Indian Economy

Sensex ends lower; pharma stocks take a hit

Mumbai: Indian shares took a breather on Monday and closed marginally in red on profit booking after hitting fresh 2.5 year highs. Pharma companies dragged key equity benchmarks lower while major auto stocks ended in green. The Sensex closed at 20223.98, down 62 points or 0.31 per cent and the Nifty ended at 6156.90 down 30 points or 0.49 percent. About 1107 shares advanced, 1298 shares declined, and 141 shares were unchanged.

Macquarie's Head of Research Rakesh Arora sees the Nifty hitting 6900 by this year end. Arora is hopeful of the capital expenditure cycle picking up from the second half of this financial year. In the infrastructure space, Arora is bullish on Cummins. In the banking space, he likes SBI and Axis Bank, and among autos, his top bets are Maruti and Tata Motors.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Coal India, up over a percent each. Laggards included Ranbaxy Labs, Lupin, Jaiprakash Associates, Bharti Airtel and ONGC, down between 2 to 6 percent.

Pharma stocks were severely hit today. Glaxo SmithKline Pharma, Cadila Healthcare, Cipla and Ranbaxy are likely to be negatively impacted from the new drug price control order (DPCO) says broking firm HSBC....more    

Walmart lobbying case 'closed' due to lack of evidence: Sources

New Delhi: Investigation into whether US giant Walmart may have bribed Indian officials to gain wider access to the country's vast market has been closed due to lack of evidence, sources said on Sunday. Corporate Affairs Ministry has confirmed and said no evidence of lobbying was found. The one-man committee of Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal probing the matter had submitted a report to...  

India losing sheen as an agricultural nation: Modi

Bharuch: India would not have lost its sheen as a country of farmers if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had been the first Prime Minister, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, ruing the "poor" national agricultural growth. "The nation is falling behind in agriculture. If 'Khedut Putra' (son of farmer), Sardar Patel had become the first Prime Minister, this would not have happened to our farmers... Somehow, we took the...  

S&P affirms negative outlook on India

Mumbai: Ratings agency Standard & Poor's affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-minus' with a 'negative' outlook, reiterating there was a one-in-three chances of a ratings downgrade over the next 12 months, a statement said on Friday. S&P said the government's ability to prop up investment growth remained uncertain. The ratings agency, however, said there was scope to upgrade the sovereign ratings if the government unleashes public and private investments to...  

Osborne praises Chidambaram's efforts to revive economy

London: Finance Minister P Chidambaram's reform push to revive Indian economy and restore investor confidence was on Thursday lauded by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who said he has done a great job. "When it comes to India, I think Mr Chidambaram has done a great job at telling and showing the world that India is open for business," Osborne told select Indian journalists after his meeting with...  

Nifty, Sensex end at highest level since January 2011

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday rose over 158 points in early trade on sustained buying by funds and retail investors, mainly in realty, banking, auto and metal sector stocks. Also, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, regained the 6,000 points level by surging 41.10 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 6,036.50. Rising for the second straight session, the BSE's 30-share barometer rose by 158.19 points, or 0.80...  

Finance Ministry sees room for easing of rate by RBI

New Delhi: Encouraged by the declining trend in inflation, the Finance Ministry on Tuesday made a case for further rate cut by the Reserve Bank to boost sagging growth. "I think we need to look at statement made by RBI Governor during the last policy review where he had stated that RBI is closely monitoring inflation figures and if there is dramatic change in inflation figures then RBI will take...  

April inflation slows to 4.89 pc, lowest since Nov 2009

New Delhi: The headline inflation dropped to its lowest since 2009 in the month of April at 4.89 per cent, a level seen comfortable for the RBI to persist with monetary easing to revive a flagging economy. April's reading is well below the 5.50 per cent estimated by analysts in a Reuters poll. The wholesale price index, India's main inflation measure, rose an annual 5.96 per cent in March. The...  

Rupee down 8 paise against dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee on Tuesday lost eight paise to 54.81 against the dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to higher demand of the US currency from banks and importers. Forex dealers said dollar strengthening against other currencies in the global market also put pressure on the rupee. The domestic currency had closed higher by seven paise at 54.73 yesterday on fresh dollar selling by exporters...  

