indian stock market

line with its plans to set up greenfield projects outside India , Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group is considering setting up a polypropylene unit in Kuwait . Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) has begun the spadework, and is in the process of completing necessary surveys for the project, company sources said. The company already has operations in the Gulf states to market polypropylene. If this project fructifies, it will be Reliance's first unit outside India . The company is in talks with a couple of players to join in the polypropylene project. The company is also in the process of recruiting manpower for the project, according to sources familiar with the developments. Reliance is Asia 's largest polypropylene manufacturer and with a combined capacity of over one million tonnes, it figures among the top eight polypropylene producers in the world. The company has a 70 per cent share in the Indian market and caters to three per cent of the world's consu

The market spurted following steady build-up of fresh positions in the derivatives segment on the first day of May 2008 series. Buoyant corporate results, good rollovers in derivatives from April 2008 contracts to May 2008 contracts and firm global equities laid solid foundation for the rally. Both the benchmark indices - BSE Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty settled above key levels of 17,100 and 5,100. However, the market breadth was negative. The market had witnessed a bout of volatility in mid-afternoon trade after inflation data was released. The wholesale price index based inflation rose to 7.33% for the week ended 12 April 2008, as against 7.14% in the previous week, data released a little while ago showed. US stocks rose on Thursday, 24 April 2008, as investors poured into beaten-down financial stocks on growing optimism the worst may be over for banks, and after jobs and manufacturing data pointed to a resilient US economy. European markets were trading higher whi

  Invest in railroads   Investment summary â The growth in core sectors is expected to aid demand for coal, cement, fertilizers and steel thereby increasing the goods traffic. The expected growth in goods traffic coupled with the construction of dedicated rail freight corridor will generate huge demand for wagons from Indian Railways (IR) thus benefiting Titagarh Wagons Ltd. (TWL) in a huge way. â With the container traffic expected to grow at 18.3% CAGR in FY08-FY14E and IR opening up containerized operations to private sector players, huge order for wagons is expected to flow from them translating into huge opportunity for TWL. â With the plan for metro systems gathering pace, we believe TWL's foray into EMU and metro coach segment would be timely and ensure growth. â Owing to the boom in infrastructure sector, TWL’s special projects division which manufactures bailey bridges and special equipments for nuclear power plants is expected to benefit hugel

How to build an ideal portfolio? An ideal portfolio should have exposure to different asset classes like Gold, Property, Insurance, Providend Fund, Bank deposits besides equities. It should be well-diversified so that you are saved from the ups and downs in one asset class but not over-diversified as it kills the returns of a portfolio over time. This can be implemented by having: • Not more then 15-20 well-researched stocks. This can be achieved by allocating a minimum of 5% and maximum of 10% to a particular stock. • Not less then 5 sectors and not more then 8 sectors. This can be achieved by allocating a minimum of 10% and maximum of 20% to a particular sector. • A judicious combination of large caps and mid caps depending on the risk profile (A recommendation is 60:40 ) • Small cap/Speculative stocks exposure between 0-5%. An investment in such stocks is like drinking, if it cannot be avoided altogether then it should be done occasionally and in limited quantity. • Allocation to va

Tata Steel rose 1.93% to Rs 794 at 15:24 IST on BSE after Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, owned by Tata Steel, announced price increases for reversing mill plate and structural sections. On BSE, 14.93 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 8.95 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 804 and a low of Rs 757 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 969.80 on 29 October 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 469.66 on 30 April 2007. The world's sixth largest steel maker had outperformed the market over the past one month till 22 April 2008, rising 31.81% compared to the Sensex's return of 9.77%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, rising 12.07% compared to Sensex's decline of 4.60%. The company's current equity is Rs 730.58 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 794 discounts its Q3 December 2007 EPS of Rs 70.17, by a PE multiple of 11.

Century Plyboards India gained 2.45% to Rs 730 at 12:52 IST on BSE on reports it has acquired Chennai based Sharon Plywoods and Karnal based Century Panels. On BSE, 684 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 3,339 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 732.80 and a low of Rs 705 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 833.60 on 19 December 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 271 on 12 July 2007. The mid-cap scrip had outperformed the market over the past one month till 22 April 2008, gaining 19.86% compared to the Sensex's return of 9.77%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, gaining 12.62% compared to Sensex's decline of 4.60%. The company's current equity is Rs 19.76 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 730 discounts its Q3 December 2007 EPS of Rs 25.96, by a PE multiple of 28.12. Following this acquisition, Century Plyboards will get full

NEW DELHI: More than half of the total number of IPOs listed on BSE and NSE in the last two years are trading below their offer price, with around one-third of them trading at a discount of 40-60 per cent, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. During April 1, 2006-March 31, 2008, the number of IPOs listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange stood at 150, of which 86 are trading below their offer price, Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. And of these, 36 IPOs were trading at discount of more than 40-60 per cent of the issue price, he said. While, on the National Stock Exchange, of the 162 IPOs listed during the same period, 88 were trading below the issue price and 38 were being traded at a discount of more than 40 per cent of the issue price, he said. To an another query, Bansal said, "The authorities do not try to manage or control prices. They endeavour to build systems...and broaden markets which can stand volatility.

