Saturday, February 28, 2009

Public sector oil firms slash ATF price


State-run fuel retailers today slashed jet fuel or ATF rates by a further seven per cent, making it the 11th reduction since September last year.

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi were slashed by Rs 2,052 per kilolitre to Rs 27,106 per kl, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.

But for the one-off 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices are declining in tandem with the fall in international oil rates.

In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, ATF rates were down to Rs 27,861 per kl from Rs 29,985.19 per kl.

The reduction in jet fuel prices announced today varied from airport to airport depending on local taxes and levies and an on average worked out to Rs 2,125 per kl.

ATF prices had peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August on international crude prices touching historic high of $147 a barrel. But they have since been slashed every month till October and twice in November.

After the 11th reduction, jet fuel are hovering at early 2005 levels.

State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the preceding fortnight.

Wkly review: Sensex ends up 48pts

The Indian markets last week ended on a positive note despite largely negative global cues. The Sensex, which, began on a negative note finally ended the week with a gain of 48 points at 8,892, helped by smart gains in auto stocks.

Among the index stocks - Tata Motors zoomed nearly 12% to Rs 134. Mahindra & Mahindra rallied 10% to Rs 281, and Maruti surged 7% to Rs 633.

Infosys, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Steel, BHEL, HDFC Bank, Grasim and Hindustan Unilever gained 2-5% each.

On the other hand, Ranbaxy slumped nearly 22% to Rs 162 on the back of adverse ruling by the US FDA.

HDFC tumbled over 6% to Rs 1,354.

Wipro, ACC, ICICI Bank, DLF, Hindalco, SBI and Larsen & Toubro shed 2-4% each.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Wkly Tech Analysis: Watch out for the 8,435 level

Domestic markets slumped due to negative cues from the global markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index plunged to more than a six-year-low on worrying signs of a deepening recession in the US.

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex plunged more than 8 per cent (792 points) to 8,843 led by heavy selling in financial and realty stocks. However, the Sensex is still 13 per cent (1,146 points) away from its October intra-day low of 7,697.

Among the index stocks, ICICI Bank slumped nearly 23 per cent last week. Reliance Communications, Hindalco, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates and Larsen & Toubro dropped 11-14 per cent each.

The fibonacci analysis suggests that 8,435 will be a key level to watch out for in the Sensex on the downside till March-end. Only if 8,435 is broken, than one can expect a sharp slide of nearly 1,000 points to around 7,550 for the index.

In case the level holds, than the index must cross 9,650 on the upside for a strong upmove to follow. This week, the index is likely to find support around 8,510-8,405-8,300, while the index may face resistance around 9,175-9,280-9,385.

The NSE Nifty moved in a range of 244 points, from a high of 2,953, the index slumped to a low of 2,709, and finally ended with a loss of over 7 per cent (212 points) at 2,736. The corresponding level of 8,435 on the Sensex, for the Nifty is 2,575 - a break of which could see the index slide to 2,300-2,085-1,875, as per the quarterly analysis.

The daily chart movement is in favour of the bears, with the short-term and mid-term both the trends indicating bearishness. The Nifty at 2,735 is below the short-term (2,825) and the mid-term daily moving averages (2,882), and also the short-term moving average is currently below the mid-term moving average.

This week, the Nifty is likely to find support around 2,644-2,615-2,585, while resistance on the upside around 2,830-2,860-2,890.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

US Congress approves stimulus package

The US Congress on Friday, February 13, approved a 787-billion-dollar package of tax cuts and fresh spending to salvage the broken US economy, handing President Barack Obama his biggest yet political victory.

The Senate voted 60-38 to pass the measure hours after it cleared the House of Representatives by a lopsided 246-183 margin, setting the stage for Obama to sign the measure into law before his self-imposed February 16 deadline.

Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown raced from his late mother's memorial service in his home state of Ohio to cast the decisive vote at 10:46 pm (0346 GMT Saturday, February 14), some three hours and 39 minutes after the previous lawmaker.

The president's Democratic allies carried the day with no Republican support in the House and just three Republican moderates in the Senate despite his repeated appeals for bipartisanship since taking office January 20.

With cancer-stricken Democratic icon Ted Kennedy out ill, the defections were just enough to reach the 60 votes needed to ensure Senate passage of what Obama has called "only the beginning" of work to rescue the broken US economy.

There was no immediate response from the White House, but Obama had made his delight known after the House vote, giving reporters a thumbs-up sign as he left the White House bound for his hometown of Chicago.

The new president had set a February 16 target date for the package — a blend of tax cuts, aid to hard-hit Americans, and investment in infrastructure, education and energy that he says will save or create 3.5 million jobs.

But the victory was bittersweet, as lawmakers were voting on a compromise stimulus plan that was smaller than Obama had requested, and most Republicans rebuffed his appeals to join Democrats in approving the bill.

