Inflation drops for the second week in running

NEW DELHI, Oct 13: After a 0.45 decline last week, the inflation rate further slipped by 0.24 per cent to end at 3.34 per cent for the week ended September 28 due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables and fish-inland.

The wholesale price index for all commodities also declined by 0.2 per cent to 167.2.

Inflation was 3.19 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

The index for primary articles declined by one per cent as against the previous week to 174.9 while that of the food articles dropped by 1.2 per cent to 181.1.

The drop in the food articles index was led by lower prices of fish-inland (8 per cent), fruits and vegetables and mutton (3 per cent each), bajra, maize and fish-marine (2 per cent each) and gram and urad (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of tea (4 per cent), jowar and eggs (3 per cent each) ragi (2 per cent) and moong and condiments and spices (one per cent each) moved northwards.

The index for non-food articles ended at 163.6, a decline of 0.6 per cent against last week, due to lower prices of copra (3 per cent), rape and mustard seed, sunflower and fodder (2 per cent each) and raw jute, groundnut seed, cotton seed, linseed and kardi seed (one per cent each).

However, the prices of raw wool (2 per cent) and raw silk (one per cent) moved up. Meanwhile, the index for fuel, power, light and lubricants, which had moved up by 0.4 per cent to 239.7 last week, remained unaltered.

In the manufactured products group, the index saw a 0.1 per cent decline to 148.3. In this category, the food products group index fell to 154.6, a drop of 0.3 per cent, due to lower prices of solvent extracted groundnut oil, coconut oil and oil cakes (2 per cent each), and ghee, maida, gur, sugar and sweet meat confectionery, rape and mustard oil, groundnut oil and rice bran oil (one per cent each).

However, a rise was seen in the prices of sooji-rawa (10 per cent), bran-oil kinds (4 per cent), and atta and khandsari (one per cent each) moved up.

The index for textiles group rose by 0.1 per cent to 123.2 due to higher prices in the week of cotton-knitted garments (7 per cent), acrylic yarn (3 per cent), viscose filament yarn ( 2 per cent) and synthetic yarn and viscose staple fibre (one per cent each).

However, the prices of other cotton yarn (5 per cent), polyester staple fibre (3 per cent) and woollen yarn (2 per cent) declined.

The rubber and plastic products group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 135.9 due to lower prices of cycle tyres (2 per cent).

The index for non-metallic mineral products group declined by 0.2 per cent to 141.4 due to marginal decline in the price of cement.

The final wholesale price index for the week ended August 3 stood at 166.8 as against 166.1 (provisional) while annual rate of inflation based on final index stood at 3.09 per cent as against 2.66 per cent (provisional). (UNI)

Bullion, sugar, select metals dip edible oils, key cotton up

MUMBAI, Oct 13: Prices of sugar, bullion and select metals fell sharply in the absence of festival demand and subdued London and upcountry advice while edible oils and select cotton prices gained on encouraging advice from international and upcountry markets during the week ended October 5, according to traders at the wholesale markets here.

Bullion review: bullion sheds shine on thin demand

Silver (.999 fineness grade) resumed the week on a bullish note at Rs 7,825 per kg on October 7 on good demand from industrial units and local dealers in view of the ongoing of navratri festival.

The white metal moved in a wide range between Rs 7,575 and Rs 7,825 per kg during the week.

Prices later drifted lower on increased offerings by stock-holders. The white metal finally declined sharply by Rs 250 during the week to close at Rs 7,570 per kg on October 12.

Demand was very thin despite the coming festivals like Dussehra and Diwali in October and nNvember, traders said.

At the London bullion market, the white metal quoted lower at US dollar (USd) 4.33/34 on October 11 against the USd 4.49/4.50 of the previous week.

Standard mint and gold biscuit prices, also resumed higher at Rs 5,295 per 10 gram and Rs 62,000 per 10 tola respectively on October 7 compared to their previous day’s finish on fresh demand at lower levels from local customers and jewellery makers.

Prices moved in a restricted range during the week. Standard mint and gold biscuit closed lower at Rs 5,210 per ten gm and Rs 61,050 per ten tola, losing Rs 80 and Rs 900 respectively on October 12 from their October 5 finish.

The prices declined mainly on thin festival demand from local cusotmers and jewellery makers and the improved stock arrivals from neighbouring States.

At the London market, the yellow metal quoted positive at USd 316.75 per troy ounce on October 11 against the USd 322.50 of the previous week, traders said. Non-ferrous metals dip on subdued overseas advice, thin demand

Prices of copper and brass in the ferrous metal segment fluctuated in a narrow range and remained steady on moderate demand and sufficient stocks while select non-ferrous metals weakened during the week on bearish advice from London Metal Exchange (LME), Kolkata and Delhi.

Ferrous metals such as copper utensils, copper heavy, brass scraps and brass cuttings prices remained unchanged at Rs 10,700, Rs 9,900, Rs 8,500 and Rs 8,900 per quintal respectively at this week-end.

