Hang Seng adds 10.72 percent on session

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index saw its biggest one-day gain in a decade and its largest points gain in history on Wednesday when it added 2,332 points, or 10.72 percent, to 24,090.17 on the heels of Tuesday’s surprise interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve. The big gains came after the index had dropped 14 percent in the past two sessions on worries that a US recession could hurt the global economy. Following on the Fed’s action, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority cut the main interest rate there from 5.75 percent to 5 percent.

Most other Asia-Pacific equities markets followed the Hang Seng higher on the session even though there is still concern that the US economy will slow into recession. The exception in the gains was Taiwan’s Taiex index, which dropped 2.29 percent to 7,408.4, a decline of 173 points on the day. In South Korea, the Kospi index was 1.21 percent higher to 1,628.42. The Shanghai Composite was 3.14 percent higher to 4,703.05 while the FTSE Straits Times Index added 4.08 percent to 2,983.62 in Singapore. Australian markets ended 12 consecutive days of declines when the Sydney Ordinaries gained 4.28 percent to 5,445.6 and the S&P/ASX200 jumped 4.35 percent to 5,412.3. In India, the Sensex was 5.17 percent higher to 17,594.07.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 3.04 percent to 12,829.06 while the Topix index added 2.46 percent to 1,249.93 and the Mothers market gained 1.92 percent to 619.85. There had been bigger gains earlier in the session, but many investors were still worried that the US rate cuts were not sufficient to avoid recession. Shippers saw gains on the session as Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) was up 4 percent to ¥756 and Mitsui OSK Lines (TYO: 9104) was 5.7 percent higher to ¥1,138. Carmakers saw gains as Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) added 4.5 percent to ¥5,100 and Honda (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) gained 3.26 percent to ¥3,010. The electronics sector was mixed. Nintendo (TYO: 7974; NAS: NTDOY; FWB: NTO) was up 6.3 percent to ¥54,200 but Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) dropped 2.7 percent to ¥4,970 after Goldman Sachs cut its recommendation on the consumer electronics manufacturer from “buy” to “neutral”.

While Asia-Pacific equities markets seemed to benefit from yesterday’s move by the Fed, European markets were lower again on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 2.8 percent lower to 1,267.8. The CAC-40 fell 4.25 percent to 4,636.76 and Madrid’s IBEX was down 4.56 percent to 12,254.6 while the Dax dropped 4.88 percent to 6,439.21. There were few gainers on the session, but Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) led gainers on the CAC-40 with an advance of 1.33 percent to €19.10 while drug maker Schering (FWB: SCH) led the Dax as it added 0.34 percent to €103.76. The utilities sector declined on the session. EDF (Euronext: EEN) was down 5.03 percent to €64.58 while Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) fell 5.26 percent to €38.04 and Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) dropped 6.78 percent to €119.83. The biggest decline on the CAC-40 for the day came in the oil sector, where Total (Euronext: FP; NYSE: TOT) was 5.82 percent lower to €46.78. Truck manufacturer Man (FWB: EDF1) had the worst day on the Dax as it dropped 7.24 percent to €77.81.

London’s markets also saw declines. The FTSE 100 was down 2.28 percent to 5,609.3 while the FTSE 250 was 1.24 percent lower to 9,493.7. Still, there were some fairly healthy gains for some individual companies. British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) led gainers on the 100 as it added 4.31 percent to 308.75p, while in another travel-related sector cruise operator Carnival (LSE: CCL) was up 3.76 percent to £20.44. Among banks, Alliance and Leicester (LSE: AL) was 3.99 percent higher to 742p. The oil sector was mixed. Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) gained 3.74 percent to 568p but Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) B shares led the losers on the 100 with a decline of 5.85 percent to £16.90. Over on the 250 oil and gas producer Imperial Energy (LSE: IEC) fell 9.62 percent to £13.24. Electricity generator British Energy Group (LSE: BGY) dropped 5.34 percent to 479p.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade as investor sentiment was not cheered by Tuesday’s surprise interest rate cut by the Fed and as results from several companies disappointed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.44 percent to 11,798.86, up from earlier lows but still down almost 175 points from Tuesday’s close. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was 2.8 percent lower to 2,227.99 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.74 percent to 1,287.76. While iPod maker Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC) said that sales in its fiscal second quarter would likely be up by 29 percent, that was less than predictions, sending shares in the computer and handset maker $28.80 lower to $126.84. Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was down $2.35 to $9.97 when it said profits were down 84 percent in the fourth quarter and that it will likely see losses in the first quarter at around 5 cents to 7 cents per share. Elsewhere in the sector, New York-traded shares of Nokia (NYSE: NOK; OMX: NOK1V; FWB: NOA3) dropped $1.72 to $29.98.

