Sensex ends off highs; capital goods, oil & gas up

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended in the positive terrain but off day’s highs as traders resorted to profit booking near resistance levels following weakness in European peers.

The Sensex ended at 17585.57, up 107.42 points or 0.61 per cent. It touched intraday high of 17664.10 and low of 17570.27.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 5353.30, up 35.40 points or 0.67 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5378.75 and low of 5344.45 in trade today.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.90 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved up 1.19 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Capital Goods Index was up 1.59 per cent, BSE Oil&gas Index moved 1.41 per cent higher and BSE Metal Index gained 1.25 per cent. BSE Healthcare Index was down 0.56 per cent and BSE Auto Index edged 0.22 per cent lower.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Nifty ends above 5300; power, capital goods up

Posted on April 2, 2012 by admin

MUMBAI: The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty extended its winning streak and closed above psychological resistance levels led by gains in power, capital goods and realty space.

The Nifty ended at 5322.10, up 26.55 points or 0.50 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5331.55 and low of 5278.80 in trade today.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 17491.91, up 87.71 points or 0.50 per cent. It touched intraday high of 17529.98 and low of 17382.38.

BSE Midcap Index up 1.21 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.82 per cent higher.

BSE Power Index was up 1.96 per cent, BSE Capital Goods Index gained 1.80 per cent and BSE Realty Index moved 1.67 per cent higher. BSE Metal Index was down 0.25 per cent and BSE Oil&gas Index slipped 0.22 per cent.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , , | Comments Off

US stock index futures point to slightly higher start

Posted on March 29, 2012 by admin

US stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 both up 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent at 0830 GMT.

European stocks were flat on Thursday, hovering around a three-week low as rallying mining shares offset losses in the energy sector, where Total extended its slide, hit by worries over a gas leak in the North Sea.

The Nikkei eased 0.7 percent to 10,114.79 as investors locked in profit from a meteoric January-March rally that is poised to be its best first-quarter performance in 24 years.

Roche Holding hiked its cash bid for U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina to $6.7 billion, the Swiss drugmaker said as it seeks to win over shareholders ahead of Illumina’s annual general meeting next month.

News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch vowed to “hit back hard” against what his company president called baseless allegations from the BBC that a subsidiary ran a secret unit to promote piracy against pay-TV rivals.

Loss-making General Motors unit Opel is considering the sale of its Eisenach plant in Germany where it manufactures the Corsa subcompact and was due to begin building the Junior later this year, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Thursday.

Red Hat Inc’s RHT.N quarterly profit beat analysts’ expectation for the fifth straight quarter on the back of higher subscription revenue, and the business software maker said it would buy back $300 million of its shares.

Hawker Beechcraft Inc, the aircraft manufacturer owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s private equity arm and Onex Corp, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in the next several weeks, according to several people familiar with the matter.

US authorities filed criminal charges on Wednesday against a JetBlue Airways pilot who witnesses said yelled incoherently about religion and the 2001 hijack attacks and pounded on a locked cockpit door before passengers subdued him.

Pentair Inc reached a $4.6 billion stock deal to absorb Tyco International Ltd’s flow-control business, roughly doubling Pentair’s size and making it the largest player in its sector, majority-owned by Tyco shareholders.

Private equity-backed industrial parts maker Rexnord Corp priced its initial public offering at $18 a share on Wednesday, at the low end of its expected range, an underwriter said.

Applied Materials Inc forecast 2012 results below Wall Street targets, but plans cost reductions to offset a persistent downturn in solar and display markets.

Social-networking site Facebook is halting the sale of its shares on secondary markets effective next week as the company prepares to hold its initial public offering in May, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Electronics retailer Best Buy reports quarterly results, with earnings per share seen at $2.16 from $1.98 one year earlier, according to a Reuters poll. The company may discuss whether its market share gains came at the expense of margins after it offered deep discounts in the 2011 holiday season.

