Sensex settles a tad above 19,000

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The market came sharply off higher level in late trade due to expiry of November 2007 derivatives contracts. Infosys slipped into the red in late trade in contrast to a decent gainers earlier during the day. Bajaj Auto, Ranbaxy, Reliance Energy slipped. ICICI Bank came off higher level. Market breadth turned negative from positive in the last one hour of trade. 16 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in green.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>European markets, which opened after Indian market, were mixed. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, surged after comments on Wednesday, 28 November 2007, from US Federal Reserve officials raised the chances of another US rate cut in December 2007.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The market has been volatile over the past few days due to alternate bouts of buying and selling amid FII sales caused by redemption pressure in their home countries and fears of a US recession arising from US housing slump and credit crisis.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 64.39 points or 0.34% to 19,003.26. Sensex hit a low of 18,930.31 at the fag end of the trading session. At day's low, Sensex shed 8.56 points for the day. The Sensex hit a high of 19,297.01 in early trade. At day's high, the Sensex gained 358.14 points.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The broader based S&P CNX Nifty gained 17.05 points or 0.30% to 5634.60. Nifty hit a high of 5725 in early trade. At day's high, Nifty had risen 107.45 points.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.25% to 8,362.55. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.14% to 10,389.75. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The market breadth was negetive. On BSE, 1317 stocks advanced, 1468 stocks declined and 72 stocks remained unchanged.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 7596 crore, higher than yesterday (28 November 2007)'s Rs 7,472.89.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Nifty November 2007 futures were at 5641, a premium of 6.4 points as compared to spot closing of 5634.60.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 98225.56 crore, which was higher than Rs 86287.52 crore on Wednesday, 28 November 2007</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation & oil refiner Reliance Industries was up 1.15% to Rs 2818.40.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's second biggest motorcycle maker in terms of market share Bajaj Auto fell 0.13% to Rs 2724.30. The stock came under selling pressure in late trade when it hit a low of Rs 2600.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's biggest drug maker in terms of sales, Ranbaxy Laboratories fell 2.67% to Rs 378.95.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE Bankex rose 2.04% to 10,601.41. It outperformed the Sensex. Indian Overseas bank surged 7.43% to Rs 157.65, HDFC Bank soared 4.30% to Rs 1677.15, Punjab National Bank rose 1.53% to Rs 593, and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1.52% to Rs 1127.15.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank rose 3.15% to Rs 1162.20. The stock came sharply off the higher level in late trade. It came off session's high of Rs 1184.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE IT index rose 0.11% to 4,085.76. It underperformed the Sensex. HCL Technologies jumped 3.18% to Rs 313.40, Wipro gained 0.23% to Rs 450.50, Satyam Computers rose 0.15% to Rs 425.60, and TCS rose 0.10% to Rs 976.75.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies was steady at Rs 1569.60.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Realty stocks jumped on television reports that Maharashtra State Assembly has passed a resolution repealing the Urban Land Ceiling Act, leading to more area available for real estate development in the state. The BSE Realty index was up 1.54% to 10,223.93. It outperformed the Sensex. DLF rose 0.27% to Rs 881.85, Unitech soared 3.56% to Rs 372.45 and Sobha Developers gained 0.12% to Rs 860.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE Power index fell 1.03% to 4,253.43. It underperformed the Sensex. Areva T&D fell 3.46% to Rs 2604.30, Power Grid Corporation of India fell 2.39% to Rs 142.80, Reliance Energy declined 2.37% to Rs 1663.70. NTPC gained 0.32% to Rs 231.70, Tata Power rose 0.45% to Rs 1119.50 and Neyveli Lignite rose 0.69% to Rs 210.15.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's largest public sector oil explorer ONGC fell 0.81% to Rs 1141.20. ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has reportedly bagged two oil and gas exploration blocks in Brazil. Meanwhile, some reports suggest that the company has found more natural gas in a block in the desert state of Rajasthan. This block was awarded to the company before India moved to a regime of auctioning its oil and gas exploration blocks.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Mukesh Ambani-held Reliance Petroleum surged 11.95% to Rs 215.05 on huge volume of 5.56 crore shares on BSE.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE Auto index rose 0.28% to 5,419.51. It underperformed the Sensex. Tata Motors rose 0.25% to Rs 722.30, Hero Honda Motors jumped 3.53% to Rs 733.90 and Maruti Suzuki gained 2.46% to Rs 990.45.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Mahindra & Mahindra rose 1.47% to Rs 720.25. Mahindra Holidays and Resorts, part of Mahindra & Mahindra Group, is reportedly planning to develop holiday homes on ownership basis. It also plans to float an IPO by March 2008.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>India's largest cellular service provider by market share Bharti Airtel rose 0.62% to Rs 915.65. India's second largest listed telecom service provider by sales Reliance Communications fell 1.98% to Rs 665.05.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Pharmaceuticals firm Jubilant Organosys fell 0.79% to Rs 302.25 on reports that the firm is evaluating various proposals to acquire companies in the contract research and manufacturing services, drug discovery and clinical research segments in the US and Europe. It has earmarked around $100 million for acquisition.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Electric equipment maker Kirloskar Electric Company rose 0.71% to Rs 370.20. The board of directors of Kirloskar Electric Company on Wednesday, 28 November 2007 approved the merger of the operating business of Kirloskar Power Equipments with itself. The board also approved merger of its subsidiary Kaytee Switchgear with itself.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Ship building firm ABG Shipyard jumped 8.34% to Rs 888.55 after the company said its board had approved raising funds through issue of equity shares to qualified institutional buyers and convertible warrants to the promoters.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Post-production firm Prime Focus gained 0.17% to Rs 1210 after the company said it was in advanced talks to buy US-based firms, Post Logic Studios and Frantic Films for $43 million.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Liquor firm Shaw Wallace & Company rose 1.05% to Rs 409.60, off day's high of Rs 434 after its board approved merging the firm with group firm United Spirits. Shaw Wallace shareholders will get four United Spirits shares for every 17 held. United Spirits, part of the UB Group, fell 0.41% to Rs 1844.30</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Offshore logistics firm Sical Logistics jumped 4.97% to Rs 238.50 on foreign investment promotion board's approval for Old Lane Mauritius IV's $26 million investment in Sical's new infrastructure unit, Sical Infra Assets.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Petroleum clocked highest turnover of Rs 1137.84 crore on BSE. Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone (Rs 371.03 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 202.57), Reliance Energy (Rs 186.61 crore) and Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 186.22 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Petroleum registered highest volume of 5.56 crore shares on BSE. Gujarat State Petronet (2.42 crore shares), Ispat Industries (2.11 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.31 crore shares) and Tata Teleservices (1.20 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In Europe, key indices in France and Germany were up by between 0.02% to 0.28%. UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.24%.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In Asia, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up by between 2.06% to 4.06%. The Fed's next policy-setting meeting is scheduled for 11 December 2007.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>US markets rallied overnight on expectations for an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in December 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 331.01 points, or 2.55%, at 13,289.45 on Wednesday, 28 November 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 40.79 points, or 2.86% at 1,469.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 82.11 points, or 3.18%, at 2,662.91.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Oil surged by more than $4 a barrel towards $95 a barrel today, 29 November 2007, after a pipeline explosion cut crude oil imports to top consumer the United States by nearly a fifth.</FONT></DIV>

Sensex settles a tad above 19,000

The market came sharply off higher level in late trade due to expiry of November 2007 derivatives contracts. Infosys slipped into the red in late trade in contrast to a dece…

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Stocks added to futures and options

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>With effect from Friday, 30 November 2007</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The National Stock Exchange (NSE) today, 28 November 2007, said it has decided to add 15 stocks to futures & options (F&O) segment with effect from Friday, 30 November 2007.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The 15 new inclusions for trading in F&O segment include Jindal Saw, KPIT Cummins Infosystems, Development Credit Bank, Hindustan Zinc, MICO, Info Edge, NIIT, Great Offshore, Wire & Wireless India, Redington (India), Network18 Fincap, Global Broadcast News, Ispat Industries, Hindustan Oil Exploration and Gitanjali Gems.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The details of market lot and list of contracts being made available for trading in newly added F&O stocks will be announced on 29 November 2007, NSE said.</FONT></DIV>

Stocks added to futures and options

With effect from Friday, 30 November 2007   The National Stock Exchange (NSE) today, 28 November 2007, said it has decided to add 15 stocks to futures & options (F&O) segme…

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Crude at lowest level in a month

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Prices drop by more than $3 as crude supplies fall less than expected</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Crude oil price dropped to its lowest level in almost a month after Energy Departments reported in the weekly inventory report that crude supplies fell less than expected for the week ended 23 November. Comments from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that the cartel is ready to increase production any time also led prices erode further.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For the day ending Wednesday, 28 November, 2007, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $90.6/barrel (lower by $3.8/barrel or 4%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached a high of $99.2 on 21 November. Prices are up 49% from a year ago.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Brent crude oil for December settlement fell $2.71 (2.9%) to $89.81 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>As per the weekly inventory report by The Energy Department, U.S. crude inventories fell by 400,000 barrels to 313.2 million barrels in the week ending 23 November. This was much less than expected figure of 500,000 barrels. Though U.S. crude inventories fell for a second week, stocks are still in the upper half of the average range for this time of year.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Also, as per the report, Gasoline supplies rose by 1.4 million barrels to 196.6 million barrels in the latest week, while distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 100,000 barrels to 130.9 million barrels.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The EIA also reported that U.S. crude imports averaged nearly 10.4 million barrels per day last week, up 534,000 barrels per day from the previous week. U.S. refineries operated at 89.4% of their operable capacity last week, up 2.4% from the previous week's 87%.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Further rate cut hopes in the mind of traders</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Natural gas in New York declined on an outlook that above-average supplies are ample for winter. Gas for December delivery fell 35.4 cents (4.7%) to settle at $7.203 per million British thermal units.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Against this backdrop, December reformulated gasoline fell 9.73 cents at $2.2757 a gallon and December heating oil lost 7.96 cents at $2.5738 a gallon.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In the currency market today, the dollar gained against other major currencies but was off earlier session highs after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, Donald Kohn, hinted that more interest rate cuts could lie ahead. The dollar index, which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.3% at 75.33.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Attacks on oil facilities in Middle East and tight supplies from OPEC have bolstered crude prices this year. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, tight global energy supplies are expected to keep energy prices high through 2008.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>At the MCX, crude oil for December delivery closed lower at Rs 3630/barrel, lower by Rs 128 (3.4%) against previous day's close. Natural gas closed at Rs 302.2/mmtbu as against previous close of Rs 312.3/mmtbu, lower by Rs 10.1/ mmtbu. </FONT></DIV>

