Market expert: SBI, RIL, Tata Steel may lead Nifty to 5330

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Jatinder Sharma, Partner, Equity Strategists says, after trading between 5,450-5,460 and 5,600 for past nine sessions, the market has given very valid technical breakdown. “SBI results may have tilted balance firmly in favour of the bearish outcome,” he adds.

He believes that now the levels to look forward would be around 5,330-5,335. “SBI, Reliance and Tata Steel could be the leaders in this particular fall and they might lead it towards 5,330-5,335 kind of levels,” he adds.

Also read: See Nifty in range of 5450-5600 for few days, says Deven Choksey

Below is verbatim transcript of his interview with Reema Tendulkar and Gautam Broker Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: The Nifty has broken that 5,450 mark? Now, what is the kind of downside which is opened up on any kind of trade?

A: I think after trading between 5,450-5,460 and 5,600 on the upside for past nine sessions, the market has given very valid technical breakdown. SBI results may have tilted balance firmly in favour of the bearish outcome. So, I believe that now the levels to look forward would be around 5,330-5,335 levels with some support coming in between around 5,375-5,380 levels.

Q: If we go all the way down to the 5,350 mark, what is primarily going to be leading us downside over there? Any kind of strategy that you have on key banking names or even the banking index now?

A: Along with SBI today, two more heavyweights have seen technical breakdown, Tata Steel as well as Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries was finding support around Rs 935-940 levels. It was expected that it will bounce back again to about Rs 979-980 kind of levels, but it has broken support. Now, it could be headed towards Rs 880-885 levels.

Similarly Tata Steel, it has given a valid breakdown again on daily charts as well as weekly charts. It could shed some more weight in the coming days. So, SBI, Reliance and Tata Steel could be the leaders in this particular fall and they might lead it towards 5,330-5,335 kind of levels.

Q: Technically, what about State Bank of India? What are the charts telling you as key support levels for State Bank of India?

A: State Bank of India was precariously placed around Rs 2,600 levels before the results. It has given a breakdown now. The levels to look forward to in the short run would be around Rs 2,375-2,380 where strong weekly support is seen. So, there could be technical rebound from around those levels.

Q: Do you think there could be any kind of an opportunity in the financial space, any other smaller banks that you like?

A: In the morning, Bank of India was looking good because it was finding support around Rs 390-385 levels. It has found support around these levels for past so many months now. So, a technical rebound could have been expected. Even now, I believe that that stock could be bought at current levels with small risk trade because Rs 385 is the stop loss level for Bank of India and it could go to all the way up to around Rs 435-440 or maybe if the market support, it could even head higher.

Among the largecaps, I believe HDFC Bank is still showing some resilience around Rs 2,240-2,245 levels. So, maybe on semblance of some support around these levels, one could go long in HDFC Bank.

Q: What would you recommend buying in terms of the sectors in the defensive side, pharma, FMCG and maybe IT?

A: FMCG and pharma are looking much better than even IT. In IT, the whole chart pattern is not looking good because of Infosys. Infosys is trading just around its strong support levels, weekly support levels about Rs 2,835-2,850 levels. But it is not showing any inclination to move higher.

TCS might trade in a range. But it is not looking good to give you some decent returns even in the short run. So, we are left only with the FMCG as well as pharma.

In FMCG, Hindustan Unilever looks to be a better chart right now, in fact better than ITC because it has held on to most of its gain for past three-four sessions and absorbed all the profit taking above Rs 305-306 levels. So, it could head towards Rs 320-325 levels over next five-seven trading sessions.

Sensex falls on Asian cues; Banks, IT, auto down

The Indian markets have opened lower tracking global cues. The Sensex was trading 148 points lower at 19,435 and the Nifty declined 46 points to 5,828 at 9.50 am.

Realty stocks rebounded after Monday's declined. The BSE realty index rose 0.38 per cent. All other sectoral indices were trading in the red. Banking, auto and IT stocks fell close to 0.50 per cent.

Only four stocks rose on the Sensex. Reliance Com was the biggest gainer, rising 0.86 per cent. Jindal Steel, ONGC and Bharti also saw buying interest.

Among the losers, Sterlite saw the biggest cut, falling 2 per cent. The stock had seen a good run-up to the results, rising for the past few sessions. The company reported strong numbers on Monday, announcing a 35 per cent rise in net profit. Maruti declined 1.4 per cent. The stock rose on Monday after the company beat Street expectations in this quarter.

