Reliance Power Rebounds, BSE Stake in NCME

123jump.com Staff
25 Feb, 2008
New York City

The Bombay Stock Exchange acquired 26% stake in the third largest commodities trading exchange for 100 crore rupees or $25 million. Centurion Punjab Bank and HDFC have agreed to merge and form the largest network of bank branches in the private sector. Reliance Power stock rebounded above its offer price for the first time after a week of losses after the company issued five for three stocks. Anill D. Ambani will reduce his stake by 5% to 40% in the company.

[R]10:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai - Indian shares rebounded, lifted by market leaders. The Bombay Stock Exchange agreed to acquire 26% stake in the third largest commodities exchange. Reliance Power closed above its offer price for the first time.[/R]

India stocks opened the week firm on sustained buying in oil & gas and information technology stocks. Large cap companies Reliance Industries, Reliance Energy, Tata Motors and ACC led the gainers.

The markets slipped into the red on Friday on renewed worries among investors on the impact of the US economic recession.

The benchmark 30-share BSE index rose 1.7% or 301.50 at 17,650.57, with 26 stocks gaining and the rest declining. In the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange index gained 1.8% or 89.95 at 5,200.70.

Among the stocks on the BSE, 1,614 share, 1,060 shares gained, and 45 shares remained unchanged.

Banking stocks recovered after Indian bank unions called off a planned two-day strike that was due to start on Monday. The unions and bankers decided to meet next month to resolve their disagreement on salaries rise and pension payments.

Deals

The Bombay Stock Exchange has agreed to pay 1 billion rupees (100 crore rupees or $25 million) for 26% stake in National Commodity Exchange of India. NCME, the third largest commodity exchange has less than 5% market in based on the daily turnover of the most heavily traded commodities. The most heavily traded commodities on NCME include pepper, rubber and cardamom.

The board of Centurion Bank of Punjab has given an in-principle approval for a merger with HDFC Bank. The Centurion bank will meet today to consider terms of the merger. Centurion Bank of Punjab declined 14.5% to 48.25 rupees.

Turnover

Daily turnover on the BSE stood at 5,666 crore rupees while turnover on the National Stock Exchange was at 11,712 crore rupees.

Reliance Power was the most active stock on the BSE with daily turnover 782.24 crore rupees. Reliance Natural Resources, Reliance Capital, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were among the most active stocks on the BSE.

Economic News

Budget, Planning Commission Deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday indicated that there will be a substantial increase in social sector allocations and said that recent price hikes in petrol and diesel were necessary.

He said the consumers would have to bear the burden of the increasing crude oil prices. The government decided this month to partly pass on the burden to the consumer by raising petrol prices by 2 rupees and diesel prices by 1 rupee per litre.

Gainers and Decliners

ACC, India''s largest cement maker gained 6% to 818.35 rupees, Ambuja Cements gained 4.4% to 122.55 rupees.

Automotive giant, Bajaj Auto fell 4% to 2,202.95 rupees, Hindustan Unilever lost 0.7% to 215.40 rupees and Mahindra & Mahindra lost 0.03% to 628.60 rupees.

Tata Motors rose 1.5% to 705.35 rupees. According to reports, the company has started raising about $2.5 billion, mostly from the overseas markets, by giving the mandate to a group of banks to arrange luxury British brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company.

Tata Consultancy Services declined 0.3% to 900.05 rupees on reports that the company and Cognizant are reportedly in a race to acquire the billion-dollar systems integration business of Germany-based T-Systems, information division of Deutsche Telekom.

Infosys surged 2.1% to 1,613.45 rupees, Wipro gained 4.1% to 439.55 rupees and Satyam Computer Services rose 2.6% to 450.30 rupees.

Power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 1.3% to 2,085.10 rupees. The company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India are reportedly planning to float a joint venture to take up construction activities for nuclear power plants. At present, NPCIL generates about 3,900 mega watts of electricity from its 16 power plants. The company plans to more than double its capacity to 10,000 MW over the next six years.

HDFC Bank declined 3.5% to 1,422.70 rupees.

State Bank of India gained 0.6% to 2,127.55 rupees and ICICI Bank advanced 1% to 1,110.05 rupees.

Reliance Update

India''s largest listed company, Reliance Industries rose 5.02% to 2,551.70 rupees on reports that it is locked in ''substantial'' discussions to float an equal joint venture with UK fashion retailer Marks & Spencer for apparel, gourmet food, and cafes.

Reliance Energy was up 4.3% to Rs 1,622.70. Reliance Power, recently struggling listed company for the first time managed to close above its listed price. The stock rebounded on the hopes that bonus issue from a company may be announced this week to compensate for the weakness in the aftermarket trading.