Crude at lowest level in a month

Prices drop by more than $3 as crude supplies fall less than expected   Crude oil price dropped to its lowest level in almost a month after Energy Departments reported in th…

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RPL stake sale, volume data don't match

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The numbers in the Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) counter simply don't add up. Last week, an unusual event took place on the domestic stock exchanges. Between November 14 and 23, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) unloaded 18.04 crore shares worth over Rs 4,000 crore.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>It was said to be the largest ever unloading of shares by a parent company in its subsidiary in the open market.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>But a peek at the trading data and a little bit of number-crunching reveal a different story.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>If the traded data of RPL shares provided by the BSE and the NSE are to be believed, the truth is something else. According to an official statement late last Friday, RIL sold 18.04 crore RPL shares for Rs 4,023 crore, at an average price of Rs 223.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The company revealed this much after exchange officials went home on a two-day holiday. The official RIL communiqué appeared on the stock exchange notice board on Monday, as Saturday was an official holiday.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>As per the communication to the exchanges, the shares were sold between November 14 and November 23. A BSE notice said it was sold on the two dates.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Market insiders say the probability of the sale of over 18 crore shares in two days is highly doubtful, if one takes the number of trades done in the two days into account.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The RPL scrip is listed only on BSE and NSE. A microscopic look at the trading turnover in the two exchanges on November 14 and 23 reveals that the RPL counter did not transact trades for so many shares on those two days.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On November 14, the shares traded on the NSE were in the region of 6.57 crore shares. And it was lesser on the BSE — 3.07 crore shares.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The deliverable quantity was even less at 1.19 crore on the BSE, against 2.56 crore on the NSE. How then can RIL claim that it sold 11.42 crore shares on November 14?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The same is true for November 23 when RIL is said to have sold 6.64 crore shares. On that day, the NSE recorded a traded turnover in the RPL counter of 3.53 crore shares that ended in deliveries for only 1.05 crore shares.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On the BSE, the traded turnover was 1.75 crore shares, attracting a delivery of a piffling 51.46 lakh shares.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>So, is there a gaping hole in RIL's information to the exchanges? Or is it the exchanges that have got their numbers wrong?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Even if we add the entire traded turnover from November 14 to November 23 in the two exchanges, the numbers don't add up. The total deliveries of the two exchanges together amounted to only 17.55 crore shares.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Remember, RIL said it sold 18.04 crore shares. Even if RIL was the only seller in the marketplace between November 14 and 23, the shares traded in the cash segment were lesser than what RIL sold as per their press statement and notice to the exchanges.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Since the RPL counter has reasonable depth and there are many traders, this is almost impossible.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Have the premier stock exchanges goofed up? Will the small investor ever know what transpired and whether the exchanges have been providing the correct information on their trading screens?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>A clue may lie in the November 1 spike when RPL's share price touched Rs 295 on the BSE, and the two exchanges' combined traded turnover was pegged at 20.18 crore shares, well above the 18.04 crore shares that RIL sold.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>However, shares delivered at the two exchanges amounted to 4.46 crore only. On November 6, the total traded turnover of shares was 22.66 crore and shares delivered were 8.87 crore.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>So, this really begs a billion dollar (Rs 4,000 crore) question: When and where were the RPL shares traded? Is it possible that the shares were sold even before November 14. Not likely, if the RIL statement to the stock exchanges is to be believed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>via DNA News</FONT></DIV>

RPL stake sale, volume data don't match

The numbers in the Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) counter simply don't add up. Last week, an unusual event took place on the domestic stock exchanges. Between November 14 and …

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New F&O Stocks

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>1 JINDAL SAW LIMITED JINDALSAW</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2> <DIV><BR>2 KPIT CUMMINS INFOSYSTEMS KPIT</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>3 DEVELOP CREDIT BANK LTD DCB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4 HINDUSTAN ZINC LIMITED HINDZINC</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>5 MOTOR INDUSTRIES CO LTD MICO</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>6 INFO EDGE (I) LTD NAUKRI</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>7 NIIT LIMITED NIITLTD</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>8 GREAT OFFSHORE LTD GTOFFSHORE</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>9 WIRE & WIRELESS (I) LTD. WWIL</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>10 REDINGTON (INDIA) LTD. REDINGTON</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>11 NETWORK 18 FINCAP LTD. NETWORK18</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>12 GLOBAL BROADCAST NEWS LTD GBN</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>13 ISPAT INDUSTRIES LIMITED ISPATIND</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>14 HINDUSTAN OIL EXPLORATION HINDOILEXP</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>15 GITANJALI GEMS LIMITED GITANJALI</FONT></DIV>

New F&O Stocks

1 JINDAL SAW LIMITED JINDALSAW   2 KPIT CUMMINS INFOSYSTEMS KPIT   3 DEVELOP CREDIT BANK LTD DCB   4 HINDUSTAN ZINC LIMITED HINDZINC   5 MOTOR INDUSTRIES CO LTD MICO   6 INFO …

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Market Close: Weak close ahead FnO expiry

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Markets had a cautious play ahead of the FnO expiry tomorrow where rollover is expected to be smooth. After a decent gap up start market traded ranged till the mid session due to lack of momentum and then slowly lost its grounds on profit booking. Metals, Oil and gas and Power were among major sectors to witness selling pressure, while Auto gained some strength. Buying momentum was high in newly added strips list under FnO trade which kept midcap space in action and outperformed the front liners. Media stocks were also in limelight like PVR, Adlabs and Cinemax. At the final hour of trade market slipped significantly to close in Deep red. The weakness in market was in line with the trend in Asian and European markets.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>F&O turnover for the day was strong on one day ahead of expiry and rollover has been seen good in Banking space followed by the Pharma sector. Overall the rollover is smooth with 50% positions compared with the last month.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Sensex ended down by 189 points at 18938.86. Weighing on the Sensex were losses in Hindalco (184.35,-4 percent), TISCO (818.7,-3 percent), ACC (1075.25,-3 percent), Rel Energy (1704.05,-3 percent) and Hero Honda (708.9,-3 percent). Losses are restricted by gains in Maruti (966.7, +3 percent), Bajaj Auto (2727.8999, +3 percent), BHEL (2724.55,+2 percent), Guj Ambuja (150.65,+1 percent) and Tata Motors (720.5,+1 percent).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Mold Tek Technologies closed higher by 13%. Mold-Tek Technologies Limited (Mold Tek) one of the leaders in packaging and an emerging player in the Structural Engineering KPO Services segment posted good numbers for the 2nd Quarter ending September 30th, 2007. Mold Tek managed a growth of 12 % yoy with total turnover of Rs. 28 cr as against Rs. 25 cr during last year. There could be some triggers from a probable acquisition on cards which today stock spurted up in the market today. The company rides on high value billing with a polished front end and a low cost backend. This gives good support for the company to lead in the space. We have detailed research note. Do have alook on this for more details. We remain positive on this business.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Solar Explosive showed good strength and kept its momentum. Solar explosive provides explosive solutions for mining activities including slurry Explosives. The company undertakes manufacturing of Detonators and Detonator components through its subsidiary. The business is good with strong barriers to entry and Solar has the edge with its high market share and explosive experts. This as an investment with a long term perspective is a good idea. The mining policy coming up in the later half of the year would eventually help unlocking the big potential of this business. Do read our research note for more details. We had Wow call on this one which delivered good returns in short term.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Technically Speaking: Sensex opened in green but slowly slipped and ended weak in red. It made intraday high of 19,317 and days low of 18,884. Volume was good at Rs 7,435Crs. The breath was in favor of Declines, where Advances stood at 1282 and Declines at 1490. Sensex has closed the day at weak, as we were expecting a weak expiry. Traders are advised to take long if markets fall further tomorrow. Supports are seen at 18715 and 18500. Resistance is expected at 19360.</FONT></DIV>

Market Close: Weak close ahead FnO expiry

Markets had a cautious play ahead of the FnO expiry tomorrow where rollover is expected to be smooth. After a decent gap up start market traded ranged till the mid session d…

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Crude at lowest level in a week

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Prices drop by more than $3 as OPEC become serious on output increase</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Crude oil price was at its lowest level in a week after traders speculated that Gulf members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are in serious discussions about boosting output by upwards of 750,000 barrels a day when they meet on 5 December in Abu Dhabi. Price also slipped after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said the country increased production to the highest this year.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For the day ending Tuesday, 27 November, 2007, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $94.4/barrel (lower by $3.3/barrel or 3.4%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell to $94.2/barrel during intraday trading. Prices are up 56% from a year ago.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Brent crude oil for December settlement fell $2.79 (2.9%) to $92.53 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Traders speculated today that the 12 members of the OPEC will probably increase output 1.1% to 31.6 million barrels a day this month. Also, as per reports, Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the OPEC, is pumping 9 million barrels a day, the most in more than a year.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Last week, prices rose to $98.62/barrel during intra day trading on 7 November, 2007. Oil prices had rose 16% in October, 2007, the biggest one-month gain since September 2004.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>All heating products plunge with crude</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Natural gas declined in New York on expectations stockpiles may have fallen less than normal for this time of year because of warmer weather. Gas for December delivery fell 17.9 cents (2.3%) to $7.544 per million British thermal units.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Against this backdrop, December reformulated gasoline dropped 6.84 cents at $2.3730 a gallon and December heating oil fell 5.32 cents at $2.6534 a gallon.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In the currency market today, the dollar ignored downbeat data on U.S. home prices and firmed modestly against most major currencies. News that Abu Dhabi will make a $7.5 billion investment in Citigroup also led dollar gain against euro. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.3% at 75.115.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Attacks on oil facilities in Middle East and tight supplies from OPEC have bolstered crude prices this year. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, tight global energy supplies are expected to keep energy prices high through 2008.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>At the MCX, crude oil for December delivery closed lower at Rs 3758/barrel, lower by Rs 111 (2.9%) against previous day's close. Natural gas closed at Rs 312.3/mmtbu as against previous close of Rs 320.1/mmtbu, lower by Rs 7.8/ mmtbu.</FONT></DIV>

Crude at lowest level in a week

Prices drop by more than $3 as OPEC become serious on output increase   Crude oil price was at its lowest level in a week after traders speculated that Gulf members of Organ…