HUL, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates, M&M, HDFC Bank and ITC declined 1-2 per cent.

The market breadth was weak with only 28 per cent stocks managing to mover higher on the BSE 500 index.

Ambareesh Baliga of Way2Wealth said, "The markets were looking to move up on account of earnings but that has not happened after Infosys and RIL punctured the rally. Earnings show that there is margin pressure coming in despite clear topline gains. 5,900-5,950 is a clear cap for markets though there is not too much downside."

Markets across Asia were trading in the red after the Wall Street saw a dip on Monday. The Nikkei in Japan was trading 1.32 per cent lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korean Kospi were also trading in red.

Overnight, the Dow fell 26 points or 0.2 per cent on mixed earnings.

Weekly Markets: Sensex drops on Infy nos, inflation data

Markets paused the last three week's rally as traders took to booking profits. Infosys' dissapointing earnings estimate did nothing to help the sentiments which were down with crude oil prices and inflation at high levels.

The holiday shortened week saw the Sensex drop 65 points to 19,386. The index opened the week at 19,383 and touched a high of 19,737 on Wednesday - Tuesday being a holiday on account of Ram Navami. Thursday market stayed shut for Ambedkar Jayanti. On the last trading day of the week index plunged after IT Major Infosys came out with its quarterly numbers.

Industrial production rose 3.6% in February 2011. However, market was expecting IIP growth to be at 4.8%. Manufacturing output rose an annual 3.5% in February 2011. January's industrial output annual growth rate was revised upwards to 3.9% from 3.7%.

The wholesale price index rose 8.9% in March 2011, higher than 8.3% rise in February 2011 and also ahead of market expectations.

Crude oil continued to hover around higher levels. High oil [prices have raised concerns of a widening current account deficit and higher oil subsidy bill.

Infosys reported marginal rise of 2% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,818 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2011 on sequential basis. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,780 crore in the December quarter. For the quarter ending June 30, 2011 the company expects revenue to be in the range of Rs 7,311 crore and Rs 7,382 crore; growth of 18.0% to 19.1% y-o-y.

"The results were tad below expectations. At Rs 3306, if Infosys had delivered 25-30% topline and 15-20% bottomline growth, we could have seen more upside on the stock. The scrip is down 7% due to profit booking," said Gaurang Shah, AVP, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Infosys was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks, plunging 7.3% to Rs 2,989. Other IT stocks dropped. Wipro tumbled 3.5% to Rs 450. TCS ended flat at Rs 1,190. Other losers included Core Projects, Oracle Financial Services and Tech Mahindra.

IT index, as a whole, slipped 4.5% to 6,259. BSE realty and metal indices dripped 1-2% each.

Meanwhile, FMCG index surged 2% to 3,713. Bankex gained 0.6% in the week to end at 13,383.

Among banking stocks, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank ended on a flat note at Rs 1,101 and Rs 2,360, respectively. However, Federal Bank rallied 5% to Rs 445. Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank jumped 3% each. Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bank of Baroda were up 2-3% each.

www.business-standard.com

Mohandas Pai resigns from Infosys Technologies

In what comes as a major setback to Infosys Technologies, board member TV Mohandas Pai has resigned, the company said in its press release while announcing the fourth quarter earnings. Pai has requested the board to relieve him after the company's AGM on June 11.

"We all know that he is taking this painful decision, since he has much bigger projects in the horizon—nation building," NR Narayana Murthy chairman and chief mentor of the company said in the release.

"Mohan has been an early adopter and a keen anchor builder of Infosys. It is difficult to imagine Infosys without Mohan’s passion, commitment, joie-de-vivre and intellect," Murthy said.

Mohan joined Infosys in 1994 and has served as a member of the board since May 2000. He was the chief financial officer from 1994 to 2006. In 2006, he voluntarily demitted the office of CFO to lead efforts in the areas of human resources and education and research.

After Nanadan Nikelani's resignation, this is the second biggest exit of a senior member from the company. Add to this K Dinesh, one of the founder members and a member of the board, who has chosen to retire. He was head of quality, information systems and the communication design group.

