India Stocks, Rupee Firm; NTPC Up

Mayank Mehta
06 Apr, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai closed flat as the rupee hovered near 19-month high. International investors continue to add exposure to India stocks. NTPC Ltd, the largest power generator plan to invest $5 billion to quadruple capacity.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai closed flat as the rupee hovered near 19-month high. International investors continue to add exposure to India stocks. NTPC Ltd, the largest power generator plan to invest $5 billion to quadruple capacity. [/R]

Stocks in Mumbai trading closed nearly unchanged and the rupee traded firm as exporters repatriate the dollars and foreign investors pour funds in stocks.

The Sensex index in India increased 5.89 or 0.03% to 17,941.37 and CNX Nifty index fell 2.40 or 0.04% to 5,366. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 16 rose and 14 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,740 stocks advanced, 1,170 declined and 70 were unchanged. Telecom and infrastructure shares gained on fresh buying. Banking shares saw mixed trend.

State Bank of India fell 0.63% after Chairman O.P. Bhatt said on Tuesday the bank may raise its lending and deposit rates in a couple of months.

Persistent Systems closed at Rs 441, a premium of 42.30% over the initial public offer price of Rs 310 per share.

Rupee edged lower 6 paisa to 44.50 against one dollar after trading as high as Rs 44.32 earlier in the day. Rumors of Reserve Bank of India intervention dragged the currency lower.

Last week Reserve Bank of India reported current account deficit in the quarter ended December increased to $12.03 billion from the previous quarter deficit of $11.9 billion.

Gainers & Losers

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited rose 2.7% to Rs 2,526.60 after the company is planning to re-enter wind turbine manufacturing in the next three months.

Biocon Limited rose 2.0% to Rs 310.05 after the biotech developer announced an agreement to acquire 49% equity stake held by CIMAB SA, Cuba the exclusive representative of the Cuban biotechnology institute Center of Molecular Immunology in Biocon Biopharmaceuticals Private Ltd (BBPL), a manufacturing facility held jointly by the two firms.

Bodal Chemicals Ltd increased 4.9% to Rs 85.15, record high after it announced stock split plan.

Castrol India Limited gained 4.1% to Rs 730.45 ahead of the record date of a 1-to-1 bonus.

Eicher Motors rose 0.41% to Rs 682 after extending gains for the sixth straight day, the company''s total sales surged 81.5% to 3,814 units a year ago.

NTPC Ltd increased 0.4% to Rs 209.85 after Chairman R.S. Sharma told reporters in New Delhi that the largest power generator plans to raise Rs 20,000 crore in the current fiscal year and quadruple its generation capacity. NTPC plans to spend Rs 29,000 crore to quadruple its capacity.

NTPC is planning to add between 4,000 and 4,500 megawatts in the current year after adding 1,000 megawatts in the previous year that ended in March.

Punj Lloyd Limited rose 1.2% to Rs 181.05 after the company signed an agreement to sell 19.4% stake in Pipavav Shipyard Limited for Rs 65 crore or $145 million.

Reliance Communications Limited rose 2.1% to Rs 176.30 after chief executive Syed Safawi of wireless business told media that the company has set a target of getting its next 100 million customers in 1,000 days.

Shriram EPC Limited gained 6.8% to Rs 232.00 after the company announced order of Rs 107 crore from Steel Authority of India Ltd for its Durgapur Steel Plant.

SpiceJet Limited gained 7.4% to Rs 61.20 after the Daily News and Analysis reported Religare Voyages Ltd. is close to buying a stake in the airline.

Suzlon Energy Limited rose 2.0% to Rs 75.00 after the wind turbine manufacturer secured a contract from Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals for setting up a wind energy project in Gujarat.

Subhash Projects and Marketing Limited rose 1.8% to Rs 160.65 after the company received an order for Rs 220 crore from Public Health Engineering Department of Government of Bihar.