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Post Market Commentary

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The market closed on a negative territory due to selling of scrips across the sectoral indices scrips. The market keeps on trading on the negative territory since from the opening bell, as the global cues are not in favor. After a good rally for the last two trading session, the market slipped today. While BSE Realty and Auto indices scrips seems to attract the investor''s confidence as the closed higher. The BSE Sensex fell by 119.81 points to close at 19,127.73 and NSE Nifty slipped by 33.55 points to close at 5,698.15. Overall, the market breadth was weak as 1,478 stocks are closed in red while 1299 are closed in green. Both BSE Mid cap and Small cap closed up by 9.24 points and 28.82 points to close at 8,393.49 and 10,372.07 respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE Realty index surged 125.33 points to close at 10,206.60. Pushing it up are Phoenix Mill (4.69%), HDIL (3.50%), India Bull Real (2.94%), Omaxe Ltd.(1.08%) and DLF (0.68%).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE Auto index closed higher by 52.58 points at 5,348.21. Pushing it up are Ashok Leyland (16.65%), TVS Motor (12.24%), MRF (8.98%), Apolla Tyre (4.24%).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE Metal index dropped by 180.49 points to closed at 17,344.05. Pushed down by Jindal steel (5.94%), Jindal Saw (3.28%), Ispat Industries (2.32%), Hindalco Industries (1.52%) and SAIL (0.57%).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE Capital Goods index closed marginally higher by 1.08 points at 19,752.73. Pushing it up are BHEL(2.60%), Thermax (1.07%) and ABB (0.36%). while Kalpataru Power (2.16%), Siemens (1.26%) and L&T (0.11%) are closed lower.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE oil & gas index dropped by 18.28 points to closed at 12,197. Pulling it down are RPL (2.96%), RNRL (2.54%), Reliance industries (1.42%) and ONGC by (0.99%).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE Power index slipped by 29.23 points to close at 4,347.50 as Tata Power 3.65%, Crompton Greaves 3.22%, Torrent Power 3.12%, Power Grid 2.30% and Reliance energy 1.91% closed lower.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>BSE IT index closed higher by 9.25 points at 4,107.48. Scrips that grew I-FLEX (4.75%), Wipro (1.12%), TCS (1.20%), Rolta (1.09%), Tech Mahindra (0.69%).</FONT></DIV>

Post Market Commentary

The market closed on a negative territory due to selling of scrips across the sectoral indices scrips. The market keeps on trading on the negative territory since from the o…

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US Markets slump

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Credit market turmoil offsets the decent news from holiday season sales</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>US Market which started on a positive note today, Monday, 26 November, 2007 ended substantially lower after credit market turmoil once again rocked the market. Concerns about the credit markets and weakness in the financial sector continued to weigh on investor sentiment. This offset the positive decent news on the holiday shopping front. All ten economic sectors posted losses today, led by a financial shares.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The Dow Jones industrial Average ended the day with a loss of 237.44 points at 12,743.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 55.61 points at 2,540.99. S&P 500 finished lower by 33.48 points at 1,407.22.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Twenty-eight out of thirty Dow stocks ended in red. AIG, Citigroup and JP Morgan headed the team of Dow laggards. Boeing and Johnson & Johnson were the sole Dow winners today.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In the financial sector, Citigroup came under pressure after reports that the company may lay off as many as 45,000 workers because of the subprime-mortgage crisis. The stock slipped by more than 3% today. On the other hand, UBS downgraded both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – USA's largest suppliers of mortgage capital.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Preliminary reports from National Retail Federation said sales at retail stores jumped 8.3% to $10.3 billion on "Black Friday" - the day after Thanksgiving, which unofficially kicks off the holiday shopping season. However, shoppers seemed to spend about 3.5% less per person.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Cisco Systems weigh on technology stocks</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>HSBC Holdings too came out with its share of bad news today. The company said that said it would move two of its structured investment vehicles onto its balance sheet and provide up to $35 billion in funding.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On the tech front, Cisco Systems was the main laggard. The company's stock came under pressure after Morgan Stanley said that Cisco's emerging market business is slowing and is an area of concern.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Barring Dr Reddys, Rediff and Patni Computers, which registered minor gains, all other Indian ADRs slipped into red. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank led the losers dropping 5.5% and 5.9% respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Crude oil eases a bit on OPEC speculation</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>A possible production increase from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the sliding dollar sent oil prices a little lower today. Price rose earlier in the day but then gave up all its gains. Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $97.7/barrel (lower by $0.49/barrel or 0.50%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 65% from a year ago.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Traders speculated today that the 12 members of the OPEC will probably increase output 1.1% to 31.6 million barrels a day this month. Earlier in September, 2007, OPEC had agreed to raise production targets for the 10 members with quotas by 1.9% starting 1 November.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Trading volumes showed 1.5 billion shares exchanging hands on the New York Stock Exchange and 2.1 billion on the Nasdaq Stock market. Declining stocks topped gainers by 25 to 8 on the NYSE and by 3 to 1 on the Nasdaq.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Tomorrow, the Conference Board will release the November Consumer Confidence reading at 10:00 ET and market expects the number to come in at 91.5. Other than that, a few earning reports are expected.</FONT></DIV>

US Markets slump

Credit market turmoil offsets the decent news from holiday season sales   US Market which started on a positive note today, Monday, 26 November, 2007 ended substantially low…

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Crude prices soften on OPEC speculation

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Prices rise initially but then slip as traders speculate about a possible production increase</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>A possible production increase from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the sliding dollar sent oil prices a little lower today, 26 November, 2007. Price rose earlier in the day but then gave up all its gains.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For the day ending Monday, 26 November, 2007, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $97.7/barrel (lower by $0.49/barrel or 0.50%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 65% from a year ago.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Brent crude oil for December settlement fell $0.66 (0.7%) to $95.1 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Traders speculated today that the 12 members of the OPEC will probably increase output 1.1% to 31.6 million barrels a day this month. Earlier in September, 2007, OPEC had agreed to raise production targets for the 10 members with quotas by 1.9% starting 1 November.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Last week, prices rose to $98.62/barrel during intra day trading on 7 November, 2007. Oil prices had rose 16% in October, 2007, the biggest one-month gain since September 2004.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Crude oil remains almost unchanged at MCX</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Natural gas was little changed in New York on speculation supplies are adequate for heating needs in a winter forecast to be warmer than usual. Gas for December delivery rose 1.1 cents to $7.711 per million British thermal units.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Against this backdrop, December reformulated gasoline dropped 2.56 cents at $2.4414 a gallon, while December heating oil rose 0.24 cents at $2.7066 a gallon.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Earlier this month, OPEC reduced its fourth-quarter estimate of global oil demand growth to 1.97%, down from 2.1%, citing warmer winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the higher price of gasoline. The cartel also trimmed this year's world oil demand growth to 1.4% from 1.5%, but the cartel kept the first quarter of next year unchanged at 1.8%.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Attacks on oil facilities in Middle East and tight supplies from OPEC have bolstered crude prices this year. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, tight global energy supplies are expected to keep energy prices high through 2008.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>At the MCX, crude oil for December delivery closed at marginally higher at Rs 3869/barrel, higher by Rs 1 (0.02%) against previous day's close. Natural gas closed at Rs 320.1/mmtbu as against previous close of Rs 317.4/mmtbu, higher by Rs 2.7/ mmtbu.</FONT></DIV>

Crude prices soften on OPEC speculation

Prices rise initially but then slip as traders speculate about a possible production increase   A possible production increase from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting C…

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Sensex ends up 395pts, HDFC Bank gains 5%

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 318 points at 19,171 on the back of positive cues from the global markets. The index touched a high of 19,360 in morning trades.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Intra-day profit-taking saw the index drop to a low of 19,138 in early noon deals. The Sensex, however, ended the day on a firm note at 19,248 - up 395 points (2.1%).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The BSE Metal index surged over 5% to 17,525. The Realty index rallied 3% to 10,081, and the IT index gained 2% at 4098.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,865 stocks traded, 1,813 advanced, 996 declined and 56 were unchanged today.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>MAJOR MOVERS</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>HDFC Bank zoomed over 5% to Rs 1,644. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Energy soared 3.7% each to Rs 948 and Rs 1,790, respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Tata Steel, ONGC and Hindalco rallied over 3% each to Rs 849, Rs 1,184 and Rs 194, respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Grasim surged 3% to Rs 3,734. DLF and TCS gained 2.7% each at Rs 892 and Rs 985, respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance, BHEL and Wipro moved up 2.5% each to Rs 2,883, Rs 2,605 and Rs 453, respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Satyam, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Auto were up over 2% each at Rs 426, Rs 210 and Rs 2,587, respectively.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Petroleum topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 515.50 crore followed by Jindal Steel (Rs 312.80 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs 201.70 crore), Empee Dist (Rs 176.70 crore) and J P Hydropower (Rs 168.70 crore).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Petroleum led the volume chart with trades of around 2.46 crore shares followed by Tata Teleservices (1.57 crore), Ispat Industries (1.56 crore), J P Hydropower (1.47 crore) and Reliance Natural Resources (1.03 lakh).</FONT></DIV>

Sensex ends up 395pts, HDFC Bank gains 5%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 318 points at 19,171 on the back of positive cues from the global markets. The index touched a high of 19,360 in morning trades.   I…

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Market ends upbeat, gains 395 points

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Sensex opened on a firm note at 19,171 and rallied further on substantial buying in metal and capital goods stocks. Despite the slowdown in FII inflows, the Sensex rallied further to touch the intra-day high of 19,360 on substantial buying support. The market remained firm above the 19,150 level for the entire trading session as firm Asian and European indices helped investors to pursue buying. However, profit bookings at higher levels dragged the index to its day's low of 19,138, above 285 points its previous close. The market recovered in the afternoon but the Sensex shed some of its profits towards the close. The Sensex finally wrapped up the session with a gain of 2.09% or 395 points at 19,248. The Nifty rose by 2.19% and gained 123 points to close at 5,732.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Among the sectoral indices, the Metal index led the upsurge with gains of 5.61% at 17,525 followed by the BSE Realty index (up 3.05% at 10,081), the BSE CG index (up 2.25% at 19,751) and the BSE Power (up 2.20% at 4,377). The market breadth was extremely positive. Of the 2,865 stocks traded on the BSE 1,820 stocks advanced, 986 stocks declined and 59 stocks ended unchanged.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 28 managed to end in the green while two stocks ended with losses. HDFC Bank was the lead gainer and soared 5.18% at Rs1,644. Bharti Airtel jumped 3.78% at Rs948, Reliance Energy shot up by 3.74% at Rs1,790, Tata Steel advanced 3.47% at Rs849, ONGC moved up by 3.35% at Rs1,184, Hindalco added 3.32% at Rs194 and Grasim gained 2.94% at Rs3,734. Among the laggards Tata Motors and SBI slipped marginally.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Over 2.46 crore Reliance Petroleum shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Tata Teleservices (1.56 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.56 crore shares), JP Hydro (1.47 crore shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (1.03 crore shares).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Petroleum registered a turnover of Rs515 crore on the BSE followed by Jindal Steel (Rs312 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs202 crore), Empee Distilleries (Rs176 crore) and JP Hydro (Rs168 crore).</FONT></DIV>

