The market may edge lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. Trading of CNX Nifty futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 18 points at the opening bell. The market may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month September 2013 series to October 2013 series. The September 2013 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 26 September 2013.
The government has kept the borrowing target for the fiscal year through March 2014 unchanged at Rs 5.79 lakh crore ($92.49 billion), Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said on Monday, 23 September 2013, after a meeting between government and central bank officials to finalize the borrowing plan for the second half of the fiscal year, or the October-March period.
Lupin announced after market hours on Monday, 23 September 2013, that it has signed a strategic co-promotion agreement with US-based Onset Dermatologics, LLC (Onset) that grants Lupin exclusive rights to promote Onset's Locoid Lotion (hydrocortisone butyrate 0.1%) to Pediatricians in the US. Locoid is the most highly prescribed mid-potency steroid brand in the US. Locoid Lotion is a corticosteroid indicated for the topical treatment of mild to moderate Atopic Dermatitis in patients 3 months of age and older, Lupin said in a statement.
The addition of Locoid Lotion will enable Lupin to strengthen its US Brand business and expand its product portfolio for the US Pediatrics segment. "We are very pleased with the addition of Locoid Lotion to our brand portfolio and are committed to bring meaningful products to the US Pediatric community," said Vinita Gupta, CEO, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Lupin. Bob Moccia, President of Onset Dermatologics said: "This partnership will give pediatricians greater opportunity to utilize Locoid lotion in their patients while Onset maintains its focus on promoting Locoid to the dermatology community. We are confident that Locoid will continue to be the most prescribed mid-potency steroid brand in the US".
Videocon Industries will be in focus as Shree Dhoot Trading And Agencies -- a constituent of the promoter group of the company - is selling 18 lakh equity shares, representing 0.6149% of the equity share capital of the company, via Offer for Sale (OFS) today, 24 September 2013. The floor price for the OFS has been fixed at Rs 177 per share. Ahead of the OFS, shares of Videocon Industries declined slightly on Monday, 23 September 2013, to settle at Rs 177.
Power generation shares will be in focus on reports that the government is considering a policy to allot coal-mining licenses through auctions. A panel of ministers is expected to discuss issues on Tuesday, 24 September 2013, such as pricing and giving preliminary environment and forest approvals for mining the blocks before they are auctioned. The government is reportedly considering auctioning four coal blocks with total estimated reserves of two billion metric tons, enough to generate about 10 gigawatts of power. The government has so far allocated licenses for 178 coal mines with an estimated 44 billion tons of reserves. But the country is facing a shortage in the fuel's supplies because of the delays in starting mining at many of those blocks. The shortage is affecting power production, and uncertainty over fuel supplies is leading companies to postpone or scrap plans for investment in the sector. The shortage in coal supplies is also hurting sectors such as cement and steel, which use coal.
The government earlier planned to auction 54 coal blocks with total estimated reserves of 18.18 billion tons. Later, it decided to split the process into several phases and auction blocks where an estimate on reserves has already been made.
The government has kept the borrowing target for the fiscal year through March 2014 unchanged at Rs 5.79 lakh crore ($92.49 billion), Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said on Monday, 23 September 2013, after a meeting between government and central bank officials to finalize the borrowing plan for the second half of the fiscal year, or the October-March period. The government will raise Rs 3.44 lakh crore by the end of September. That will be Rs 5000-crore short of the target it had initially set for the first half of the fiscal year, Mr. Mayaram said. The shortfall will be made up in the October-March period, taking the total borrowing during the second half to Rs 2.35 lakh crore, he said.
Mr. Mayaram said that the government would cut spending if revenue falls short of the budget projections, but won't breach the full-year fiscal-deficit target4.8% of gross domestic product for this year. The gap was 4.9% last fiscal year. Last week, the government announced austerity measures to slash nonessential spending, as it sought to reinforce its commitment to meeting the deficit target
Key benchmark indices dropped on Monday, 23 September 2013, after Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said on Friday, 20 September 2013, that the Federal Reserve could make a small stimulus reduction at its next meeting in October 2013. The S&P BSE Sensex lost 362.75 points or 1.79% to settle at 19,900.96 on that day, its lowest closing level since 17 September 2013.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 80.57 crore on Monday, 23 September 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian stocks dropped on Tuesday, 24 September 2013, following overnight decline in the US stocks. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were off 0.22% to 1.09%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore and Taiwan rose 0.04% to 0.13%.
US stocks fell on Monday after notching three weeks of gains, as investors heard from Federal Reserve officials and worried about another standoff in Washington. Addressing business leaders in New York Monday morning, Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said the economy is losing some steam. Fed Bank of New York President William Dudley told an audience at the Fordham University Graduate School of Business that an accommodative monetary policy is still needed. In a speech about US banking in San Antonio, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said he advocated slowing down the pace of central-bank asset purchases at last week's policy session.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day policy meeting on 29-30 October 2013. On 18 September 2013, the Fed surprised economists and investors with its decision to delay scaling back its stimulus.
In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, 22 September 2013, won re-election by the largest amount in more than 20 years.
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