Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Morning Brief (13-11-2007)

Sensex ended down 151 points
The Sensex started the new Samvat Year 2064 on a strong note and opened with
a positive gap of 223.77 at 19,282.7. However, the index later slipped into the red
due to weakness in global equities and ended 151.33 points down to 18,907.60
on heavy profit-booking by funds. The Sensex witnessed the day’s high of
19,329.57 and a low of 18,737.22 points.
The Nifty closed at 5,663.25, down by 35.50 points.
Market breadth positive
The market breadth was strong on BSE - out of the 2,558 stocks that were
traded, 1,797 advanced, 697 declined and 64 were unchanged. The
advance-decline ratio was 2.58.

Banking stocks declined
All sectoral indices declined, with the exception of Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and
Realty indices that posted marginal gains. The BSE Bankex was the worst hit,
losing 140.77 points or 1.36% at 10,212.42.
ICICI fell
ICICI Bank was the top loser on the Sensex. It declined 4.07% to close at
Rs. 1,143. Wipro (down 3.65%), Satyam (down 3.62%), ACC (down 3.01%), and
Bharti Airtel (down 2.92%) were the other major losers from the Sensex pack.

Hang Seng ended flat; Nikkei fell
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.08% to close at 28,783.41, helped by gains in
property firms after local banks cut their prime rates.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 188.15 points, or 1.2%, to 15,583.42, as bank shares
were battered on a report that two brokerages might postpone a planned merger
due to one's subprime losses.

Corporate Announcements:
· Lanka IOC is incurring a loss of nearly $6 mn a month due to
the steep rise in global crude oil prices and may incur further
losses due to Sri Lankan government’s reluctance to raise
petroleum prices before the end of this year. (BS)
· Bajaj Hindusthan announced that four of its sugar mills with a
combined crushing capacity of 41,000 TPD will get operational
on time for the new sugar season. (ET)
· PVR Ltd has taken up a 30% stake in a JV with Amit Burman to
set up food courts all over the country and participate in a food
retailing business. (BS)
· Punjab Communications is negotiating with defense
equipment makers in Russia, Israel, and Europe to enter into a
technical tie-up in the field of electronic and communications
equipments. (ET)

· RPG Group firm KEC International is likely to sign overseas
contracts valued at around Rs. 9 bn within the next two months
in transmission and rural electrification. (BS)
Economic and Political Headline:
· Despite a flood of festive offers to boost retail demand, the
year-on-year credit growth for the fortnight ended October 26
slipped to 22.47% from 23.3% at the end of the preceding
fortnight. (BS)
· Coal India Ltd is set to switch over to quality-linked pricing of
the fuel and is holding negotiations in this regard with power
generating firm NTPC. (ET)
International News Headline:
· US Federal Reserve’s Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint
Economic Committee of Congress that the economy was likely
to experience a noticeable slowdown in growth in the current
quarter and during the first part of next year but the situation
may improve as the effects of tighter credit and the housing
correction begin to wane. (WSJ)
· The US trade deficit shrank 0.6% to $56.45 bn in September,
compared with August's $56.8 bn gap. The narrowing reflects
strong global growth that is boosting demand for exports and a
smaller-than-expected bill for imported oil. (WSJ)

No comments: