GoAir plans $150 million IPO: Sources

Indian budget airline GoAir is planning to raise about $150 million through a public offer (IPO) to fund its operational expenses, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The airline has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Edelweiss Capital to manage the offering, said the sources, who declined to be named as the information was not yet public.

The airline will file for the share sale shortly, they said. GoAir’s chief executive officer Kaushik Khona declined to comment.

GoAir is run by Go Airlines (India) Pvt Ltd, promoted by the Wadia group which also runs textiles firm Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd.

Maruti Suzuki skids on muted sales growth in April

Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.78% to Rs. 1,296.25 at 11:20 IST on BSE after company's total sales registered a muted 4.4% rise to 97,155 units in April 2011 over April 2010.

The company announced the monthly vehicle sales figures during market hours today, 2 May 2011.

On BSE, 73,567 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 65,232 shares over the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs. 1333.90 and a low of Rs. 1287 so far during the day.

India's largest car maker by sales has an equity capital of Rs. 144.46 crore. Face value per share is Rs. 5.

Maruti's domestic vehicle sales rose 8.9% to 87,144 units in April 2011 over April 2010. Exports fell 23.1% to 10,011 units in April 2011 over April 2010. As per segment wise sales, total domestic passenger cars sales rose 7.6% to 73,905 units in April 2011 over April 2010. Within the passenger segment, sales of A1 segment (comprising of Maruti 800 model) rose 12% to 2528 units in April 2011 over April 2010.

Sales of A2 Segment (Alto, Wagon-R, Estilo, Swift, A-star, Ritz) rose 1.8% to 57,443 units in April 2011 over April 2010. Sales of A3 Segment (SX4, D-Zire) rose 39.1% to 13,899 units in April 2011 over April 2010. Sales of A4 segment which comprised of Kizashi model, which was launched in February 2011 stood at 35 units.

In the B segment, Multi Utility vehicles which consisting of models Gypsy and Grand Vitara, declined 69.5% to 217 units in April 2011 over April 2010. Sales of C segment, comprised of vans Omni and Eeco rose 22.2% to 13,022 units in April 2011 over April 2010.

The company's net profit fell 8.4% to Rs. 2288.60 crore on 24.60% increase in total income, net of excise, to Rs. 37522.40 crore in the year ended March 2011 over the year ended March 2010. Adverse currency movement (particularly on exports), higher commodity prices and new model launches impacted the company's profits in the year ended March 2011, Maruti said

Maruti Suzuki India's board recommended a final dividend of Rs. 7.50 per share for the year ended March 2011. The dividend will be paid on 14 September 2011 subject to the approval of the shareholders in the ensuing annual general meeting.

Sensex extends weekly rally at start...Nifty eyes 5900

BSE Sensex was trading at 19,602, up 133 points over the previous close. While, NSE Nifty was trading at 5,885, up 33 points over the previous close.

The Indian equity benchmarks have started the last trading of the week on solid note, joining a worldwide rally in stocks following strong results from some top US corporates. Barring Infosys, results from the Indian companies too have been largely in line with estimates with an odd one like HCL Technologies beating market expectations.

At 09:22 am (IST), the BSE Sensex was trading at 19,602, up 133 points over the previous close. While, NSE Nifty was trading at 5,885, up 33 points over the previous close.

The broader indices are also trading firm and the market breadth is positive. Most sectoral indices on the BSE are in the positive territory.

Meanwhile, shares of scam-tainted Unitech, DB Realty and the ADAG companies have recovered ahead of the High Court ruling on the bail applications of five executives allegedly involved in the 2G scam.

Hero Honda, ONGC, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, L&T, TCS, HDFC Bank, Sterlite, Tata Steel, Grasim, ACC, Sesa Goa, HDFC, HCL tech, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, DLF, Ranbaxy and DLF are among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.

BPCL, Siemens, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, GAIL, Bajaj Auto, M&M, SAIL and JP Associate were among the notable losers in the Sensex and the Nifty.

In global action, markets across Asia have advanced, tracking a solid rally on Wall Street and the European markets. Crude oil has risen for a third straight day amid increasing signs that the global economy is doing well. The dollar has lost some ground against the main counterparts while gold is trading above the US$1,500 an ounce.

India Infoline

Muthoot Finance IPO subscribed 10 times on QIB support

Country's largest gold financing company Muthoot Finance's initial public offering, which closes on April 21, has received good response from investors - especially qualified institutional investors.

