India

Mayank Mehta, Chandrasekhar Atreya and Darlington Musarurwa
31 May, 2010
New York City

The benchmark index in Mumbai trading rose marginally after fluctuating between gains and losses four times in the morning. The index gained a little after the Central Statistics Organization reported today that the GDP expanded 8.6% in the quarter ending March from a year earlier.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in India gyrated during the day but closed higher after the government report showed economy accelerated in the last fiscal quarter to 8.6% and expanded at 7.4% in the fiscal year. Mahindra & Mahindra net soars but Suzlon reports fiscal year loss. NMDC doubles price of iron ore exports.[/R]

The benchmark index in Mumbai trading rose marginally after fluctuating between gains and losses four times in the morning. The index gained a little after the Central Statistics Organization reported today that the GDP expanded 8.6% in the quarter ending March from a year earlier.

The released data also showed that the government revised the GDP growth rate for the quarter ending in December to 6.5% from the previous estimate of 6% and for the quarter ending in September to 8.6% from 7.9%.

For the fiscal year ending in March, the gross domestic product expanded at 7.4% compared the government estimate of 7.2%.

The vibrant economy combined with timely and adequate monetary and fiscal stimulus has helped India achieve about 8.5% growth in the fiscal year and if the present favorable trends continue the growth rate could cross 9% next fiscal year, said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The Sensex index in India increased 81.57 or 0.48% to 16,944.63 and CNX Nifty index rose 6.75 or 0.13% to 5,059.80. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 16 rose and 14 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,450 stocks advanced, 1,319 declined and 89 were unchanged.

Rupee edged lower 14 paisa to Rs. 46.49 against one dollar.

The government report noted manufacturing grew 16.3% from a year earlier, while mining grew 14% and farm output grew 0.7%.

Indonesia’s PT Berau Coal expects to increase production at its coal mines to 30 million ton by 2014 due to rising demand from India, a company official said.

‘I’m bullish on coal prices because of the Indian factor because new integrated power projects are scheduled to start production in 2011 and 2012 in India,” said Bob Kamandanu, a commissioner at PT Berau Coal Company in Bali today.

The price for pan-India BWA spectrum auction on Saturday touched Rs 6,300 crore. The government revenues from this auction have crossed Rs. 16,000 crore as of now.

Reliance communications Ltd paid Rs 8,590 crore to the Department of Telecommunications as license fee for 3G airwaves, according to an e-mailed statement from the company.

NMDC Ltd, which exports about 15% of its output, has doubled its prices for Japanese and South Korean mills following the policy of Vale SA by capitalizing on spot price rates. It also switched to quarterly contracts instead of the annual key contracts which were negotiated in March.

‘The company will export fines with 63% iron ore content at about $122 per ton free-on-board this quarter,’ Finance Director S. Thiagarajan said today in an interview. He also said that prices for local supplies may be increased by the middle of next month.

The premier IDR issue of Standard Chartered Plc was fully subscribed on the last date of the issue.

A strong performance from the automobile and farm equipment sectors saw the net profit of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, jump 150% to Rs 2,088 crore on a standalone basis, as against Rs 837 crore the previous fiscal.

Gainers & Losers

Adhunik Metaliks Limited rose 1.8% to Rs 110.50 after the company reported fourth quarter net profit surged 1977.66% to Rs 58.59 crore.

Asian Paints Limited fell 0.8% to Rs 2,086.65 after the paint company said fourth quarter sales rose 31.7% to Rs 1,876.8 crore from Rs 1,424.9 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 90.7% to Rs 192.6 crore compared to net profit of Rs 101 crore a year ago.

Atul Auto Limited surged 10.0% to Rs 61.60 after the company reported fourth quarter net profit of Rs 1.67 crore compared to net loss of Rs 0.76 crore a year ago.

Balkrishna Industries Limited fell 0.4% to Rs 536.05 after the company announced that the board of directors of the company has considered and approved the scheme of merger of BKT Moulds Ltd and their respective shareholders under sections 391 to 394 of the companies Act, 1956.

Cummins India Limited decreased 7.7% to Rs 56.30 after the engines business said fourth quarter sales fell 25% to Rs 772.4 crore from Rs 1,028 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 0.1% to Rs 118.3 crore compared to net profit of Rs 118.2 crore a year ago.

Piramal Glass Limited added 2.6% to Rs 99.80 after the Ajay Piramal group initiated talks to sell group company Piramal Glass Ltd to Hindusthan National Glass & Ind. According to the report, the two parties plan to keep Piramal Glass listed on the bourses even after the proposed deal.

Punj Lloyd Limited plunged 12.6% to Rs 120.05 after the provider or integrated design and project management services said fourth quarter sales fell 47% to Rs 1,700 crore from Rs 3,223 crore a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was Rs 301 crore compared to net loss of Rs 256 crore a year ago.

Suzlon Energy Limited declined 7.7% to Rs 56.30 after the wind power company said fourth quarter sales fell 33% to Rs 6,083 crore from Rs 9,121 crore a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was Rs 188 crore compared to net profit of Rs 314 crore a year ago.

Voltas Limited added 4.7% to Rs 180.00 after the company reported fourth quarter net profit increased 105% to Rs 136.03 crore.

VST Tillers Tractors Limited surged 10.8% to Rs 358.15 after the company reported net profit surged 42.55% to Rs 15.01 crore.