Bharat Heavy Electricals gained 2.06% to Rs 1810 at 12:31 IST on BSE on reports the company has won orders worth around Rs 2030 crore for supply and installation of the main plan package at Nabinagar thermal power plant project in Bihar. On BSE, 2.70 lakh shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 2.78 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1827 and a low of Rs 1755 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 1197.50 on 11 May 2007. The large-cap scrip had underperformed the market over the past one month till 21 April 2008, declining 4.05% compared to the Sensex's return of 11.63%. It had also underperformed the market in the past one quarter, declining 10.67% compared to Sensex's return of 0.06%. The company's current equity is Rs 489.52 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 1810 discounts its Q3 December 2007 E

Biocon rose 4.91% to Rs 529.65 at 10:45 IST on BSE after its board recommended bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1. The company announced the bonus ratio during trading hours today, 22 April 2008. It also announced its Q4 results today. The stock hit a high of Rs 551.50 and a low of Rs 494.85 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 663.30 on 15 November 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 345 on 22 January 2008. From its recent low of Rs 429.10 on 8 April 2008 stock rose 17.65% to Rs 504.85 on 21 April 2008. The mid-cap scrip had outperformed the market over the past one month till 21 April 2008, gaining 27.25% compared to the Sensex's return of 11.63%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, rising 22.49% compared to Sensex's rise of 0.06%. The company's current equity is Rs 50 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5. The current price of Rs 529.65 discounts its Q3 December 2007 annualised EPS of Rs 113.61, by a PE multiple of 4.6

Reliance Industries slipped 0.82% of Rs 2620.50 at 9:57 IST on BSE despite posting 24% rise in net profit to Rs 3912 crore on 36.27% growth in total income to Rs 37575 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007. The company announced the results after trading hours on Monday, 21 April 2008. On BSE, 22,166 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 10.05 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 2655 and a low of Rs 2611 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 3252.10 on 15 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 1505 on 30 April 2007. The large-cap scrip had outperformed the market in the past one quarter, gaining 12.05% compared to Sensex's return of 0.06%. The company's current equity is Rs 1453.65 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. The current price of Rs 2620.50 discounts its Q4 March 2008 EPS of Rs 107.62, by a PE multiple of 24.35. Reliance Industries (RIL)'s gross refining ma

Thanks to GMR Energy coal mine buy BL Research Bureau GMR Energy's move to acquire a 5 per cent stake in the South Africa-based mining subsidiary of Homeland Energy Group would not only secure fuel supply for the company's coal-based power projects, but also provide an opening to the lucrative coal mining business. The company's move to focus on coal-based projects comes after prolonged glitches with liquid and gas-based fuels used for its currently operational assets. GMR Energy, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, which manages the power assets of the group, has announced its intention to pick up a 5 per cent stake in Homeland Mining and Energy for $15 million (about Rs 60 crore). The company has the option of acquiring another 5 per cent by May and 40 per cent by September. If this comes through, GMR Energy would have a 50 per cent stake for $155 million (Rs 620 crore) in the South African mining company. That the agreement is primar

Long-term investments can be considered in the stock of HEG, a leading manufacturer of graphite electrodes in the country. The outlook for the company is strong on account of rising demand for graphite electrodes, an essential consumable used in steel production through the electric arc furnace (EAF) route. HEG's capacity additions, improving realisations, expansion in operating margins and access to captive power also inspire confidence. Despite the good prospects, the recent correction in the market has seen the stock fall steeply. The stock now trades at a very reasonable valuation of about 7 times its likely FY09 per share earnings, down from a peak of over 14 times. Over the last four years, HEG has reported a compounded growth of over 11 per cent in revenues and 18 per cent in profits. This has primarily been helped by the improving price realisations on electrodes globally, supported by no significant additions in capacities in this sector. With the

Smooth flow Move may be linked with proposal seeking 'Navratna' status. This will allow greater autonomy in financial, operational decisions. Mamuni Das New Delhi, April 19 Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) may consider a bonus issue in the near future. This could be linked with the proposal of SCI seeking 'Navratna' status, which is likely to be taken up over the next few days. Navratna status would provide SCI with greater autonomy in financial and operational decisions, while allowing it to set up joint ventures internationally relatively faster. Capital base SCI, which had surplus and reserves of Rs 4,817.14 crore as on March 31, 2007, had a paid-up share capital of Rs 282.3 crore, and an authorised capital of Rs 450 crore. The company reported a net profit of Rs 176.78 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007. Incidentally, Container Corporation of India (Concor), another public enterprise whose proposal seeking Navratna status