Market Today

The market recovered today after last two days' slide. The BSE Sensex had lost 347.89 points or 2.29% in the previous two trading sessions. Inflation measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) declined 1.17% in the 12 months to 11 July 2009, as compared with previous week's annual decline of 1.21%, government data showed today, 23 July 2009. Inflation has been declining for the sixth straight time in the 12 months to 11 July 2009 In a move that my boost sentiment, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and the non-resident Indians (NRIs) have been allowed to invest in Indian Depository Receipts (IDR), according to the operational guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday, 22 July 2009. FIIs, including the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approved sub-accounts of the FIIs registered with Sebi and NRIs may invest, purchase, hold and transfer IDRs of eligible companies resident outside India and issued in the Indian capital market, subject to the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000. India's infrastructure sector output grew 6.5% in June 2009 from a year earlier, higher than an unrevised 2.8% in May 2009, government data released today, 23 July 2009 showed. During April-June 2009 period, the output rose 4.8%, compared with 3.5% in the same period last year. The infrastructure sector accounts for 26.7% of India's industrial output.

Market Up

BSE 30-share Sensex was up 383.99 points or 2.69%. Finance
Secretary Ashok Chawla's comments that the government's record
market borrowing programme would not pressure bond yields and
interest rates further bolstered bulls. Revival of the annual
monsoon this month also underpinned sentiment.

Auto, IT, power, FMCG, healthcare stocks rose. But Index
heavyweight Reliance Industries pared gains. India's largest IT
firm by sales TCS rose ahead of Q1 June 2009 result. The market
breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.
All the sectoral indices on BSE were in green.

India's monsoon has revived this month after a dismal start last
month. Rainfall in the week to 10 July was 6% more than the
long-term average. For the 1 June-15 July period it was 27% below
normal, improving from a deficit of 36% up to 8 July.

The weather office has also forecast widespread rainfall in the
next five days in most regions of India where more than two-thirds
of the people live in villages and 60% of the farm land depends on
the annual rains. The weak start to the vital June-September
monsoon rains had stoked fears of crop failure, encouraging the
government to ban wheat exports and prepare contingency plans.
While the monsoon rains have picked up, progress has been uneven,
causing floods in some areas and drought in some districts which
are not major crop producers.

AXIS Bank Ltd has announced the following Unaudited results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009:

The results for the Quarter ended June 30, 2009

The Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 5620.40 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 as compared to Rs 3301.40 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. Total Income has increased from Rs 28912.40 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 to Rs 38641.30 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.