Economic news
Out of the 60 certified Agri Export Zones, 54 have not been able to achieve forecast export and investments targets since 2001, according to Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
Foreign investment companies in sensitive sectors like aviation, petroleum and retail could undergo changes next month when the government reviews the norms on foreign direct investment.
Trading highlights
IFCI was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 155 crore followed by Reliance Industries and Network FinCap.
Advancers
Bajaj Auto led the advancers, rallying 4.3% to Rs 2,551. The board meeting of the company is scheduled on May 17 2007, in Mumbai is likely to consider proposal to separate the manufacturing and financial assets. Bajaj Auto continued its downward trend in motorcycle sales for the third straight month this year, with its April numbers, including exports, declined by 13% compared to the same month last year.
Index heavy Reliance Industries surged 4% to Rs 1,623. Reliance will pay over $600 million for hiring deep-sea drilling rigs for developing the gas fields in the prolific KG-D6 block off the east coast. KG-D6 is the world second largest deepwater find last decade.
Ranbaxy soared 3.5% to Rs 384, while Gujarat Ambuja and Hero Honda advanced over 3% each to Rs 122 and Rs 705, respectively. Hero Honda reported a 4.86% increase in vehicle sales during April 2007 at 2,62,544 units compared to a year ago. Hero Honda expects to maintain its growth momentum in the coming years. Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro also settled up 2.7% each to Rs 834 and Rs 1,741, respectively.
Housing finance company HDFC reported 29% jump in net profit to Rs 550.05 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2007, 15% rise in earnings. The total income surged 40% to Rs 1,732.95 crore compared to a year ago. The stock advanced 0.4% to Rs 1,667 on Thursday.
Decliners
Tata Motors and HDFC Bank led the decliners, dipping over 2% each to Rs 734 and Rs 1,006, respectively. Tata Motors plunged after rallying to a high of Rs 764.50, on posting total sales of 40,486 vehicles for April, a growth of 10.7% compared with 36,574 vehicles sold in April 2006.
Other leading decliners included Hindustan Lever shedding 1.8% to Rs 196, and Reliance Communications losing 1% to Rs 472.
6:30AM European shares declined Thursday on weak earnings reports from UBS and BMW.
European markets declined in mid-morning trade on Thursday. National benchmarks fell in 10 of the 17 western European markets that were open.
The German DAX Xetra 30 index lost 0.2% at 7,442.43 and the French CAC-40 index slipped 0.1% at 5,987.37. However, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 6,507.30.
Advancers
Royal Dutch Shell advanced 1.6% after saying that its first-quarter profit rose 6% to $7.28 billion, with improving profit in its gas and power, oil products and chemicals units countering declining profits at its largest arm, exploration and production. Competitor BP rose 1.5% in London, while Total climbed 0.8%.
Unilever rose 5.1%. It posted an unexpected increase in first-quarter profit, as cost savings and strong sales volumes outweighed currency effects and higher raw material prices. Dutch supermarket chain Ahold shares rose 2.8% in Amsterdam, after it agreed to sell its U.S. Foodservices business to private equity firms for $7.1 billion.
Decliners |