Market ends upbeat, gains 395 points

Sensex opened on a firm note at 19,171 and rallied further on substantial buying in metal and capital goods stocks. Despite the slowdown in FII inflows, the Sensex rallied f…

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Reliance Communications to sell stake in tower business

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Communications (RCOM) plans to sell another 5% stake in its wireless tower business in the second such transaction in this calendar year. JP Morgan, which advised RCOM in the last transaction announced in July this year, invited bids from financial investors last week amidst indications that the deal will be bigger than the previous one, which fetched a value of $6.75 billion for the tower business.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance wants the business to be valued at about $9 billion. It believes that the profitability of the tower business will increase as tenants increase. For instance, the roll-out of RCOM's GSM business in 16 circles will be considered another tenant. The introduction of 3G and WiMax next year will give opportunities for further tenancies. The bidders are likely to be financial investors such as hedge funds and institutional firms. Reliance Communications spokesperson declined comment on the issue. The wireless tower business is witnessing frenetic activity as companies begin to see immense benefits in spinning off the asset and are either listing it separately, or selling a small stake to investors at a premium.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>A wireless tower enables smooth passage of signals across a wide expanse of territory and is crucial in helping telecom companies achieve penetration. Big telecom companies own thousands of towers, but it need not always be on their books. The companies can spin off the tower business and lease space on them to other telecom companies, their competitors.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The tower business becomes an independent company with its own revenue stream and a relatively stable business model.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The telecom operators benefit as they get much-needed cash from such a spin-off for their operations. Their shareholders also benefit from an increase in share price and market capitalisation. Companies with no major infrastructure to boast of can ride piggyback on those with towers after paying rental and other pass-through charges.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Reliance Communications has spun off its business earlier this year and sold a 5% stake to investors such as Fortress Capital, HSBC Principal Investors, GLG Capital, Quantum Fund, New Silk Route Advisors, Galleon Group and DA Capital.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Other telecom companies have quickly followed suit. Bharti Airtel, the country's largest wireless services provider, has announced the spin off of its business. The firm is also in talks with Vodafone and Idea Cellular to create a single mega business. Spice Telecom has decided to sell the business while Tata Teleservices wants to sell a substantial stake.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>A tower business needs to have at least two tenants in order to be profitable.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>RTIL now has Reliance Communications' CDMA business as one of its major clients. Its other tenant is Reliance Telecom which runs GSM services in the seven circles. A third tenant will be added when RCOM rolls out GSM services in the remaining 16 circles. It has already got a licence and is waiting for spectrum to be allocated.</FONT></DIV>

Reliance Communications to sell stake in tower business

Reliance Communications (RCOM) plans to sell another 5% stake in its wireless tower business in the second such transaction in this calendar year. JP Morgan, which advised R…

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Crude ends week substantially higher

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Low volume but record high crude price</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Crude-oil future prices for sweet light crude for January delivery which had ended at $93.84/bbl last week (16 November) finished $4.34 (4.4%) higher this week (23 November) at $98.18/bbl. Price increased during the week after OPEC kept production levels unchanged and traders scrutinized every detail of the weekly inventory report released by the Energy Department.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In the currency market also, the dollar was lower across the board, hitting a new low against the euro and the same also spurred up crude price.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On Friday, 23 November, crude oil for December delivery rose $0.89 to end at $98.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session saw an intraday low of $96.55 and touched an intraday high of $98.45 earlier in electronic trading.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Prices rose on Monday, 19 November after Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left production unchanged at a weekend meeting in Riyadh. As per OPEC, the oil market was well-supplied and recent gains were due to speculation and beyond the group's control. OPEC is scheduled to discuss oil production for the first quarter of 2008 at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on 5 December.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>As per the weekly inventory report by the Energy Department on Wednesday, 21 November, crude stockpiles dropped by 1.1 million barrels in the week ending 16 November as against an expected build-up. Crude oil for January delivery rose 55 cents to $98.60 a barrel after the report. But then price fell after traders realized that crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for crude traded on the Nymex, rose 1.2 million barrels to 14.6 million in the latest week.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>OPEC has reduced its fourth-quarter estimate of global oil demand growth to 1.97%, down from 2.1%, citing warmer winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the higher price of gasoline. The cartel also trimmed this year's world oil demand growth to 1.4% from 1.5%, but the cartel kept the first quarter of next year unchanged at 1.8%. </FONT></DIV>

Crude ends week substantially higher

Low volume but record high crude price   Crude-oil future prices for sweet light crude for January delivery which had ended at $93.84/bbl last week (16 November) finished $…

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US Markets gain on friday

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Indices drop more than 1% in the holiday shortened week as investors worry about consumer spending</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>It was a holiday shortened week in the US Market. In recognition of the Thanksgiving holiday, the markets were closed on Thursday, 23 November. Trading took place for half day on Friday, 24 November and market closed at 1.00 p.m E.T. Though US stocks registered good gains on that day, the indices slipped more than 1% for the week ending on Friday, 23 November, 2007.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Concerns about overall economy weighed on investor sentiment during the whole week as disappointing earning reports came from a couple of retailers. Traders continued to worry about consumer spending in coming months. Persisting weakness in the housing market, further credit write-downs, and rising oil prices added further woes and worries.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 196 points for the week. Tech - heavy Nasdaq lost 40 points. S&P 500 lost 18 points.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Market started off on a shaky note on Monday, 19 November, 2007 after the financial sector came under pressure once Citigroup was downgraded to sell from neutral by Goldman Sachs. The investment banker said that it foresees up to $15 billion in write-downs from collateralized debt obligations during the next two quarters. Dow shed 218 points on that day. General Motors added further fuel to the downslide after the stocks slipped by 8.5% on reports that GMAC Financial Services, the old General Motors Acceptance, is seeing more delinquencies among its auto loans.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On Tuesday, 20 November, Freddie Mac shares dropped by almost 30% today after the U.S. mortgage lender reported a $2 billion quarterly loss and said it might slash its fourth-quarter dividend. Fellow mortgage investor Fannie Mae also came under selling pressure and the news weighed on the overall financials sector. After quite a few zig-zag rides, Dow managed to gain 51 points.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On Wednesday, 21 November, the financial sector once again came under pressure and Dow gave up another 211 points after Lehman Brothers said investors should brace for more write-downs from AIG.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>But on Friday, 23 November, stocks rebounded sharply in a bargain hunting trade that was led by financial and retail stocks. Dow and Nasdaq added 181 points and 34 points respectively to their kitty.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>On the earnings front, H-P came out with its quarterly result beating market expectations. The company's fiscal-fourth-quarter profit rose 28% from a year ago. The company also raised guidance for the current quarter.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>But retailers disappointed. Home retailer, Lowe's posted a lower third quarter profit that was slightly ahead of analysts' expectations, but the company lowered its outlook for the current period in anticipation of further weakness in housing. On the other hand, Target reported earnings missing expectations also led to some negative sentiments among traders.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Among major economic news hitting the market during the week, new claims for unemployment for the week ended 16 November fell to 330,000 from 341,000 the week before. The November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was revised to 76.1 from 75.0. The other report, October Leading Indicators, fell to -0.5%, compared to last month's reading of 0.3%. Economists expected the reading to come in at -0.3%.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Other than the above, the minutes from the 31 October meeting were released on Tuesday, 20 November. The same prompted some mixed interpretations. It included the downgrade of the Fed's GDP forecast for 2008 to 1.8% -2.5% from 2.5%-2.75%. The minutes noted that the risks to inflation balance the risks to the economy and discussed the possibility of leaving rates unchanged.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Executive Summary</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For the week, indices registered losses. DJIx closed down by 1.5% and S&P 500 closed down by 1.2%. Nasdaq too shed 1.5%. Disappointing earning reports and guidance from a couple of retailers, Target and Lowes, sent trader sentiments to new lows.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Good news from H-P regarding its earnings report failed to keep up the indices in good spirit. Crude prices continued to stay at high levels while dollar continued to slip against most of its rival currencies.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For the year, Dow is up by 42%, Nasdaq is up by 7.5% and S&P 500 is up by 1.6%. </FONT></DIV>

US Markets gain on friday

Indices drop more than 1% in the holiday shortened week as investors worry about consumer spending   It was a holiday shortened week in the US Market. In recognition of the …

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Organisation Design And Profit - Sanjeev Pandiya