The issue has been subscribed 10 times so far, as per data available on NSE. Reserved portion of qualified institutional bidders, which closes today, has subscribed more than 23 times - QIBs put in bids for more than 41 crore equity shares as against reserved portion of 1.8 crore shares.

Non-institutional and retail investors' portion remains undersubscribed.

The non-banking finance company engaged in gold loan business plans to raise Rs 901 crore via an initial public offer of 5.15 crore equity shares at the higher end of price band of Rs 160-175 a share.

Issue proceeds will be mainly used for augmenting capital base to meet future capital requirements to provide for funding of loans to customers.

ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co are the book running lead managers to the issue while HDFC Bank is the co-manager.

Muthoot Finance IPO subscribed 10 times on QIB support

Sensex ends 300 points lower; DLF, JP Asso, TCS down

Indian markets ended sharply lower for second consecutive session as weak global peers and concerns of possible rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India spooked sentiments.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex closed at 19095.02, down 291.80 points or 1.51 per cent. The 30-share index hit a high of 19649.22 and low of 19071.47 intraday.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty ended at 5731.60, down 92.95 points or 1.60 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5897.90 and low of 5722.25 in today's trade.

BSE Midcap Index fell 1.30 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.73 per cent lower.

All the sectoral indices ended lower. BSE Realty Index fell 3.48 per cent, BSE IT Index was down 2.73 per cent and BSE Capital Goods Index was declined 2.15 per cent.

DLF (-5.16%), Jaiprakash Associates (-3.33%), TCS (-3.07%), Infosys Technologies (-2.89%) and L&T (-2.88%) were the major Sensex losers.

Hero Honda (2.33%), HUL (2.10%), Bajaj Auto (0.87%),ONGC (0.80%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.44%) were the top gainers.

Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1713 declines against 1177 advances.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Indian stocks slip as tech worries weigh

Indian stocks lost early gains to trade lower on Monday, with the information technology sector remaining under pressure after results and guidance from Infosys Technologies Ltd. disappointed investors last week.

The Sensex XX:SENSEX -1.51% fell 168.47 points, or 0.9%, to 19,218.35, led by declines of more than 2% for shares of Infosys IN:500209 -2.89% ; Cipla Ltd. IN:500087 -1.46% ; Tata Consultancy Services IN:532540 -3.07% ; and DLF Ltd. IN:532868 -5.16%

Shares of Hero Honda Motors Ltd.IN:500182 +2.33% bucked the trend, rising 3% after the auto maker last week announced an interim dividend to 70 rupees per share.

The S&P/CNX Nifty XX:NIFTY -1.64% fell 0.9% to 5,769.70.

The drop in Infosys shares follows a 9.6% slide on Friday after the firm said profit for its quarter ended March 31 rose by a smaller-than-expected 13.6% from the year-earlier period as costs outpaced growth in revenue.

Net profit rose to 18.18 billion rupees ($408 million) from 16.00 billion rupees in the year earlier period. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected the company’s profit to rise to 18.81 billion rupees.

For the current financial year that started April 1, Infosys said it expects an 8% to 10% growth in earnings per share in U.S. dollar terms, to a range between $2.83 and $2.88. Current financial year revenue is expected to climb 18% to 20% to $7.13 billion to $7.25 billion.

Deutsche Bank, however, said that the quarterly miss was a “one-time phenomenon” and that the software-maker’s management was “unduly conservative” in its guidance.

Among the offsets expected by Deutsche Bank is that Infosys should continue to benefit from increased hiring at lower wages, which should bring down its overall wage inflation and cost base.

Investors worried about the information technology’s prospect will next turn to results from Tata Consultancy Services IN:532540 -3.07% due on Thursday.

The banking sector, also a key component for the market’s overall earnings growth, fell 1% , with investors awaiting quarterly results earnings from HDFC Bank Ltd.IN:500180 -1.77% later Monday.

Marketwatch

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

Sensex, Nifty decline 0.3% this week

Indian equity benchmarks ended with moderate loss this week. The 50-share NSE Nifty was down 17.45 points or 0.3%, to close at 5,824.55 and the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 64.63 points or 0.3%, to end at 19,386.82.

However, the broader indices were marginally in the green - the CNX Midcap Index was up 0.3% and BSE Small Cap Index up 0.5%.

The BSE Auto Index was up 0.6%, Bankex up 0.7% and Capital Goods Index up 1.8%. However, Metals Index was down 0.6% and Realty Index down 2.1%.

Information Technology Index cracked 4.5% on disappointing EPS guidance from Infosys for FY12.

