to have both its mill and processing operations in the UK and Ireland. This means not only that we know our products and services inside out, but we can offer customers consistent quality and repeatability. We can work together from the outset to advise customers on specifications for their particular product application and, by tailoring our products and services in this way, we are best placed to meet their needs with a personal and professional service."
The Tata Motors Group's global wholesales declined 19.95% to 79,220 units in December 2013 over December 2012. Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) jumped 24.66% to 40,244 units in December 2013 over December 2012. Tata Motors unveiled the data on monthly wholesales after trading hours on Tuesday, 14 January 2014.
Coal India said its board has approved payment of interim dividend of Rs 29 per share for the financial year ending March 2014. The date of payment of interim dividend is on and from 25 January 2014. The stock offers a dividend yield of 10% based on the closing price of Rs 289.90 on Tuesday, 14 January 2014.
Siemens turns ex-dividend today, 15 January 2014 for the dividend of Rs 5 per share for the year ending September 2013.
Key benchmark indices edged lower on Tuesday, 14 January 2014 as world stocks fell after Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart on Monday, 13 January 2014, said that the US economy is on solid footing and he would support continued cuts to stimulus. Fed's bond-buying program has been a source of liquidity for most Asian and emerging markets in recent years. India has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of foreign capital flows. The S&P BSE Sensex shed 101.33 points or 0.48% to settle at 21,032.88 on that day, its lowest closing level since 10 January 2014.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 260.88 crore on Tuesday, 13 January 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) is seen easing up a bit at 7.1% in December 2013, from 7.52% in November 2013, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. WPI had accelerated to 7.52% in November 2013, from 7% in October 2013. The government will unveil WPI data for December 2013 at 12 noon today, 15 January 2014.
The Reserve Bank of India's Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 is scheduled on 28 January 2014. The Reserve Bank of India kept its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged after its last policy review in December and said at that time that it expected inflation to ease in the following months.
Asian stocks rose on Wednesday on optimism the global economy is strengthening. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were up 0.37% to 1.77%. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.21%.
US stocks rose on Tuesday, giving the Standard & Poor's 500 Index its biggest gain of the year, as better-than-forecast retail sales and corporate merger activity signaled confidence in the economy.
US retail sales increased 0.2% after a 0.4% advance in November that was smaller than previously reported, Commerce Department figures showed in Washington.
Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said that the central bank's stimulus program should end later this year because the economy is on a "firmer footing" than it has been in the past several years. Richard Fisher, Fed president in Dallas, likened quantitative easing to "beer goggles" that makes everything look good. There are signs that "we have made for an intoxicating brew as we have continued pouring liquidity down the economy's throat," he said in a speech.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day monetary policy meeting on 28 and 29 January 2014. By a 9-to-1 vote, the Fed on 18 December 2013 decided to trim its asset-purchase program by $10 billion to $75 billion per month starting in January 2014.
The World Bank raised its global growth forecasts as the easing of austerity policies in advanced economies supports their recovery, boosting prospects for developing markets' exports. The Washington-based lender sees the world economy expanding 3.2% this year, compared with a June projection of 3 percent and up from 2.4% in 2013. The forecast for the richest nations was raised to 2.2% from 2%. Part of the increase reflects improvement in the 18-country euro area, with the US ahead of developed peers, growing twice as fast as Japan. The report by the institution that's trying to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 indicates a near-doubling of the growth in world trade this year from 2012, as developed economies lift export-reliant emerging nations. At the same time, the withdrawal of monetary stimulus in the US may raise market interest rates, hurting poorer countries as investors return to assets such as Treasuries, according to the bank.
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