Mumbai Stocks Advance Ahead of Budget

Mayank Mehta
16 Feb, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai traded higher ahead of the government budget in two weeks. Bharti Airtel declined after it confirmed that it may pay $9 billion for Zain and assume $1.7 billion debt. Ballarpur makes $200 million bid for Malaysian papermaker.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai traded higher ahead of the government budget in two weeks. Bharti Airtel declined after it confirmed that it may pay $9 billion for Zain and assume $1.7 billion debt. Ballarpur makes $200 million bid for Malaysian papermaker.[/R]

Stocks in Mumbai trading advanced ahead of the fiscal budget in less than two weeks. The finance minister Mukherjee reiterated that the economy would grow around 7.75% in the fiscal year ending March.

The Sensex index in India increased 188.33 or 1.17% to 16,226.68 and CNX Nifty index rose 53.80 or 1.12% to 4,855.75. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 27 rose and 3 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,549 stocks advanced, 1,237 declined and 80 were unchanged. Capital goods, software services exporters, banks and metal stocks led the rally. Reliance Industries edged higher in volatile trading.

The government has resolved the issues related to 3G wireless spectrum auction, but it is not sure if it would happen before the end of the current fiscal year ending on March 31, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said on Tuesday.

Rupee edged higher 5 paisa to 46.27 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Ballarpur Industries Limited closed unchanged at Rs 27.15 after the paper maker bid close to $200 million for Malaysia’s largest integrated paper manufacturer GS Paper & Packaging Group.

Bharti Airtel Limited fell 4.1% to Rs 273.70 after the shares in Kuwaiti telecom operator Zain surged 9% in Kuwait trading after it said it expects up to $5 billion in returns from its $10.7 billion deal with the company.

Bharti also disclosed in a statement that it intends to pay $9 billion for the African assets of Zain and assume $1.7 billion of debt. Both companies have signed a break-up fee of $150 million if either party pulls of the talks before March 25.

Castrol India Limited rose 0.6% to Rs 705.20 after the lubricant company announced that the board has recommended issue of bonus shares.

Camlin Limited increased 2.9% to Rs 26.15 after the private company acquired a stake in the firm.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited slipped 3.3% to Rs 147.20 after the printing and publishing newspaper and periodicals threatened to pull out its team of the third edition of the Indian Premier League if their home league matches were not shifted back to Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.

FCS Software Solutions Limited rose 1.7% to Rs 13.25 after the company fixed March 2 as the record date for a 1:1 bonus issue.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 313.55 after the company clarified that the Income Tax Department is not conducting any investigation at their office locations.

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited gained 6.6% to Rs 873.25.

Jyoti Structures Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 172.40 and the engineering contractor board approved a rights issue of Rs 125 crore on non-convertible debentures.

PVR Limited fell 1.9% to Rs 170.60 after the operator of movie theater chain said its agreement to acquire DT Cinemas Ltd. from parent DLF Group has been terminated.

Suzlon Energy Limited rose 0.6% to Rs 73.35 after the wind power company announced that RE power Systems AG in which the company is majority shareholder with 90.71% holding and EOLE-RES S.A., one of the French wind and solar power developers, based in Avignon, have signed an agreement for the supply of 26 wind turbines.

Tata Motors Ltd increased 2.9% after the recently appointed chief executive Carl-Peter Forster said that the company may consider selling a stake in its finance unit to lower debt. Separately, Managing Director Prakash M. Telang said that company is participating in a bid to sell vehicles to the Indian Army worth 358 crore rupees of $76 million.

United Breweries Limited added 0.2% to Rs 169.70 after the brewer, expects to sell 120 million cases of beer in the next fiscal year beginning March driven by its new marketing arrangement with Heineken, a senior official said on Monday.