indian stock market

  Investors with a two-year horizon can buy the shares of 3i Infotech, considering its strong business prospects and very attractive valuation. At Rs 40, the share trades at just three times its likely 2008-09 earnings. Concerns over the IT sector in general and worries about 3i Infotech's BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance)-centric business model has caused the stock to be beaten down considerably to the point of being quite undervalued. However, the company's lower US dependence, focus on basic banking and insurance operations, and inorganic growth prospects render it attractive. 3i Infotech has a robust business model comprising a blend of products, services and transaction processing offerings. The service-mix features near-equal contribution from IT products, services and transaction processing. Transaction processing is a low-margin service, yet it may be less prone to a cut in discretionary spends of clients. Its inorganic moves are also tar...

Seven realty shares rose by 2.71% to 14.19%, on hopes a decision to offer lower interest rate on some home loans will revive housing demand At 13:18 IST, the BSE Realty index was up 5.82% at 5,571.72, outperforming the Sensex, which was up 1.55% at 9,840.10. DLF, Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate, Omaxe, Sobha Developers, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure, Puravankara Projects were up by 2.71% to 14.19%. Indian state-run banks will offer special rates on some loans to home buyers and small businesses, as part of a government-led initiative to boost economic growth and shore up confidence amid a global liquidity crisis. Public sector banks will offer home loans up to Rs 5 lakh at 8.5% and between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh at 9.25%. The new home loan rates, part of a move to stimulate demand in the affordable housing segment, will be effective until 30 June 2009. Currently, loans in that category cost borrowers more than 10%. The banks will take a 10% margin on home lo...

Investors can buy the shares of Educomp Solutions, considering the bright growth prospects for its key verticals and the stock's sizeable valuation discount to its historic levels. At Rs 2,088, the stock trades at 26 times its likely 2008-09 earnings. This is not cheap under current market conditions. But Educomp has locked into most if its contracts where it licenses digital teaching content on long-term basis, typically over a five-year period. Continuing triple digit growth in high-margin segments such as Smart Class and retail & consulting, a healthy order pipeline for its services that cater to IT-enablement of government schools, support the valuations. Educomp's focus on the education sector also lends resilience against any broader slowdown as schools are unlikely to scale down investments in innovative teaching methods. With the Government's IT-enablement programme continuing on course, the company appears well placed to ride out the p...

Analysts now bet on rate cuts. Our Bureau Mumbai, Dec. 12 Indian equities reacted sharply to negative global cues and the poor Index of Industrial Production (IIP) figures for October 2008. The Sensex fell more than 350 points intraday on Tuesday (from its previous close), though it recovered towards the close of trading aided by substantial gains in some of the index heavyweights. The IIP figure for October fell by 0.4 per cent, its growth rate entering the negative territory for the first time in 15 years. It had risen 12 per cent in October 2007. "The markets opened sharply lower on the back of weak global cues and the sentiment got even more sour by dismal IIP data at noon. However a smart recovery was seen in second half of the trading," said a report by Ambit Capital. "This is the first contraction since the index began in FY-94. On a cumulative basis, growth during April-October was 4.1 per cent versus 9.9 per cent during the s...

Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers galloped 15.49% to Rs 129 at 13:38 IST on BSE after a block deal of 4.97 lakh shares, or 4.43% of the equity, was struck at Rs 115 on NSE. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 194.27 points, or 2.09%, to 9,096.74. On BSE, 3.75 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 23,721 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 131 and a low of Rs 107.30 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 600 on 1 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 85 on 10 October 2008. The small-cap stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 17 November 2008, gaining 3.38% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 6.86%. It had underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 46.77% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 36.90%. The company's current equity is Rs 11.22 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 129 discounts the company's ...