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Ok, let's start with the clichés first. We all know that the profit motive is at the centre of capitalism, the raison d'être of an organisation. So profit is the purpose of an organisation and the shareholder (to serve whom the organisation exists) is the primary stakeholder.The organisation uses various resources to generate a profit. In economic terms, it uses land, labour, organisation and capital (LLOC) i.e. all the resources it uses can be classified in some way or the other into the above heads. If we take the 4 Ms: man, machine, materials and method, they are merely a re-statement of the above LLOC. Yet, most organisations I know tend to confuse this balance, i.e. they tend to focus excessively on one or the other of the above baskets. In some companies I have seen, I notice an excessive and almost myopic focus on labour i.e. doing things.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>We have customers who tell us what to make from time to time. Through the TQM/ TPM/ six-sigma mindset that flows up and down the auto value chain, we all have this huge focus on the 4 Ms mentioned above. Most of the talk is about machine productivity, labour standards, (material) wastage, overall equipment uptime or line efficiency (OLE), inventory control etc. In other words maximising throughput per unit of capital employed. So either you reduce the capital employed for a given level of output (as in stagnating markets in the developed world where they use outsourcing and innovation to do this), or you maximise throughput for a given level of capital (as in developing countries, where demand is buoyant but capital is expensive and scarce). But the companies are only focused on doing things (i.e. labour) also called manufacturing in layman terms. Now compare this to a bank, as in, what does a bank do? Is there any physical transformation in its product? A bank captures 'profit' by ensuring that it raises funds cheaper than what it lends at (assuming it gets back all the money it lent out in the first place).</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>But this 'work' produces profit, which comes from managing capital, one of the four economic resources mentioned above. Let's look at organisation, often called management quality. The ability to capture and maintain a near-monopoly is the key skill for Microsoft's shareholders. Of course, the company's PR Department will argue that this skill comes under labour i.e. the ability to build the world's best software. But ask any user of Netscape and they will agree with my classification above. (Fortunately, this column is not read by people at Microsoft.) Or Berkshire Hathaway. A small group of wise men are brought and held together. They sit down around a coffee table and understand risk and opportunity better than anybody we know. Why and how do they stay together? I don't know, but this ability, which creates profit, must be put under the basket called organisation.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Under this head, I will also put the ability to handle risk and the other side of the coin, opportunity. A good insurance company, for example, (or a good derivative trading outfit, aka an investment bank) makes a profit because it charges more premium than it pays out. And it keeps enough risk capital on standby (either on or off its balance sheet) to make sure that it never goes bust, especially during those sudden cataclysmic crises that happen every so often these days.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Last, let's come to land. In Ricardian terms land used to mean anything whose supply was not controlled by human beings. The simplest example was land itself. In those days, if you owned land, you got to charge rent, from which came the term economic rent. These days, the concept covers every such situation where you earn profit merely because you are there. So if Tata Steel owns some fabulous mining leases in iron ore and coking coal, it can afford thrice the labour cost of its competitors. SAIL, which also has the same quality mines in iron ore, can afford four times the labour cost. This source of profit, a chunk of which is then lost to organised labour, is called land.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>In the same spirit, Infosys 'mines' a seam of solid, mathematical/ logical skills to give itself nonpareil code-writing capability. This is a combination of land and labour, a good example of a case where an organisation starts with one source of profit, but goes on to build another one across the LLOC basket. Infosys started with a critical resource, code-writing skills, but has built skills to exploit another source of profit, business solutions, which is a skill layered over its generic capability. Yet, compared to a GE for example, I have not seen an Infosys use its balance sheet and its vast cash reserves to build a treasury. It is quite obvious that the company chooses to under-perform its profit potential. Perhaps it has weighed the profit potential (from treasury activities) against the risk and decided against exploiting it. I am told that early in its history, the company lost money in the markets. But to now get to the nub of my point. I don't think too many companies examine their organisation design, to see whether they are able to exploit all the sources of profit possible. Every external interface of the company creates an external stakeholder. Does the company examine each such interface to see how it is losing money or exploiting the relationship for profit?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>For example, the company I used to work for earlier was one of the best-rated auto component companies, according to a CNBC poll. Yet, it was my personal opinion that we gave away 40-50% of our net profit by choosing to stay with a single-supplier of steel. One part of the management team argued that we cannot shift to multiple-suppliers without the customer's explicit approval. My counter-argument was that perhaps we, as management, were averse to building "strategic sourcing" skills that allowed us to scour the globe for alternate suppliers. How many vendor/ material-substitution proposals have we given to our customers in the past five years?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>So we had chosen to stay 'ignorant' at the vendor interface, taking the prices we are given under the garb of customer interest. But in making this compromise, we have sacrificed shareholder interest.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>And finally, I will establish the link with markets with yet another cliché. "Companies create wealth/value but markets measure them". I have often seen that markets don't value the various streams of profit differently i.e. the profits of an auto component company are measured on par with the profits of a bank/ insurance company. For a better understanding of the nature of profit, it is important to first analyse why (and how) the company makes money in the first place. For example, an auto component company makes profits from labour after losing whatever it does to its suppliers, bankers or even employees. It makes money (as in case of my company) after over-paying its suppliers, bankers etc. The residual profits are real and are less likely to be lost again. These profits are then redeployed into a set of real machines, plant, building, which will always have value, as long as the business has any role in society.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Compare this to a bank, which makes money during the boom because it borrows cheap and lends dear. The bank puts all its profits back into its balance sheet, leaving its past profits exposed to the same risk of default. Suddenly, after the recession hits, investors are left wondering how much of the past "profits" of the bank were real. The catch is that risk levels have stayed constant (or have increased) in the bank's balance sheet, while they have actually reduced in the autocomp co's balance sheet.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Yet, the market would value a typical bank at a P-E level higher than that of the typical autocomp co.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Let me summarise: profit is the objective of any organisation and it comes from the management of four key economic resources (LLOC). Most organisations are good at (managing) one or the other of the above (resources). Organisations need to grow in depth, i.e., learn to do things better, manage one resource. They need to grow in breadth i.e. know enough about managing other three resources better. What they know is wealth, what they don't is risk.</FONT></DIV>

Organisation Design And Profit - Sanjeev Pandiya

Ok, let's start with the clichés first. We all know that the profit motive is at the centre of capitalism, the raison d'être of an organisation. So profit is the purpose of …

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Tanmiyat to invest in Bangalore Realty

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Saudi Arabia-based realty firm Tanmiyat group is planning an investment of around $3 billion in a township project in India, a top company official said.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The group has zeroed in on Bangalore for the project, its first-ever in the Indian market.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>"We are in the final stages of fine-tuning our plans for this township project. We will be ready with the final blueprint within the next 2-3-months," Tanmiyat group's Managing Director Bharat Thakkar</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>This would be a mixed-use project and would be completed in phases over a five-year time span, he said.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The project would be distinctive and unique in many respects and "since this is our first venture in India, we will use the project to position ourselves rightly in the market to facilitate our growth thereafter," Thakkar said.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The group was still fine-tuning various aspects of the project, including the investment structure for it, he added.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>"The equity component is still fluid and we have yet to decide whether we want to load a debt component onto the project," he said, adding that the average size of the group's projects has been in the range of $2.5-3 billion.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Being a mixed-use project, apart from residential accommodation, the project would also have commercial infrastructure.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>"Bangalore is well-known for its IT, BPO and bio-tech establishments and these three would constitute focus areas for us," Thakkar said</FONT></DIV>

Tanmiyat to invest in Bangalore Realty

Saudi Arabia-based realty firm Tanmiyat group is planning an investment of around $3 billion in a township project in India, a top company official said.   The group has zer…

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Market to remain volatile

<DIV>The market may remain tentative ahead of the derivatives expiry on Thursday. The last few days have been choppy as the buying by domestic institutional investors was negated by the FII selling in both the cash and derivatives markets.<BR><BR>The signals on the derivatives front are mixed. The open interest in Nifty futures rose by 20 per cent to 34 lakh shares from 28 lakh shares last week. The PCR has been sliding and is currently 0.77 against 1.05 last week. This points to an oversold situation as more calls rather than puts are being written. But the implied volatility is still hovering around 30, which is higher than average, with both calls and puts trading at a premium. Implied volatility, which reflects expectations about future volatility, is lower when investor sentiment is bullish and tends to rise as bearishness and caution sets in.<BR><BR>There has been build-up in 5900 call options, which account for open interest of 26 lakh shares as on date. The open interest in the 6000 call options stands at 21 lakh shares. As far as the put open interest is concerned, the 5500 put saw a build-up of 20 lakh shares, while the figures for the 5600 put stood at 15 lakh shares. This demonstrates a wide trading range, in the immediate future.<BR><BR>Autos and FMCG stocks were the top gainers last week, whereas fertilisers and refinery stocks gave up some of their gains after the stupendous rally seen earlier.<BR><BR>Keep a watch on Escorts, Tata Tele and GMR as there was a huge build-up in open positions on these counters.</DIV>

Market to remain volatile

The market may remain tentative ahead of the derivatives expiry on Thursday. The last few days have been choppy as the buying by domestic institutional investors was negated…

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Reliance gains a billion

<DIV>Reliance Industries (RIL) has netted Rs 3,662-crore profit from sale of a part of its equity holding in its subsidiary Reliance Petroleum. This amount is almost equal to the net profit reported by the company for the second quarter of this fiscal.<BR><BR>RIL announced late on Friday night that it has offloaded 18.04 crore shares representing 4.01 per cent of RPL's equity through the exchanges raising Rs 4,023 crore. Post the sale, RIL's holding in Reliance Petroleum will fall to 70.99 per cent. There will also be an increase in the number of shareholders in Reliance Petroleum from 12 lakh to 16 lakh, according to a press release from the company.<BR><BR>Going by these numbers, RIL's average selling price per share of Reliance Petroleum works out to Rs 223 compared to the average acquisition cost of Rs 20 per share as per its books.<BR><BR>The total amount raised from the sale of shares is about a fifth of the cash generated by RIL from operations in 2006-07.<BR><BR>The transaction is likely to help RIL double its per share earnings in the third quarter on a sequential basis, all other things remaining equal. The company had an EPS of Rs 27 in the second quarter; the divestment profit alone will add Rs 27 per share, before tax, to third quarter earnings.<BR><BR>RIL's timing of divestment appears perfect given that the Reliance Petroleum stock was on a sustained uptrend from mid-September till it reversed trend on November 5.<BR>Well-timed<BR><BR>The stock more than doubled in value in this period to touch a peak of Rs 295 before dropping back. Since the trend reversal on November 5, the stock has been consistently falling and closed at Rs 209 on Friday.<BR><BR>Towards the later stages of the rally, the stock was driven by reports that Chevron, which holds 5 per cent equity in RPL, is planning to exercise its option to pick up another 24 per cent stake. Chevron, however, denied that there were any such plans for the moment.<BR><BR>Reliance Petroleum stock's rally was accompanied by a surge in trading volumes. Average daily trading volume shot up from 92 lakh shares in the early August – mid-September period to 4.28 crore shares between mid-September and now.<BR>Camouflaged<BR><BR>Though RIL has offloaded 18.04 crore shares through the exchanges, it is interesting to note that not one of the transactions figures in bulk deals. The high daily volumes appear to have helped RIL camouflage its divestment transactions</DIV>

Reliance gains a billion

Reliance Industries (RIL) has netted Rs 3,662-crore profit from sale of a part of its equity holding in its subsidiary Reliance Petroleum. This amount is almost equal to the…

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World's largest condom maker - its Indian

