The cement companies today promised to keep prices stable for a year even if the costs of inputs go up. The companies, however, refused to roll back the recent hike which has been done because of rise in excise on 50-kg bags costing Rs 190 or more.
The government said that there is no ceiling on export credit given by public sector banks to small-scale companies. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that banks usually sanction the working capital, including export credit, after assessing individual customer performance.
IPO
Idea Cellular, a leading mobile operator in India, made a strong debut on the bourses today, opening at Rs 85, with 13.33% premium and touched an intraday high of Rs 92 supported by strong buying interest from investors despite volatility in the markets. It ended at Rs 85.70, up 14.27%.
Trading highlights
New issues Idea Cellular was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 559.20 crore followed by Century Textiles and MindTree Consulting.
Advancers
NTPC led the gainers, up 2.7%, to Rs 140. The company is planning to float a subsidiary for its international operations and build a 700 Mw gas-based power plant in Nigeria and 500 Mw thermal power plant in Sri Lanka.
Hero Honda was up 2.5% to Rs 690, Tata Steel gained 1.5% at Rs 434.
Tata Steel surged after it acquired 100% stake in Rawmet Industries Private, a company having its registered office in Kolkata, for an enterprise value of Rs 101 crore.
Decliners
Cement shares were down sharply after India''s cement companies agreed to hold prices of the key building material for a year. Grasim slumped 7.5% to Rs 2,069, ACC tumbled over 6% to Rs 781, and Gujarat Ambuja shed 2.6% to Rs 110. India Cements plunged over 8% to Rs 153, and UltraTech Cement plummeted 4.8% to Rs 780.
Other decliners included BHEL and ITC declining around 3.5% each to Rs 2,095 and Rs 154, respectively. Cipla shed 3.2% to Rs 229 and Hindalco tumbled 3.1% to Rs 128.
Hindustan Lever was down 0.14% to Rs 183.55, after rallying close to 10% on significant volume on Thursday. Cigarette large-cap ITC was down 3.44% to Rs 154.35.
Index heavy Reliance Industries shed 2% to Rs 1,308.05. Reliance Communications lost 2.5% to Rs 423, L&T declined 2.5% to Rs 1,482 and Dr Reddey’s dropped to Rs 660.
6:30AM Europe was lower Friday on weak metal, drug and mining sectors.
European markets were off to a weak start on Friday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax fell 0.5% to 6,677.11, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.8% to 5,482.19 and London FTSE 100 lost 0.4% to 6,203.8.
Advancers
Thales, the French defence electronics group, topped the earnings table after posting a better-than-expected 4.5% increase in full-year operating profit, while guiding strong revenue growth for the next two years. Thales shares added 4.1%. Sanofi-Aventis advanced 0.1% after Goldman upgraded it to buy, saying concerns over Plavix and Lovenox are now priced in. Ahold, the Dutch retailer, was up 1.6% as bids circulated in for the company US Foodservice division, valued at around $6 billion.
Decliners |