Airlines Indian Airlines - 1800 180 1407 Jet Airways - 1800 22 5522 Spice Jet - 1800 180 3333 Air India -- 1800 22 7722 Kingfisher - 1800 180 0101 Banks ABN AMRO - 1800 11 2224 Canara Bank - 1800 44 6000 Citibank - 1800 44 2265 Corporation Bank - 1800 443 555 Development Credit Bank - 1800 22 5769 HDFC Bank - 1800 227 227 ICICI Bank - 1800 333 499 ICICI Bank NRI - 1800 22 4848 IDBI Bank - 1800 11 6999 Indian Bank - 1800 425 1400 ING Vysya - 1800 44 9900 Kotak Mahindra Bank - 1800 22 6022 Lord Krishna Bank - 1800 11 2300 Punjab National Bank - 1800 122 222 State Bank of India - 1800 44 1955 Syndicate Bank - 1800 44 6655   Automobiles Mahindra Scorpio - 1800 22 6006 Maruti - 1800 111 515 Tata Motors - 1800 22 5552 Windshield Experts - 1800 11 3636 Computers/IT Adrenalin - 1800 444 445 AMD - 1800 425 6664 Apple Computers - 1800 444 683 Canon - 1800 333 366 Cisco Systems - 1800 221 777 Compaq - HP - 1800 444 999 Data One Broadband - 1800 424 1800 Dell - 1800 444 026 E...

  At Rs 50, the stock trades at a price to earnings multiple of 9.9 times our estimated FY11 consolidated earnings. The price is lower than its recent right issue offering of Rs 70 per share. IHCL is the most visible among all its peers in the Indian hotel industry. Its historical focus on the luxury segment has rewarded the company over time, as realisations from this segment are always higher than other segments. Its brand together with its wide reach and choice of properties warrant a higher valuation band for the company. It is also entering new segments like budget and mid market offerings. Further it is spreading its wings to international areas to establish 'Taj' brand in these regions and position itself as a luxury brand in the global markets. The company has lined up major expansion plans over the next 3 to 4 years. Also, some of its subsidiaries are expected to turn profitable.

Hindalco Industries jumped 9.76% to Rs 66.35 at 14:53 IST on BSE, after a block deal of 5.24 lakh of equity shares was struck on the counter on BSE at Rs 66. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 487.67 points, or 4.89%, to 10,451.96. On BSE, 91.33 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 22.55 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 68.75 and a low of Rs 61.50 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 202.74 on 15 November 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 38.05 on 27 October 2008. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 7 November 2008, declining 36.23% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 14.80%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 53.11% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 34.09%. The company's current equity is Rs 175.32 crore. Face value per share is Rs 1. The current price of Rs 66.35 discounts the com...

Management, promoter groups step in to buy in select companies. Srividhya Sivakumar BL Research Bureau If the frantic selling by foreign institutional investors in October has left you worried about how much lower valuations will go, here is a quantum of solace, for the month also saw many 'insiders' step in to buy stocks in their companies. Enticed by the 'attractive' valuations after the market meltdown, insiders appear to have indulged in buying in select companies even as the markets hit successive new lows throughout last month. Be it large companies such as L&T, Suzlon Energy and Hindalco, or the mid and small-cap ones such as Edelweiss, Gitanjali Gems and IVRCL Infrastructure, buying by insiders has been quite significant. Insiders, according to SEBI's Regulations (Prohibition of Insider Trading), are those investors who are in the know of that company's unpublished price-sensitive information. While in th...

Investors can consider accumulating the YES Bank stock at the current market price (CMP) of Rs 81.9. The stock has gained 49 per cent from its all-time low of Rs 55 on October 27, but remains a good investment option for investors with a two-three year time frame. At the CMP, YES Bank is trading at 10.4 times its trailing twelve-month earnings and 1.7 times its latest book value. The Price-earnings multiple is at a discount to that of bigger private sector peers such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank and is cheap for a bank which has high growth potential. Growth in advances While growth rates of the past two years may moderate on a larger base, healthy growth in corporate advances may result in above-industry growth rates for YES Bank. Its loan book is dominated by the wholesale business-corporate advances (58 per cent) and business banking (41 per cent). A high proportion of core 'other income' (43 per cent), negligible exposure to retail ad...

Kernex Microsystems India surged 19.93% to Rs 73.70 at 15:30 IST on BSE, on receiving nod for implementation of networking project at Indian Railway. The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 7 November 2008. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 230.07 points, or 2.36%, to 9,964.29. On BSE, 17,343 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 9,937 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 73.70 and a low of Rs 57 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 336.35 on 2 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 50.45 on 27 October 2008. The small-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 6 November 2008, declining 21.97% as compared to the Sensex�s decline of 17.52%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 47.19% as compared to the Sensex�s decline of 35.42%. The company�s current equity is Rs 12.50 crore. Face value per share is R...

