Monday, October 29, 2012

Potential Gains indicated for RIL with Appointment of New Oil Minister

Veerappa Moily has replaced Jaipal Reddy, the ex oil minister as a part of the recent reshuffle of cabinet unveiled on Sunday. Mr. Moily promises to make an efficient effort to encourage foreign investment in addition to pushing Indian oil companies to assertively bid for foreign oil and gas to cover up the growing demands of energy.
Reliance Industries, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, had clashes with ex oil minister over the issues related to gas production at its KG-D6 block in Andhra Pradesh. Reliance Industries Ltd. along with its partner Bharat Petroleum sought a hike in the prices of gas to cope with the rising expenditure to develop the block. Mr. Moily has promised to take quick and detailed decision though he has declined to address the matter specifically.
The shares of Reliance Industries Ltd. rose, with the appointment of new oil minister, to nearly 2 per cent in view of the potential improvement in the relationship between government and RIL.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Mukesh Ambani - Reliance Industries Ltd - Tops the Forbes List!

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, with a wealth of $21 million, has emerged as India’s richest man for the fifth consecutive year, according to Forbes India annual rich list. Lakshmi Mittal has been ranked second despite the loss of $3 million in net worth since last year. Dilip Shanghavi, chairman of India’s biggest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd., has been the biggest climber with an entry in top five.

Mr. Ambani has maintained the position despite the loss of 7 per cent market value by Reliance Industries Ltd. Mukesh Ambani of RIL has beaten steel tycoon Lakshmi Narayan Mittal and technology czar Azim Premji to top the list.

The 100 richest Indians saw an overall fall of worth which is 20 per cent to $241 billion in one year. The Forbes list consisted of 57 billionaires. According to Forbes, the collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people rose to $250, which is an increase of 3.7 per cent.

The Reliance Industries Ltd shares have been trending fair in the highly volatile share market.



Friday, October 12, 2012

Infosys - A series of disappointing qtrly results!

Can you expect India’s IT bellwether performing below expectations? Not always! In a volatile market, both big and small companies move according to the tide. But Infosys disappointed investors on October 12 when its shares went down below expectations, i.e. by almost 9 percent. The software services provider, which has been in the good books of investors for years together, has been delivering since January this year, a sequence of disappointing growth targets.

What Infosys Q2 results forecasted about its estimated growth rate at 8-10 percent was soon cut to 5 percent, surprising analysts and investors alike. No wonder the firm lost market shares to TCS, its local rival after reporting for the quarter ended September 30, weaker-than-expected operating margins. As per internal statistics in terms of client addition, Infosys exhibited its slowest pace of addition in six quarters, adding only 39 clients in the latest quarter. But a positive atmosphere still prevails!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

S&P warning, slashing car industry... what's in store India Inc.?

Economic reforms have no wonder provided respite to India’s downgrading economy. The couple of reforms introduced in September saw both the indices of the Indian bourses exhibiting a positive uptrend momentum. But Standard & Poor rating agency’s warnings seem to dampen the spirits of investors. According to the credit rating agency, within the next two years, India still faced a one-in-three chance of a credit rating downgrade. The warning will turn true if the bad political climate further worsens, if fiscal reforms are sluggishly implemented, if external position declines, and if growth prospects go dim.

To add to the downgrade scenario is the once-booming car industry growing just 1 percent to 3 percent in the current fiscal year. In March 2011 fiscal, India saw car sales growing more than 20 percent. Slow economic growth rate and high interest rates are the principal causes of the slashed car sales growth. Until the economy comes back to momentum, this slashing trend may well continue.

Monday, October 8, 2012

DLF Ltd. shares drop on accusations by Kejriwal!

Scams and accusations do have their negative impacts on stock performances. DLF shares dropping after anti corruption activists Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan accused DLF for improper dealings with Robert Vadra the son-in-law of the high-flying politician family, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, well corroborates the fact.

As of October 8, in the morning trade at 10 am, DLF Ltd. shares dropped by 3.8 percent. The dropping momentum continued with shares further dropping to 5.08 percent, i.e. by Rs. 12.30 at 11.30 am. This is against a backdrop of both the indices of the Indian bourses - sensex and nifty falling moderately.

DLF denied the allegations and claims made by the India Against Corruption team, saying its business relationship, as has been its practice for all of its business activities, is transparent and adhere to the highest standards of ethics. Robert Vadra countered the accusations too deeming it ‘utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory’. It is to wait and watch what future has in store for DLF and Robert Vadra!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Sensex Hits 19K mark - Thanks to Government Reforms!



Market analysts and investors are all cheers; thanks to the rising sensex and nifty at a hypersonic pace. It is all because of implementation of reforms that has seen the sensex and nifty recovering fast. If such an uptrend pace prevails, in no time will markets regain the highest points ever gained months ago. Hopes of additional fiscal and economic reforms by the government have set the ball rolling.
 

To add to the upbeat market trend is the rupee hitting the five and half month high. This is again a result of possible announcement by the government of reforms measures. Opening the pension sector to foreign investors and raising cap on foreign direct investment in insurance firms are the boosting factors. These bills are all set to be approved by the Cabinet. And once they are approved, further rise of the rupee, sensex, and the nifty is expected. Hope to see some more reforms introduced in the near future by the government to revive the falling economy of India Inc.