thank's by ww.equities-news.com

India’s Sensex drops 1,408 points on session

As financial markets in the United States took the day off to celebrate the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region plunged on growing worries that the US economy is either already in or will soon enter a recession. Markets in Hong Kong and in India dropped more than 1,000 points each. The Hang Seng fell 1,383 points, or 5.49 percent to 23,818.86, its biggest decline since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. The Sensex was down 7.41 percent, losing 1,408 points to 17,605.35. Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan’s Taiex saw the least of the losses with a decline of 0.91 percent to 8,110.2. Australia’s markets extended their losses to an eleventh consecutive session when the S&P/ASX200 fell 2.9 percent to 5,580.4 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 2.91 percent to 5,630.9. In South Korea, the Kopsi index was 2.95 percent lower to 1,683.56. The Shanghai Composite was down 5.14 percent to 4,914.44 as it fell by 266 points while the FTSE Straits Times Index fell 6.03 percent to 2,917.15.

Tokyo’s markets also saw steep declines. The Nikkei 225 lost 535 points in a 3.86 percent loss to 13,325.94 while the Topix index was down 3.56 percent to 1,293.74 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 3.47 percent to 656.77. Not only were investors worried about the prospect of a recession in the United States, but government reports showed that the economy had declined in several of Japan’s regions and that condominium sales in the Tokyo area were down by 20 percent in December from the previous year at the same time. In this environment, the real estate sector was lower, with Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) down 3.9 percent to ¥2,445 while Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801; NAS: MDSFF) fell 4 percent to ¥2,165. Banks also saw losses on the session. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (TYO: 8316) was 5.2 percent lower to ¥759,000 and Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) dropped 6.2 percent to ¥915.

Europe’s markets were significantly lower as well, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 5.33 percent to 1,286.14. The Paris CAC-40 fell 6.83 percent to 4,744.45 and the Dax was 7.16 percent lower to 6,790.19 while the IBEX dropped 7.36 percent to 12,650.5. The Dax and the CAC-40 each had only one winner on the day. In Frankfurt, drug maker Schering (FWB: SCH) added 0.13 percent to €103.37, while in Paris Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) was 2,69 higher to €48.82. The Steel sector saw declines. ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) was down 8.91 percent lower to €32.62 while Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) fell 11.30 percent to €37.93 for the worst performance of the day on the CAC-40. Among insurers, Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ) was 9.99 percent lower to €37.93 and Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) dropped 10.08 percent to €22.12.

London’s markets also lost ground. The FTSE 100 fell 323 points for a 5.48 percent loss to 5,578.2 while the FTSE 250 dropped 419 points on the way to a 4.33 percent decline to 9,260.6. Despite the general losses, Northern Rock managed a 46.12 percent gain to 94.25p on the news that the UK government will guarantee a sale of bonds to try to attract bidders for the bank. Other gainers on the day included house builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW), which added 1.44 percent to 183.7p and property developer and investor Hammerson (LSE: HMSO), which was up 0.19 percent to £10.56. Miners were lower after BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) declined to make another bid for Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO). BHP had the worst day on the 100 as it fell 10.38 percent to £12.35 while Rio Tinto was down 10.04 percent to £42.28. Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) was 9.87 percent lower to £10.41 and Anglo American (LSE: AAL) dropped 9.19 percent to £23.53.

KSK Energy Ventures Ltd IPO Information

»» Public Issue Open: June 23, 2008 to June 25, 2008
»» Public Issue Type: 100% Book Built Issue (Initial Public Offer IPO)
»» Public Issue Size: 5,19,17,000 Equity Shares of Rs. 10/-
»» Face Value: Rs. 10/-
»» Public Issue Price: Rs 240/- to Rs 255/-
»» Maximum Subscription Amount for Retail Investor: Rs 100,000/-
»» Listing: BSE, NSE
»» Lead Manager: Kotak Mahindra, IDFC-SSKI, Morgan Stanley & Edelweiss Capital Ltd
»» Registrar: Karvy Computershare Pvt Ltd
(Ph: +91-40-23420815 Email: mrvs@karvy.com)

Niraj Cement IPO Listing: Share closes at issue price

Niraj Cement Structurals an engineering and construction company focusing on road construction development, closes at Rs 190.15 on the BSE which is marginally above its issue price of Rs 190. Its intraday high was at Rs 197.90 and intraday low was at Rs 169.70. The total traded quantity was 1,77,56,320 shares. The share had opened at Rs 185 on the BSE against the issue price of Rs 190 at a discount of 2.63%.

The Company proposes to utilize the net proceeds of the Issue to finance its plan for investment in capital equipment on a recurring basis, fund long term working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes. It intends to bid for road related infrastructure projects - leveraging and building the specialization and pre-qualification and thereby participating in more states and regions and gaining access to more complex projects.

Kaveri Seed Company: Buy For 2-3 Years Period

The prices of food and feed products are on an upward spiral, stoked by rising demand, shortfalls in output and expanding export opportunities. This has put producers of agricultural inputs such as hybrid seeds in a sweet spot.