We recommend a buy in Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) from a short-term trading perspective. It is clearly visible from the charts of IDFC that it has been on a long-term downtrend from its January high of Rs 235 (52-week high) forming lower lows and lower highs. However, the stock recently found support at around Rs 45, a long-term support level (July 2006 bottom) and witnessed sharp rise. We notice that the stock has formed a weekly bullish engulfing candlestick pattern, indicating short-term reversal. Subsequently, on November 3, the stock jumped up 12 per cent with an upward gap penetrating the intermediate-term down trendline (which was in place from May peak) and the 21-day moving average. The daily relative strength index is rising in the neutral region. The moving average convergence and divergence has displayed a positive divergence and signals a buy. Our short-term forecast for the stock is bullish. We anticipate IDFC to move up further until it hits our pri...

Profit taking for a second day in a row pulled Infrastructure Development Finance Company 5.25% lower to Rs 55 at 9:56 IST on BSE, after good Q2 results. The stock had declined 6.52% to Rs 58.05 yesterday, 22 October 2008, even as it had reported decent Q2 numbers during trading hours. The stock had surged 20.82% to Rs 62.10 on 21 October 2008, ahead of the results. The BSE Sensex was down 443.06 points, or 4.36%, to 9,726.84. On BSE, 27,332 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 42.77 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 56 and a low of Rs 53.60 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 235 on 3 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 47 on 10 October 2008. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 22 October 2008, declining 28.95% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.33%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 37....

Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 2.45% to Rs 1168 at 13:32 IST on BSE, on winning a Rs 1470 crore contract from state-run NTPC. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 234.12 points, or 2.30%, to 9935.78. On BSE, 5.53 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 4.90 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1182 and a low of Rs 1072 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 2925 on 7 November 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 1085 on 20 October 2008. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 21 October 2008, declining 32.35% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.33%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 28.69% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.89%. India's largest electric equipment maker by sales has an equity capital of Rs 489.52 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 1168 discounts its Q1 June 2008...

Reliance Industries fell 4.63% to Rs 1254.70 at 10:43 IST on BSE, on prospects of a muted growth in bottomline Q2 September 2008. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 310.13 points, or 3.05%, to 9859.77. On BSE, 3.73 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 14.19 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit an intraday low of Rs 1231, also its 52-week low. It hit a intraday high of Rs 1300 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 3252.10 on 15 January 2008. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 22 October 2008, declining 35.42% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.33%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 38.93% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.89%. India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner has an equity capital of Rs 1573.79 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of ...

Reliance Petroleum Ltd has informed BSE regarding a Media Release dated October 21, 2008 titled "RPL refinery achieves 97% overall progress" Press Release: "Reliance Petroleum Ltd ("RPL") has achieved 97% overall progress with rapid advancement on all implementation fronts of its complex petroleum refinery, coming up in a Special Economic Zone at Jamnagar in Gujarat, India. Construction is nearing completion and the focus has now shifted from mechanical completion to start-up. Several primary, secondary process systems and treatment units have been completed and pre-commissioning & commissioning trials of static and rotary equipments, electrical distribution and instrumentation systems are underway. Logistics infrastructure to handle crude and products, such as tankfarm, blending systems and other storage systems, are already commissioned. Various automation systems, distributed control systems, safety & loss prevention systems are also up ...

Bank of India declined 5.38% to Rs 273.25 at 14:17 IST on BSE, after providing for Rs 108.60 crore on account of exposure to troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers, in Q2 September 2008. The bank announced the Q2 results during trading hours today, 22 October 2008. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 383.62 points, or 3.59%, to 10,299.77. On BSE, 14.78 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 8.30 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 238 and a low of Rs 221.05 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 466 on 17 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 189 on 1 July 2008. The stock declined 3.10% to Rs 288.80 on 21 October 207, ahead of the results. The mid-cap bank-stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 21 October 2008, gaining 1.87% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 23.92%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, rising 6% as comp...