The Commerce Dept releases its final Q4 estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) and corporate profits at 1230 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 3.0 percent annualized pace of GDP growth, a repeat of the Q4 preliminary estimate, and a 2.6 percent profits rise versus a 2.7 percent rise in the prior report.
Labor Dept releases first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended March 24 at 1230 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a total of 350,000 new filings compared with 348,000 in the prior week.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker gives his welcome remarks at 1430 GMT, the Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart speaks on the global economy before a Commerce Club panel discussion at 1615 GMT and the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke gives a lecture on “The Aftermath of the Crisis” at 1645 GMT.

The Fed releases weekly money stock, liquid assets and debt measures and the weekly report on factors affecting reserves of depository institutions and the condition statement of the Federal Reserve banks at 2030 GMT.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 71.52 points, or 0.54 percent, to 13,126.21 points on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 6.98 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,405.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 15.39 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,104.96.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged | Comments Off

European stocks rise on US stimulus prospect

Posted on March 27, 2012 by admin

LONDON: European stocks markets rose for a second day running on Tuesday as traders reacted to the prospect of further US stimulus set against the world’s weak economic recovery.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 benchmark index of top shares rose 0.30 percent to 5,920.52 points approaching midday. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 0.68 percent to 7,126.43 points and in Paris the CAC 40 grew 0.56 percent to 3,520.94.

Madrid advanced 0.75 percent to 8,286.6 points.

The euro fell to $1.3350 from $1.3356 in New York late on Monday.

“Markets are in recovery mode following the falls of last week after … comments from (Federal Reserve chief) Ben Bernanke gave equities a boost,” said Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads trading group.

Bernanke said on Monday that the US central bank would likely keep stimulative policies in place despite improvements to the job market.

“After yesterday’s stellar gains (for stocks), markets have put on further advances, buoyed by hopes of yet more largesse from the world’s central banks,” said Ben Critchley, a sales trader at IG Index.

“Once again we are through the looking glass, in a world where stocks rise on hopes that US economic data will weaken, since this then raises the probability that the Fed will launch” more stimulus.

“We remain stuck in a world where markets seem unable to cope without the possibility of monetary stimulus, underscoring the fact that the global economy still has some way to go before it is successfully weaned off active central bank intervention,” Critchley added.

Meanwhile French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted that the financial crisis was over and a recovery had begun.

“I think we have come out of the financial crisis, that confidence is returning and that we are in an economic recovery phase,” Sarkozy told regional newspaper Ouest-France, in comments published on Tuesday.

However the eurozone is not without its problems, and on Tuesday Spain published data that showed the country had returned to recession.

In company news, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland rallied 5.42 percent to 29.24 pence after the BBC said that the British government was in talks to sell up to a third of its stake in the state-rescued lender to Abu Dhabi.

The government, which controls 82 percent of RBS, has been negotiating for months with the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, the report said on Monday.

Any sale to Abu Dhabi now was likely to be loss-making because despite Tuesday’s gains, RBS shares remain far below their level in 2008 when the British government bailed out the bank at the height of the financial crisis.

Asian stock markets meanwhile rallied on Tuesday after Bernanke’s comments.

“A wide range of indicators suggests that the job market has been improving, which is a welcome development indeed,” he had said in Monday’s speech.

However, Bernanke added that “conditions remain far from normal” and noted that “we cannot yet be sure that the recent pace of improvement in the labour market will be sustained.”

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , | Comments Off

As market turns volatile, defensives, consumption are making a comeback : Ashwani Gujral

Posted on March 26, 2012 by admin

ASHWANI GUJRAL, Portfolio Manager ashwanigujral.com

The Nifty closed down for a fifth week in a row. The NSE benchmark has now corrected only about 38.1% of its rally from about 4600 to 5600, and is still poised to move on the upside. This period of consolidation may remain till the next 2-3 weeks, which will allow 5200 to become a base. Meanwhile, we are likely to have choppy movements in a narrow range.

The market has dealt extremely well with three poor outcomes of important events and that it has held on to its 200-DMA at 5170 is a testimony to its underlying strength. Global seas remain steady with the guarantee of storms appearing out of nowhere at any time.