"This isn't Monopoly money. It's real. It adds up, and it has to be paid back, by our children and by their children," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Obama told business leaders in a speech at the White House early in the day that finishing the legislation was critical but warning that much remained to be done to bolster the US economy.

"Passing this plan is a critical step, but as important as it is, it's only the beginning of what I think all of you understand is going to be a long and difficult process of turning our economy around," Obama said.

The president vowed more action to thaw frozen lending and repair the battered housing sector, saying quick, thorough action was needed "to truly address this crisis" — a paralyzing recession that has cost millions of jobs.

"Today, with final passage of this bill, we start putting Americans back to work," House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.

Republicans blasted the plan as bloated with wasteful government spending and lacking in tax cuts — the party's traditional cure-all for economic woes — and bemoaned the borrowed money to finance it.

"This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority's favorite government programs. We need jobs, not mountains of debt to be paid by our children," said the number two House Republican, Eric Cantor.

The legislation, a product of hard-fought negotiations this week, allocates 120 billion dollars to infrastructure spending, including monies for highways, trains and expanding broadband Internet access.

It also features nearly 20 billion dollars for renewable energy and 11 billion to modernize the US electrical grid — steps former vice president Al Gore warmly endorsed weeks ago as a major downpayment on Obama's strategy for fighting climate change.

The bill includes tax cuts — expected to benefit 95 per cent of US families — and tens of billions of dollars for extending unemployment benefits, bolstering healthcare for the least well-off and funds to help cash-strapped states avoid cuts in services like education.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Companies look at CSR initiatives for branding in slump


New Delhi: Hurt by the global economic downturn in their operations, companies are increasingly seeking brand-building and other strategic benefits from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, rather than straight philanthropy and charity work.

Philanthropy activities across the world are said to have taken a big hit and India is no exception, but CSR initiatives are expected to continue with some modifications here and there, experts believe.

“We feel they (CSR initiatives) would not be delayed, rather they will be modified and made more strategic as per the company core values,” global consultancy KPMG India Associate Director - Aid and Development Services - Parul Soni said.

However, philanthropy and charity-based CSR activities are likely to take a hit whereas sustainability-driven CSR initiatives would make more headway and emerge. Companies might try to use least resources for maximum branding and competitive advantage, Soni added.

Non-profit organisation SOS Children’s Villages of India, which gets contributions from corporate houses for well-being of children, also said there has been no impact of slowdown on the companies’ social benefit initiatives.

“Surprisingly, we have seen no decline in the interest of companies for CSR activities... What has been affected is the due diligence process in NGO selection,“ SOS Children’s Villages of India Dy National Director (PFR) Joygopal Podder said.

Corporates are now more cautious and selective and shortlist only NGOs with high credibility, transparency in accounting procedures and a long track record of high quality social work, Podder said.

From the corporate perspective, companies maintain that their socially-inclined activities has not be impacted by the credit crunch and they are continuing as before.

Global science products and services firm Dupont, which is a strong supporter of socially beneficial initiatives, has funded various programmes in India, which focus on improving village infrastructure, improving school and education standards for the under-privileged children.

Asked whether Dupont India would be initiating some new CSR activities this year in the midst of a global slowdown, a company spokesperson said, “our community projects are ongoing. We cannot comment on any new initiatives at this point of time.”

“I think the CSR initiatives by companies will remain constant and may be more strategically planned following the downturn in the global economy,“ Tata Capital managing director and CEO Praveen P Kadle said.

Moreover, Podder said that CSR budgets do not seem to have been hit by the current economic slowdown with trusts and foundations of MNC’s operating out of India, which are headquartered abroad, continuing to send contributions to SOS-India once they are convinced of the viability and quality impact of the project proposal that has been sent to them.

In a sharp contrast, a global survey of senior executives by advisory firm Booz & Co revealed that 40% of respondents expect ‘green´ and other corporate social responsibility initiatives to significantly slow due to the downturn.

“The pullback would be especially pronounced in transportation and energy industries, with, respectively, 51% and 47% of respondents in those industries saying CSR agendas will be delayed,” the survey pointed out.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

News...

- Wall St slips; ADRs end mixed

- Sobha Developers Q3 net dips 88%

- Govt trying to get tax holiday on gas production: Deora

- Rs 1.2 lakh cr investment at risk, need govt support: SIAM

- Tata Capital's Rs 500 cr bond issue to start tomorrow

- CCL plans to enhance production in 11th Plan period

- IT majors trust PSU banks more for their Rs 20k cr cash

- Revenue on gas supply to double at Rs 3k cr in two yrs: GAIL

- Infy cuts US staff, limited tolerance for non-performers

- ADAG restructures infra, telecom biz to unlock value

- Kingfisher Airlines Q3 loss widens to Rs 626 cr

- RIL regains Rs 2 trn valuation turf

- Hindujas join race for Satyam

- PM discharged from AIIMS after surgery

- LIC eyes Rs 14 lakh cr asset size in three years