India's second largest IT services exporter Infosys reported a 2.15% growth in its fourth quarter net profit at Rs 1,818 crore versus Rs 1,779.8 crore in Q4FY10. Its standalone revenues came in at Rs 6,668 crore. A CNBC-TV18 poll saw net profit at Rs 1856 crore and revenue at Rs 7447 crore.

The board of directors will meet on April 30, 2011 to finalise on the new chairman post Murthy's retirement in August 2011.

www.moneycontrol.com

Sensex hits one-week high; ITC scales record high

The key benchmark indices surged, snapping four days' losses as world stocks rose and as a slide in crude oil prices from 2-1/2-year peak helped ease macroeconomic concerns. The barometer index BSE Sensex struck one-week high. The Sensex was provisionally up 466.34 points or 2.42%, up close to 635 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the health of the market, was strong.

Bank shares rose across the board on expectation of good Q4 results. Capital goods and auto stocks rose on renewed buying. IT stocks rose ahead of IT bellwether Infosys' Q4 result on Friday, 15 April 2011. Cigarette maker ITC scaled a record high.

The market recovered after hitting 2-week low at the onset of the trading session, tracking recovery in Asian stocks. The market moved into the positive zone to hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. The market extended initial gains to hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. The market trimmed gains in early afternoon trade. The market struck a fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. The Sensex extended gains in mid-afternoon trade. The barometer index surged to hit one-week high in late trade.

As per provisional figures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 466.34 points or 2.42% to 19,728.88. The Sensex rose 468.83 points at the day's high of 19,731.37 in late trade, its highest level since 6 April 2011. The Sensex shed 168.91 points at the day's low of 19,101.63 in early trade, its lowest level since 29 March 2011.

The S&P CNX Nifty was up 136.80 points or 2.36% to 5,922.50 as per provisional figures. The Nifty hit high of 5923.60 in late trade, its highest level since 8 April 2011. The Nifty hit low of 5,735.55 in early trade, its lowest level since 29 March 2011.

The market breadth, indicating the health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,941 shares advanced while 977 shares declined. A total of 93 shares remained unchanged. The breadth was negative at the onset of the trading session.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 28 advanced while only two of them declined.

BSE clocked turnover of Rs. 3373 crore, higher than Rs. 2588.21 crore on Monday, 11 April 2011.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.36% to Rs. 1020.80, off the day's low of Rs. 998 as refining margins are seen rising on the back of high crude oil prices. RIL recently bagged two blocks in the ninth round of oil and gas block auctions held by the government.

ONGC gained 1.78% after chairman A. K. Hazarika was quoted by the media as saying that the company will sign an agreement during the week-end to purchase a 25% stake in the Satpayev exploration block in Kazakhstan. The government has approved a total investment plan of $400 million. This includes a signature bonus of $13 million and $80 million as a fee for taking the stake in the block. The rest will be spent on exploration activities.

IT stocks rose ahead of IT bellwether Infosys' Q4 result on Friday, 15 April 2011. India's second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies rose 2.29%, with the stock gaining for the second straight day. The market has been abuzz with talks Infosys will give encouraging guidance for the year ending March 2012 (FY 2012) given underlying strong demand for offshore outsourcing. Infosys will give annual guidance for FY 2012 at the time of announcing Q4 March 2011 results on Friday.

India's largest software services exporter TCS advanced 2.23%. The company will announce Q4 result on 21 April 2011. India's third largest software services exporter Wipro gained 3.19%. The company will announce Q4 result on 27 April 2011.

Cigarette maker ITC rose 2.81% to Rs. 190.15 on expectations of good Q4 results. The stock hit record high of Rs. 190.50 today.

India's largest dam builder by sales Jaiprakash Associates surged 7.58% after executive chairman Manoj Gaur was quoted as saying the company aims to maintain a growth rate of 40% and aims to scale down debt significantly in the year ending March 2012 (FY 2012). It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Bank shares rose across the board on expectation of good Q4 results. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 3.65%. The bank will announce Q4 result on 18 April 2011. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank gained 2.68%. The bank will announce Q4 result on 28 April 2011.

India's largest state run bank by net profit and branch network State Bank of India (SBI) edged up 1.46%. Pratip Chaudhuri has taken over as the new chairman of State Bank of India the state-run bank said on 7 April 2011. Chaudhuri, 57, has been working with State Bank for 37 years and takes over from O.P. Bhatt. Before taking up the top role, Chaudhuri was deputy managing director in the international banking division of thebank.