<DIV>Thiruvananthapuram-based mini-ratna PSU Hindustan Latex (HLL) today became the world's largest condom manufacturer with the commissioning of a new plant that boasts of an annual production capacity of 1 billion condoms.<BR><BR>The plant at Peroorkada in Thiruvananthapuram was today inaugurated by union minister for health and family welfare Anbumani Ramadoss. The new condom plant, built on a capital outlay of Rs 2,470 lakh, will add an additional 283 million condoms to the Peroorkada facility. With the new facility going on stream, the PSU would have a total annual production capacity of 1.316 billion condoms, which includes the out put at its Belgaum plant.<BR><BR>Showering laurels on Hind Latex's achievement, Ramadoss revealed that a Cabinet decision has been taken to enable Hindustan Latex continue to be the captive unit of the Centre for two more years so as the company would get 75% order of the government's requirements.<BR><BR>The company, which posted a turnover of Rs 244 crore and a net profit of Rs 19.50 crore during the past year, exports its products to over 70 countries around the world. Exports revenue stood at over Rs 27 crore during 2006-07. The company aims to boost its turnover become a Rs 1000-crore company by year 2010.<BR><BR>Hindustan Latex is the only company in the world manufacturing and marketing the widest range of contraceptives. The products, apart from the men's condoms, include female condoms, intra-uterine devices, oral contraceptive pills, emergency contraceptive pills, contraceptive cream and tubal rings.<BR><BR>The company would shortly start manufacturing and distribution of rapid diagnostic pregnancy test kits all over the country, M Ayyappan, CMD, HLL, said.</DIV>

World's largest condom maker - its Indian

Thiruvananthapuram-based mini-ratna PSU Hindustan Latex (HLL) today became the world's largest condom manufacturer with the commissioning of a new plant that boasts of an an…

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India millionaires concentrated in 6 cities

<DIV>Over six lakh millionaires are concentrated in just ten cities of the country, with the national capital accounting for maximum number of them, a survey says.<BR><BR>Delhi has emerged as the top city in terms of number of millionaires in the country, housing over 1.38 lakh of them, followed by Bangalore with over 1.04 lakh.<BR><BR>The country's financial hub, Mumbai, has over one lakh households earning more than 10 lakh per year, data compiled by Indicus Analytics' Housing Skyline of India 2007-08 shows.<BR><BR>However, Chandigarh has the maximum density of such households with annual incomes of over Rs 10 lakh a year followed by Silvassa, the capital of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Rupnagar in Punjab.<BR><BR>Interestingly, based on the percentage of households with incomes greater than Rs 10 lakh a year, cities like Kohima, Goa, Patiala and Jamshedpur also rank among the top ten cities.<BR><BR>Thane, Pune, Surat, Ahemdabad and Jaipur also figure among the top ten cities in terms of number of millionaire families.<BR><BR>Besides, according to Indicus's 'reside-in' index, eight out of ten top cities are from South India, with Kochi emerging as the most livable place.<BR><BR>The index ranks cities on the basis several indicators, including health, education, environment and safety among others. They indicate how good the city is in terms of living conditions.<BR><BR>The ten most livable cities in the country include Kozhikode, Shimla, Thiruvanthapuram, Mysore, Goa, Thrissur and Pondicherry.</DIV>

India millionaires concentrated in 6 cities

Over six lakh millionaires are concentrated in just ten cities of the country, with the national capital accounting for maximum number of them, a survey says.Delhi has emerg…

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Reliance sells small stake of RPL

<DIV>Reliance Industries, the country's largest private sector company, has sold a small stake in subsidiary Reliance Petroleum (RPL) in an effort to increase the company's shareholder base.<BR><BR>Reliance Industries, which set up RPL as a separate company last year and did India's biggest initial public offering (IPO), said late on Friday that it has sold 4.01% of the company to institutional investors. The sale was done through the stock exchange over the past few days and fetched Rs 4,023 crore.<BR><BR>"The sale has further helped to broadbase the shareholding pattern of RPL. The number of shareholders of RPL has increased from 12 lakh at the time of the IPO to about 16 lakh," RIL said in a statement.<BR><BR>The sale reduces RIL's stake in the company to about 70.99% from about 75%. US energy giant Chevron holds about 5% in the company. RPL shares inched up 0.3 to Rs 209.5 on Friday. The shares have fallen 2.31% over the week but risen 17.07% over the past month.<BR><BR>RPL shares had skyrocketed a few weeks ago on speculation that Chevron is increasing its stake. The American company has an option to raise its holding to about 29% soon after the commissioning of the refinery in late 2008.<BR><BR>RPL's market cap today is bigger than the combined market cap of all the three public sector majors, IndianOil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, though it has no fully functioning operating asset.<BR><BR>The firm's 580,000 barrel per day refinery, the sixth largest in the world, is being built in the special economic zone in Jamnagar. A 0.9 million tonne polypropylene plant is also being commissioned near the refinery.<BR><BR>The refinery was being commissioned to take advantage of oil shortages and rising gross refining margins, arising out of years of underinvestment in refining capacity across the world.</DIV>

Reliance sells small stake of RPL

Reliance Industries, the country's largest private sector company, has sold a small stake in subsidiary Reliance Petroleum (RPL) in an effort to increase the company's share…

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Dun and Bradstreet - India grows at 9.7%

<DIV>The Indian economy grew by 9.4% in FY07, driven by the buoyant manufacturing sector, which grew by 12.3% - the highest growth rate in the last six years, a Dun and Bradstreet report said.<BR><BR>The service sector grew by 11% during the same period. While the industry sector contributed 27.9% to the GDP in FY07, the service sector contributed a much higher 54.6%, the report said.<BR><BR>India's infrastructure sector has grown at an average of around 6.5% per annum during FY03-FY07.<BR><BR>"In FY07, its growth was above average at 8.6%, as compared to 6.2% in the previous year, owing to good performances of crude petroleum, electricity and petroleum refinery products," the report said.<BR><BR>In fact, petroleum refinery products witnessed a double-digit growth due to higher capacity utilisation at refineries. Cement and steel production remained buoyant as well, on account of rise in construction and real estate activities across the country.<BR><BR>The report further said while India spends around 5.63% of its GDP on infrastructure, China spends about 9.0%.</DIV>

Dun and Bradstreet - India grows at 9.7%

The Indian economy grew by 9.4% in FY07, driven by the buoyant manufacturing sector, which grew by 12.3% - the highest growth rate in the last six years, a Dun and Bradstree…

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FII activity holds key

<DIV>The market may remain volatile in the coming week ahead of expiry of November 2007 derivatives contracts on Thursday, 29 November 2007. Outflow of funds by foreign investors may also weigh on sentiments. The market has been volatile over the past few days on concerns over the impact of the US sub-prime mortgage problems on the US economy. These concerns may continue to cast their shadow on the markets in the weeks to come.<BR><BR>As per provisional data, FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 2487.71 crore on Thursday, 22 November 2007.<BR><BR>FII selling may continue in the near term as they may resort to year-end profit taking. FIIs follow calendar year as their accounting year.<BR><BR>India's wholesale price index rose 3.01% in the 12 months to 10 November 2007, below the previous week's rise of 3.11%, government data released on Friday, 23 November 2007, showed. The annual inflation rate was 5.39% during the corresponding week of the previous year.<BR><BR>The Q2 September 2007 results of India Inc. were decent to strong, which means that strong fundamentals would support Indian equities at declines. At the macro level, the India's economy is expected to post decent to strong growth for a long period of time, mainly due to favourable demographics.</DIV>

FII activity holds key

The market may remain volatile in the coming week ahead of expiry of November 2007 derivatives contracts on Thursday, 29 November 2007. Outflow of funds by foreign investors…

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Govt clears FDI proposals

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2> <TABLE align='"center"'> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align='"center"'></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The government today approved 22 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals entailing an inflow of Rs 511.5 crore, including that of World Bank's private sector arm IFC and global private equity player Goldman Sachs.<BR><BR>International Finance Corporation will take up 18% stake in domestic stocks and commodities brokerage firm Angel Infin for Rs 152 crore. US-based Goldman Sachs and Australia's Macquarie will pick 40% stake in PTC India Financial Services, a non-banking financial arm of power trading firm PTC India, for Rs 155.74 crore.<BR><BR>The proposals were cleared by finance minister P Chidambaram on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), an official statement said.<BR><BR>"The equity investment will support Angel Infin, based in Mumbai, to expand its operations to tier II and III cities in India and introduce new products," official sources said.<BR><BR>However, a proposal of Flemingo to open duty free shops outside airports and in hotels has been rejected. A proposal of leading retailer Dolce & Gabbana to set up a joint venture with 51% stake to undertake single brand retailing of fashion and lifestyle products has been put on hold.<BR><BR>FIPB has also deferred a decision on the proposal of Russia's Sistema Joint Stock Financial Corp to increase its stake from 10% to 74% in a telecom firm.</FONT></DIV>

Govt clears FDI proposals

The government today approved 22 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals entailing an inflow of Rs 511.5 crore, including that of World Bank's private sector a…

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Post Market Commentary

<DIV>The market closed on an upbeat note by creating a rally over all the sectoral indices. All the sectotral indices closed in a positive territory. Most buying is seen Metals, Capital goods, Realty and Oil & gas indices scrips. The market pared most of gains at the mid session as the news about the three bomb blasts in UP came but it doesnot put any pressure on the investors mind for long and recovered well to closed the session on a impressive note. The Sensex covers an intraday high of 18,910.46 and low of 18,548.06 during the trading session. Finally, BSE Sensex closed with a hand some gain of 326.55 points at 18,852.87 and NSE Nifty closed up by 89.25 points at 5,608.60. Overall, the market breadth was strong as 1,760 stocks are closed higher while 1034 are closed lower. Both BSE Mid cap and Small cap grew by 137.66 points and 110.56 points to close at 8,228.50 and 10,171.43 respectively.<BR><BR>BSE Auto index closed up by 77.39 points at 5,256.55 as Escorts (8.42%), TVS (4.52%), MICO (4.41%), Bharat Forge (4.09%), Tata Motors (3.27%) and Bajaj Auto (2.46%) closed in green.<BR><BR>BSE Capital Goods index closed higher by 500.94 points at 19,316.12. Pushing it up are Alstom projects (4.75%), Praj industries (4.39%), L&T (4.02%), ABB (3.22%), BHEL (2.34%) and Siemens by (2.23%).<BR><BR>BSE Metal index surged by 548.96 points to closed at 16,594.08. Pushed up by Jindal steel (20.74%), Welspun Gujarat stalh (7.70%), Jindal Stainless (6.68%), Sterlite (4.60%) and SAIL (1.94%).<BR><BR>BSE oil & gas index surged by 295.40 points to closed at 11,987.47. Jumped by Essar oil by (12.50%), RNRL (6.75%), Aban Offshore (3.75%), Reliance industries (3.03%)<BR><BR>BSE Power index grew by 131.28 points to close at 4,282.35. Scrips that grew are Reliance energy (7.48%), Torrent Power (7.39%), Power Grid (6.59%), GMR Infra (4.74%), NTPC (3.98%).<BR><BR>BSE IT index closed up by 57.20 points at 4,017.10 as Educomp solution (9.35%), Tech Mahindra (5.13%), HCL tech (4.42%), NIIT tech (3.68%), and Infosys (1.71%) are closed lower</DIV>

