Wall St soars after Fed's discount rate cut

U.S. stocks surged on Friday to end a turbulent week after the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate it charges banks in an emergency move to stabilise credit markets and keep the economy on track.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 233.30 points, or 1.82 per cent, to 13,079.08 - snapping a six-day streak of losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shot up 34.67 points, or 2.46 per cent, to 1,445.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 53.96 poin ts, or 2.20 per cent, to 2,505.03. But it was still down 1.6 per cent for the week. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5 per cent for the week, while the Dow's weekly loss was 1.2 per cent.

For the year, the Dow is still up 4.9 per cent, while the S&P is up nearly 2 per cent and the Nasdaq is up 3.7 per cent.

Trading was heavy on the NYSE, with about 2.48 billion shares changing hands, above last year's estimated daily average of 1.84 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 2.58 billion shares traded, also surging ahead of last year's daily average of 2.02 billion. A dvancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of about 7 to 1 on the NYSE and by slightly more than 2 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

Inflation falls to 4.05 per cent

Inflation declined to 4.05 per cent for the week ended August 4 as compared to 4.45 per cent in the previous week due to lower prices of fruits, vegetable, poultry chicken, moong and some manufactured items.

The wholesale prices-based inflation stood at 5.08 per cent in the corresponding week a year ago. During the week, prices of fruits, vegetables and poultry chicken declined by five per cent each, while those of moong and fish-marine fell by one per cent .

However, prices of aviation turbine fuels inched up by four per cent while tea, arhar and milk moved up. In manufactured products, imported edible oil, methanol, basic pig iron, foundry pig iron and bakery products got cheaper

Rupee falls to lowest in nearly four months
The rupee fell 0.6 per cent at the open on Friday to its lowest level in nearly four months, as investors cut exposure to risky assets amid lingering fears of a global credit squeeze. At 9:01 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 41.60 per dollar - its lowest level since late April, and compared with 41.36/37 at Thursday's close when it fell 1.5 per cent.

Stocks Available at Attractive Valuations

With stock market falling like nine pins today on account of global cues many of the frontline and midcaps are now available at attractive valuations.

At these prices there is hardly any downward movements in these stocks and the upper movement of 30%-40% is expected in 2 months of time frame.

Here are the handpicked stocks.

1. India Bulls Financials [ cmp. 495 ] -- Buy this stock for a target of 700 in 2 months. It has fallen from a level of 690 with lots of mergers and takeovers happening in our financial brokerage business company one can be rest assure that this stock has a huge way to go.
2. India Infoline [ cmp. 582 ] -- Similar kind of fundamental story as that of India Bulls financials this stock has also falled from a level of 800 which is closer to 40%. The borkerages company are sowing some where around 30-50% increase in profits on q to q basis. Buy for a targer of 800 in 3 months.
3. Ansal Properties and Infra [ cmp. 250 ] -- The reality is the most beaten down sector and there is very bit of reason to buy in these stocks. With the prices of properties across the country going up these stocks will see again upward movements without any speed brakers in coming months especially in October to December. Sev eral of our mutual funds hold this stock in heavy amount. Buy for a target of 450 in 4 months.
4. Bank of India [ cmp. 227 ] -- This stock has fallen around 10% in todays trading session and it had hit a high of 276 on 16th of July. With RBI hardly raising any crr or interest in coming days all banking stocks are likely to lead the rally in coming days especially the PSU banking stocks. Buy with a targer of 300 in 2 months.
5. Mphasis BFL [ cmp. 290 ] -- This is one of the most better performing IT co. in Midcap category of the market and this co. is on the acquisition by EDS which earlier came out with the buy price of 325 and there is every chances of increasing the offer price. Comopany came out with excellent set of numbers this quarter and with $ appreciating in coming days all IT stock will see the upward movements. Buy with a targert of 400 in 3 months.

Rupee down 47 paise

The surprime crisis in the United States and the resultant turmoil in global equities continued to cast a shadow over rupee which fell by 47 points to more than two-month low of 41।22 against the US dollar.

The rupee today resumed below 41 level at 41।02/04 a dollar and fell further to 41.22 a dollar before being quoted at 41.12/13 a dollar in late morning deals. The Indian currency closed at 40.7450/7550 a dollar on August 14.

Forex Rates

The subprime crisis in the US and the resulting risk aversion worldwide weighed on the rupee sentiment, a forex dealer said। The rupee had risen by 10 per cent this year following consistent capital inflows into equity markets and the central bank's relu ctance to intervene in the forex market. The global markets went into turmoil on panic sales in equity markets on the subprime fears. Nikkei dropped by 525 points, Singapore straight times by 150 points, Taiwan by 310 points and Hang Seng by 790 points.

