Markets maintain momentum
STOCK MONITOR
| The markets opened to mixed trends on Monday, with the Sensex ending a tad lower from its previous weekend close amidst volatile trading. |
| However, the sentiment improved the next session as a recovery in the US markets led to buying interest in tech scrips. This, added with gains in the old economy sector, propelled the Sensex to a 44-month high. |
| The trend continued mid-week and gains in the financial and old economy sectors led to more upsides on Thursday. Bulls managed to sign off on a good note on the weekend as late buying in heavyweight scrips helped the indices score modest gains on Friday. |
| BAJAJ AUTO Last week's close (Rs) 1011.38 Prev. week's close (Rs) 1003.10 Week's high (Rs) 1051.88 Week's low (Rs) 963.50 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 24.03 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 20.56 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 1027.80 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 2/3 |
| Bajaj Auto hit a 52-week high last week. The counter rose on good buying support, following reports that the promoters are meeting to resolve differences over shareholding in the company. |
| According to sources, Rahul Bajaj, chairman, Bajaj Auto, is likely to buy his cousin Shishir Bajaj's 6 per cent stake. The former holds a majority stake in the company. |
| According to market watchers, the reports have eased fears that Shishir Bajaj would sell his stake in the open market. |
| The meeting took place on December 11, 2003, but sources say that it will take a month or so to achieve what has been agreed on at the meeting. It is learnt that Rahul Bajaj faction is likely to pay about Rs 300 crore or more to Shishir Bajaj. |
| ZEE TELEFILMS Last week's close (Rs) 138.38 Prev. week's close (Rs) 130.40 Week's high (Rs) 145.40 Week's low (Rs) 128.78 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 68.76 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 66.32 Futures close NT Number of up/down moves 3/2 |
| Zee Telefilms rose last week after the company and the Zee group-controlled ETC Networks informed stock exchanges that the board of directors will meet on December 15, 2003, to consider corporate restructuring and consolidation. |
| The restructuring exercise was kick-started in February 2002 when Zee Telefilms announced its decision to prune the number of its subsidiaries from to 12 from 23 for simplifying its organisational structure. |
| The company expects to achieve considerable savings with the closure of unviable subsidiaries. Zee is also reported to be close to acquiring Rajshri Productions, one of the oldest film banners in Bollywood. The deal is reported to not more than Rs 50 crore. |
| LARSEN & TOUBRO Last week's close (Rs) 436.90 Prev. week's close (Rs) 411.20 Week's high (Rs) 443.45 Week's low (Rs) 406.03 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 67.89 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 58.71 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 437.10 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 4/1 |
| L&T was on the rise last week, following reports that the company is planning to complete its cement demerger by the end of the current fiscal year. The company is likely to convene a meeting of shareholders and creditors shortly to get the demerger proposal cleared. |
| According to reports, it is also planning a major repositioning in the industry. L&T has constituted an internal taskforce to chart out a roadmap with the thrust on branding, technology and internationalisation. |
| The team will finalise and submit its report to the company management by the end of December. |
| DIGITAL GLOBALSOFT Last week's close (Rs) 746.88 Prev. week's close (Rs) 744.65 Week's high (Rs) 790.35 Week's low (Rs) 736.70 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 97.29 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 152.58 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 740.35 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 3/2 |
| Digitial shot up beyond Rs 750 levels last week touching a 52-week high. HP India has offered to buy back shares of the company at Rs 750 through a reverse book-building process. The scrip passed the level for the first time since HP made the announcement more than a week ago. |
| Analysts expect HP to increase the open offer price substantially. Digital GlobalSoft, in June, signed a definitive agreement with HP to combine operations with HP Services India Software Organization (HP ISO). Under the agreement, HP was to increase its equity stake in Digital to 73.2 per cent from 50.6 per cent. |
| GAIL Last week's close (Rs) 194.08 Prev. week's close (Rs) 183.68 Week's high (Rs) 200.70 Week's low (Rs) 180.53 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 77.89 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 79.28 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 196.00 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 3/2 |
| GAIL was among the gainers last week, rising by almost 6 per cent over its previous weekly close. |
| Dealers attribute the interest in the counter to reports that the boards of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) would be meeting shortly to consider interim dividends. This would be seeing other PSU oil companies following suit. |
| BPCL, ONGC, GAIL and Engineers India are expected to make announcements on dividend before the month-end. Last year, the government had collected Rs 2,687.42 crore from oil PSUs as interim dividends to close the fiscal deficit gap. GAIL's interim dividend is likely to be almost the same as last year at Rs 170.83 crore at Rs 3 per share. |
| ITC Last week's close (Rs) 965.95 Prev. week's close (Rs) 909.45 Week's high (Rs) 989.90 Week's low (Rs) 903.50 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 73.04 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 62.19 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 970.10 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 3/2 |
| ITC gained 6.3 per cent last week over its previous close despite a Supreme Court hearing in the Rs 800-crore excise evasion case against the company. |
| The stock had run up in the earlier part of the week in anticipation of a favourable judgment. |
| However, shares of the company slipped by 2.74 per cent on Thursday at the BSE after the SC completed the hearing on December 10 but reserved its verdict for a future date. |
