Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade on positive Asian stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 40.93 points or 0.21%, up 44.91 points from the day's low and off 19.25 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC was slightly higher in early trade. Another index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) also edged higher in early trade. Jaiprakash Associates declined after reporting weak results for Q4 and year ended 31 March 2013. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.
At 9:26 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 40.93 points or 0.21% to 19,616.57. The index rose 60.18 points at the day's high of 19,635.82 in early trade. The index declined 3.98 points at the day's low of 19,571.66 in opening trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 10.05 points or 0.17% to 5,954.05. The index hit a high of 5,957.55 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,944.90 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 560 shares advanced and 254 shares declined. A total of 39 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 128 crore by 09:25 IST.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 23 stocks gained while rest of them declined.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.81% to Rs 807.70. The Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday, 2 May 2013, imposed a penalty of Rs 11 crore on Reliance Petroinvestments (RPIL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, for insider trading in IPCL shares in 2007. According to the Sebi order, RPIL made profit of about Rs 3.82 crore through these trades. IPCL, which RIL bought in 2002 under a government disinvestment programme, was a separately listed firm before being merged with RIL.
RIL on Tuesday, 30 April 2013, that its telecom unit Reliance Jio Infocomm (India) has joined a consortium of telecom companies building an 8,000 kilometre submarine cable system to link Malaysia and Singapore with the Middle East. The Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) cable system, which will have connections to India and Sri Lanka, is expected to carry commercial traffic by end of 2014, RIL said.
At the time of announcement of its Q4 results, RIL in mid-April 2013 said that the company is working towards next wave of projects to exploit the undeveloped discovered resources in KG-D6 gas field targeted over the next 3-5 years. RIL has submitted an Integrated Block Development Plan (IBDP) for four discoveries in NEC -25 block (D-32, D-40, D-9 and D-10) proposing for a phased manner development. First gas is expected by mid-2019 subject to timely approvals.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 0.15% to Rs 331.25. The stock had hit record high of Rs 335.90 in intraday on Tuesday, 30 April 2013. The Centre raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14.
Asian Paints rose 1.35%. The company announced the results of Berger International (BIL), Singapore which is an indirect subsidiary of the company. BIL has reported net profit attributable to shareholders of Rs 3.49 crore for Q4 March 2013 as against a loss of Rs 2.21 crore in Q4 March 2012. BIL's total revenue rose 12.4% to Rs 117.99 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.
ACC rose 0.33%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 189.2% to Rs 438.29 crore on 2.9% decline in net sales to Rs 2911.11 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012. The company announced Q1 results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.
ACC's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) declined 24.09% to Rs 491.57 crore in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012.
Despite lower EBITDA, net profit jumped by 189.2% year-on-year in Q1 March 2013 due to recognition of additional depreciation charge of Rs 335.38 crore in Q1 March 2012 and write back of tax provision of Rs 140.83 crore in Q1 March 2013.
ACC said that the demand for cement in the first quarter of the year is usually expected to be robust. However, this year the industry did not witness the normal seasonal pattern on account of an overall slowdown in infrastructure and general construction segments, the company said. The slackening of demand also saw subdued realizations, ACC said in a statement.
ACC said that the company's on-going improvement programme aimed at achieving cost leadership and delivering enhanced customer value has contributed particularly in the areas of manufacturing, sales, logistics and procurement processes. This helped the company to contain much of the inflationary pressures on the costs of its major inputs and transportation, ACC said in a statement.
Grasim Industries shed 0.71%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 1% to Rs 818 crore on 5% increase in net revenue to Rs 7672 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Profit before interest, depreciation and taxes (PBIDT) fell 5% to Rs 1786 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Despite record volumes, profitability of the viscose staple fibre (VSF) business was adversely affected by decline in realization, Grasim said. The company said profits of the cement business were adversely affected due to lower volumes and higher logistics costs. Cement and VSF are the two key businesses of Grasim. The company's exposure to the cement business is through its subsidiary UltraTech Cement.
Consolidated net profit rose 2% to Rs 2704 crore on 11% increase in net revenue to Rs 25245 crore in the year ended March 2013 (FY13) over the year ended March 2012 (FY12).
PBIDT rose 4% to Rs 6543 crore in FY13 over FY12 led by improved volumes in its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business and cost optimization. The board of Grasim has recommended a dividend of Rs 22.50 per share, same as last year.
Grasim said that given the prevailing global economic conditions, coupled with the surplus capacity in China, the VSF industry is expected to remain under pressure in the short term. With regard to the outlook on the cement business, Grasim said that cement demand in India is expected to grow by an average 8% in the long term with housing, infrastructure and allied spending being the key value drivers. The capacity utilization of the cement industry is likely to improve to 80% in FY 2016 as the pace of capacity addition will slow down, Grasim said. Cost pressures are easing off with the decline in global commodity prices, particularly energy, the company said.
Capacity expansions in VSF and capacities under implementation/unutilized in cement will provide additional volumes, driving growth and further consolidation of the company's leadership, Grasim said. The company will utilise these capacities at the earliest in the present difficult situation, Grasim said. The company will continue to focus on cost reduction measures, improving asset productivity to maintain its position as the lowest costs producer and expanding specialty products portfolio for sustained shareholder value creation, Grasim said.
Jaiprakash Associates lost 1.99% after the company's net profit fell 56.48% to Rs 123.50 crore on 3.95% decline in total income to Rs 3932.07 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The result was announced on Saturday, 4 May 2013. The company's net profit fell 51.16% to Rs 501.28 crore on 3% growth in total income to Rs 13512.08 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year March 2012.