Capital goods stocks rose on renewed buying. Punj Lloyd, ABB, Larsen & Toubro, BEML and Bhel rose by between 0.85% to 5.38%.

Auto stocks rose on strong domestic demand. India's top small car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki rose 3.41%, with the stock snapping last four days' losses. The company announced last week that it would recall 13,157 diesel engine cars. The company said it would inspect the 'connecting rod bolt' for units of its Swift and Ritz model diesel cars with engines manufactured between 13 November 2010 and 4 December 2010.

Maruti Suzuki increased the prices of its products by 0.2% to 2.4% from 4 April 2011, depending on the models to offset rising costs of key inputs viz. steel, aluminum, copper and natural rubber.
India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors gained 2.61%, with the stock snapping last three days' slide. The company had hiked prices of some car models by Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 36,000 from 1 April 2011.

India's top tractor and utility vehicles maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.73% with the stock snapping last two days' fall. The company has reportedly raised prices on most of its models by 1.5% to 2% recently to offset higher commodity prices.

India's largest bike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors gained 6.34% with the stock snapping last two days' losses after company today declared an interim dividend of Rs. 70 per equity share for the year ended March 2011. Hero Honda's total sales rose 24.4% to 5.15 lakh units in March 2011 over March 2010. The monthly sales in March 2011 were record monthly sales.

India's second largest bike maker by sales Bajaj Auto rose 1.6% with the stock snapping last three days' losses. The company's total vehicle sales increased 12% to 3.07 lakh units in March 2011 over March 2010. The company announced its March 2011 sales figures on 4 April 2011.
The market was closed on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, on account of Ram Navmi. The near term major trigger for the market is Q4 March 2011 results which will start trickling in starting this week when IT bellwether Infosys unveils earnings on Friday, 15 April 2011. Investors will scrutinize post-result management commentary to gauge outlook on earnings at a time when rising salaries, raw materials prices and interest rates are pressurizing profit margins of India Inc.

European stocks rose Wednesday, boosted by strength in the auto sector and tracking gains in Asia, as investors looked to the next round of US earnings reports. The key benchmark indices in UK, Germany and France were up by between 0.78% to 0.84%.

Japanese stocks led recovery in Asian markets on Wednesday on reports Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp. would restart a key factory that was hit by last month's quake in June 2011, a month earlier than expected. The key benchmark indices in Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia rose by between 0.55% to 1.56%.

Meanwhile, Japan's government on Wednesday downgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in six months, saying it is showing weakness after a devastating earthquake and tsunami last month battered the northeast coast.

US stocks dropped on Tuesday on worries falling oil prices could set off a reversal in the high-flying energy sector, while Alcoa's leaner-than-expected revenue disappointed. US trade deficit shrank in February as a slowdown in demand both at home and abroad hit imports and exports. The trade gap totaled $45.8 billion, down 2.6% from January despite another monthly rise in oil prices to their highest since October 2008, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 45 points at the opening bell on Wednesday, 13 April 2011.

Back home, high global commodity prices will add to pressure on profit margins of Indian firms caused by rising salaries and higher interest rates. Investors can take some solace in a recent slide in crude oil prices from 2-1-/2-year highs.

A surge in crude oil prices over the past few months has sparked inflation and interest rate worries. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is seen raising key short term policy rates by 25 basis points at its annual 2011-2012 monetary policy review on 3 May 2011.

India imports majority of its crude oil requirements and high oil prices have raised concerns about widening account deficit. High oil prices have also raised concerns about higher oil subsidy bill for the government and its negative impact on the government's fiscal position. US crude futures were up 29 cents or 0.27% at 106.54 a barrel.

Industrial production rose 3.6% in February 2011, lower than market expectations of a 4.8% growth, data released by the government on Monday showed. Manufacturing output, which constitutes about 80% of the industrial production, rose an annual 3.5% in February 2011. January's industrial output annual growth rate was revised upwards to 3.9% from 3.7%.
The data of Wholesale Price Index for the month of March 2011 is due on Friday, 15 April 2011. A Capital Market poll pegs a median rate of rise in inflation at 8.4% in March 2011, higher than an annual rise of 8.3% in February 2011.

