important dates to look out in October

RBI will meet to review the credit policy on 30 October.
FOMC meet, on 31.
result season will start on 11 October, with Infosys coming off its Q2 results.

October has historically been one of the weakest months for the Sensex. Over the last 17 years, since 1990, there have been 5 positive Octobers versus 12 negative Octobers. The average returns in October have been 2.6% negative returns.

FIIs pick up 7% in Sintex

Lehman Brothers, HSBC and Merrill Lynch have come together to pick up a 7% stake in Sintex Industries for nearly Rs 300 crore. The stake was bought from one of the company’s existing shareholders Lightwood Investment which sold 14% of its holding for Rs 560 crore in the open market on Thursday. The transaction was done at Rs 350 per share on a day when Sintex Industries closed 1.7% higher at Rs 361 on the BSE.

Investors must do their homework

New Delhi.
The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday cautioned investors over the share indices movements, which continued to be on a roll this week on more buying of select shares by foreign investors.
“My advice to investors is that they should do their homework. And if they cannot do their homework, they should trust those who do their home work. And for speculators, I have no advice,” Mr Chidambaram told reporters here.
The benchmark BSE sensex closed on Friday at a new high of 17,291, up 140 points in a day. On whether the market movement was orderly, Mr Chidambaram said “that is what SEBI is saying”.

Reliance Power plans IPO

Reliance Power, a subsidiary of Anil Ambani group company Reliance Energy (REL), is considering an initial public offering (IPO) to raise about Rs 11,000 crore to fund the ultra mega power projects in Sasan and Rosa. Sources said the company is likely to file a draft red herring prospectus soon. For the Sasan and Rosa projects in UP, Reliance Power needs almost Rs 21,000 crore, which covers the cost for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) equipment purchase and technology hiring.

Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL)

The media had reports on September 25, 2007 that Reliance Natural Resources Limited may sell 20 percent of its stake in methane blocks to strategic investors.

The Exchange, in order to verify the accuracy or otherwise of the information reported in the media and to inform the market place so that the interest of the investors is safeguarded, had written to the officials of the company.

Reliance Natural Resources Limited has vide its letter inter-alia stated, "The Company examines various proposals from time to time, it receives to unlock and create value for its shareholders. The Company has received various proposals both from strategic and financial investors in this direction. The Company is currently examining these options and other options."

U.S. Stocks Climb

U.S. stocks advanced after General Motors Corp. reached a contract agreement with the United Auto Workers and rising oil prices boosted earnings prospects for energy companies. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 5.55, or 0.4 percent, to 1,522.76 at 9:47 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 63.16, or 0.5 percent, to 13,841.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 10.81, or 0.4 percent, to 2,694.26.
A bigger-than-expected drop in durable goods orders also bolstered expectations the Federal Reserve will continue reducing interest rates this year to revive economic growth. U.S. stocks rallied the most in four years on Sept. 18 after the Fed cut its benchmark rate by half a percentage point.

Dollar drops to new euro low

The dollar fell Tuesday, hitting a new historical nadir against the euro, after weak housing data and worse-than-expected consumer confidence data raised concerns about the broader economy and fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve might further cut interest rates.

GMR Infrastructure

GMR Infrastructure has informed the stock exchanges that the board of GMR Infrastructure has fixed the record date for the stock split. The record date for the GMR Infrastructure stock split is 08 October 2007. On the record date, the face value of the shares of GMR Infrastructure will be split from 1 share of face value Rs. 10 each to 5 shares of face value Rs. 2 each.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC)

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has won three offshore exploration blocks in Myanmar, contracts for which will be signed tomorrow. The Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora is visiting Myanmar to witness signing of Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for the three blocks, an official press statement said here on Saturday.

Reliance Makes Oil Discovery

Reliance Industries Ltd., India's largest company by market value, said it discovered oil off the nation's east coast for the first time.
The area, located in the Krishna basin off Andhra Pradesh state, was drilled to a depth of 3,595 meters, the company said today in an e-mailed statement in Mumbai.
The well is close to the region where the company made the world's biggest gas discovery of 2002. The commercially viable reserves in the field are being assessed, Reliance said.

Unitech to enter telecom

Unitech, has decided to enter the mobile telephone business. The company intends to apply for licence to operate in the 22 circle.
To apply for licence, the company will have to pay around Rs 1,680 crore. Besides, it will have to share 5% revenue with the government. But, a licence will come with spectrum. If it is GSM licence, the company will be awarded with 4.4 mega hertz bandwidth spectrum. In case of CDMA licence, the company will be given spectrum of 2.5 mega hertz bandwidth. The Indian market is considered to be one of the most attractive markets in the world with around 7.5 million customers added every month. According to government estimates, the number of the mobile phone subscribers islikely to rise from around 200 million users now to 500 million by 2010. Even if the new players could buy 10% of the additional market share, they could have customer base of around 10 million each in the three years time. The existing players took around seven years to reach the 10 million mark. The new players, the source said, might add even bigger number because they could provide better service to the customers as the base would be smaller in the initial period. Besides, if number portability is allowed and a customer can retain his number even if he changes his operator, the growth rate could increase further.