Sensex ends flat, shrugs off 41-month low inflation data

Mumbai: Major equity benchmarks consolidated in trade today and closed flat shrugging off 41-month low April WPI inflation number of 4.89 per cent, way below RBI's comfort zone. The Sensex closed at 19722.2 up 30.62 points and the Nifty ended at 5995.40, up 14.95 points. About 1162 shares advanced, 1206 shares declined and 146 shares were unchanged. Key gainers in the Nifty were Ranbaxy Labs, Bank of Baroda, Sun Pharma,...  

RBI puts restrictions on gold imports by banks

Mumbai: With gold imports putting pressure on the current account deficit, the Reserve Bank on Monday imposed restrictions on import of the yellow metal by banks. "To moderate the demand for gold for domestic use, it has been decided to restrict the import of gold on consignment basis by banks, only to meet the genuine needs of exporters of gold jewellery," the RBI said in a statement. As per a...  

India's exports up 1.6 pc at $ 24.16 bn in April

New Delhi: Country's merchandise exports grew by 1.6 per cent to $24.16 billion in April this year, whereas imports increased by 10.9 per cent. Imports during the reported month stood at $41.95 billion. Exports in April 2012 stood at $23.7 billion, while imports were at $37.8 billion. Due to high imports, the trade deficit rose to $17.8 billion, Commerce Secretary SR Rao told reporters on Monday. Rao attributed the widening...  

CPI inflation slows to 9.39 per cent in April

New Delhi: After better than expected industrial production numbers, which came at 2.5 per cent for the month of March, inflation has also hit a 13-month low. Consumer Price Index for the month of April is at 9.39 per cent against 10.39 per cent in March. Rural inflation was also seen going down at 9.16 per cent as compared to 10.41 per cent in March. Food prices for consumers rose...  

Sensex ends 40 points up in special trading session

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Saturday gained 40 points in a special two-hour trading session as investors indulged in selective buying of bluechip stocks tracking gains in healthcare and metal sector shares. The 30-share index, which had regained 20,000 level after over three months on Friday, added another 39.70, or 0.20 per cent to settle at 20,122.32. Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 12,50 points,...  

March industrial output rises by 2.5 pc vs 0.6 pc in Feb

New Delhi: Industrial output growth surged 2.5 per cent in March compared to a contraction of 2.8 per cent in same month last year, government data showed on Friday. The figures are higher than the February data when it stood at 0.6 per cent. Industrial output grew at a meagre rate of one per cent in 2012-13 compared to 2.9 per cent in the previous fiscal. The industrial output, as...  

Sensex snaps 3-day rise; falls 51 points on profit-booking

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday retreated from over three-month high levels by losing 51 points on profit-booking in recent outperformers such as Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank ahead of key industrial production data release tomorrow. After gaining over 400 points in past three sessions, the Sensex on Thursday declined by 51.14 points, or 0.26 per cent, to close at 19,939.04. The gauge had hit the crucial...  

Sensex hits 3-month high, rises 215 points

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday rose over 215 points to close at three-month of 19,888.95 and Nifty regained 6,000-point mark on sustained buying by FIIs in banking, FMCG, realty and auto sector stocks. The Sensex rose by 215.31 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 19,888.95, a level last seen on January 31. The index had gained 98 points in the previous session. The gauge had touched the day's...  

Sensex near three-month high; IT, metal stocks rise

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex closed near a three-month high hit on Thursday, led by gains in stocks beaten down earlier, such as TCS which was up on short covering, and Hindalco, following copper's more than 6 per cent gain on Friday. Among technology shares, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd provisionally rose 3.3 per cent, while in metals, Hindalco Industries Ltd ended 3.7 per cent higher. The BSE Sensex provisionally gained 0.47...  

Inflation seen range-bound this fiscal, says RBI

Mumbai: Inflation is likely to be range-bound and stay around the current levels in this financial year as supply-side issues, along with recent price adjustments in fuel prices, will offset the recent gains, the Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday. "Headline inflation in 2013-14 is expected to remain range-bound around the current levels," RBI said in its annual Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments report. "While sluggish global growth may dampen...  

India to grow at about 5.8 in FY14: IMF

New Delhi: IMF has projected 5.8 per cent economic growth for India in this fiscal 2013-14 and said pace of investment in infrastructure should increase to get back to 8 per cent expansion level. "We are forecasting India to grow at about 5.8 per cent this fiscal (2013-14) and 6.3 per cent in 2014-15. This compares to an average growth rate of 8.7 per cent for the five years prior...