The International Monetary Fund has marginally cut its 2011 economic growth forecast for India to 8.2% from 8.4% as persistent inflation pressure forced aggressive monetary tightening.
Good monsoon this year could help ease food inflation and boost rural income. Recent reports indicate that India will receive good rains during the July-September monsoon season this year.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will give its first official forecast for the June to September monsoon on 19 April 2011.

India Infoline

TCS set to outperform Infosys, Wipro, HCL again in Q4

The IT sector is expected to end FY11 on a moderate pitch. Market analysts say that the January-March quarter is when clients strategize their moves for the new financial year, so growth will be subdued sequentially as compared to other quarters.

"We expect modest results from the companies in our IT coverage universe. Though the macro scenario and demand outlook still remain bright, we expect a bland sequential topline growth due to the seasonally weak Q4," said Vijay Gautam , senior research analyst (IT) at Jaypee Capital.

According to a report by Dipen Shah, IT analyst at Kotak Securities, though the January-March quarter is normally soft, sequential growth will be reasonably good at about 5% and annual growth in rupee terms would be 26% for the top 4 IT companies.

The growth will be led by the global BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance ) vertical, where M&A activities have necessitated IT services, as well as verticals like manufacturing, which were slower to start spending and are now seeing increased deal flows. Analysts also say that onsite billing rates have been on the rise, and many domestic players, including Infosys,Wipro and MindTree are expecting positive movement in offshore billing rates.

Kotak expects TCS to grow 5.6% sequentially and 32% annually; while ICICI Securities expects the company to grow 3.5% sequentially and 29.3% annually. TCS is seen to benefit from its large exposure to BFSI.

Infosys is expected to grow between 3.2% and 4.7% sequentially and 23.4% and 25.2% annually. Analysts expect Wipro's IT services to underperform its large cap peers with a 1.6- 4% sequential growth and 13.9-16 .7% annual growth. The company is in the process of a major reorganization exercise and has implemented cost-cutting measures, reduced redundancies and is trying to make the organization more efficient. But those efforts may take time to play out.

There are mixed views on HCL. Some analysts feel that HCL has concerns due to its 3% revenue exposure to Japan and its struggling BPO business. However, despite these concerns, revenue growth for HCL is estimated at 3.8-5 .6% sequentially and 30.3-33 .5% annually, though these are from lower bases than those of its peers.

ICICI Securities expects IT companies to report average operating margins of 25.7%, a decline of 30 basis points sequentially due to modest revenue growth coupled with continued hiring. However, Kotak Securities expects that currency changes , cost efficiencies and scale benefits will push margins marginally upwards on a sequential basis.

Analysts maintain a positive bias on sector fundamentals over the medium-to-long term. As global IT spending is expected to increase by 5.6% in 2011 to $3.6 trillion, analysts remain bullish on prospects of the Indian IT services industry. Forrester Research has just raised its forecast for the US IT market for 2011 to 8%, from 7.4%, citing a strong momentum in business purchases of technology goods and services. But the growth would still be a bit slower than the 8.9% growth in 2010. That's because 2010 saw a huge boost in IT spending from M&As in BFSI that 2011 may not; and because the US recovery remains weak.

economictimes.indiatimes

Microsoft-Nokia Phone Deal On Track

Nokia-branded smartphones running Windows Phone 7 should hit stores by next year as alliance takes shape.

Efforts by Microsoft and Nokia to hammer out the details of a mobile technology alliance are well underway and should lead to Windows Phone 7 software on Nokia smartphones by 2012, a senior Nokia executive said.

"Negotiations have progressed very well. They will be concluded well on schedule," Kai Oistamo, head of corporate development at Nokia, told Reuters on Monday.

Microsoft and Nokia announced Feb. 11 that they'd reached a preliminary agreement under which Windows Phone 7 will become the default operating system on Nokia devices, but said many of the details of the plan had yet to be worked out. It's expected that a definitive deal will be worked out by the end of April.

Microsoft will rely on Nokia's worldwide distribution channels to boost Windows Phone 7's market presence. The company has released few details about sales of devices based on the OS, leading many analysts to conclude that Windows Phone 7 isn't selling well.

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AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint currently offer Windows Phone 7 phones in the U.S. from manufacturers HTC, Samsung, Dell, and LG.

