India Inflation Worries; REC Sets Price

123jump.com Staff
18 Feb, 2010
New York City

Stocks in Mumbai traded lower in pre-budget jitters. Rural Electrification Corp set its secondary offering price at Rs 203 per share. JK Lakshmi plans to raise $120 million to finance new Greenfield projects. RIL falls on the worries that it may increase its bid for LyondellBasell Industries.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Stocks in Mumbai traded lower in pre-budget jitters. Rural Electrification Corp set its secondary offering price at Rs 203 per share. JK Lakshmi plans to raise $120 million to finance new Greenfield projects. RIL falls on the worries that it may increase its bid for LyondellBasell Industries.[/R]

Stocks gyrated in Mumbai trading ahead of the budget on Feb 26. Investors are expecting tax breaks for infrastructure projects and await government plan to lower the deficit.

The Sensex index in India decreased 101.07 or 0.62% to 16,327.84 and CNX Nifty index fell 26.25 or 0.53% to 4,887.75. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 9 rose and 21 fell.

On BSE trading, 1,060 stocks advanced, 1,760 declined and 85 were unchanged. Reliance Industries fell 3.35% on profit taking.

The Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao said on Thursday that the central bank stands by its inflation forecast of 8.5%, and expects current inflation to moderate by July.

Rupee edged lower 12 paisa to 46.22 against one dollar.

The wholesale price index increased 0.2% to 285.8 from 285.2 for the previous week. For the year so far average inflation was 16.23% compared to 7.05% in the same period a year ago.

Gainers & Losers

Axis Bank Limited rose 2.9% to Rs 1,098.85 after the bank has sought the government''s permission to set up a subsidiary in the UK.

Basant Agro Tech (India) Limited surged 14.5% to Rs 54.45 after the single super phosphate set March 2 as the record date for a 10-to-1 stock split.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited increased 6.7% to Rs 602.00 after the company said its unit discovered gas in Mozambique.

Bharti Airtel Ltd increased 1% to Rs 281.90 and the company chairman said yesterday that the price for the African assets of Zain is “not over the top.” He further added that analysts do not have the detailed information to value the assets.

Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co. soared 4.9% to Rs 556.45 after the company chief financial officer confirmed that the company is in exclusive talks to sell its commercial property of 400,000 square feet in Mumbai to Axis Bank.

Castrol India Limited fell 8.0% to Rs 654.00 after the lubricant company said fourth quarter sales rose 13.6% to Rs 609 crore from Rs 536 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 70% to Rs 80 crore compared to net profit of Rs 47 crore a year ago.

Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Limited rose 1.5% to Rs 211.00 after Codexis, Inc. today announced two separate collaborations in pharmaceutical manufacturing with the company and AMPAC Fine Chemicals LLC, a subsidiary of American Pacific Corporation.

Hexaware Technologies Ltd the provider of information technology said fourth quarter revenues fell 17.6% to Rs 252 crore from Rs 306 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 110.5% to Rs 36 crore or Rs 2.42 per diluted share compared to net profit of Rs 17.1 crore or Rs 1.18 per share a year ago.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited rose 4.2% to Rs 155.85 after the speculation higher tax breaks will be provided to infrastructure lending firms in the Union Budget 2010-2011 next week.

Jet Airways (India) Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 482.00 after the company plans to sell land in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai to Godrej Properties.

JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd rose 1.2% to Rs 76.00 after the flagship company of the Hari Shankar Singhania Group plans to raise Rs 600 crore through a combination of external commercial borrowings and rupee term loans in the next quarter to finance Rs 1,550 crore projects in the northern and eastern regions.

Reliance Industries Limited dropped 3.1% to Rs 999.50 after the company may be forced to raise its offer for LyondellBasell or abandon its bid all together after the target settled a dispute with creditors to exit bankruptcy.

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited decreased 2.8% to Rs 213.80 after the company announced that the government of India has set the price for the secondary offering of Rs 203 per share.

SpiceJet Limited rose 2.1% to Rs 55.00 after the airline company is seeking to raise $75 million (Rs 345 crore) by selling new shares, according to two senior company executives, ahead of international services.

Sundaram Multi Pap Limited fell 3.1% to Rs 43.10 after the foreign fund sold a 0.55% stake in the company in a bulk deal on February 17.