Infosys has guided for an earnings per share of Rs 126.05-128.21 for 2011-12, while many analysts had projected an EPS of close to Rs 145-150.

Analysts say they are likely to lower their 2011-12 (April-March) earnings expectations for Infosys Technologies since the guidance is way below what they were expecting.

Infosys plunged 7.3%. DLF tanked 5.8% and Siemens India tumbled 5%. JSPL, Wipro and Cairn India were down 2-4%.

However, Hero Honda surged 10.6% as the company declared a dividend of Rs 70 a share. Jaiprakash Associates shot up 5.1%.

ITC, Bharti Airtel, L&T and Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 3-4%.

In midcap space, Finolex Industries went up 10.4%,. Jubilant Life Sciences, Sterlite Tech and IndusInd Bank gained 3.5-5%.

However, Aftek, Voltas, Gammon India and Rolta were down 3-4%.

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

Hero Honda declares 3,500 pc interim dividend

The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda today declared a 3,500 per cent interim dividend of Rs 70 per equity share of Rs 2 each.

In its board meeting held today, the company considered and declared "an interim dividend at the rate of 3,500 per cent that is Rs 70 per equity share of Rs 2 each", Hero Honda said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The company, however, did not mention how much will be the capital outgo due to this exercises and other details regarding the period for the dividend.

Repeated calls to Chief Financial Officer Ravi Sud and to a company spokesperson remained unanswered.

Reacting sharply, the shares of Hero Honda were trading 6.28 per cent up at Rs 1,742 a piece on the BSE during late-afternoon.

In March last year, the company declared a Silver Jubilee Special Dividend of 4,000 per cent or Rs 80 per equity share of Rs 2 each.

In 2009, Hero Honda had said it was sitting on a huge cash reserve of over Rs 4,000 crore and the company was looking at many options to use the fund, including special dividend to its shareholders or expanding capacity.

During April-December, 2010, the company's net profit fell by 12.66 per cent to Rs 1,426.29 crore from Rs 1,633.02 crore in the same period previous year.

The total net operating income during the 9-month period increased by 19.36 per cent to Rs 14,010.22 crore from Rs 11,738.19 crore in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, Hero Honda appointed Toshiyuki Inuma as a Non-Executive Additional Director with effect from April 13.

Besides, the company also approved resignations of its Non-Executive Director Yuji Shiga and Non-Executive and Independent Director Shobhana Bhartia from its board with effect from April 13.

In December last year, the Indian promoter of the two-wheeler maker, the B M Munjal family, had agreed to buyout the entire 26 per cent stake of the Japanese promoter Honda Motor Co in Hero Honda for Rs 3,841.83 crore. The process of Honda exiting the joint venture completed this month.

The Economic Times

Asian markets inch up; Wall Street ends lower

Asian shares inched higher in early trade on Wednesday, while the yen may head lower as some investors said the position unwinding due to risk aversion would be shortlived.

Crude oil slipped, extending two days of losses after Goldman Sachs urged investors to book profits, warning for a second time in as many days of an increased risk of price reversal .

Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent while South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent, led by exporters, although resource-related stocks weakened across Asia , taking a cue from the widespread decline in commodity prices overnight.

The yen slipped 0.4 percent against the dollar as some analysts said its gains this week were because of stretched positioning and may be an opportunity to extend their short positions.

Brent crude for May was down 0.1 percent at $120.77 a barrel, extending a $3 plunge overnight. The May Brent contract expires on Thursday. U.S. May crude fell 0.1 percent to $106.12.

US stocks dropped on on worries falling oil prices could set off a reversal in the high-flying energy sector, while Alcoa's leaner-than-expected revenue disappointed.

Energy stocks led the S&P 500's losses, with the S&P Energy Index down 3 percent. Strategists were already worried the rally in energy stocks may have gone too far ahead of earnings, and a drop in oil prices could spark an extended sell-off.

Signalling the start of the US first-quarter earnings period, Alcoa Inc late Monday reported revenue that missed forecasts. Its profit, however, topped consensus expectations. Alcoa's stock slid 6 percent to $16.70 and was the Dow's biggest percentage loser of the day.

Materials stocks in general fell in sync with declines in metals prices. Investors are worried that Japan's massive earthquake and a nuclear crisis could weaken recovery prospects in the world's third-largest economy.

The SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF fell 2.2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 117.53 points, or 0.95 percent, at 12,263.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexwas down 10.30 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,314.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 26.72 points, or 0.96 percent, at 2,744.79.