Post Market Commentary

The market closed on an upbeat note by creating a rally over all the sectoral indices. All the sectotral indices closed in a positive territory. Most buying is seen Metals, …

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Sensex recovers on positive global cues

<DIV>Tracking firm Asian markets the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 206 points and surged to touch the day's high of 18910 on sustained buying in heavyweights, power, metal and realty stocks. The market witnessed a small correction in the mid-morning trades but recovered on strong buying in the Sensex pivotal stocks. However, strong bout of selling in the afternoon wiped out most of the day's gains and the Sensex touched the day's low of 18548 marginally above its previous close. The sustained buying in the last hour of the trading session helped the market to pare most of its losses and close the session with a gain of 327 points at 18853. The Nifty ended the session at 5609, up 89 points.<BR><BR>The breadth of the market was positive. Of the 2,842 stocks traded on the BSE 1,763 stocks advanced, 1,032 stocks declined and 47 stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices ended in positive territory. The BSE Realty ended firm with gains of 3.45% at 9783 while the BSE Metal index rose 3.42% at 16594 and the BSE Power index added 3.16% at 4282.<BR><BR>Action in several index heavyweights lifted the market. Reliance Energy led the pack and shot up by 7.48% at Rs1725. DLF soared 5.58% at Rs869, HDFC surged 4.12% at Rs2,666, L&T flared up by 4.02% at Rs4101, NTPC jumped by 3.98% at Rs237, Tata Motors added 3.27% at Rs715, Reliance advanced by 3.03% at Rs2811 and Bajaj Auto moved up by 2.46% at Rs2533. However, few index stocks came under sharp selling pressure. Maruti Suzuki shed 2.07% at Rs947, HDFC Bank fell 1.97% at Rs1,563 while, Cipla, ITC, M&M, ONGC, Grasim and Ranbaxy dropped marginally.<BR><BR>Over 2.74 crore Allied Computers shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Tata Teleservices (2.51 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum (1.74 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.63 crore shares) and Ispat Industries (1.11 crore shares).<BR><BR>Value-wise Reliance Petroleum registered a turnover of Rs366 crore on the BSE followed by Reliance Energy (Rs291 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs252 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs232 crore) and Reliance Capital (Rs202 crore).</DIV>

Sensex recovers on positive global cues

Tracking firm Asian markets the Sensex opened with a positive gap of 206 points and surged to touch the day's high of 18910 on sustained buying in heavyweights, power, metal…

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<DIV>The market makes a turnaround towards the end of the session by paring most of its initial losses as the buying intensified across the heavy weight sectoral indices scrips. The market opened on a positive note but all of a sudden lost the momentum and fell as the selling intensified. The Sensex covers an intraday high of 18,744.55 and low of 18,182.83 . The banking and auto indices remained in the limelight as most buying is seen in these scrips. Finally, BSE Sensex closed little lower by 76.30 points at 18,526.32 and NSE Nifty dropped by 41.7 points to close at 5519.35. Overall, the market breadth was weak as 1,965 stocks are closed lower while 805 are closed higher. Both BSE Mid cap and Small cap fell by 127 points and 204.36 points at 8,090.84 and 10,060.87 respectively.<BR><BR>BSE bankex index grew by 178.53 points to close at 10,406.24. Pushing it up are PNB (9.44%), SBI (4.04%), Kotak bank (3.27%), Federal bank (2.60%), ICICI bank (2.16%).<BR><BR>BSE Auto index closed up by 8.31 points at 5,179.16 as Bajaj Auto (2.08%), Maruti Suzuki (1.65%), Tata Motors (0.80%) and M&M (0.49%) closed in green.<BR><BR>BSE Capital Goods index closed with a heavy loss of 487.60 points at 18,815.18. Pulling it down are L&T (4.06%), Areva (3.61%), Havell (3.08%), BHEL (1%), ABB (0.60%)<BR><BR>BSE Metal index declined by 208.47 points to closed at 16,045.12. Scrips that fell are Ispat inds (7.98%), Jindal saw (5.79%), Sterlite (5.09%), Jindal stainless (4.08%) and Nalco (3.47%) closed lower.<BR><BR>BSE oil & gas index dropped by 38.92 points to close at 11,692.07 as Aban offshore (3.34%), ONGC (3.61%), Essar oil (2.23%) and IOCL (1.71%) closed in red.<BR><BR>BSE Power index fell by 95.44 points to close at 4,151.07 as reliance energy (5.18%), torrent power by (4.64%), NTPC (4.99%), CESC (4.10%), Power grid (3.44%) closed in negative.<BR><BR>BSE IT index closed lower by 27.76 points at 3,959.90 as Karut net (8.85%), Rolta India (5.10%), Finance tech (3.96%), Iflex (3.93%) and Infosys (1.05%) closed lower.</DIV>

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The market makes a turnaround towards the end of the session by paring most of its initial losses as the buying intensified across the heavy weight sectoral indices scrips. …

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Market Close : Tough day but Smart Recovery..

<DIV>Traggic fall continued but surprise turnaround in the markets which recovered sharply in the last hour of trading session. It opened marginally in red and traded in negative terrain for major part of the day as Asian cues were not inline to support the Indian markets. Indices traded volatile and churned in both the territories going on a yahoo ride. Market recovered over 400 points from the day's low. Amidst heavy selling pressure the Banking stocks and Refinery sector stood strong. SBI's right issue news is on cards which hit the market & kept SBI in limelight and hence the momentum too. On the other hand latest notification from RBI which allowed the Oil and refineries to hedge foreign exchange exposures to 50% of their oil inventory volumes waved a sign of relief though oil prices hit the $100 / barrel mark. In the last hour of trading session the news floated that the Indian pension funds are approved to invest in Indian markets supplemented by the news that China will ``definitely'' go ahead with a program allowing individuals to invest directly in Hong Kong equities. This lifted the sentiments in the market to recovery strong. At close Realty index down by 6%, metal and power index down over 3%. European indices are trading in green.<BR><BR>Sensex closed down by 76 points at 18526. Weighing on the Sensex were losses in Rel Energy (1605.1,-5 percent), NTPC (227.55,-5 percent), L & T (3941.8999,-4 percent), ONGC (1149.55,-4 percent) and HDFC (2560.8501,-2 percent). Losses were restricted by gains in SBI (2241.8,+4 percent), ACC (1103.3,+2 percent), ICICI Bk (1126.9,+2 percent), Bajaj Auto (2472.55,+2 percent) and Maruti (966.75,+2 percent).<BR><BR>Eveready, part of the BM Khaitan Group a market leader in the dry cell battery industry. The battery business was bought by Mcleod Russel from Union Carbide in a leveraged buy-out but the restructuring was done last year and Mcleod Russel was demerged from Eveready. Now Eveready is a focussed and well established FMCG player. Its portfolio comprises of dry cell batteries, rechargeable batteries, flashlights, packet tea and recently introduced mosquito coils. The company had taken (30%) price hike in batteries last year on the back of high zinc prices. Around 55-60% of company's revenue comes from rural India. Here the consumption slipped as consumers opted delay in consumtion given the sharp rise. This led to a fall in volumes. On an average zinc prices were up 2% yoy. On qoq zinc prices are down by 2%. In July zinc came off to $3000 per tonne and the benefit from this should start flowing given that volume pick up is seen to some extent again. Monsoon is the good period as use of batteries is driven by the Farming community which uses Torches to take care of their fields. There is some threat seen on the back of lower power Consuming LED lights. In a sense thats true.. but we believe that these LED lights will create its own set of consumption. The per capita consumption of cells in India is still very small even as compared to that in South East Asian countries. We are informed that the volume growth is somewhat better in the AA segment in the last couple of months. Profits will be good from the new plant by the 3rd quarter and also the benefit of lower Zinc prices. We have detailed note on this. Do read it to have more clearity.<BR><BR>Apar Industries Ltd (Apar) is a diversified company having presence in Speciality Oil, Aluminium Conductor and Polymers. Its 3 plants located at Rabale-Thane, Silvassa and Nalagarh - Himchal Pradesh. Apar is the largest manufacturer of Transformer Oils in India and the second largest manufacturer of high strength overhead power transmission and distribution conductors. The Company earns around 48% of its revenues from the power sector and 42% from Speciality oil and 10% from Polymers. At current market price valuation are fair; Future is bright on the back of high growth expected in power sector. Business scenario sounds good but concern are many to look at. Do have a look at our deatiled note to know our view on this stock.<BR><BR>Technically Speaking: Sensex witnessed a downtrend as mentioned bounced back from 18250 and witnessed an intra day high of 18,745 and low of 18,183. Declines outnumbered Advances in the ratio of 2.5:1. Volume of Rs 6976 cr was churned through out the day. Sensex has taken support as levels anticipated by us. We also had recommended to cover the shorts when the markets were low during the day. A pullback rally is possible now which could run upto 18900. If sensex fails to hold above that, the next target could be as lower as 17100.</DIV>

Market Close : Tough day but Smart Recovery..

