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Indian stock market daily morning report (March 17, 2010, Wednesday)

Contributed by Keynote Capitals

By Nitin A. Khandkar (Keynote Capitals)

Views on markets today

- The Sensex closed positive yesterday on the back of the rally in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries and L&T. Buying was seen across all sectors except FMCG and PSU stocks in the last couple of hours of trade.

- Market breadth was strong at around 1.77x as investors bought large cap stocks. FIIs bought equities worth Rs3.77bn, while domestic institutions sold equities worth Rs1.58bn.

- The Asian markets are trading positive this morning. The Nikkei is up as the US Fed pledged to keep borrowing costs near zero for an “extended period” and the yen weakened. The Hang Seng is also trading positive.

- The market may extend yesterday’s gains today, on firm global markets after US Federal Reserve indicated it plans to hold interest rates low and gave a mildly optimistic assessment of the economy.

Key events today

- Opening of IPO of Persistent Systems (price band Rs290-310 per share), closes March 19.

Economic and Corporate Developments

- As per a FICCI-KPMG report, the Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry in India is poised to touch Rs1.09lakhCr by 2014, driven by economic recovery, expected rise in advertising spends and increasing media penetration.

Buzzing Stocks

- Bharti Airtel has issued a term sheet to banks to raise up to US$8.5bn in offshore loans to fund the acquisition of African mobile operator Zain.

- State Bank of India is likely to raise Rs200bn via rights issue by the year-end.

- Hindalco Industries has received a loan commitment of over Rs100bn from more than 10 banks for the Rs49bn debt the company plans to raise for its Utkal Alumina Refinery.

- Reliance Communications plans acquisitions in the country to grow its presence in the domestic market.

- Strides Arcolab is buying the remaining 43% stake in its Australian venture, Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd for Rs1.45bn.

- Patni Computer Systems has set up a new North American hub for BPO operations in El Paso, Texas.