India Stocks Rebound; Jet Air Net Up, Hero Honda Net Down

Devan Biswas
02 Feb, 2011
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai bounced off from the lows on higher auto sales and rising corporate profits but investors worries that elevated commodities prices and inflation may hobble future earnings. Jet Air net rose 12% and Bajaj Auto unit sales rose 18%.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai – Stocks in Mumbai bounced off from the lows on higher auto sales and rising corporate profits but investors worries that elevated commodities prices and inflation may hobble future earnings. Jet Air net rose 12% and Bajaj Auto unit sales rose 18%.[/R]

Market indexes in Mumbai trading rebounded after a sharp sell off for five days but lost momentum in the afternoon. Elevated commodities prices and domestic inflation has kept investors on the sidelines despite rising auto sales and corporate profits.

The BSE Sensex rose 0.3% or 68.40 to close at 18,090.62 and the CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange increased 14.80 to close at 5,432.00.

Base metals and crude oil prices rose in Asia trading after factories around the world reported a rise in activities. Manufacturing indexes in the U.S., China, Europe, India and UK reported gains and unemployment in Germany dipped to multi-year low.

Nickel rose to $27,864 a ton in New York trading, copper closed at $9,810 a ton and tin closed at $30,400.

Jet Airways said fiscal third quarter net rose to Rs 118.23 crore from Rs 105.8 crore and net sales increase to Rs 3,515.17 crore from Rs 2,936.42 crore a year ago.

Central Bureau of Investigation arrested former communication minister A. Raja after questioning him for several hours. Two aides R K Chandolia and Siddharth Behuria were also arrested in connection with the 2G license sale.

The central investment agency is also investigating corporate lobbyist Niira Radia who is widely reported in the media to have played a key role in the sale of telecom license and various news reports have suggested that she has profited as much as Rs 400 crore.

Stock Movers

Bajaj Auto Ltd declined 2.3% to Rs 1,217.60 after the two and three-wheeler vehicle maker total vehicle sales rose 18% to 3,13,583 units in January.

Confidence Petroleum India Limited decreased 2.4% to Rs 17.85 after the LPG cylinder maker reported third quarter consolidated net profit jumped 90.25% to Rs 17.56 crore.

Hero Honda Motors Limited plunged 5.2% to Rs 1,523.05 after the motorcycle maker said third quarter net profit decreased 20% to Rs 429 crore.

ICRA Limited slumped 4.3% to Rs 1,133.00 after the investment and credit rating agency reported third quarter consolidated net profit slipped 22.63% to Rs 11.28 crore.

NMDC Limited rose 0.2% to Rs 265.70 after the iron ore producer and exporter said third quarter net profit soared 81.4% to Rs 1518.03 crore.