Sensex in India Rises 3.3%, Ambani Rumors

123jump.com Staff
14 Jan, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai rose on the expectations of an out of court settlement between feuding billionaire Ambani brothers. Reliance Industries surged more than 10% and Reliance Capital gained 7.6%. HDFC Bank profit surged 45%, including the results of acquired Centurion Bank.

[R]10:00AM New York, 7:30 PM Mumbai - Ambani settlement rumors lift Mumbai stocks higher.[/R]

Indian stocks rose 3.3% led by Reliance Industries on market rumors the brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani had opted for an out-of-court settlement in Reliance Industries-Reliance Natural Resources gas dispute case.

Speculation swelled that Mukesh Ambani might part with the retail business against Anil Ambani''s RNRL business. The Bombay High Court is hearing a dispute between the brothers.

However, Reliance Industries denied the rumors.

In Mumbai, the BSE 30-share Sensex Index increased 3.3% or 299.13 to 9,370.49, and the CNX Nifty gained 3.3% or 90.35 to 2835.30.

Of the stocks traded on BSE, 1402 rose, 992 declined, and 104 were unchanged.

Trading Statistics

Daily turnover on the BSE declined at 2,811 crore rupees from 3,476.99 crore rupees yesterday.

Steelmakers Return to Full-Scale Operations

Economic Times of India reported today that Indian steel makers Ispat, Essar and JSW have ratcheted up production and resumed full-scale production after scaling back in October last year.

The report notes that while JSW has resumed full-scale operations, Ispat and Essar are operating at 75% capacity.

“Though we have resumed full scale production at existing plant in Vijayanagar, Karnataka, the decision to start commercial production from the new line would be taken shortly. We expect it to become operational within this quarter,” a senior executive at JSW Steel was quoted as saying.

Gainers & Losers

IT stocks rose despite the rupee increasing 48.80 against the dollar from 49.11 yesterday. Infosys Technologies gained 6.5% to 1310 rupees after reporting forecast beating third quarter results yesterday, TCS advanced 2.3% to 535 rupees and Wipro rose 0.8% to 243.10 rupees.

Jaiprakash Associates increased 6%, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 4.4%, and Tata Steel edged up 5.7%.

Grasim declined 3.2%, Hindustan Unilever fell 0.4% and Maruti Suzuki India dipped 0.64%.

Reliance Industries surged 11.4% to 1,203.55 rupees on speculation that the company might re-enter the retail fuel business after government deregulates fuel prices.

Other Mukesh Ambani group stocks rose. Reliance Petroleum increased 6.7% and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure jumped 5%.

Anil Ambani controlled ADAG group stocks increased. Reliance Infrastructure soared 13%, Reliance Natural Resources climbed 15% and Reliance Capital advanced 7.6%.

Bharti Airtel gained 2.6% to 623 rupees.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation rose 2.2% to 643.90 rupees and Cairn India gained 0.9% to 153.65 rupees as crude oil prices jumped $2.20 to $38.80 per barrel.

State run oil marketing firms fell on reports government will lower petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices by 5 rupees a liter, 3 rupees a liter and 25 rupees a cylinder respectively. HPCL dipped 1%, BPCL plunged 0.5%, and IOC declined 1.1%.

Petronet LNG jumped 9.3% to 37.65 rupees after announcing that Qatar will sell additional LNG cargo to the company.

Auto stocks gained. Tata Motors increased 1% to 156.75 rupees, Mahindra & Mahindra edged up 4.4% to 317 rupees, and Hero Honda rose 3.7% to 829.90 rupees.

However Maruti Suzuki India fell 0.7% to 584.50 rupees on profit booking.

NTPC rose 3.5% to 174.55 rupees and DLF soared 3.2% to 211.75 rupees on bargain hunting.

Financial stocks advanced. ICICI Bank jumped 3.7% to 442 rupees and State Bank of India climbed 1.9% to 1,200 rupees.

HDFC Bank dropped 1.6% to 973 rupees after the company reported that gross net performing assets (NPA) rose 120.47% to 1911.41 crore rupees as at December 31, 2008 from 866.97 crore rupees from the comparable period a year ago.

Sun Pharma lost 0.8% to 1,125.35 rupees.

HDFC Bank Profit Rises 45%

HFDC Bank Ltd. reported today that its net profit in the three months to December 31 increased 45% to 6217.40 million rupees from 4293.60 million rupees in the same period a year ago.

Total income in the period soared 59% to 54078.90 million rupees.

The results include operations of erstwhile Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd, following its amalgamation with HDFC Bank with effect from April 1, 2008.