The S&P Materials Index fell 1.4 percent while U.S.-traded shares of Rio Tinto fell 2.3 percent to $72.13. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc shed 3.1 percent to $53.70.

The day's slide broke some technical barriers, analysts said.

The S&P 500 fell below support at 1,320, and touched the rising 20-day moving average at about 1,310, according to Larry McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis Corp. in Morristown, New Jersey.

Composite volume was below average on the NYSE, Amex and Nasdaq, with 7.53 billion shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 8.47 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by about 11 to 4 and on the Nasdaq by about 10 to 3.

BRICS to use own currencies for credit, grants

In a first-of- its-kind step, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) will be signing an agreement on Thursday under which they would be able to give credit and grants to each other in their own currency instead of dollars.

The Summit, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Chinese resort city of Sanya, will discuss a whole range of issues related to global financial and economic situation besides matters related to energy security, food security and challenges posed by terrorism.

At the Summit, South Africa will join as the new member, making it a five-nation grouping of fastest growing economies. BRICS will be discussing the reform of the international financial system, National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon told journalists accompanying the Prime Minister to Sanya.

"We (BRICS) are making a beginning... An agreement will be signed under which BRICS countries will be able to issue credit or grants to each other in own currency," Menon said, noting that it was first such step.

Asked about India''s position on Chinese efforts to make its currency Yuan as an alternate to dollar for trade, the NSA said there was no such proposal before the BRICS to make Yuan as a reserve currency.

When pressed further, he said it was a larger issue related to reform of the international monetary system and could not be settled by five countries. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said: "we have not reached a stage to make a definite statement" on this issue.

Sharma said the BRICS countries, which are fastest growing economies and projected to contribute 48 per cent to the global economy in the next decade, would discuss their role in addressing the international financial and economic crisis.

As part of the evolution process of BRICS, the Trade and Economy Ministers would be meeting for the first time to take stock of the international economic situation and their inputs would go to the Summit on Thursday.

The BRICS countries have been pushing for restructuring of the global financial architecture to make it more representative. Sharma said the BRICS countries would discuss how to coordinate to enhance their trade and economic relations and contribute to the global economy.

In the context of India, he said it was trying to increase exports as it aspires to have a trade volume of USD 450 billion by 2014 with the world. The trade volume stood at USD 200 billion in 2010-11 and touched USD 208 billion in February last.

To increase commerce, India recently signed trade- opening Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA) with Japan and Malaysia and was fast-tracking negotiations on such pacts with Indonesia, Thailand and Canada.

Moneycontrol

Inflation might decline by April, May: Rangarajan

Prime Minister''s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan today said that inflation might show signs of coming down in April or May with the food price inflation coming down.

"I think the inflation numbers will show some decline in the month of March but certainly by April or May. Weekly data that are available indicate that the food price inflation is coming down...," Rangarajan told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Food inflation fell to a four-month low of 9.18% for the week ended March 26. WPI-based inflation was at 8.31% in February this year. Since foodprice inflation was persistent for a long time, it also extended to manufacturing side and that is why, overall inflation was not coming down as fast as expected, he said.

"I hope food price inflation would further come down as wheat crop is considered to be very good.. and if wheat crop comes into the market, foodgrain prices should fall, he said.

On Index of Industrial Production data, he said there could be a change in next fiscal.

"In February I heard it was 3.6%. We thought it will pick up, but it is showing some improvement now." But if it reaches 8% in a year, then there could be a turnaround in the next fiscal," he said.

Asked about whether there would be a hike in interest rates, he said: "Monetary policy can move from current stance only when the inflation rates show a very strong decline."

On whether there would be any move by the government to deregulate diesel prices, he said the numbers indicated in the budget clearly show that there will be some policy decisions relating to petroleum products during the year.

"However, the timing of the decision will depend on when the inflation rate falls. I think some policy action relating to the petroleum and diesel prices will have to be taken during the course of the year," he said.

Moneycontrol

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

Bharti Airtel and Aircel to launch Apple's iPhone 4 in India

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top mobile phone carrier, and its smaller rival Aircel separately said on Monday they would launch Apple's iPhone 4 in India in the coming months.

Both companies declined to give specific dates for the planned launch.

Bharti and Vodafone Essar already sell earlier models of the iPhone in India.

With nearly 800 million mobile subscribers, India is the world's second-biggest market for mobile phone services and is also the fastest-growing. But smartphones are estimated to account for just over 5 percent of the mobile handset sales.

Indian carriers have recently started rolling out high-speed third-generation (3G) mobile networks, which is expected to boost sales of smartphones.

Bharti had 159 million mobile subscribers as of end-February, while Aircel had 53.5 million.

(Reporting by Bharghavi Nagaraju and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)

Industrial Output Growth in India Unexpectedly Slows to 3.6% in February

India’s industrial production growth unexpectedly slowed in February, a deceleration that may be insufficient to stop the central bank from raising interest rates further.

Output at factories, utilities and mines rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier after a revised 3.95 percent gain in January, the government said in a statement in New Delhi today. The median estimate of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 5.1 percent increase.

While production growth moderated, other data including the purchasing managers’ index, car sales and credit expansion have signaled that consumer demand is stoking price risks. Inflation probably accelerated to 8.36 percent last month, exceeding the central bank’s 8 percent forecast, according to the median estimate in another Bloomberg News survey.

“Although the output data are volatile, consumer demand remains strong,” said Meghna Patel, a Mumbai-based economist at STCI Primary Dealer Ltd. “We think the RBI will need to tighten rates more to gain control over inflation.”

She expects the central bank to raise borrowing costs by a quarter of a percentage point at the next monetary policy announcement scheduled for May 3. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is due to release inflation data on April 15.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index fell 1 percent, extending losses for a fifth day. The yield on the 8.13 percent note due September 2022 rose 5 basis points to 8.17 percent as of 3:49 p.m. in Mumbai, the highest level since Feb. 11, while the rupee weakened 0.6 percent to 44.35 to the dollar.

Growth Momentum

Manufacturing rose 3.5 percent in February from a year earlier, slower than the 3.6 percent gain in January, today’s report showed. Mining gained 0.6 percent, while electricity output rose 6.7 percent. Capital goods production slid 18.4 percent.

“Even as industrial production continues to be volatile, other indicators, such as the latest purchasing managers’ index, direct and indirect tax collections, merchandise exports and bank credit, suggest that the growth momentum persists,” the central bank said in a March 17 statement.

India’s industrial output has fluctuated since May, when it registered a 12.2 percent expansion. The growth eased to 7.2 percent in June, rebounded to 15.1 percent in July, slid to 4.9 percent in September and then recovered in October, according to government data.

Rate Increases

The slowdown in factory output is a “concern,” and the March reading is likely to be even lower,Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser to the ministry of finance told reporters in New Delhi today. It may pick up from April, he said.

Reserve Bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao raised rates on March 17 for the eighth time in a year, boosting the repurchase rate by a quarter point to 6.75 percent after raising the inflation forecast twice since late January. The price gauge will reach 8 percent at the end of March compared with the 7 percent estimated on Jan. 25, he said.

“In the absence of a strong supply response, increasing demand will inevitably lead to higher prices,” Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said April 5. He said a “monetary response is warranted” should demand exceed supply and stoke inflation.

India’s $1.3 trillion economy may expand as much as 9.25 percent in the year ending March 31, 2012, the finance ministry said in February.

Capacity, Loans

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), the nation’s biggest carmaker, plans to boost capacity by 21 percent in the current financial year as part of investment plans totaling as much as 40 billion rupees ($908 million), Chief Financial Officer Ajay Seth said in an interview on April 6. The company’s sales climbed to a record in March.

Recent data on bank loans show lenders are giving loans at a faster pace than the central bank’s target. Commercial loans rose 23 percent from the previous year as of March 11, more than the 20 percent rate prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India.

Manufacturing grew for a 24th straight month, with the purchasing managers’ index holding unchanged at 57.9 in March from February, when it accelerated at the fastest pace in three months, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said April 1.

“Strong consumption and supply constraints are together responsible for the high inflation,” saidRamya Suryanarayanan, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. The central bank needs to extend rate increases to restrain prices, she said.

Budget Boost

Salaries in India this year may rise the most in the Asia- Pacific region, fueling consumer demand, a survey by Aon Hewitt LLC showed March 8. Spending under the government’sNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 has surged almost fourfold to 399 billion rupees.

Demand may find more support from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, that plans to spur spending and exempt incomes below 180,000 rupees from tax, higher than the previous threshold of 160,000 rupees.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition aims to put more money in the hands of voters to help them cope with rising prices and shore up support for five state elections in 2011.

Rising oil and commodity costs and sustained economic growth are escalating pressure on Asian central banks to boost borrowing costs. China on April 5 raised rates for the fourth time since October. Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand increased borrowing costs in March or April to curb inflation.

India relies on imports to meet three-quarters of its annual energy needs.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kartik Goyal in New Delhi at kgoyal@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net