Bank Stocks in Demand

Kohinoor Broadcasting Corporation Ltd touched Rs.1.19 & GATI Ltd is up 4%. IFCI Ltd is looking strong before the Q4FY12 results and RBI policy meet....

Key benchmark indices once again turned negative in mid-morning trade after striking day's high in positive zone. Asian equities were subdued. The BSE Sensex was down 32.48 points or 0.19%, off 45.31 points from the day's high and up 51.87 points from the day's low. The market breadth was positive. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower, snapping two-day gains.
Interest rate sensitive banking stocks also gained ahead of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy review on Tuesday, 17 April 2012. Software pivotals declined for second day after Infosys before market hours on Friday, 13 April 2012, set a weak forecast in dollar terms for the current year ending 31 March 2013 on uncertain global economic environment.
At 11:21 IST, the BSE Sensex was down 32.48 points or 0.19% to 17,062.03. The index fell 84.35 points at the day's low of 17,010.16 in early trade. The index rose 12.83 points at the day's high of 17,107.34 in mid-morning trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty was down 6.75 points or 0.13% to 5,200.70. The Nifty hit a high of 5,212.20 and a low of 5,183.50 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1377 shares gained and 935 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 578 crore by 11:20 IST compared with Rs 388 crore by 10:20 IST
From the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks declined while the rest gained. Hindalco Industries (down 1.23%), M&M (down 1.16%), and NTPC (down 1.02%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.
DLF (up 1.19%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.38%), and GAIL (India) (up 0.63%), edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 1.01% to Rs 743.65, with the stock snapping two-day 2.5% gains. Reportedly upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has asked the Oil Ministry to take a call on allowing RIL and its partner BP plc to invest in pre-development activities in 16 gas discoveries in KG-D6 block, most of which have not yet been proved to be commercially viable at current prices.
Interest rate sensitive banking stocks also gained ahead of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy review on Tuesday, 17 April 2012.
India's largest bank by branch network State Bank of India (SBI) gained 1.52% to Rs 2245.15 and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.
India's biggest private sector bank in terms of net profit, ICICI Bank, rose 0.39%. India's second largest bank by net profit HDFC Bank, slipped 0.24%.
Among other banking stocks, Canara Bank (up 1.39%), Axis Bank (up 1.21%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.13%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.16%), Bank of India (up 0.73%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.25%), Vijaya Bank (up 1.41%) and Federal Bank (up 1.13%), edged higher.
Development Credit Bank rose 2.38% after net profit rose 52.2% to Rs 17.28 crore on 25.8% growth in total income to Rs 223.23 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The private sector bank announced the results after market hours on Friday, 13 April 2012.
India's second largest software services exporter by revenues Infosys fell 1.59% to Rs 2365 and was the top loser from the Sensex pack. The stock extended Friday's 12.61% slump after consolidated net profit as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) fell 2.4% to Rs 2316 crore on 4.8% decline in revenue to Rs 8852 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q3 December 2011. The result was declared before market hours on Friday, 13 April 2012.
Infosys had set a weak forecast in dollar terms for the current year ending 31 March 2013 as the uncertain global economic environment continued to weigh on the software services exporter.
Among other IT stocks, India's third largest software services exporter by revenues Wipro lost 0.67%. India's largest software services exporter by revenue Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined 0.22%.
Coal India declined 0.27% on reports the UK-based hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund (TCI) would initiate a legal action against state-run coal miner within a week for failing to protect the interest of minority shareholders.
Ajanta Pharma rose 2.56% to Rs 526.15 after striking a record high of Rs 538.65 after the company said its board will meet on 26 April 2012 to consider sub-division of shares. The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 16 April 2012.
Piramal Healthcare rose 0.58% after the company said it has agreed to buy a research and development portfolio from Bayer AG. The announcement was made on Sunday, 15 April 2012.
The government will unveil data on inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) for March 2012 today, 16 April 2012. WPI inflation stood at 6.95% (provisional) for the month of February 2012.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy review for 2012-13 is due on 17 April 2012. Investors are hoping that RBI may cut its key policy rate to spur economic growth after the latest data showed that industrial production grew by lower-than-expected 4.1% in February 2012.
After raising interest rates 13 times since early 2010, the central bank indicated in December its next move would be a reduction. Since January 2012, RBI slashed the cash reserve ratio (CRR) - the percentage of deposits that commercial banks must keep with central bank - by a combined 125 basis points, but has left rates on hold.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 137.25 crore on Friday, 13 April 2012, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The next major trigger for the market is Q4 March 2012 and year ending March 2012 (FY 2012) earnings. Investors will focus on the guidance provided by the management for the year ending March 2013 (FY 2013) to gauge the earnings outlook.
Private sector bank HDFC Bank unveils FY 2012 results on 18 April 2012. HCL Technologies unveils Q3 March 2012 results on the same day. ACC and Ambuja Cements unveil quarterly results on 19 April 2012. Cairn India reports FY 2012 results on 20 April 2012. TCS unveils FY 2012 results on 23 April 2012. Wipro unveils Q4 results on 25 April 2012.
ICICI Bank unveils FY 2012 results on 27 April 2012. Axis Bank and Siemens unveils quarterly results on the same day. Maruti Suzuki India unveils FY 2012 results on 28 April 2012. FMCG giant Hindustan Lever unveils FY 2012 results on 1 May 2012. Housing finance major HDFC announces FY 2012 results on 7 May 2012. Ranbaxy Laboratories will declare its Q1 March 2012 results on 9 May 2012.
Asian markets edged lower on Monday on renewed concerns about Europe's debt crisis. Key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan were down by between 0.04% to 1.72%.
China's economy grew at its weakest pace in nearly three years in the first quarter, with the annual rate of expansion slowing more than expected to 8.1% from 8.9% in the previous three months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 14 points at the opening bell on Monday, 16 April 2012. U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday, 13 April 2012 after disappointing economic data from China and rising borrowing costs in Spain damped sentiment. Concerns that Europe's debt crisis was flaring up again added to selling pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 136.99 points, or 1.05%, to 12849.59, while the S&P 500 lost 17.31 points, or 1.25%, to 1370.26. The Nasdaq Composite shed 44.22 points, or 1.45%, to 3011.33.