Listless Trading in Mumbai

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

India is expected to unveil another stimulus package at the end of the month to increase public infrastructure spending. Foreign direct investment in the current year is expected to slow but will meet the target of $35 billion according to the commerce minister.

[R]10:00AM New York, 7:30 PM Mumbai - India to unveil another stimulus package after January 31.[/R]

Indian stocks rose 0.1% on expectations that the government will unveil another stimulus plan that is meant to prevent a deepening economic slump.

In Mumbai, the BSE 30-share index gained 0.01% or 5.98 to 9,329.57, and the CNX Nifty edged up 0.6% or 17.75 to 2,846.20.

Of the stocks traded on the BSE, 1377 rose, 1,047 declined, and 40 remained unchanged.

Trading Statistics

Daily turnover on the BSE declined to 2,603 crore rupees from 2,943.30 on Friday last week.

India to Unveil Another Stimulus Package After January 31

Economic Times of India reported today that India’s commerce minister Kamal Nath said during the Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit the country will unveil additional stimulus measures after January 31.

Nath insists that India can achieve 7% target this fiscal year.

The commerce minister added that falling inflation has increased the flexibility for the central bank.

The ET report notes that India’s foreign direct investment has double to $18.7 billion in the nine months to December 31.

“One of our biggest problems was inflation and this has now been addressed. The latest data shows inflation at 5.2%. It will come down further. We will also grow at 7% this year.

India’s exclusive government owned infrastructure finance company is being a armed to bankroll additional infrastructure projects of $15 billion over the next 10 months,” said Nath.

Indian Government Says $35 billion FDI Target Will be Met

India’s minister of state for industry Ashwani Kumar said the government’s $35 billion FDI target for this fiscal will be achieved despite the worsening conditions on the global financial markets.

Services, telecom, housing construction activities, real estate, electrical equipment, computer software and hardware attracted the most FDI in the current fiscal year.

Gainers & Losers

Reliance Industries gained 0.9% to 1,229.65 rupees.

Larsen & Toubro increased 1.5% to 728 rupees on news that the company is interested in the purchase of Satyam Computer Services.

Unitech rose 6% to 31.90 rupees on significant block trading in the morning session.

IT stocks dropped on the fears that the companies will cut outsourcing as the global economy slows. The rupee also rose to 48.60 against the dollar from 48.78 on Friday last week. Wipro fell 2.4%, Infosys Technologies declined 0.7% to 1,259.55 rupees and TCS slipped 0.5% to 500.70 rupees.

However, Satyam Computer Services increased 4.1% after the newly-appointed board of the company met on Saturday.

Financial stocks were mixed. State Bank of India plunged 1.6% to 1,147.40 rupees and ICICI Bank fell 2.6% to 413.05 rupees, but HDFC Bank increased 0.4% to 939.95 rupees.

HDFC shed 1.2% to 1,546.50 rupees after cutting its home loan rates by 150 basis points.

Allahabad Bank rose 4.7% as its net profit increased 1.2% to 369.46 crore rupees.

Bharti Airtel edged 2.2% higher to 646.95 rupees after launching Internet Protocol Television Services today.

Reliance Communication also advanced 1.3% to 184.95 rupees on news that the company is close to signing a deal with Emirates Telecommunications Corporation to share passive infrastructure.

Jaiprakash Associates rallied 4.7% as its net profit rose 6.2% to 165.51 crore rupees in the third quarter ended December 2008 from the comparable year ago period.

Graphite India fell 3.2% after it said it may have to cut output as demand slows.