On the stock-specific front, defensives and consumption stories are making a comeback as the market turns choppy and RBI remains noncommittal on rates. Meanwhile, rate- sensitives are correcting the large run they had prior to the Budget.

The idea should be to stay with strength in the consumption space and try to buy ratesensitives on decline, as they may not as yet rally sustainably and remain ranged. A diversified portfolio having different flavors is likely to do well, as the broad market outlook remains positive The levels for the week for Nifty, Bank Nifty and CNX IT are 5289, 10334, 6483.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , | Comments Off

Sensex ends at 17600; L&T, DLF, TCS, ICICI gain

Posted on March 22, 2012 by admin

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex extended its winning streak for second straight session on the back of broad based buying in realty, capital goods, banks, metals and power stocks. Liquidity, corporate earnings and crude oil prices are likely to decide the course of the market in the near term, say analysts.

“The next trigger obviously is like to be the corporate results which will start in the middle of next month and of course oil prices.

One of the few positives for the Indian markets is that global liquidity will probably remain strong for some time to come. So yes, liquidity will continue to remain good globally and some of that will definitely flow into India,” said Vibhav Kapoor, Group Chief Investment Officer, IL&FS.

The Sensex ended at 17601.71, up 285.53 points or 1.65 per cent. It touched intraday high of 17622.87 and low of 17275.88.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 5364.95, up 90.10 points or 1.71 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5372.35 and low of 5256 in trade today.

According to Ashwani Gujral, Fund Manager, ashwanigujral.com, Nifty seems to have formed a base near 5200 and chances are that in coming sessions it may cross 5500.

“5200 has been defended and volumes have been good. The market could for the near term use 5200-5250 as some kind of a base on which we build up further gains. Chances are in the next few days we will probably trade between 5500 and 5600,” said Gujral.

BSE Midcap Index was up 1.95 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.23 per cent higher.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Capital Goods Index advanced 3.59 per cent, BSE Realty Index moved 3.54 per cent higher, BSE Bankex was up 2.44 per cent and BSE Power Index moved 1.86 per cent higher.

L&T (4.46%), DLF (4.01%), Tata Steel (4%), TCS (3.25%) and ICICI Bank (3.07%) were the major Sensex gainers.

Hindalco Industries (-1.01%), ONGC (-0.35%), ITC (-0.18%), Sun Pharmaceuticals (-0.17%) and Hero MotoCorp (-0.07%) were the only losers.

The boards of Tech Mahindra – Mahindra Satyam have approved merger of the Hyderabad-based company with Tech Mahindra. As per the swap ratio, two shares of Tech Mahindra will be given for 17 shares of Mahindra Satyam. The merger will take place in 6-9 months as the companies will have to approach Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra High Court for merger approval.

“The long awaited merger has been finally announced and the ratio is very much on the expected lines.

Significant duplication of corporate functions can be done away with through this merger apart from synergising sales and operations. Successful integration will result in significant benefit for the merged company enabling it to break into the top tier of Indian IT companies,” said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, MD & CEO, Destimoney Securities.

Shares of TTK Prestige were in action after CLSA recommended ‘BUY’ on the stock with a price target of Rs 3500.

Century Textiles & Industries has clarified that there is no proposal of any restructuring or spinning off cement unit or add any textile business as stated in media reports.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1758 gainers against 1136 losers.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Australia shares at one-week low; BHP, David Jones fall

Posted on March 21, 2012 by admin

ELBOURNE: Australian shares fell 0.5 per cent to a one-week low on Wednesday, dragged by weakness in mining stocks after BHP Billiton said it was seeing signs of “flattening” iron ore demand from China, and as retailers were hit by a profit warning.

BHP Billiton shed 1.7 per cent as miners sank on concern about China’s economic growth and resources demand.

“Investors used this as an opportunity to take some profits off the table after the recent run,” said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets.