Nokia, now headed up by former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop, has for its part concluded that farming out OS development to Redmond is the only way it can stay competitive with cash-rich rivals like Apple and Google while keeping a lid on R&D costs.

At least one market watcher thinks the plan will yield big dividends for both companies.

IDC predicts Windows Phone 7's share of the global smartphone OS market will jump from 5.5% in the current year to 67.1% in 2015, making it the number two player in the market behind Google Android. IDC expects Android's share to grow from 39.5% this year to 45.4% by 2015. It also expects Apple's iOS, which powers the iPhone, to see its share increase from 15.7% to 18.8% over the same period.

"Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft had steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing features," said IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas.

"The new alliance brings together Nokia's hardware capabilities and Windows Phone's differentiated platform." Llamas said he expects the first Nokia-branded Windows Phone 7 devices to hit stores next year.

Regardless of manufacturer, all Windows Phone 7 devices use Microsoft's unique Live Tiles interface as a starting point. Live Tiles pushes real-time updates from e-mails, social networks, and other communications tools to the forefront of the home screen. It also boasts direct integration with Microsoft products such as Office, Zune, and Xbox Live.

www.informationweek.com

Oil & gas, IT drag Sensex down 83 points

Erasing its opening session gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark lost over 80 points during the pre-close session on Tuesday due to profit-booking by funds and retail investors amid mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 83.35 points at 19,618.38. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was down 7.55 points at 5900.90.

Volume toppers during the session were SBI, L&T, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank. Major Sensex losers were Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC, L&T, RIL, Mahindra & Mahindra and ONGC. Tata Motors, BHEL and SBI were the major gainers.

Among the heavyweights, RCom was up 4.17 per cent, BHEL 1.35 per cent, Cipla 1.28 per cent, Tata Motors 0.91 per cent and SBI 0.82 per cent. Tata Power was down 1.75 per cent, M&M 1.69 per cent,L&T 1.6 per cent, DLF 1.58 per cent and HDFC 1.33 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, consumer durables was up 1.66 per cent, metal 0.75 per cent, healthcare 0.23 per cent and PSU 0.23 per cent. Oil & gas was down 0.63 per cent, IT 0.46 per cent, bankex 0.28 per cent and capital goods 0.22 per cent. Of the total 2,922 stocks traded, 1,794 advanced, 1,028 declined and 100 remained unchanged.

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained over 68 points in the opening trade today on the back of strong FII inflows amid expectations of encouraging fourth quarter earnings by corporates.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which had gained 281.34 points in the previous session, rose further by 68.48 points to 19,770.21 points as heavyweights such as oil and gas, PSU and power sector stocks made headway.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also gained 20.20 points to 5,928.65.

www.thehindubusinessline.com

Nifty ends above 5900; 2G linked stocks decline

The markets have begun the week on a strong note with the NSE benchmark Nifty closing above the psychological 5,900 mark. The Sensex rose 281 points to 19,701 while the Nifty advanced 82 points to 5,908.

The markets have witnessed a terrific rally in the last fortnight. Banking and IT stocks have been on the forefront of this rally.

IT stocks led today's rise as well. The BSE IT index rose 2.18 per cent. TCS and Infosys gained 2-3 per cent. Together, the two stocks added close to 75 index points on the Sensex. Wipro closed 1 per cent higher.

Capital goods stocks surged after BHEL reported good numbers. The company posted 40 per cent growth in profits. BHEL surged 2.84 per cent. L&T closed 2.4 per cent higher.

Banking stocks gained 1.8 per cent. All other sectoral indices closed in the green. On the Sensex, 23 stocks finished higher. M&M was the top gainer, rising 4.75 per cent. Jaiprakash Associates gained 3.25 per cent. HDFC Bank advanced 2.8 per cent.

2G scam linked stocks declined after the CBI named Reliance Telecom, Swan and Unitech Wireless as the beneficiaries in its chargesheet on Saturday. Reliance Comm saw the biggest cut on the Sensex, ending 2.2 per cent lower. Unitech declined 1.3 per cent while DB Realty fell 2.3 per cent.

Today’s buying was not limited to index stocks. Midcap and small cap stocks outperformed the benchmark indices and that was evident in the market breadth. 85 per cent stocks advanced on the BSE 500 index.

