indian stock market

Atlas Copoc (India), rising 5.15 % to Rs 950 today, has gained nearly 20% since it announced its March 2007 quarte results end April 2007. On BSE, 10,987 shares were traded in the counter. The stock of Atlas Copco (India) had surged in the run-up to the results. From Rs 700 on 10 April 2007, it touched Rs 804.10 by 30 April 2007. The scrip had moved in a narrow range in March 2007. Despite delclaring almost flat Q1 March 2007 results on 30 April 2007, the stock rallied and gained 20.17% since 3 May 2007 to Rs 903.45 on 24 May 2007. Atlas Copco (India), a 83.77% subsidiary of Atlas Copco AB, Sweden, and a dominant player in the compressed air, construction and mining equipment segment, reported net profit of Rs 17.98 crore in Q1 March 2007 as against Rs 17.67 crore in Q1 March 2006. Net sales rose 3

Any novice, even after taking a casual stroll on Dalal Street (as the stock market is lovingly referred to), will start chirping words like valuations, foreign institutional investors, and of course price to earnings ratio, PE. This is one term, which is most widely used by experts and novices alike to determine the value of a company or for that matter an entire index like, say Sensex. Simply put it is a ratio of the current market price of a stock to its earnings per share, EPS, and its unit is in 'multiple' or 'times'. This multiple (times) implies the amount an investor is ready to pay for every one rupee earned (profit) by a company. If PE of a company is 30 it means that investor/s is/are ready to pay Rs 30 for every one rupee that the company earns in profits. In short, PE of a company = Market price / Earnings per share. If the market price of a company on a given day is Rs 500 and its EPS is Rs 100 the PE ratio of that stock would be