Kaveri Seed Company, an established producer of hybrid seeds for crops such as corn (maize), sunflower and paddy, may be one of the key beneficiaries of this trend. Investors can buy the stock (Rs 270), which is currently trading at about 19 times its trailing 12-month earnings.

The nascent Indian market for hybrid seeds is set to expand strongly, given the rapid rate of hybrid adoption and buoyant produce prices. This suggests that the company may be well placed to deliver a 20 per cent-plus annual growth over the next two-three years.

StanChart sees big growth in mid-market segment

Even as financial institutions grapple with the global credit crunch post the sub-prime crisis, Standard Chartered Bank finds itself well positioned to support the growth of companies in Asia, West Asia and Africa.
The squeeze in credit has made effective liquidity management critical for companies, and this presents an opportunity for banks such as Standard Chartered.
For Standard Chartered Bank, transaction banking contributes around 50 per cent of its global revenues. Under transaction banking, it offers cash management, trade services, securities services and electronic channels among other services.

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Buy Call For Next Week - Tata Elxsi

Investors can buy the stock of Tata Elxsi, given its robust business prospects and reasonable valuations. At Rs 208, the stock trades at 12.5 times its FY08 earnings and 10 times its likely current year earnings.
Strong presence in the product design and engineering segment, emerging opportunities in developing full-length animation films, which Tata Elxsi appears well placed to tap, and an expanding presence in lucrative markets may drive growth for the company.
Tata Elxsi broadly operates under two divisions — software development services (85 per cent of revenues) and a systems integration. The software development division comprises two high growth areas. Product design services catering to clients in consumer electronics, multimedia, wireless communication and automotive electronics. The visual computing division develops graphics and special effects and creates animation films.

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ONGC a market performer: India Infoline

India Infoline has rated Oil and Natural Gas Corporation as a market performer with a target price of Rs 950 in its June 27, 2008 research report. "During Q4 FY08, ONGC reported sales growth of 26% to Rs 156 billion, higher than our expectations. Out performance was driven by slightly higher oil volumes. During Q4 FY08, ONGC sold 6.06 million tons of crude oil (down 0.8% yoy and up1.2% qoq) and 4.9bcm of gas (down 5.2% yoy and 7.9% qoq). Net crude oil realization for the quarter was at USD 49.7 per barrel as compared to USD 54.5 per barrel in Q3 FY08. The subsidy burden for the company in the form of discounts to oil marketing companies was Rs 84.7 billion, much in line with our estimates."

"We believe, ONGC through its IOR/EOR initiatives and increased production from marginal fields should be able to maintain its production levels in the next couple of years. However, with crude oil prices touching USD 140 per barrel and expected to further rise from here, the subsidy burden could increase substantially for ONGC. This would have a considerable impact on earnings of the company. We rate ONGC as a Market Performer, with a target price of Rs 950," says India Infoline's research report.

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Solitaire Machine surges on order win

Solitaire Machine Tools surged 4.46% to Rs 17.55 at 14:33 IST on BSE after the company said it has tied up with an Italian machine tool manufacturer to rebuild a high value grinding machine for SKF India.

The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 26 June 2007.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 61.18 points, or 0.43%, to 14,281.25, boosted by the US Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday, 25 June 2008, to keep interest rates unchanged. Fed also signaled that it was in no hurry to raise rates, even as it voiced greater concern about inflation.
On BSE, 1,500 shares were traded in the counter. The scrip had an average daily volume of 3,555 shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 17.55 and a low of Rs 16.15 so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of Rs 35.95 on 11 January 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 12 on 2 July 2007.
The small-cap company had outperformed the market over the past one month till 25 June 2008, declining 10.40% compared to the Sensex’s decline of 12.63%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, gaining 11.26% compared to Sensex’s decline of 11.21%.
The company has an equity capital of Rs 4.55 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
The current price of Rs 17.55 discounts its Q1 March 2008 annualised EPS of Rs 0.97, by a PE multiple of 18.09.
Solitaire Machine Tools’ Baroda plant will execute the work and the technical know how will be provided by the Italian company. The total contract is valued at Rs 20 crore and the order for the first batch is valued Rs 2 crore.
Solitaire Machine Tools’ net profit fell 50% to Rs 0.11 crore on 12.3% rise in net sales to Rs 3.01 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007.

http://www.capitalmarket.com

Wall Street ends lower: Dow down 106 points

US markets finished lower for second consecutice day led by surging oil prices and a fresh round of banking troubles.

US markets end lower, Dow Jones average pushed to the brink of a bear market while crude hits record high of 142 dollars.

The Dow fell 106.91, or 0.93 percent, to 11,346.51. The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.74, or 0.25 percent, to 2,315.63 and Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.77, or 0.37 percent, to 1,278.38.

Thanks to www.moneycontrol.com