L&T, Mahindra, State Bank of India Rise

Darlington Musarurwa
16 Jun, 2009
New York City

Stocks in India increased after falling for three days in a row as corporations file higher advance taxes. State Bank of India tax payment surged 61%. HDFC Bank and other smaller banks also paid higher advance taxes. L&T tax payment increased 16% and Mahindra & Mahindra paid 25% more.

[R]10:00 AM New York, 7:30 PM Mumbai – Stocks in India increased after falling for three days in a row as corporations file higher advance taxes. State Bank of India advance tax payment surged 61%. HDFC Bank and other smaller banks also paid higher advance taxes. L&T, the infrastructure leader tax payment increased 16% and Mahindra & Mahindra paid 25% more.[/R]

Indian stocks rose 0.6% in volatile trading on expectations of an economic recovery on news of an increase in advance tax payments in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Realty and metal stocks advanced.

In Mumbai, the BSE 30-share Sensex Index Increased 0.6% or 82.39 to 14,957.91, and the CNX Nifty rose 0.8% or 33.80 to 4,517.80.

Of the stocks traded on the BSE, 1,647 increased, 1,008 declined, and 70 were unchanged.

Daily turnover on BSE fell to 6,863 crore rupees from 7,106.08 crore rupees yesterday.

U.S. Pushing For Investment Treaty with India

Economic Times of India reported today that the U.S. is pushing for enhanced dialogue on key trade policy issues and the bilateral investment treaty with India.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk will be engaging India''s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma during a roundtable at the US-India Business council tomorrow.

""USTR Ron Kirk is committed to enhancing the US-India trade relationship by fostering enhanced dialogue on important trade policy matters including a US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty,"" said the U.S. Trade Representative.

India Considers Service Tax Relief For Exporters

The online edition of the Economic Times also reported that the commerce department may exempt exporters from paying taxes on any services availed during the course of their business.

Under the current regulations, exporters claim tax refunds for 20 services, fixed at 10%.

“Claiming a refund is a pain-staking process. Exporters keep complaining that their funds stay locked with the government at a time when there is a global credit crunch. So, we are pushing for service tax exemption,” a commerce department official said.

Gainers & Losers

Reliance Industries fell 2.2% to 2,132 rupees after Kotak Securities Ltd downgraded the stock after the court ruling that required the company to sell gas at half the price for the next seventeen years to Reliance Natural.

Financial stocks increased on high advance tax payments by banks. State Bank of India increased 4.4% as its advance tax payment surged 61.1% to 1,068 crore rupees in the June quarter.

HDFC Bank gained 1.1% after its advance tax payment advanced 16.3% to 250 crore rupees in the three months to June from the same period a year earlier.

HDFC edged up 0.8%.

Commodity stocks rose on expectations of economic growth. Tata Steel increased 3.9% despite its advance tax payment dropping 36.4% to 230 crore rupees in the June quarter from a year ago.

Sterlite Industries fell 4.4% after the company approved raising long-term resources from domestic and international markets.

IT stocks gained. Infosys Technologies rose 0.2%, TCS jumped 0.1%, but Wipro fell 1.2%.

Larsen & Toubro advanced 1.3% as its advance tax payment rose 15.8% to 110 crore rupees in the June quarter from a year ago.

Bharti Airtel fell 1.3%.

Auto stocks increased. Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.7% and Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 2.5% as its advance tax payment rose 25% to 17.5 crore rupees in the review period.

Tata Motors rose 2% as its advance tax payment remained flat at 30 crore rupees in the first quarter ended June.