Inflation in India Rises; Rupee Gains

Mayank Mehta
24 Sep, 2009
New York City

Stocks in India closed nearly unchanged. Finance Minister Mukherjee and RBI Governor send mixed signals regarding interest rate policy. Wholesale price index in the week to Sept 12 increased 0.37% after adding 0.12% in the previous week.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in India closed nearly unchanged. Finance Minister Mukherjee and RBI Governor send mixed signals regarding interest rate policy. Wholesale price index in the week to Sept 12 increased 0.37% after adding 0.12% in the previous week.[/R]

Stocks in Mumbai closed higher as Finance Minister Mukherjee and RBI Governor Subbarao assure markets that interest rates will remain accommodative till the economy is on the mend.

G-20 leaders are expected to meet later today in the U.S. for the third time this year to discuss global stimulus plan and focus on banking regulations reforms.

The Sensex index in India increased 61.93 or 0.3% to 16,781.43 and CNX Nifty index rose 16.60 or 0.3% to 4,986.55. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 18 rose and 12 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,460 stocks advanced, 1,289 declined and 85 were unchanged.

Rupee advanced 0.1% to 47.97 after international funds increased their net exposure to Indian stocks by $1.4 billion. Rupee has increased six days in the last seven trading days.

Gainers & Losers

AIA Engineering Limited rose 3.6% to Rs 285.70 after 41.5 lakh shares, or 4.4% equity, changed hands at Rs 275 each in a block deal on the BSE.

Cairn India Limited decreased 1.8% to Rs 257.50 after crude oil prices tumbled nearly 4% on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd increased 2.7% to Rs 211.00 after the company received a single large order for supply of cables aggregating 21,415 kilometers.

Escorts Limited closed unchanged at Rs 93.40 after one of the promoter group companies revoked a small portion of shares which it had pledged earlier.

Gujarat NRE Coke Limited increased 7.4% to Rs 68.00 ahead of the company''s board meeting today to consider raising funds through issue of securities.

Infosys Technologies Limited fell 4.0% to Rs 2,269.50 after the company is likely to give salary increments to over 100,000 employees.

Jaiprakash Associates Limited increased 0.6% to Rs 235.75 after the construction firm raised Rs 1,190 crore by selling around 45.4 million shares in block deals today. The shares were priced in the range of Rs 239.75 to Rs 244.80 a share.

Larsen & Toubro Limited added 0.3% to Rs 1,640.45 after the construction and manufacturing company said on Thursday it had received an order worth more than 2,000 crore rupees ($415 million) to set up a gas-based power plant for GMR Energy.

Menon Bearings Ltd surged 9.4% to Rs 88.65.

NTPC Limited increased 1.9% to Rs 212.40 will get gas at $4.2 per million British thermal units and the supply will likely begin December.

Piramal Healthcare Limited declined 1.8% to Rs 366.50 after UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc is rumored to bid for the company.

Rane Holdings Limited fell 2.5% to Rs 101.55.

Reliance Industries Limited rose 0.1% to Rs 2,104.40 after the company signed a pact with state-run utility NTPC to supply gas for some of the power plants of NTPC, for five years.

Suzlon Energy Limited fell 1.8% to Rs 92.90 after three of its promoters and the company sold 7 crore shares representing 4.5% stake in the company for Rs 678.02 crore through open market transactions.

Tata Power Company Limited fell 1.2% to Rs 1,290.00.

UTV Software Communications Limited rose 4.4% to Rs 460.60 has sent legal notices to Adlabs Films demanding compensation of Rs 50 crore each for allegedly facilitating piracy of the film What’s Your Rashee.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 173.68 or 1.67% to 10,544.22, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 544.79 or 2.52% to 21,050.73 and CSI 300 index in China higher 20.86 or 0.68% to 3,080.93. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 32.90 or 0.69% to 4,701.20. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was lower 1.01 or 0.08% to 1218.06.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 17.59 or 1.03% to close at 1,693.88. SET index in Thailand closed lower 1.98 or 0.27% to 728.54. JSE Index in Indonesia increased 11.92 or 0.48% to 2,468.90.The Sensex index in India increased 61.93 or 0.37% to 16,781.43.