Peak Inflation in India; Essar Energy IPO

Mayank Mehta
08 Apr, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai closed lower after inflation hovered near two-decade high for the second week in a row. Essar Energy is planning to raise $2.5 billion through a listing on London Stock Exchange. JK Paper plans to expand capacity.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai closed lower after inflation hovered near two-decade high for the second week in a row. Essar Energy is planning to raise $2.5 billion through a listing on London Stock Exchange. JK Paper plans to expand capacity.[/R]

The Sensex index in India decreased 255.62 or 1.42% to 17,714.40 and CNX Nifty index fell 70.20 or 1.31% to 5,304.45. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 4 rose and 26 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,188 stocks advanced, 1,688 declined and 81 were unchanged. Reliance Industries slumped more than 2%. Capital goods stocks also declined.

The food price index rose 17.70% in the year to March 27, government data released today compared to 16.35% at the end of the previous week.

The wholesale price index in India increased 0.6% to 285.1 from 283.4 for the previous week. For the year ending in the week average inflation surged to 14.50% compared to 13.86% in the same period a year ago.

Rupee edged lower 7 paisa to 44.61 against one dollar.

Essar Energy is planning to list its share on the London Stock Exchange through an offering of as much as Rs 13,000 crore or $2.5 billion. The company plans to sell at least 20% stake to institutional investors.

JPMorgan Chase Cazenove Ltd. and Deutsche Bank AG are the lead global underwriter.

Gainers & Losers

Aban Offshore Limited rose 0.5% to Rs 1,254.00 after the offshore drilling and oil field services provider said it has secured a contract valued at Rs 716 crore from Brunel Shell Petroleum Sendirian Berhad for the deployment of the jack-up rigs.

Elecon Engineering Company Limited rose 3.0% to Rs 80.40 after the company won an order for Rs 49.90 crore for material handling equipments and other equipments for Sical Logistics.

JK Paper Limited fell 0.5% to Rs 53.70 and the paper maker is planning to invest about Rs 1,500 crore over next two years for expansion of the company’s annual production capacity located in Orissa.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited decreased 0.5% to Rs 527.50 after the utility vehicles maker passed on at least 3% increase in price increase according to the company spokesperson.

Mid-day Multimedia Limited fell 5.0% to Rs 30.05 after Jagran Prakashan Limited is in marketing alliance talks with the company.

Moser Baer India Limited rose 0.4% to Rs 75.85 after the company commissions its thin film solar farm with an installed capacity of 1 megawatts at Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

MphasiS Limited rose 2.7% to Rs 651.00 after the company signed a pact to acquire 100% stake in Fortify Infrastructure Services in an all cash deal.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd declined 1.2% to Rs 1,775.00 after the company announced that its U.S. subsidiary won a regulatory approval for its fast track application for new drug to market a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline''s Wellbutrin SR Extended Release tablets.

Tata Motors Limited rose 0.6% to Rs 779.60.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited fell 0.5% to Rs 537.00 after the company received U.S. regulatory approval for a generic drug.