On a consolidated basis, net profit fell 27.04% to Rs 461.79 crore on 26.51% rise in total income to Rs 19128.67 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year ended March 2012.
Titan Industries advanced 1.5% after the company's net profit rose 28.2% to Rs 184.97 crore on 14.54% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 2613.24 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The company announced the results after market hours on Friday, 3 May 2013.
Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.8% to Rs 725.18 crore on 14.41% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10112.67 crore in the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013) over the year ended 31 March 2012 (FY 2012).
On consolidated basis, Titan Industries' net profit rose 20.6% to Rs 725.38 crore on 14.4% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 10123.29 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012.
Titan Industries' board of directors at a meeting held on Friday, 3 May 2013, recommended a dividend of Rs 2.10 per share for FY 2013.
Titan Industries said its good financial performance in FY 2013, which was the silver jubilee year for the company, was despite a challenging economic environment. Titan Industries said it had pursued growth during 2012-13 in all its business. The company invested in many strategic initiatives taking into account long term and sustainable growth. All these backed by the talent and commitment of employees and business associates have helped Titan Industries register this encouraging growth in a difficult year, Titan Industries said in a statement.
The strength of company's brands contributed to sales growth across all retail formats of watches, jewellery and eyewear, Titan Industries said in a statement.
The Watches business of the company recorded an income of Rs 1675.87 crore in FY 2013, a year-on-year growth of 9.6%. This was achieved through excellent planning and execution of key initiatives, Titan said. The income from Jewellery segment rose 14.8% at Rs 8107.99 crore in FY 2013 over FY 2012. The income from other segments comprising of Precision Engineering, a B2B Business, the Eyewear business and accessories surged 25.9% to Rs.414.03 crore in FY 2013, Titan Industries said in a statement.
Titan Industries said that FY 2013 witnessed aggressive expansion of its retail network with a net addition of 126 stores by Watches, Jewellery and Eyewear businesses. As on 31 March 2013, the company had 953 stores, with over 1.27 million sq.ft of retail space delivering a retail turnover in excess of Rs 9980 crore, Titan Industries said in a statement.
Commenting on the company's performance, Mr. Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Industries said, "The year 2012-13 was a challenging year given the economic environment that was subdued and other adverse factors like the high price of gold that impacted our jewellery business. It has however been a fruitful year for Titan Industries with healthy growth and the fourth quarter in particular, was very encouraging with 28% growth in profit. Given the high expectations of all our stakeholders and aspirations of our employees, we move confidently into the new financial year with aggressive plans".
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statement after a monetary policy review that its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing pulled the market lower in choppy trade on Friday, 3 May 2013. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 160.13 points or 0.81% to 19,575.64, its lowest closing level since 30 April 2013.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 953.95 crore on Friday, 3 May 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The focus of the market is on Q4 results. HDFC and Lupin unveil Q4 results on Wednesday, 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Asian Paints and Punjab National Bank unveil Q4 results on Thursday, 9 May 2013. NTPC announces Q4 results on 10 May 2013. Bank of Baroda unveils Q4 results on 13 May 2013. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013. Bajaj Auto announces Q4 results on 16 May 2013. BPCL announces Q4 results on 29 May 2013. M&M and Tata Power unveil Q4 results on 30 May 2013.
Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for April 2013 today, 6 May 2013. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a survey of around 400 companies, fell to a 17-month low of 51.4 in March from 54.2 in February. Services make up over 60% of India's economy.
The stock exchanges have decided to conduct a special trading session for a short duration on Saturday, 11 May 2013, as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is testing its disaster recovery software. Trading will start at 11:15 IST and end at 12:45 IST.
On the macro front, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) will issue data on industrial production for March 2013 on Friday, 10 May 2013. Industrial production rose 0.6% in February 2013.
The Budget session of the Parliament ends on Friday, 10 May 2013. With the parliament facing a deadlock every day over various issues, the fate of the key legislative business hangs in balance. The government introduced an amended food security bill in Lok Sabha on 2 May 2013. The Finance Bill 2013 has been passed in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The RBI on Friday, 3 May 2013, cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25% and kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks unchanged at 4% after a monetary policy review. RBI said that the balance of risks stemming from its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing. The central bank said that with upside risks to inflation still significant in the near term in view of sectoral demand supply imbalances, ongoing correction in administered prices and pressures stemming from MSP increases, monetary policy cannot afford to lower its guard against the possibility of resurgence of inflation pressures. The RBI said it will endeavour to condition the evolution of inflation to a level of 5% by March 2014, using all instruments at its command.
India's factories lost momentum in April as output grew at its weakest pace in over four years, but a jump in export orders augured well for the coming months, a survey showed on Thursday, 2 May 2013. The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), fell for the second straight month in April, dipping to 51 from 52 in March. The reading for April was the lowest since November 2011.
The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017.
Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors gave the thumbs up to an upbeat US labor force report that sent Wall Street to an all-time closing high on Friday, 3 May 2013. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore rose by 0.16% to 0.96%. Japanese financial markets are shut on Monday for a public holiday and will reopen on Tuesday.
US stocks on Friday, 3 May 2013, rose to record highs, with the Dow industrials soaring above 15,000 and the S&P 500 index above 1,600, as Wall Street celebrated an upbeat April jobs report. US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to a four-year low of 7.5%, the Labor Department said on Friday, 3 May 2013.
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