Six-day Rally in Sensex on Foreign Investments

Chandrasekhar Atreya
20 Sep, 2010
New York City

Sustained international fund flows to India for the year and in the month lifted stocks for the sixth day in a row to 32-month high. Hindustan Copper to generate $1.2 billion in revenues in rock sales.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai – Sustained international fund flows to India for the year and in the month lifted stocks for the sixth day in a row to 32-month high. Hindustan Copper to generate $1.2 billion in revenues in rock sales.[/R]

Indian stocks began the week on a positive note to continue last week’s rally, even as the global equities remained subdued. The record flow of FII funds in September also aided the index to rally for a sixth day to hit a 32-month high.

The Sensex Index gained 1.67% or 327.55 to close at 19,922.30.

Hindustan Copper Ltd, India’s miner of the metal, plans to sell the excavated waste rocks at its mines for laying of roads and railway tracks and in the process raise to as much as Rs 6,000 crore.

The state-owned miner is seeking buyers for about 200 million tons of rocks accumulated over the past four decades at its mines in Madhya Pradesh, Chairman Shakeel Ahmed said Monday in an interview. At the current rate of about Rs 300 a ton this should fetch the company Rs 6,000 crore, almost five times the revenue in the last fiscal year.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest mobile phone company, expects rapid growth in its satellite television unit on rising demand in rural areas for entertainment.

Bharti signed 3.8 million customers to gain a 14% market share. Industry wide, as many as 12 million people may take satellite televisions this year, said Ajay Puri CEO of the company’s digital TV services in an interview in New Delhi on Friday.

Punj Lloyd secured an engineering and procurement contract from Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco. The order was secured by Dayim Punj Lloyd, the Indian firm’s Saudi subsidiary.

The company said in a release that the contract was for engineering, procurement and construction of offsite pipelines for Saudi Aramco’s Yanbu Export Refinery Project being set up on the western coast along the Red Sea.

A large number of companies in Ontario, Canada, are looking for new business opportunities in India.

“We believe that a closer economic relationship with India could deliver commercial benefit to businesses on both sides,” Pradeep Sood, Chair of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce said in an interview in Ontario.

Electro Steels Ltd said Monday it plans to raise as much as Rs 250 crore through an initial public offering of 225.52 million shares or 11.08% of the company’s total equity. The issue will have a green shoe option of up to 33.8 million shares, the company said in a statement. Subscriptions to the offering to be priced between Rs 10 to Rs 11 a share will open on Sept 21.

ICICI Bank, made its way into the top 10 most valuable companies by market cap this week, helped by a sharp rise in banking stocks.

With a market cap of Rs 128,016 crore, ICICI Bank is now ranked tenth on the market cap basis replacing BHEL.

Foreign institutional investors have poured in over $2.67 billion in September alone, fueling the rise in Indian stocks and indexes.

Till September 17, international investors have invested over $2.64 billion in the markets and picked up $39.67 million worth of new securities, according to data available with the Securities & Exchange Board of India.

IRB Infrastructure Developers is eyeing a 92% increase in its revenue in financial year 2011, a senior company official said.

“We are targeting a 92% increase in our revenue from the present Rs 17,000 crore to over Rs 32,000 crore,” the company’s CFO Anil Yadav told reporters in Mumbai today.

Saraswat Bank, the biggest cooperative bank in India, said Sunday it set a target for total business worth Rs 25,000 crore in the current financial year, as against Rs 23,500 crore in the last fiscal.

Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei said it will set up a manufacturing base in Chennai with an investment of $500 million.

Confirming the development, A Sethuraman, Executive Director of Huawei India, told Times of India that this multi-product facility, which is to be constructed across an area of 30,000 square feet in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai will become operational before the end of December and the investment will be staggered over the next five years.

Gainers & Losers

Alphageo (India) Limited surged 8.2% to Rs 206.50 after the seismic survey company secured a contract worth $7.50 million from Jindal Petroleum Operating Company LLC, Georgia for onshore 2D seismic data acquisition.

Aksh Optifibre Limited gained 3.6% to 24.10 in early trading after the cable maker board approved rising up to $333 million in domestic/international market for expansion.

CORE Projects and Technologies Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 298.15 after the software development company acquired two firms in United States with combined revenues of $25 million.

Confidence Petroleum India Limited spurted 9.9% to Rs 16.08 after the manufacture of cylinders and filling liquefied petroleum gas commenced commercial operation of four auto LPG dispensing stations -- two each in Karnataka and in Gujarat.

Empee Distilleries Limited plunged 4.2% to Rs 163.90 after the liquor maker turned ex-dividend of Rs 6 per share for the year ended March.

Godrej Consumer Products Limited declined 5% to Rs 436.35 on profit booking after the stock soared 16.52% in the preceding two sessions.

Hexaware Technologies Limited soared 9.5% to Rs 78.80 after the outsourcing services firm raised revenue outlook for quarter three ended September to $60 million citing improving business climate.

KSK Energy Ventures Limited increased 5.5% to Rs 182.35 after the power project tied up $3.6 billion for its 3,600 megawatt thermal power project in central India.

Malu Paper Mills Ltd. gained 1.4% to Rs 18.00 after the newsprint paper maker board approved fund raising of Rs 500 crore.

MIC Electronics Limited increased 1.9% to Rs 39.60 after the telecommunication equipment developer secured different orders worth Rs 11.92 crore.

Nahar Poly Films Limited, formerly Nahar Investments and Holdings Limited spurted 19.9% to Rs 46.05 after packaging material promoter group firm, Nahar Spinning Mills offered to acquire up to 24.37 lakh shares or 9.91% stake in the company at Rs 40 each.

Nissan Copper Ltd. surged 4.1% to Rs 43.15 after the copper tube maker fixed September 28 as the record date for 10-for-1 stock-split.

Piramal Life Sciences Limited increased 4.9% to Rs 191.40 and was locked at 5% upper limit after the biopharmaceutical company commenced the second phase of drug used in treating type II diabetes, in India and Europe.

Pioneer Distilleries Limited gained 4.9% to Rs 88.00 and was locked at upper circuit limit of 5% after the alcohol maker United Spirits offered to make an open offer to the shareholders of Pioneer Distilleries to acquire 20% at Rs 101 per share.

The Shipping Corporation of India Limited declined 2.9% to Rs 164.30 after the shipping company turned ex-dividend of Rs 5 per share for the year ended March.

Supreme Petrochem Ltd fell 1.8% to Rs 67.20 after the polystyrene maker turned ex-dividend of Rs 1.80 per share for the year ended June.