Sensex in India Above 17,000; Cox & Kings IPO

Mayank Mehta
20 Nov, 2009
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai traded higher. Rupee edged lower but traded below 46.75 to a dollar. The IPO of a tour operator Cox & Kings India Ltd is 6.2 times oversubscribed. Bhusan Steel sells 5% stake to strategic investors. Scripps Networks agreed to acquire majority stake in NDTV unit for $55 million.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai traded higher. Rupee edged lower but traded below 46.75 to a dollar. Tour operator Cox & Kings IPO is 6.2 times oversubscribed. Bhusan Steel sells 5% stake to strategic investors. Scripps Networks agreed to acquire majority stake in NDTV unit for $55 million.[/R]

Stocks in Mumbai traded volatile but closed higher as foreign investors continue to add to their holdings.

The Sensex index in India increased 236.20 or 1.4% to 17,021.85 and CNX Nifty index rose 63.45 or 1.2% to 4,989. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 26 rose and 4 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,451 stocks advanced, 1,242 declined and 97 were unchanged.

Plan panel deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in an interview to a news agency on Friday, November 20 that he does not see capital flows creating asset bubble. He also doesn''t see possibility of the government imposing tax to curb capital flows.

The initial public offer of Cox and Kings, a global tour operator, was subscribed 6.22 times.

Rupee edged lower 5 paisa to 46.73 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Bharti Airtel Limited fell 1.2% to Rs 289.50 and the mobile telecom operator lowered its roaming charges by 60% on select plans.

Bhushan Steel Limited added 1.3% to Rs 1,358.00 said is looking to sell a 5% stake to strategic investors for about 4 billion rupees ($86.2 million), the Economic Times reported on Friday, citing an unidentified source.

Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited added 8.6% to Rs 20.10 after the company received a Rs 850 crore order from the National Highways Authority of India in Bihar.

HDFC Bank Limited rose 2.0% to Rs 1,755.50 and the bank lowered its interest rates on used cars from 15% to 13.5%.

Jindal Drilling Industries Limited surged 10.9% to Rs 579.00 said that it has been awarded a firm order for charter hire of drilling unit Noble Ed-holt from ONGC Ltd. for a period of five years. The total value of the contract is approx. Rs 635 crore.

New Delhi Television Limited climbed 8.5% to Rs 147.15 after the U.S. TV network operator Scripps Networks Interactive Inc said it will acquire 69% stake in the NDTV Lifestyle unit for $55 million as part of its plan to expand internationally.

Peninsula Land Limited advanced 5.0% to Rs 79.80 after the real estate developer said that the company has received Rs 275 crore form Alok Realtors on account of sale of 6,41,000 square feet commercial space in south Mumbai.

Pratibha Industries Limited increased 6.8% to Rs 256.90 after the water treatment plant maker secured an order worth Rs 58.85 crore.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited rose 0.7% to Rs 420.45 after the pharmaceutical industry said on Friday that it has voluntarily recalled one lot of Sotret Isotretinoin of 40 milligram strength from the U.S. market.

Shree Renuka Sugars Limited added 1.6% to Rs 230.25 and its fourth quarter consolidated net profit surged Rs 101.20 crore compared to net profit of Rs 36.8 crore a year ago.

Suzlon Energy Limited dropped 2.3% to Rs 73.40.

Tata Steel Limited rose 2.2% to Rs 549.50 said it issued $546.9 million in new convertible bonds in exchange for $493 million of securities as part of a plan to reduce costs and ease repayment obligations.

Tata Motors Limited slipped 0.3% to Rs 643.80 and the company said it has raised Rs.264 crore through a revised fixed deposit scheme that it introduced in August this year. The company is authorized to raise Rs. 1,300 crore from the scheme.

Thermax Limited advanced 3.4% to Rs 598.50 environmental engineering contractor Rs 477.77 crore orders from a leading conglomerate in Orissa for constructing and commissioning a turnkey captive power plant for its alloy unit in Orissa.

Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd climbed 2.1% to Rs 104.30 after the sugar refiner said fourth quarter sales rose 29.5% to Rs 553 crore from Rs 427 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 153% to Rs 68.22 crore compared to net profit of Rs 27 crore a year ago.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 51.79 or 0.54% to 9,497.68, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 187.32 or 0.83% to 22,455.84, and CSI 300 index in China lower 11.42 or 0.31% to 3,631.01. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 63.40 or 1.33% to 4,685.80. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was lower 2.29 or 0.18% to 1,274.36.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 0.06 or 0.00% to close at 1,620.60. SET index in Thailand closed lower 5.17 or 0.74% to 695.25. JSE Index in Indonesia increased 18.58 or 0.75% to 2,487.36. The Sensex index in India increased 236.20 or 1.41% to 17,021.85.