Market Close: April 12th, 07

Tracking the global trends, Indian indices had weak session for the second day. Indices traded on a weak note since the start of the trade. Profit booking was seen across the board except selective stocks in Software, Pharma and Airlines where there was some buying interest. IT major Infosys firmed up further as every one awaits the giants results which is due tomorrow. The key economic data of February 2007 industrial production output rises to 11.1% VS 8.8%, which shows no signs of slowdown in the economy. Asian markets ended in mixed where as European markets currently trading in red.

Sensex closed down 69 points at 13113.81. Weighing on the Sensex were losses in ONGC (852.5,-3 percent), TISCO (495.95,-3 percent), Ranbaxy (335.15,-3 percent), HDFC (1536.95,-3 percent) and Maruti (759.8,-3 percent). Losses are restricted by gains in Bajaj Auto (2349.3501,+3 percent), Infosys (2043.65,+3 percent), Grasim (2258.6499,+2 percent), NTPC (159.9,+1 percent) and Satyam (446.1,+1 percent).

Infosys numbers are due tomorrow and a lot is being made of it. Guidance expected is about 22- 28% for bottomline growth next year. Valuations at 24 X FY 08 certainly not enthusing in the current environment. So better to be careful here. There are short positions and that may limit the downsides.

Jet Airways India Ltd and Sahara Airlines have settled their dispute with regard to the Share Purchase Agreement of January 18, 2006. Jet is set to acquire Sahara Airlines for a lump sum price of Rs 1450 cr. Rs 500 cr has already been paid. Rs 400 cr is payable immediately no later than April 20, 2007. The balance Rs 550 cr is payable in four interest free annual equal instalments commencing on or before March 30, 2008. Jet closed up by 2.83% and its peer Deccan Aviation ended up 10%.

Telecom stocks closed in red on profit taking . Sustaining its aggressive growth in subscriber additions, the GSM-based cellular industry has added over 61 lakh subscribers in March with Bharti Airtel capturing 30.59% of the market share. With this, the all-India GSM subscriber base has touched 12.14 crore at the end of March 2007 compared to 11.53 crore as on end of February 2007, reflecting a growth rate of five per cent. In March, the cellular subscriber base of Bharti touched 3.71 crore with additions of over 17 lakh users, followed by BSNL at 2.74 crore with a market share of 22.59 per cent and additions of over 19.84 lakh subscribers. Hutch-Essar has 2.64 crore subscribers, taking its market share to 21.78% and Idea with a market share of 11.54% has 1.4 crore subscribers in March. Bharti Airtel closed marginally down and its peer R Com, MTNL and VSNL ended in red. Idea closed positive.

Educomp Solutions closed at the upper limit. The company has acquired a Web based trailing company and also bagged some orders in Haryana. We have been bullish on this one and our stand has been vindicated. Do read our research note here. We had a research note on Esab as well. This one looks interesting. Do read the note. Its for our subscribers.. may be here is a hidden gem as well.

Technically Speaking: It was a weak session for the whole day before closing. Sensex touched intraday high of 13194 and low of 12904. Sensex has closed above its resistance at 13170. On the higher side it is looking to hit near 13400 whereas on the lower side major support likes at 12900. Resistance lies at 13289, 13386. Support lies at 13000, 12808. Market turnover stood at Rs 3075 cr. Overall breadth was in favor of Advancers where the Advancers stood at 1916, Decliners stood at 632.

Market Close April 11th, 07

It was yet another day of consolidation and the markets ended flat with positive bias which opened with mild gap up tracking the positive Asian cues. Indices continued to trade with moderate gains on the back of buying seen in Metal and Capital Good sector but it was off the track on account of selling pressure seen in select stocks in FMCG, Pharma and cement. Profit-booking at higher levels saw the index pare gains and move in a narrow range. Results season has been started with few companies posting results but big Daddy Infosys, is due on Friday is most awaited to give direction. We believe nothing much is likely to change as clearly the guidance will not be bullish. Asian markets traded higher while European markets trading in green.

Sensex ended a point higher. It was supported by gains in Hindalco (+4.77%), Tata Steel (+3.42%), Bharati Airtel (+1.56%) and BHEL (+1.20%). Restricting the gains were Ranbaxy (-4.02%), Dr. Reddy?s (-2.81%), Gujarat Ambuja (-2.29%) and ACC (-1.88%).

Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd (WGSRL) has planned to bid for pipeline projects in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Indonesia. The company shall also approach oil and gas companies in the Middle East, North America and Asia. The metal pipes manufacturer is also likely to bag more orders from the US. Middle East, Qatar and Iran have the largest gas reserves in the world and are planning to develop them commercially. Even, Saudi Arabia has lined up mega projects of $45 billion to increase oil production, build petrochemicals complex and new pipelines. Welspun Gujarat will get many opportunities to encash huge profits from countries like Brazil, Indonesia, China and India, which have plans to build gas pipelines. Russia is also planning to build gas pipelines to supply China with natural gas. Welspun's SAW pipe sales have grown at a CAGR of 37% over FY03-06. In the past, Welspun has supplied pipes to oil and gas majors like British Gas, Exxon Mobil, and Shell. Welspun Gujarat ended up by 10% while its peer Jindal Stainless closed marginally up 1%.

Mastek announced third quarter results which reported net profit of Rs 23.8 cr (Rs 238 mn) in the third quarter vs Rs 21.8 cr (Rs 218 mn) in the previous quarter a growth of 9.17%. Its total income was up 2.38% to Rs 214.8 cr (Rs 2.14 bn) from Rs 209.8 cr (Rs 2.09 bn). The company's US operation has gone up by 27% QoQ. The stock closed marginally down by 1% on the general downtrend.

iGATE Global Solutions reported revenue of Rs 805.1 crore for the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 635.8 crore in the previous year. Net profit for FY07 increased to Rs 49.8 crore, a sharp spurt of 805.5% from Rs 5.50 crore in FY06. For the fourth quarter ended March 2007, the company?s revenues increased 25.50% to Rs 210.1 crore compared to Rs 167.4 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. While net profit for Q4 FY07 surged 381% to Rs 22.6 crore from Rs 4.7 crore in Q4 FY06. However, operating revenue for the 4th quarter was adversely impacted by 2.1% due to the strengthening of the rupee against the US Dollar. But the overall Margins have not been impacted due hedging. During the recently concluded quarter, iGATE added six new clients largely for IT services. The stock ended down by 4.6% on indications that next quarter would be sluggish.

Technically Speaking: Market witnessed a Yoyo session to end in flat. Sensex is still stuck and finding it tough to move over the band of 13200-13400, which a very crucial range. Bull power will be clearly evident if this level is crossed. On the lower side, support is at 12940. Market turnover stood at Rs 3847 cr. Overall breadth was in favor of Advances as advancers were 1548 against decliners of 1027.