High Inflation Persists in India; Essar Oil Up

Mayank Mehta
15 Apr, 2010
New York City

Mumbai stocks declined after wholesale inflation hovered near record. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated said inflation will remain elevated till June. Essar Oil quarterly sales dropped 53% and net plunged 73%.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Mumbai stocks declined after wholesale inflation hovered near record. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated said inflation will remain elevated till June. Essar Oil quarterly sales dropped 53% and net plunged 73%.[/R]

Annual rate of inflation measured in wholesale price index increased to 9.90% in March compared to 1.20% for a year ago. The index increased 0.3% to 250.8 from 250.1 in February according to the latest data from the commerce ministry.

The wholesale price index in India increased 1.0% to 288.0 from 285.1 for the previous week. For the year ending in the week average inflation surged to 13.88% compared to 6.71% in the same period a year ago according to the statistics bureau.

The Sensex index in India decreased 182.70 or 1.03% to 17,639.26 and CNX Nifty index fell 49.35 or 0.93% to 5,273.60. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 11 rose and 19 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,222 stocks advanced, 1,708 declined and 69 were unchanged. Reliance Industries slipped more than 2%, but realty and healthcare stocks rose. FMCG stocks fell on profit taking. Capital goods pivotals also fell on profit taking. Banking stocks fell on an impending rate hike by the central bank at its monetary policy review on April 20.

Rupee edged higher 23 paisa to 44.25 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

ABB gained 0.91% to Rs 846.50 after the company secured an order of Rs 63 crore.

Areva T&D India Limited rose 0.2% to Rs 302.00 after the company has secured three prestigious turnkey orders from Indian state utilities of Rs 63 crore.

Blue Dart Express Limited surged 20.0% to Rs 906.45 after the integrated express package distributor said net profit jumped 103.4% to Rs 23.78 crore.

Castrol India Limited gained 3.4% to Rs 380.50 after the lubricant company said first quarter sales rose 29% to Rs 654 crore from Rs 506 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 54% to Rs 117.2 crore compared to net profit of Rs 76.3 crore a year ago.

Essar Oil Limited declined 2.2% to Rs 145.65 an oil and gas company said fourth quarter sales rose 52.5% to Rs 10,650 crore from Rs 6,985 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 72.7% to Rs 180 crore or Rs 1.48 per diluted share compared to net profit of Rs 660 crore or Rs 5.53 per share a year ago.

Firstsource Solutions Limited rose 2.8% to Rs 32.25 after the U.S. private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is in talks to buy a controlling stake in the back-office service provider.

ICICI Bank slipped 1.4% to Rs 928.65 after the profit booking continued on the stock for the third straight trading session.

Infosys Technologies Limited the global technology services firm rose 0.6% to Rs 2,800.05.

IVRCL Assets & Holdings gained 3.18% to Rs 183.35 after the company declared bonus issue in the ratio of 1:2.

Moser Baer India Limited advanced 2.0% to Rs 77.60 after the maker of optical storage media launched its products in Australia.

Patels Airtemp (India) Limited added 3.5% to Rs 91.60 after the custom airconditioning system maker secured order of Rs 5 crore from Manav Nesvi Infrastructure (P), Ahmedabad.

Rolta India Limited decreased 2.1% to Rs 193.40 an IT company said third quarter sales rose 19% to Rs 394.6 crore from Rs 332.0 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 49.5% to Rs 67.1 crore or Rs 4.1 per diluted share compared to net profit of Rs 133.1 crore or Rs 3.0 per share a year ago.

Strides Arcolab Limited rose 1.9% to Rs 350.10 after the company received US regulatory approval for a generic drug.

Triveni Engineering & Industries Limited rose 1.6% to Rs 132.00 after the unit of General Electric Co and the company has formed a joint venture to manufacture steam turbines in India, the two firms said on Thursday.

Viceroy Hotels Limited added 4.9% to Rs 48.35 after the fund controlled by JP Morgan Chase agreed to take 49% stake in Bangalore based subsidiary for an investment Rs 74 crore.