Deven Choksey of KR Choksey Securities said, "The overall trend looks positive. One would not like to venture into aggressive buying at least on the index front but look at selective individual stocks that are likely to outperform the markets in the next 2-3 months."

profit.ndtv.com

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/nifty-ends-above-5900-2g-linked-stocks-decline-147776?pfrom=home-Business&cp

Bearish on Wipro and Infosys, TCS and HCL attractive: Saurabh Mukherjea

ET Now spoke to Saurabh Mukherjea, Head of Equities, Ambit Capital, on IT stocks .

Could you throw more light on what exactly you meant when you said that Wipro currently is standing at a very important strategic crossroad?

The Indian IT sector faces some key calls over the next couple of years. The IT giants can take one of two routes. They can either choose to focus on scale i.e. become the outsourcing gorilla, becomes one or two of the largest outsourcing players in the world. TCS seems to have clearly chosen that route. They will focus heavily on outsourcing and become the biggest of its kind in the world. The other route that's open to Indian IT is that choose to become something like an Accenture, high front-end consultancy skills, high boardroom connects into the Fortune 500. HCL Tech has clearly chosen to take that route. Where Infosys and Wipro are struggling is they have not quite made up their mind. Will they take the outsourcer route or will they take the front-end consultancy i.e. the Accenture model? Unless you make your mind up, you will get caught between these two business models and unfortunately that's where Infosys and Wipro increasingly find themselves at.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

TCS, Tata Motors FY11 top gainers

Two of the Tata group biggies—Tata Motors and TCS—emerged as the biggest gainers in 2010-11 fiscal rewarding shareholders with returns of 65% and 52%, respectively. Indeed Indian IT majors emerged as favourites with investors after signs of recovery in the global economy with HCL and Infosys also featuring in the list of top gainers, giving returns of 34% and 24%, respectively.

Sensex gained 11% during the year to close at 19,445.22 while the broader Nifty rose a tad more at 11.4% to 5,833.75. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers for the better part of the year till December 2010, after which they turned sellers in January and February. In March, however, they turned buyers again.

Investors were also wowed by the tremendous turnaround of Tata Motors’ Jaguar and Land Rover business as the marquee brands cashed in on a reviving luxury car market and helped the company report profits. The auto stock saw an 87% jump in its market capitalisation in 2010-11.

www.indianexpress.com

Wipro to buy SAIC’s IT biz for $150 mn

Software firm Wipro Technologies has proposed to acquire US-based Science Applications International Corporation’s (SAIC) oil and gas IT business in an all-cash deal of about $150 million.

The unit provides consulting, system integration and outsourcing services to global oil majors. “Oil and gas companies are investing in the upstream business, while looking at rationalising cost through IT. The acquisition of SAIC’s global oil and gas information technology practice will strengthen Wipro’s existing Energy business unit,” Wipro Technologies Senior VP (Energy, Natural Resources and Utilities SBU) Anand Padmanabhan said.

“As a result of the transaction, about 1,450 employees are expected to move to Wipro across North America, Europe, India and Middle East,” it said, adding that Wipro’s Energy, Natural Resources and Utilities Strategic Business Unit (SBU) is a high-growth unit and this acquisition will further strengthen Wipro’s leadership position.

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Crude oil price will remain a key concern: Kotak AMC

Domestic market has turned volatile on aggressive crude oil prices. In the view of most analysts, India will have to deal with hiking oil rates and inflation numbers at the same time in order to keep the market steady. Alroy Lobo, chief strategist and global head of equity asset management at Kotak AMC feels that higher oil prices will weigh on market sentiments and will remain as a key concern till oil prices come off. In addition to that, global events have been priced into the market and as a result, the revenue estimates will be shaved.

Talking about sector specific growth prospects, he said that he is constructive on the IT and outsourcing service sector. “IT and outsourcing services should show continuous growth in FY12,” he adds. He was also optimistic about the growth of pharmaceutical sector in India.

Besides being neutral on banking sector, he is underweight on infrastructure, real estate and capital goods sector in India. He feels that inflows were weak due to lack of retail participation; however, he sees a fair degree of valuations in the midcap segment.

Reacting on the RBI’s interest policy update, he said, “RBI is likely to hike interest rates to 50 to 75 basis points this year.”

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