 Naganath of   DSP Merrill Lynch AMC said the possibility of slower earnings has been discounted in the price already.   He feels investors should invest over the next 3-6 months and then sit tight for another 12 months . "We may have to deal with negative sentiment that flows from global events over the next three to six-months. There will be continued de-leveraging and selling by hedge funds and others because they need liquidity. There is nothing we can do about it. But once that is passed, the next three to six-months will offer one of the best buying opportunities for an Indian investor. If one considers a holding period of 12-18 months, by late 2009 to early 2010, such an investor would find no reason to be unhappy with a buying decision over the next three to six-months."

Sah Petroleums was locked at upper limit of 20% to Rs 17.28 at 14:23 IST on BSE, surging for the second day in a row, on open offer at a huge premium to the market price. The company made the announcement during market hours yesterday, 20 October 2008, when the stock rose 20% to Rs 14.40. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 473.87 points, or 4.85%, to 10719.36. OnThe stock had a 52-week high of Rs 29.30 on 3 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 8 on 10 October 2008. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 20 October 2008, rising 7.54% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.20%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, gaining 5.19% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 25.03%. The small-cap industrial lubricants maker has an equity capital of Rs 16 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5. The current price of Rs 17.28 discounts its Q1 June 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 4.56, by a PE multiple of 3.78. NAF India Holdings...

 ECE Industries soared 11.83% to Rs 189.50 at 10:37 IST on BSE, on proposal to raise funds by way of a rights issue. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 126.66 points, or 1.24%, to 10,349.75. On BSE, two shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 2,190 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 189.50 and a low of Rs 140 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 915 on 29 October 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 133 on 17 October 2008. The small-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 20 October 2008, declining 32.02% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.20%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 25.29% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 25.03%. The company's current equity is Rs 4.39 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 189.50 discounts the company's Q1 June 2008 annualized EPS of Rs 4.46, by a PE...

LIC Housing Finance spurted 7.34% to Rs 242 at 14:01 IST on BSE, as net profit rose 16.06% to Rs 135.07 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007. The housing finance firm announced the results during trading hours today, 21 October 2008. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 490.73 points, or 4.80%, to 10,713.82. On BSE, 2.58 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 2.13 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 248 and a low of Rs 224 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 402.90 on 11 December 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 192 on 22 January 2008. The stock declined 16.70% to Rs 225.45 on 20 October 2008, from the recent high of Rs 270.65 on 14 October 2008, ahead of the results. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 20 October 2008, declining 30.17% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 27.20%. It had outperformed the market in the past on...

Singh family has to pay transaction tax of Rs 1,000 cr. Our Bureau New Delhi, Oct. 20 Putting to rest all speculation on the status of its deal with Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd on Monday announced that the Japanese pharma company has acquired 52.5 per cent of the company. This includes the 22 per cent acquired from the Singh family in an off-market deal, 20 per cent bought earlier through the open offer, and balance by allotment of shares through preferential basis. The entire deal will be completed after Daiichi Sankyo acquires another 12 per cent stake held by the Singh family over the next few days, which will take its total share holding in Ranbaxy to about 64 per cent. The deal with the promoters had to be taken off-market after the Securities and Exchange Board of India declined permission to carry out the stake sale through stock exchanges. "We today partly sold our stake to Daiichi Sankyo. The entire promoter stake se...

Investors can consider accumulating the HDFC Bank stock with a two-year perspective, given the bank's resilience in a challenging environment and scope for strong growth in earnings. At the current price of Rs 1,026, HDFC Bank is trading at 19 times its estimated earnings per share for 2008-09 and 3.2 times historic book value. Best-in-industry Net Interest Margins (NIMs) which provide a cushion against rising costs, a high proportion of low-cost deposits and an extensive branch network that can drive advances growth, make the stock a preferred exposure in the banking space. After including the effect of the Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP) merger, HDFC Bank posted a profit growth of 44 per cent, backed by net interest income growth of 66 per cent in the September quarter. NIMs at 4.2 per cent increased due to a hike in lending rates effected this quarter; the impact of this will be sustained over the next few quarters. Deposit growth was strong at 46.7 per...