Traggic fall continued but surprise turnaround in the markets which recovered sharply in the last hour of trading session. It opened marginally in red and traded in negative…

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Subprime woes lead market slump

<DIV>The market lost its initial grip and succumbed to heavy losses on selling in realty, power, and capital goods counters. Major US indices fell sharply on Wednesday on worries about the housing sector slump coupled with weak dollar and surging oil prices. Asian markets followed the suit in early trades and closed with loses around 1-2%. The Sensex resumed on a positive note despite mixed cues from the firm Asian markets. The market remained quite thereafter but profit booking in index pivotal stocks dragged the Sensex to negative territory by the afternoon and it touched the day's low of 18,183. The market seemed to close with heavy losses, but sustained buying in frontline stocks towards the close helped the Sensex pare most of its losses and end the session down 76 points at 18,526, while the Nifty shed 42 points at 5,519.<BR><BR>The market breadth was negative. Of the 2,816 stocks traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,965 stocks declined, 805 stocks advanced and 46 stocks ended unchanged. Most of the sectoral indices closed in the red. The BSE Realty index dropped 4.99% at 9,457 followed by the BSE CG index (down 2.53% at 18,815) and the BSE Power index (down 2.25% at 4,151).<BR><BR>Among the Sensex majors, DLF tumbled by 5.49% at Rs823, Reliance Energy dropped 5.18% at Rs1,605, NTPC lost 4.99% at Rs228, L&T slumped by 4.06% at Rs3,942, ONGC slipped by 3.61% at Rs1,150, HDFC shed 1.51% at Rs2,561, Ranbaxy lost 1.40% at Rs393, Reliance Communications fell by 1.20% at Rs674, Infosys crumbled by 1.05% at Rs1,532 and Tata Steel dipped marginally at Rs819. However, select counters saw some buying action and ended with gains. SBI advanced by 4.04% at Rs2,242 while ACC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank slipped 1-2% each.<BR><BR>Over 2.46 crore Reliance Petroleum shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Reliance Natural Resources (2.16 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.73 crore shares), Tata Teleservices (1.63 crore shares) and IFCI (1.23 crore shares).<BR><BR>Reliance Petroleum registered a turnover of Rs504 crore on the BSE followed by Reliance Natural Resources (Rs311 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs288 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs283 crore) and L&T (Rs238 crore).</DIV>

Subprime woes lead market slump

The market lost its initial grip and succumbed to heavy losses on selling in realty, power, and capital goods counters. Major US indices fell sharply on Wednesday on worries…

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Crude fluctuates on inventory data

<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2> <P class=bgcaption1>Prices rise initially but then slip as traders analyze that inventory rose at delivery point </P> <P> <SCRIPT language=Javascript> <!-- function ArtTable(TSNo,SectionName,SubSectionName,Heading,Caption,Dt,Tm) { TableWin = window.open('ViewRelTables.asp?TSNo='+TSNo+'&SectionName='+SectionName+'&SubSectionName='+SubSectionName+'&Heading='+Heading+'&Caption='+Caption+'&Date='+Dt+'&Time='+Tm, 'TableWin','height=400,width=580,scrollbars=yes,status=0,top=100,left=80, status=no,alwaysRaised=0,channelmode=0,fullscreen=0,hotkeys=1,menubar=0,resizable=1,titlebar=0,toolbar=0,z-lock=0'); if (window.focus) TableWin.focus(); } --> </SCRIPT> </P> <P>Crude oil prices rose today earlier in the day but then gave up its gains and closed lower for the day. Prices earlier rose but then fell after Energy Department released the weekly inventory report. Price fluctuated after analyzing the inventory data. Earlier in the day, in electronic trading, it crossed $99/barrel but then fell. </P> <P>For the day ending Wednesday, 21 November, 2007, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for January delivery closed at $97.29/barrel (lower by $0.74/barrel or 0.75%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 62% from a year ago. </P> <P>Brent crude oil for December settlement fell $0.65 (0.7%) to $94.84 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. </P> <P>As per the weekly report by the Energy Dept, U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by 1.1 million barrels in the week ending 16 November as against an expected build-up. Crude oil for January delivery rose 55 cents to $98.60 a barrel after the report. But then price fell after traders realized that crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for crude traded on the Nymex, rose 1.2 million barrels to 14.6 million in the latest week. </P> <P>EIA also reported U.S. refineries operated at 87% of their operable capacity last week, down from the previous week's 87.7%. EIA also reported gasoline supplies rose by 200,000 barrels to 195.2 million barrels in the latest week, while distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel, decreased sharply by 2.4 million barrels to 131 million barrels. </P> <P>Last week, prices rose to $98.62/barrel during intra day trading on 7 November, 2007. Oil prices had rose 16% in October, 2007, the biggest one-month gain since September 2004. </P> <P><B>Natural gas rises though heating oil and gasoline slip</B> </P> <P>Natural gas in New York rose as traders bought contracts to protect against price increases during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when trading is limited. Gas for December delivery rose 7.3 cents (1%) to settle at $7.55 per million British thermal units. </P> <P>Against this backdrop, December heating oil closed down 0.27 cents at $2.6874. Also on Nymex, December reformulated gasoline ended down 1.44 cents at $2.4371 a gallon. </P> <P>Last week, OPEC reduced its fourth-quarter estimate of global oil demand growth to 1.97%, down from 2.1%, citing warmer winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the higher price of gasoline. The cartel also trimmed this year's world oil demand growth to 1.4% from 1.5%, but the cartel kept the first quarter of next year unchanged at 1.8%. </P> <P>Attacks on oil facilities in Middle East and tight supplies from OPEC have bolstered crude prices this year. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, tight global energy supplies are expected to keep energy prices high through 2008. </P> <P>There will be no floor trading in New York tomorrow because of the Thanksgiving holiday. All electronic trading tomorrow will be counted as part of the session on 23 November. </P></FONT></DIV>

Crude fluctuates on inventory data

Prices rise initially but then slip as traders analyze that inventory rose at delivery point Crude oil prices rose today earlier in the day but then gave up its ga…

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Market Close: Lack of buying support drags down..

<DIV>Clear Day of Sell across the market from India to Asia and in Europe too. Indian markets tumble over 750 points but manged to recover before ending. Globally market tumbled as Asian indices too tumbled like Hang Seng, Nikkei by over 1000 and 300. It was the fourth largest single day point fall for Sensex. Today's session reminded of the past incident which earlier had impact of the proposed regulations regarding the ban on the issue of the Participatory notes to FII?s. Some unconfirmed news revolved that FII's will not be allowed to rollover their position in future markets which hits market sentiments. Markets continue to fall at every hour in deep red without any signs of recovery on account of selling pressure in sectors. Profit booking was playing on minds to be in the safer side. Heavy weights were under selling pressure. Even the Midcaps which were on rally saw selling pressure. Banking and power sectors were hit badly. European indices start in red.<BR><BR>Sensex ended down by 678 points at 18602.619. Weighing on the Sensex were losses in NTPC (239.5,-8 percent), BHEL (2486.1001,-6 percent), ITC (184.85,-6 percent), Maruti (951.1,-6 percent) and Rel Energy (1692.85,-6 percent). Losses were restricted by gains in Hero Honda (708.85,+0 percent).<BR><BR>Karuturi Networks Ltd (KNL) was recently in news after having raised $50 million through an FCCB issuance the proceeds of which were used to consummate the buyout of the Kenyan rose growing firm-Sher. The FCCB was priced at Rs 290 per share. Marquee investor George Soros has reportedly picked up 1.4 million shares in India?s largest floriculture company Karuturi Networks Ltd (KNL). The Soros led Quantum Fund may now be holding around 4.6% stake in the Bangalore headquartered firm. Results for the last quarter reported good set of numbers. Revenues jumped 353% YoY at Rs 54 cr. higher volumes and lower realisations from the plantling sales are what the cause of lower margins. The company is not affected much by Rupee appreciation as most exports are in Euros to Europe. The stock ended week for the day. We have a detailed note on this stock. Do read this to know our view.<BR><BR>Cost of air travel within the country is all set to go up once again as airlines are bracing up for another hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices on December 1. The two options under consideration are a hike in basic fare or another increase in fuel surcharge, which is already hovering at Rs 1,350. Either way, cost of air travel would increase by Rs.200 or at least Rs 150 per route for economy class travel between metro cities. Also ATF prices are at a peak. Therefore hike in fuel prices would be passed on to passengers. Most airlines are in favour of another hike in fuel surcharge as it is simpler to implement and chances of undercutting are minimum. Hike in basic fares is more complicated and it may not suit the current strategy of the industry. Ever since ATF prices starting hitting new highs this year, airlines have been affecting identical fare hikes through fuel surcharge. Deccan Aviation and Jet Airways (both down 4%) and Spice Jet (down 9%) being out of favour.<BR><BR>Technically Speaking: Sensex opened in red and skid more on the red. It made intraday high of 19,219 and days low of 18,515. Volume was good at Rs 7,301crs. The breath was in favor of Declines, where Advances stood at 647 and Declines at 2159. Sensex support seen at 18350 fall from here could get a support at 18000.</DIV>

Market Close: Lack of buying support drags down..

Clear Day of Sell across the market from India to Asia and in Europe too. Indian markets tumble over 750 points but manged to recover before ending. Globally market tumbled …

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Post Market Commentary

<DIV>The market tumbles to close the session on a red note on the back of heavy selling pressure across the sectoral indices scrips. The reports by the media which states the government is considering raising of securities transaction tax also added to the negative sentiments in the market. Finally, the BSE Sensex closed with a heavy loss of 678.18 points at 18,602.62 and Nifty fell by 219.85 points to close at 5561.05. Almost all the sectoral indices closed in red but heavy selling is seen in capital goods, metals, bankex and realty indices. Overall, the market breadth was weak as 2,191 stocks are closed lower while 640 are closed higher. Both the BSE Mid cap closed lower by 408.03 points and 425.93 points at 8,217.84 and 10,265.23 respectively.<BR><BR>BSE Capital Goods index fell drastically by 1,046.64 points to close at 19,302.78. Scrips that fell are Alstom projects (10.08%), BHEL (6.33%), L&T (5.25%), ABB (3.88%) and Siemens (2.98%).<BR><BR>BSE Metal index declined by 1057.10 points to close at 16,253.59. Pulling it down are Ispat (9.29%), Jindal Steel (8.29%), Sterlite (7.65%), Hind zinc (7.71%), SAIL (6.89%) closed lower.<BR><BR>BSE bankex index declined by 536.82 points to close at 10,227.71. Pulling it down are IOB (7.44%), Canara bank (6.60%), PNB (6.22%), Axis bank (5.73%) and ICICI bank (5.50%) closed in red.<BR><BR>BSE oil & gas index dropped by 405.59 points to close at 11,730.99 as RNRL (9.84%), IOCL (8.92%), HPCL (8.67%), BPCL (4.60%), GAIL (5.09%) and ONGC (2.37%) closed in red.<BR><BR>BSE Power index fell by 266.51 points to close at 4,246.51 as GMR infrastr (9.41%), NTPC 8.03%, Power grid (7.70%), Suzlon energy (6.66%), reliance energy (5.65%) and Tata Power (4.93%) closed in negative.<BR><BR>BSE IT index closed lower by 66.98 points at 3,987.66 as NIIT (7.88%), Aptech (7.41%) Wipro (2.70%), Satyam (1.56%), TCS (1.25%) and Infosys (1.04%) closed lower.</DIV>

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The market tumbles to close the session on a red note on the back of heavy selling pressure across the sectoral indices scrips. The reports by the media which states the gov…

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