| ITC was charged with colluding with retailers in selling cigarettes at a price higher than printed on the package, which was the basis of levying duty, during March 1, 1983 to February 28, 1987. If ITC loses the case, the payout is unlikely to exceed Rs 300 crore. |
| But, if the company wins, it would be refunded Rs 350 crore by the government. ITC had earlier deposited Rs 350 crore, following an order by the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (Cegat). |
| Meanwhile, there were reports that the company hopes to capture at least 4 per cent market share in branded biscuits by the end of the financial year 2004. |
| Reports of the paper division of ITC investing Rs 260 crore at its Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh) plant to augment production capacity also worked for the scrip. |
| DR REDDY'S LABS Last week's close (Rs) 1353.20 Prev. week's close (Rs) 1304.03 Week's high (Rs) 1411.45 Week's low (Rs) 1286.50 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 38.46 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 33.51 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 1372.55 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 3/2 |
| Dr Reddy's Laboratories was buoyant last week amid news of Eastern Europe's largest drug-maker Pliva signing an agreement with the company for the development and marketing of 11 oncology products. |
| The company's shares ended almost 4 per cent higher than its previous week's close. |
| The Croatian drug-maker in a statement said that under the agreement, Dr Reddy's will develop active pharmaceutical ingredients and prepare the drug master file, while Pliva will be responsible for developing the formulations and preparing the dossier for filing marketing authorisation applications. |
| (in the box) |
| Stock of the week |
| EICHER MOTORS Last week's close (Rs) 237.63 Prev. week's close (Rs) 190.78 Week's high (Rs) 247.48 Week's low (Rs) 188.40 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 6.01 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 1.53 Futures close NT Number of up/down moves 4/1 |
| Eicher Motors saw an impressive run-up at the bourses throughout last week. The company's stock price registered an increase of 25 per cent compared to the previous week. |
| Volumes, too, surged, recording a whopping increase of 320.26 per cent. The stock is currently trading at levels near its 52-week high. The price rise was based on reports of the Eicher group finalising a restructuring plan whereby the automobile business of Eicher would be transferred to Eicher Motors. |
| The group's restructuring plan involves businesses related to tractors, two-wheelers, gears and engines which are being merged into Eicher Motors. The company is expected gain in terms of economies of scale and also on the tax front. |
| RECAP: UTI BANK The scrip continued its upward journey posting a 3.99 per cent gain over the week to close at Rs 113.25. |
| Stock to watch |
| INFOSYS Last week's close (Rs) 5031.43 Prev. week's close (Rs) 4911.33 Week's high (Rs) 5049.35 Week's low (Rs) 4866.58 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 238.70 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 305.17 Futures close Dec-2003 (Rs) 0.00 Futures close Jan-2004 (Rs) 5070.00 Futures close Feb-2004 (Rs) 0.00 Number of up/down moves 2/3 |
| Infosys is once again slated to be in the lime light. The stock registered a modest gain of 2.46 per cent at the bourses last week. Volumes, however, fell by 22.35 per cent. |
| The company informed the exchange on Wednesday that its banking business unit and Sun Microsystems had revealed new scalabilities in a core banking transaction processing test. |
| The test achieved a peak performance load exceeding 18 million transactions per hour or 5203 transactions per second in the online mode. These results are the highest in the industry based on available data. |
| RECAP: SIEMENS The stock was down 2.19 per cent to close at Rs 862. |
| Mid-cap mover |
| IVRCL INFRASTRUCTURE Last week's close (Rs) 152.38 Prev. week's close (Rs) 129.20 Week's high (Rs) 174.93 Week's low (Rs) 130.00 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 15.12 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 7.85 Futures close NT Number of up/down moves 4/1 |
| IVRCL Infrastructure soared at the bourses last week recording an increase of 18.46 per cent. The counter also witnessed heavy buying while volumes registered a 76.31 per cent increase. |
| The company's stock saw a price surge after the company announced plans to allot shares to foreign financial institutions on a preferential basis. |
| The company announced that it would allot 80 lakh shares to two foreign institutional investors - Citigroup and Chyrs Capital. The allotment at Rs 125 per share is at a 32 per cent discount to the current market price. |
| Reports say that the allotment will be an equitable distribution - 40 lakh shares each. IVRCL Infrastructure is a big player in water management systems. |
| RECAP: AMTEK AUTO The counter saw selling pressure, dragging the scrip down 1.19 per cent to Rs 455. |
| Small-cap mover |
| GG AUTO GEARS Last week's close (Rs) 24.90 Prev. week's close (Rs) 19.75 Week's high (Rs) 24.90 Week's low (Rs) 16.35 Last week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 0.48 Prev. week's ave. daily turnover (Rs cr) 0.47 Futures close NT Number of up/down moves 4/1 |
| GG Auto Gears posted impressive gains last week. Its stock price appreciated by more than 26 per cent as the counter gained buying interest. |
| Volumes also increased, though by a modest 8.5 per cent. The company announced last week that that it is planning to acquire a US-based company. |
| The company also conveyed that the board will consider setting up a sub-committee to carry out the due diligence for the acquisition. The company is being acquired in the business of manufacturing high precision custom gears and planetary gear systems. |
| RECAP: ALEMBIC GLASS The stock surged 10.31 per cent to end last week at Rs 198.50. |
| (Week's closing is the average closing price on NSE and BSE on Friday. Weekly high is the average higher of NSE and BSE prices during the week. Week's low is the average lower of NSE and BSE prices. Turnover is based on volumes in both BSE and NSE. NT: Not traded. NA: Not applicable. |