VADODARA: About 2,500 employees of Reliance Industries working at its plants here will go on strike on October 24 demanding a hike in Rs 33,000 bonus offered. All three labour unions affiliated with AITUC, INTUC and BMS have given notice to the managemen t of the company and labour commissioner in this regard. Before merger of government-owned IPCL with Reliance in April 2007, they were employees of the government-owned IPCL. Union leaders said RIL's bonus offer of Rs 33,000 was not acceptable to them. Last year it was Rs 40,000. They also questioned the wisdom of RIL management on fixing different amounts of bonus for employees working in plants located in different parts of the country. Union leaders said RIL's profit is more than Rs 11,000 crore. The leaders' said the company management failed to provide them production data-sheet and computation sheet despite repeated demand. They said these demands were raised in a meeting between local management of th...

Tata Steel lost 6.38% to Rs 252.55 at 14:50 IST on BSE after its UK unit Corus decided to cut production. The company made this announcement after trading hours on Thursday, 16 October 2008. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 466.66 points, or 4.41%, to 10,114.83. On BSE, 20.23 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 17.86 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 250 in intra-day trade. It hit a high of Rs 279.40 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 969.80 on 29 October 2007. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 16 October 2008, declining 44.67% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 21.73%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, sliding 56.89% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 15.86%. The company's current equity is Rs 730.58 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 252.55 d...

The winner's curse: Even in the current stock environment, HUL is amongst the very few stocks that have managed to not just withstand value erosion but also give decent returns on an annualised basis. But this very strength of the company has now started looking like a weakness. In other words, while other index stocks have witnessed huge contraction in their valuation multiples, HUL has actually gone on to expand the same. This has resulted in the risk reward ratio of HUL becoming unfavorable, especially against the backdrop of vastly reduced valuations at some of the other companies. Investors should note that we are positive about the growth prospects of the company in the domestic markets. More importantly, we are enthused on the company's recent restructuring activities and foray into the still nascent foods and water businesses. However, the valuations, not just relative but also on a standalone basis are looking stretched from a medium term perspective. In ...

K.S. Badri Narayanan Chennai, Oct. 17 Though the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index, Sensex, took 20 years to scale 10,000, the journey from 10K to 20K was undertaken in record time. It took 483 trading sessions for the benchmark to move from 10,000 to 20,000; but when the reversal happened, the Sensex crashed from 20,873.33 (closing high registered on February 7, 2008) to 9,975.35 in just 193 days. Slogans such as "India Shining", "India Growing", "foreign investors showing confidence in India", "emerging countries are going to be world leaders" accompanied the sharp surge in stock prices as the benchmark crossed one milestone after another. These cheers gave way to the more circumspect "technical reasons are behind the market's decline", "FIIs are pulling out of India", "India growth story is intact," and so on. Investors' Woes The sharp decline since the beginning of th...

Parsvnath Developers slipped 0.70% to Rs 78.20 at 12:14 IST on BSE, despite bagging an order worth Rs 29.50 crore from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The company announced the order win during trading hours today, 17 October 2008. On BSE, 75,049 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 2.98 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 82 and low of Rs 77.80 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 598 on 7 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 64 on 10 October 2008. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 16 October 2008, declining 25.11% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 21.73%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 23.80% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 15.86%. The company's current equity is Rs 184.70 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 78.20 discounts the company's Q1 June 2008 annualized...

The BSE Realty index surged 6.39% to 2,846.50, on hopes of reduction in interest rates on home loans. The index bounced back from a record low of 2,436.55 struck earlier in the day As per provisional closing, the BSE Sensex lost 270.95 points or 2.51% to 10,538.17 in choppy trade. DLF (up 2.96% at Rs 309), Unitech (up 5.7% at Rs 89.85), and Housing Development & Infrastructure (up 6.14% at Rs 127.85), rose. The BSE Realty index hit an all time high of on 13848.09 on 8 January 2008 Demand for real estate has decreased by nearly 25-30% in the country over the last 18 months, when home loan rates soared from an average of 7% to as high as 12-13%. The home loan rate in India is among the highest in the world and analysts expect it to be reduced by at least 100 basis points post the cut in cash reserve ratio by the Reserve Bank of India. On 15 October 2009, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed cash reserve requirement (CRR) for banks by 100 basis points to 6.5% with ...