Department store David Jones slumped 11 per cent after it warned that its full-year earnings could fall as much as 40 per cent, more than twice the drop analysts had expected. .

David Jones said it would invest in online retailing and customer service, increasing costs in the months ahead.

“We’ve lost a little bit of relevance over the past couple of years,” Chief Executive Paul Zahra told journalists.

“We’re taking a hit to profits now so we can be relevant in the future,” he said, adding: “It’s now an international game.”

The stock ended at A$42.43, its weakest since Feb. 16. “While the strategic changes might be positive for future earnings, there is still executional risk for the company,” said Shamu.

Other retailers were also dumped by investors. Clothing and outdoor goods retailer Kathmandu Ltd dropped 16 per cent after a 43 per cent slide in first half profit.

Oroton Group fell 3.6 per cent after it said its outlook for the rest of 2012 was cautious. Same-store Oroton brand sales fell 5 per cent in the first half, it said.

“We believe the retail market in Australia is restructuring rather than in a cyclical downturn,” Oroton said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 20.7 points to 4,254.3, according to the latest data. It slipped 0.4 per cent on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.15 per cent to 3,481.96 points.

Fortescue Metals Group bucked the trend to rise 2.4 per cent to a 6-month high after saying it could list its magnetite iron ore assets in Hong Kong or Shanghai within two to three years to help fund expansion of the group’s iron ore production. See.

“Australia’s third biggest miner, Fortescue Metals, is aggressively ramping up production to 155 million tonnes a year, and remains undervalued by the market,” said Shamu.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals rose 5 per cent after it said a dispute with workers and their union had been resolved and it expected normal operations by Monday.

Hutchison rallied 17 per cent after Bill Morrow was announced as the chief executive of Vodafone Hutchison Australia.

UCL Resources Ltd gained 9.4 per cent after the board recommended rejecting an offer from Minemakers, the target’s joint venture partner at the Sandpiper marine phosphate project in Namibia. It offered nine of its shares for every 10 UCL shares it does not already own.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged | Comments Off

Taiwan stocks fall; auto, auto and plastics firms weigh

Posted on March 20, 2012 by admin

TAIPEI: Taiwan stocks fell 0.89 percent on Tuesday, weighed down by auto and plastics firms, as investors took cues from declines in regional bourses and locked in profits from recent gains.

The main TAIEX index ended down 71.72 points at 7,972.70, its lowest level in over a week.

The biggest losing sectors were autos and plastics , both down more than 1.4 percent.

TSMC, the world’s top contract chip maker, erased early gains to close 0.6 percent lower, dragging down electronics shares by 0.9 percent.

The Taiwan dollar weakened slightly to trade at T$29.516.

Foreign investors were net sellers on Monday, bringing their total buying to T$26.78 billion this month.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged | Comments Off

Nikkei gains for 5th day; Fanuc, Komatsu advance

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei share average rose for the fifth straight session on Monday, with investors scooping up straggling blue-chips as they sought further evidence of US economic recovery before pushing the index higher.

The Nikkei has gained 20 per cent so far this year on the back of robust US economic data and liquidity boosting programmes by global central banks, taking the benchmark deep into “overbought” territory with its 14-day relative strength index at 78.8.

“We have had very good moves in a lot of names, so people are just taking money off the table right now,” a trader at a foreign bank said.

“We see inflows in defensives and outflows in cyclicals … people are positioning themselves more defensively today.”

Among the names that succumbed to profit-taking was Sony Corp, Canon Inc and Honda Motor Co, down between 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent. Japan Tobacco, on the other hand, advanced 2.1 per cent.

The Nikkei closed 0.1 per cent higher at 10,141.99, after touching an 8-1/2-month intraday high of 10,172.64 and stretching its winning run to the longest since early July.

“The market is in wait-and-see mode today as we wait for the next data or news to trade on,” said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

“It would be best for the Nikkei to consolidate around current levels before going higher. The dollar/yen rate is stabilising around mid-83 yen, so we should see steady moves in tandem with the forex rate,” Miura said.

Industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp rose 2 per cent to a record high after Citigroup raised its price target and kept its “buy” rating on the stock.

Komatsu Ltd climbed 2.9 per cent after Morgan Stanley held a meeting with the construction machinery maker’s CFO Miki Fujitsuka, who the bank said revealed some positives for its outlook.

Topping the Topix core 30 list as the biggest per centage loser was Kansai Electric Power Co, s agging 4.2 per cent after reports that the city of Osaka, the largest shareholder in the utility, will propose decommissioning all 11 of the firm’s nuclear reactors at a shareholder meeting in June.

The broader Topix added 0.2 per cent to 868.35. About 1.95 billion shares changed hands on the main board, down from 2.2 billion shares on Friday and hitting its lowest level in two weeks as Tokyo markets are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

LAGGARDS Nomura wrote in a report to clients on Friday that market participants saw a need for risk control owing to worries about near-term overheating in the markets.

“We continue to expect laggard high-beta sectors to play catch-up,” it said, referring to stocks that are typically highly correlated to broader financial markets.

A string of US housing data is expected to give investors a fresh look at the strength of the recovery in the world’s largest economy.

“US economic data continues to be solid. Consumer sentiment data slipped on Friday but factory output was steady.

Confidence in the US economy will push the Nikkei up to 10,200 even this week, although we will have to watch the housing data this week,” said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management.

Japan’s securities subindex, up 1.8 per cent, was the top sectoral performer on the main board on Monday, with Nomura Holdings gaining 2.2 per cent and Daiwa Securities Group rising 1.7 per cent.

Marubeni Corp advanced 2.4 per cent after report in the Nikkei business daily that the trading house and a Japanese state-sponsored fund will buy British wind power engineering company Seajacks International for about $850 million.

Rival trading companies Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui Co Ltd both gained 0.9 per cent.

Mobile gaming operator Gree Inc sagged 4.1 per cent and topped the main board as the heaviest traded stock by turnover after it said it capped the amount of money minors can spend on online games.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Brent crude steadies above $126 ahead of US oil data

Posted on March 14, 2012 by admin

SINGAPORE: Brent crude steadied above $126 on Wednesday as expectations for a build in US crude inventories offset improving economic sentiment in the world’s top oil consumer.

Brent crude eased two cents to $126.20 a barrel by 0446 GMT, after settling at an 11-month high of $126.22 on Tuesday. US crude rose 12 cents to $106.83.

“The US economy seems more buoyant, so that is keeping the market up,” said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. “What will bring oil prices off is if we get strong builds in inventories. Supply seems to be sufficient, with OPEC producing at high levels to make up for any shortfall.”

The US government’s Energy Information Administration is expected to report later on Wednesday a fourth straight rise in weekly crude oil inventories.

US commercial crude oil stockpiles were forecast to have climbed 1.7 million barrels, according to a Reuters survey of analysts. Gasoline stocks were expected to be down 1.0 million barrels, while distillates to have fallen 1.3 million.

The industry group American Petroleum Industry on Tuesday estimated US crude inventories rose 2.8 million barrels in the week to March 9.

Increasing US oil supplies could slow the market’s recent rally, with Brent up more than 17 percent and US crude up nearly 8 percent so far this year.

Bullish sentiment has been fueled by rising hopes of a US economic recovery and tensions between Iran and the West over the OPEC producer’s nuclear programme.

The US central bank slightly upgraded its economic outlook on Tuesday, saying it expected “moderate” growth over coming quarters and a gradual decline in the unemployment rate, although it said the jobless rate “remains elevated”.

US retail sales posted their largest rise in five months in February, data showed on Tuesday, reflecting growing confidence by Americans to purchase goods.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers say surging oil markets are beyond their control and prices could spike higher unless tensions between the West and Iran subside.

A majority of Americans would support US military action against Iran if there were evidence that Tehran is building nuclear weapons, even if such action led to higher gasoline prices, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

Posted in puntercalls | Tagged , | Comments Off