HDFC may cut interest rates

HDFC Ltd, the biggest player in the home loan segment, on Friday said it may reduce its interest rates next week as the cost of funds has come down.

Gemini Comm to deploy CDMA hardware

The company has bagged a contract to install and commission telecom equipment and connected accessories in 11 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) circles in India. BSNL Circles include the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Kerala.
The deployment will be completed by October 2007. The CDMA deployment will substantially enhance connectivity and clarity across India for BSNL subscribers and expand its mobile network The company’s major clients include Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), BSNL, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom.

U.S. Futures Gain

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.4 percent to 376.2, while Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December gained 0.4 percent to 1,537.5 as of 11:24 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 has climbed 2.3 percent this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to keep the world's largest economy growing.
U.S. stocks dropped yesterday after the dollar tumbled and oil prices rose to an all-time high, spurring concern inflation will pick up. Asian stocks retreated today

Pharma Sector fear loss

Fearing a loss in export revenues due to the appreciating rupee, pharmaceutical exporters have asked the government to extend relief measures to the sector similar to those being extended to nine select industries.
The industry body fears that the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical sector would go down in the export market if the trend continues and reliefs were not extended.
The pharmaceutical sector contributes nearly five per cent to India's overall export and should be included in the select industries which have been given sops to counter the effect of rising rupee.
The rupee strengthened 63 paise yesterday and would have drastic effects on pharma exports.

Rupee near 9 year high

Rupee edged closer to a fresh nine-year high on Friday, boosted by strong capital inflows, but wariness the central bank may intervene checked the rupee's rise. At 9:37 a.m. (0407 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 39.88/89 per dollar, barely changed from Thursday's close of 39.89/90 and in sight of 39.85 -- its highest since May 1998. "These are good levels to take some profits as the rupee has rallied quite a lot this week," said a trader. The rupee has risen 1.7 per cent so far this week as a hefty US rate cut rekindled appetite for high-yielding assets. Rupee is Asia's best performing currency, rising 11 percent since end-2006. A half percentage point cut in US interest rates has widened India's rate premium to 300 basis points – it’s highest in three years and another attraction for foreign investors. Foreigners bought $608.6 million worth of Indian shares on Wednesday, a day after the US rate cut taking their net purchases to $10 billion this year, up from nearly $8 billion in 2006.

Morepen to raise Rs 140

Bulk drug manufacturer Morepen Laboratories said on 20 September it will raise Rs140 crore through the issue of equity shares and warrants to US-based Avenue Capital Group and its promoters.
“The entire Rs140 crore being brought in by the company as fresh capital will be utilized for repayment to banks under Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) scheme for which a settlement has already been arrived at,” the company informed BSE.

ONGC stock may split

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on Wednesday sought a 40% increase in the price of gas it sells at the government-capped price, even as the state-owned company said that a share-split and bonus issue could be a possibility if the situation demands in the future. "Immediately, there is no decision to do a share-split or a bonus issue... we are sensitive to concerns of small investors that they may be able to buy ONGC shares at current prices... in due course we will resort (to share split and/or bonus issue) but when it will happen I cannot say,'' chairman R S Sharma said after the company's AGM. ONGC scrip rose 5.9% to Rs 901.05 on the share-split and bonus news.

Sweetener for sugar stocks

The government’s plan to give more tax incentives for the ailing sugar industry proved to be a sweetener for sugar stocks. The agriculture minister’s comments saw sugar shares extend gains Thursday on continued buying interest.
There is no justification for the rise in sugar stock prices backed by fundamentals. This is just sentimental.
The government is considering direct conversion of sugarcane to ethanol, instead of molasses, to help farmers cope with falling sugar prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had said Wednesday.

Rupee breaches 40-level mark

The rupee today appreciated sharply by 30 paise and breached the 40-level mark to more than nine-year high of 39.90/91 against the US currency on heavy capital inflows triggered by interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
In an active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency opened sharply higher at 40.03/05 per dollar from yesterday's close of 40.20/21.
It later rose further to cross 40-mark to a high of 39.89 a dollar, before being quoted at 39.90/91 a dollar in late morning deals.
The rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday paved the way for the rupee to breach the 40-mark for the first time since May 13, 1998 when it had ended at 39.85 a dollar.
The rupee has appreciated nearly 58 paise in last two days.
Weak dollar overseas and dollar selling by exporters also helped the rupee's surge, despite spiralling global crude oil prices, dealers said.
Forex dealers anticipated increased capital inflows in equity markets after cut in the US interest rate as dollar will get broadly affected by this move, ultimately impacting positively on the emerging markets like India.
The rupee also got support from biggest gain of 653 points yesterday in the benchmark sensex, which further consolidated today.
Though the rupee breached 40-mark, there was not much intervention from the apex bank to stem the rupee's rise.
Meanwhile, the global crude oil prices remained high over USD 82 a barrel in Asian trade today.

Wall Street still rallies Day 2

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors extended a rally a day after the Federal Reserve's bold rate cut, betting that lower borrowing costs would keep the economy from slowing further and boost profits.
Shares of mortgage finance companies, drug makers and manufacturers led the broad-based advance after the Fed cut the benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point, the largest reduction in nearly five years.
The cost of capital just went down. A cut in rates is good for investors. It's good for markets.