Reliance Industries lost 7.14% to Rs 1504 on BSE on fears the company may report fall in its gross refining margins in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007 largely due to sluggish demand for petroleum products in key Western markets. On BSE, 14.04 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 13.69 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1598 and a low of Rs 1502.20 so far during the day. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs 3,252.10 on 15 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 1,480 on 10 October 2008. India's largest private firm in terms of market capitalization and oil refiner outperformed the market over the past one month till 14 October 2008, declining 16.14% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 17.98%. It had underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 20.87% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 13.86%. The company's current equity is Rs 1,573.79 crore. Face value per...

With the approval of cost variation claims and impending completion of the Bandra Worli Sealink, the worst is probably over for HCC. The impending completion of the Bandra-Worli Sealink is likely to expand profit margins. Vidya Bala Advertisement A strong order pipeline, improved profit margins, benefits from recent business restructuring and removal of uncertainty surrounding the unique Bandra-Worli Sealink project, provide better visibility to the earnings growth of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). Investors with a four-five year perspective can consider investing in the stock. At the current market price, the stock trades at 11 times the company's estimated per share earnings for FY-10. This valuation is on a par with a number of peers. While the current market price is an attractive entry point, investors can consider adding the stock on dips as the stock market is expected to remain volatile in the near future. Clarity on issues Hindustan C...

Hindalco Industries jumped 5.39% to Rs 85 at 10:07 IST on BSE on reports the aluminium-maker's Rs 5,047-crore rights issue managed to sail through due to underwriting by promoters and banks. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 419.93 points, or 4.02%, to 10,950.81. On BSE, 35,805 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 8.75 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 86 and low of Rs 82 so far during the day. The stock had touched a 52-week low of Rs 78.40 on 10 October 2008 and 52-week high of Rs 202.74 on 15 November 2007. The mid-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 10 October 2008, declining 35.22% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 28.20%. It had underperformed the market in the past one quarter, sliding 42.19% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 24.40%. The company's current equity is Rs 175.32 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. The current price of Rs ...

MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) on Monday announced that it has signed a deal with Ministry of External Affairs for the "Passport Seva Project" valued at over Rs 1,000 crore. After implementation of the project, the process of issuing a new passport will be completed in 3 days subject to police verification, the company said in a filing to the BSE. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary said" "The Passport Seva Project, based on a public-private partnership model, aims to provide passport-related services to Indian citizens in a speedy, convenient and transparent manner. The sovereign and fiduciary function of granting and issuing passport remains with the Ministry and TCS will be our technology and operations partner in this project." Mr S Ramadorai, CEO and Managing Director, TCS said, "We believe that this mission mode project of national importance will make delivery of passport services truly world clas...

MUMBAI: With the stock market taking a severe beating, the Price Earning (PE) ratio of 15 out of 30 Sensex shares has dropped to 10 or less as of last Friday, according to the data available. The PE ratio for as many as 11 Sensex shares is in single digits, the data reveals. The PE ratio indicates to what extent market is willing to pay for the company's earnings. PE is typically higher when the market booms and drops when the sentiment turns bearish. High performing companies generally tend to command higher PE ratios. PE ratio also depends upon liquidity available in the market. Among the companies whose PE ratios are less than 10 are ICICI Bank (9.9), SBI (9.8), Reliance Comm (8.6), Satyam Computers (9.1), ACC (7.4), Tata Motors (6), DLF (5.9), Hindalco (4.8), Grasim (4.7), Sterlite (4.4). The lowest PE is that of Tata Steel at only (1.7). Shares with PE ratio of 10 are Reliance Ind (10.9), ONGC (10.5), TCS (10), and Reliance Infra (10.9). The PE for the Sensex o...

The stock market has fallen significantly and it is time to review them. First, let me start on macro level. The economy is not doing too good. As I had been commenting in my previous posts, macro-economic factors (domestic as well as global) have come into play. There is a significant slowdown in the economy and according to me it will stay so for next couple of years. The global economy is in a turmoil. US financial institutions are falling like nine-pins. I think next in line are European banks. Good news is that India is relatively better off. The global turmoil is going to affect a few industries like IT, Real Estate, Textiles, etc. Domestic growth stories are far less impacted. Moot question is what does one do in these times as far as investing goes. Today, the best option is cash. Cash is King. Have some liquidity at bay. The best opportunities to invest are in these times of turmoil. Though index is at around 11.5 k level, lot of stocks are available at valuations of 6000 ...