There was thin off-take by local small scale units due to improved stock arrivals from upcountry mills. London advice was also weakening the domestic prices, traders said.

In the non-ferrous category, copper wire bar, zinc slab and nickel cathode prices eased to close at Rs 11,700, Rs 6,200 per quintal and Rs 435 per kg respectively.

Bulk demand remained thin, while bearish advice from the London metal exchange, Kolkata and Delhi pressured prices, they said.

Prices of tin slab and lead ingots, however, gained by Rs two and Rs 125 to Rs 290 per kg and Rs 3,850 per quintal on improved industrial demand, traders said.

Sugar prices fall sharply on improved arrivals from co-operative

mills

Wholesale prices of S-30 and M-30 grades sugar fluctuated widely during the week and dipped sharply at the turbhe wholesale sugar market.

While the dip in S-30 grade was of the order of Rs 45/50, M-30 grade lost by Rs 25/30. The main reason for the dip was the thin demand in the face of comfortable arrivals from mills, and the good availability of stocks.

The on-going navratri festival had no perceptible impact on prices, traders said.

Following the news that certain co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra moved the Bombay High Court against the monthly/quarterly regulated release of free sale sugar and the high court ruling that sugar factories were at liberty to sell the free sale part of 90 per cent of their season’s production at any time and at any price, had a depressing effect on prices, even though the full implications of the ruling are yet to be felt.

Prices of S-30 and M-30 grades lost finally by Rs 50 and Rs 65 at Rs 1,250/1,306 and Rs 1,285/1,400 per quintal respectively on October 12 from their October 5 close.

Check post prices of both the grades were down by Rs 25/50 per quintal because of improved stock arrival and thin festival demand from bulk consumers.

The state co-operative mills accepted tenders from registered wholesale dealers at rates ranging from Rs 1,165 to Rs 1,190 for s-30 and Rs 1,225 to Rs 1,350 for m-30 grade during the week. Select cotton prices gain on encouraging ny advice

Cotton prices witnessed an upward trend during the week. At the end of the weekly trading session, key cotton varieties rose between Rs 50 and Rs 100 on improved buying support from local spinners and exporters.

Popular varieties like Bengal Deshi, Gujarat Wagad, J-34, Y-1, S-6 and 26 mm prices rose on thin offerings by stockists induced by the encouraging advice from New York (NY) cotton exchange and producing centres such as Rajkot, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, traders said. Prices of groundnut seed weakened on thin demand from bulk and retail consumers at the local market during the week.

In seeds category (per quintal), groundnut javas 80/90, sesameseed and sunflowerseed varieties dropped by Rs 25 each to Rs 2,550, Rs 2,125 and Rs 2,000 respectively from their previous closes.

Kardi, sesame seed crushing, niger seed and castor seed however, gained by Rs 20, Rs 25, Rs 10 and Rs 10 to Rs 1,590 Rs 2,355, Rs 1,825 and Rs 1,415 per quintal respectively on poor demand and subdued advice from producing centres.

Oil prices recovered smartly during the week on account of improved demand in view of the coming Dussehra and Diwali festivals and lesser supplies from proucing areas, traders said.

Groundnut raw and sunflower solvent refined oils were the major gainers, gaining Rs 21 and Rs 25 to Rs 466 and Rs 410 per ten kg, while sunflower expeller refined and linseed oils gained by around Rs 30 and Rs 15 to Rs 485 and Rs 460 on similar grounds.

Prices of imported palmolien, soyaben refined, its crude and sunflower crude oils also gained by Rs two, Rs 10, Rs 16 and Rs 25 to Rs Rs 346, Rs 360, Rs 345 and 410 per 10 kg on lesser ready stocks amid sustained brisk demand from bulk and retail consumers, traders said. (UNI)

Equity players to be allowed to trade in commodities market

NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Stock exchanges, many of which are facing rough weather due to dwindling turnover, may get a chance to survive as brokers in the capital market will be allowed to trade in commodity markets.

The SEBI-constituted K R Ramamoorthy Committee has agreed in principle to give the green signal to brokers in the equity market to enter commodity markets, sources in the committee told UNI.

However, it is yet to be decided whether brokers would be permitted in the derivative future product only or in physical settlements as well. The probability is that the trading would be confined to only the future derivative product since it is too difficult to ensure standardisation of commodities in physical settlements, the sources said.

Stock exchanges will have to tie-up with warehouses of the concerned commodities in case physical settlement is allowed.

The 12-member committee, which met in Mumbai recently, felt that commodity markets had a vast potential that could be tapped by identifying synergies between bourses and these markets. Commodity markets clocked a turnover of Rs 30,000 crore last fiscal against the potential of Rs 5,00,000 crore.

In case brokers were allowed in the future derivative trading, the commodity producers would also benefit by hedging his products. The committee would now be working out the nitty-gritty of implementing the proposed move, the sources said.

The committee would also recommend measures that have to be put in place so that risks of one market do not flow to the other. Commodity markets have installed risk-mitigating measures much earlier than the capital market as the former has put in place daily settlement many years back. