Pragmatic Investments

Date: 16 June 2009

Thought for the day
 
“Never consider the possibility of failure; as long as you persist, you will be successful.”

– Brian Tracy

GENERAL
 
1)UPA-2’s much-awaited first budget will be presented on July 6 ahead of mounting expectations in Congress that it ought to be a “thank you” to various voter groups for returning the party to power even as the government grapples with balancing poll promises with fiscal discipline. Parliament will meet on July 2 and the railway budget will be presented the next day followed by the economic survey.

TOI

ECONOMY
2)Despite falling exports, the Indian economy would grow by 6.6% in the current fiscal on the back of strong domestic market and resilience, economic think-tank, CMIE said. However, the economy is likely to bounce back to 9% growth path by 2010-11 when the impact of poor exports demand is overcome.

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CORPORATE / INDUSTRY
3)INDIAN drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop and market generics and formulations in emerging markets, according to a statement issued by the company. Under the terms of the agreement, which is effective immediately, GSK will gain access to Dr Reddy’s diverse portfolio and future pipeline of more than 100 branded pharmaceuticals. Under the 10-year collaboration, both companies will market drugs in fast-growing therapeutic segments such as cardiovascular, diabetes, oncology, gastroenterology and pain management.

ET

4)Engineering firm Hindustan Dorr Oliver on Monday said it had bagged an order worth Rs 126.95 crore from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation for construction-related works. The order is for construction of plant on high-efficiency reverse osmosis technology, a filtration process often used for water, Hindustan Dorr said in a filing to the BSE.

BS

MONEY & BANKING
5)Rupee weakened against the dollar due to negative domestic equity markets and as the dollar strengthened in the overseas markets. The rupee opened weak at 47.72 and weakened during the day to touch 47.9950. There were some stray deals at 48, a level last seen in mid-May. But some dollar selling by the Reserve Bank of India and some inflows from corporate helped the rupee minimise some of its losses. It closed at 47.72, about 10 paise down from Friday’s close of 47.61.

BL

6)INDIA’S commercial banking system continues to be sound, healthy, adequately capitalised and well-regulated at the beginning of the second term of the UPA government, according to RBI data studied. Scheduled commercial banks (public sector, private sector and foreign banks) have shown an impressive growth from 2004-05 to 2008-09.

FE

INSURANCE
7)Public sector insurers have outpaced private sector peers for the first time since the non-life insurance sector was thrown open. Flash figures from the General Insurers’ Council indicate that
 the private sector growth was negative at 0.7 per cent in the first two months of the current financial year over the corresponding previous period. Public sector insurers grew 7 per cent during the same period.

BL

8)BRITISH financial services group HSBC has said it has a ‘preferential arrangement’ with Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, its local life insurance JV partners, to increase its stake in
 HSBC Canara Life Insurance to 49% when laws permit higher FDI into the insurance sector.

ET

MARKETS
9)EQUITY benchmarks tumbled over 2% on Monday, led by a steep decline in index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL). Market watchers said sluggish world markets and the Meteorological Department’s forecast of delayed monsoons, too, weighed on investor’s sentiment. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer closed at 14,875.52, down 362.42 points over the previous close and the 50-share NSE Nifty shed 99.40 points to end at 4,484 points. Brokers expect the market to consolidate between 14,600 and 15,500 till the Budget.

ET

10)Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) shares rose 24.11 per cent to Rs 108.35 after the Bombay High Court ruling upholding the company’s plea against RIL over a gas dispute. The court asked RIL to supply 28 mmscmd gas to RNRL at $2.34 per mmBtu for 17 years. The stock made an intra-day high of Rs 112.25 and a low of Rs 86.85.

BS

11)THE capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India(Sebi) will shortly revise its rules to introduce variable entry loads for mutual funds and also make disclosure of commission mandatory for distributors. Apart from the changes to the rules on mutual funds, the sebi board, which meets on Thursday, is slated to discuss the introduction of a new entity called ‘anchor investor’
 and minimum disclosures on rights issues.

ET

MUTUAL FUNDS
12)The Securities and Exchange Board of India has asked mutual funds to bring down their net investments in money market instruments in a single entity to 30 per cent by September 5, the market regulator said in a circular on Monday.

BL

13)JAPANESE financial services firm Nomura will pick up 35% stake in LIC Mutual Fund(LICMF). Housing subsidiaries of state-owned in-surers will sell their stakes in LICMF for Rs 227 crore. The deal values the fund at $149.3 million, or about 2.5% of its May average assets of Rs 28,600 crore.

FE

14)HDFC Asset Management said on Monday it has launched a mobile phone-based platform to allow investors buy, sell or switch money into its funds and access account information.

BL

COMMODITIES

15)Gold fell towards $930 an ounce on Monday, pressured by a broadly firmer dollar, while easing oil prices dampened demand for bullion as a hedge against potential oil-induced inflation. Commodities
 priced in dollars have lost value as the US currency firmed, as they become more expensive for holders of other currencies. Spot gold fell to $933.25 per ounce by 1003 GMT, against $937.90 an ounce late in New York on Friday.

BL

REAL ESTATE

16)After a meeting of the board of directors on Monday, Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd said it plans to raise Rs 1,500 crore by way of qualified institutional placement(QIP). The board has decided to seek shareholders approval to issue equity shares to resident and non-resident qualified institutional buyers.

BL

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING

17)The domestic Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) market, with a growth rate of 50 per cent over five years, grew faster than the exports market to reach nearly $1.6 billion revenues in the financial year 2008. Though, it is smaller than the $11-billion BPO exports market, it is expected to reach $6 billion by 2012, according to a new Ernst and Young(E&Y) study.

BS

18)Business process outsourcing(BPO) firms are seeking to expand their service offerings to cater to the incremental growth as existing customers look to outsource more to reduce costs. While some
 firms like Wipro BPO are adding newer processes to their service offerings on their own, others such as Hinduja Global Solutions are partnering with IT firms for the same.

BL

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

19)IT SOLUTIONS provider SoftPro Systems has acquired 100% equity stake in South Africa-based Cura Risk Management software for $19 million in all cash deal. The move is likely to help the Indian company grow six fold to over Rs 60 crore by the end of this fiscal.

ET

INTERNATIONAL

20)Benchmark crude for July delivery fell nearly 3 per cent, or $2.06, on Monday to $69.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the dollar gained strength. On Friday, crude fell 64 cents to settle at $72.04.

BL

21)Group of Eight finance ministers began drawing up contingency plans for rolling back budget deficits and bank bailouts as the economy shows signs of recovery and investors start worrying about inflation.

FE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE BROWSE THROUGH THE FOLLOWINGSITES.

Karvy Consultants Ltd www.karvy.com
 www.khojhyderabad.com
 www.indiacorporateadvisor.com
 www.karvycomtrade.com (Commodities)
KARVY Global Services Ltd www.KARVYGlobal.com
KARVY Realty (India) Limited www.karvyrealty.com
Economic Times www.economictimes.com
The Financial Express www.financialexpress.com
Business Line www.businessline.in
Business Standard www.business-standard.com
The Times of India www.timesofindia.com
The Hindu www.hindu.com
Deccan Chronicle www.deccan.com
The New Indian Express www.newindpress.com