The benchmark Sensex also came under the global influence and registered its biggest fall this year of 653 points to touch the low of 14,363.57 points in the morning trade.

Dalal Street witnesses Rs 1.70 lakh crore loss

Stock market investors on Thursday saw a whopping Rs 1,70,000 crore being wiped off their portfolios, taking the total loss since the US subprime crisis first hit domestic bourses late last month to nearly Rs 3,30,000 crore। The Bombay Stock Exc hange's 30-share benchmark index Sensex today plunged by 642।70 points, its second biggest one-day fall in absolute value terms The crash saw the cumulative market capitalisation of all the listed companies dropping to around Rs 42,77,000 crore, as agai nst Rs 44,44,000 crore after the market close on August

The total invested wealth in the stock market has seen sharp erosion since July 27, when the crisis in the US subprime credit segment first reached the Indian market। Since then, the total market capitalisation on the Indian bourses has gone down by near ly 3,30,000 crore from more than Rs 46,00,000 crore on July 26.

The combined market value of the 30 blue chip firms on the benchmark BSE Sensex has fallen close to Rs 2,25,000 crore since July 27, including about Rs 90,000 crore today itself।

Among the Sensex blue chips, Reliance Industries lost Rs 12,910 crore today, while ONGC saw an erosion of Rs 7,518 crore. Both RIL and ONGC have lost close to Rs 28,000 crore each since July 27. However, the biggest market cap loss in absolute value ter ms has been registered by state-run power equipments major BHEL, which has seen an erosion of more than Rs 37,000 crore since July 27.

HDFC shortlists 3 foreign cos for insurance biz

Housing lender HDFC has shortlisted three foreign companies in its partner selection process for the general insurance business and is likely to complete the exercise in the next two-three weeks।

''We have shortlisted three names and it will take two-three weeks to finalise the foreign partner,'' HDFC Executive Director, Ms Renu Sud Karnad, told PTI.
Without giving the specific names, she said the contenders for the 26 per cent stake in its non-life insurance business were from the US, Europe and Australia।

It is believed that the shortlisted firms include the US-based Travelers and Australia's IAG Group। Besides, the world's second largest reinsurer Munich Re's insurance arm ERGO is also being considered.

Without confirming or denying any name, Munich Re last week said MoUs with partners (life and non-life) are close to finalisation। The joint venture for general insurance could happen earlier than life insurance venture and the likelihood of partnering with the private sector is higher for the non-life venture, Munich Reinsurance Chairman, Mr Nikolaus von Bomhard, had said.

HDFC also runs a life insurance firm in joint venture with UK's Standard Life

Nokia warns on battery explosion risks

Nokia has announced that 46 million batteries used in its phones could overheat and result in explosion. Nokia has said it would replace them free to consumers while negotiating with battery maker Matsushita (6752.T) over who would bear the costs.

"Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries...could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge," it said in a statement on Tuesday. The world`s top cellphone maker said about 100 such incidents had been reported globally but no serious injuries or property damage had been reported.

It said it was working closely with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., who made the batteries in question between December 2005 and November 2006, to investigate the problem. Nokia said replacing millions of batteries would have some financial impact, but Matsushita would pay part of the costs. Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura estimated the cost to Nokia at a maximum of 100 million euros ($137 million).

"Historically, when there`s been a problem of this nature the supplier has had to pay," he said. Research firm Gartner said one such battery would cost around $4. Shares in Nokia were 0.9 percent lower at 22.42 euros by 6:46 a.m. EDT, helping nudge the DJ European technology index (.SX8P) down 0.5 percent.

Jyske Bank downgraded its rating on Nokia shares to "reduce" from "buy," saying every third Nokia user would now have to check their phone`s batteries. "I think this will hurt Nokia`s brand a lot and that`s the most precious asset Nokia has," Jyske analyst Soren Linde Nielsen said. Nokia`s brand is valued at $33.7 billion, according to Interbrand, making it the world`s fifth most valued brand after Coca-Cola (KO.N), Microsoft (MSFT.O), IBM (IBM.N) and GE (GE.N).

The "BL-5C" is Nokia`s most widely used battery, powering among others low-end 1100 series phones and multimedia handsets N70 and N91. Several suppliers have made a total of more than 300 million of them for Nokia. Nokia said it had issued a product advisory

(http://www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement) to consumers based on preliminary findings of an ongoing investigation. v "By reacting swiftly and responsibly, and by being fully transparent, we believe that consumers will continue to view Nokia as a responsible and trustworthy brand," Robert Andersson, head of customer and market operations at Nokia told Reuters.

Matsushita said there had been a rare problem in the manufacturing process rather than in the design of the batteries.

It said the effect on its earnings was uncertain. "We are still in discussion with Nokia about how to divide the replacement cost," said Matsushita spokesman Akira Kadota. Marianne Holmlund, spokeswoman for Nokia, said in similar cases in the car industry less than half of consumers eligible for replacement had used the option. v In 2003, a Belgian consumer organization said some Nokia batteries had a short circuit risk, but the Finnish firm denied those claims and said media reports of exploding phone batteries were all related to counterfeits.

Last year, Sony Corp (6758.T) was hit by hefty costs to recall 9.6 million laptop PC batteries which could catch fire from overheating.

What is the Remedy ??

Visit the site -- http://www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement/en/

and enter your 24 digit battery number to check.

Nokia BL-5C battery

The BL-5C batteries which are subject to the product advisory were used with the following Nokia models or separately as accessories:

Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50, Nokia E60
“Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed on the front of the battery.

On the back of the battery, the Nokia mark appears at the top, and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom.

A look at the Top Performing Mutual Funds

Here is the close analysis of top performing mutual funds in equity diversified segment of our country.

Funds------------------NAV as on 13 Aug 07----1 yr return

1. JM Basic-----------------------------27.04------75.49
2. Standard Chtd. Premier Equity--17.36------68.81
3. ICICI Service Industries------------17.46------61.97
4. DBS Chola Ooportunities----------31.84------59.04
5. Taurus Starshare--------------------49.01------56.93

Here is the collection of top five holding of the mutual funds mentioned above as on 31st July 07 as % of net assets.

1. JM Basic [ net asset 306 cr]

• Appolo Tyres --- 5.92
• Action Cons. -----5.91
• Maha Seamless---5.22
• Bharti Shipyard--5.02
• Grasim Ind.-------4.95

2. Std Chtd Pre Equity [ net asset 371 cr]

• 10.89% Sundram Finance 02/05/08 ----- 6.87
• Shree Renuka Sugars ---------------------4.63
• Educomp Solutions------------------------4.46
• Pantloon Retail----------------------------4.38
• Deep Industries----------------------------4.28

3. Pru ICICI Serv. Ind. [ net asset 673 cr ]

• ICICI Bank -----------------------7.55
• Bharti Televentures------------4.78
• ICICI Bank------------------------4.36
• Patel Engg.----------------------3.60
• Nucleus Software---------------3.24

RIL to get $100 million loan from EDC for gas project

Export Development Canada (EDC) has announced its $100 million (Rs406 crore) participation in a 10-year $2 billion syndicated loan for Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

RIL will use the funds for a gas exploration and development project. “EDC’s business in India continues to expand as Canadian exporters find meaningful ways to grow their business in this opportunity rich market,” Eric Siegel, president and CEO of RDC, Canada’s largest export credit agency, said.

Siegel said: “While a number of Canadian companies already have dealings with Reliance, EDC is pleased to have entered into this facility to help develop Canadian relationships with one of India’s most important companies.”

EDC business volumes in the Indian market have grown considerably following the opening of its permanent representation in New Delhi in 2004, from CAD$267 million at the close of 2003 to CAD$730 million in 2006.

EDC currently facilitates approximately 48% of Canada’s merchandise trade with India. EDC has particularly highlighted the infrastructure, telecommunications, automotive, agrifood processing and storage, mining and energy sectors as growth areas for Canada-India business.

It is currently planning on opening a second permanent Indian representation in Mumbai by the end of 2007. RIL is India’s largest private-sector company and part of Reliance Group.

Hot Stocks for Monday 13 August 2007

If market manages to open in green and closes in green then one can see some hefty movements in these stocks.

Easun Reyrolle Ltd - cmp 242 target 253
Bank of Rajasthan - cmp 109 target 113
Ansal Buildwell -cmp 79 target 84
Escorts - cmp 90 target 94

Buy these stocks early in the trading session in the morning and wait for the targets to come and then book profits.

All the above calls are intraday.
Also one can look for better gains in hold for short term.

This Weeks Bulk Deal on BSE and NSE

Check out the Bulk deal happening on our domestic stock exchanges this will give one a clear cut idea of what the big fish are buying or selling these days on stock market.

Few Buying stock includes stocks as Sujana Metal, Omaxe, Federal Bank , Northgate Tech.




















Source- hindubusinessline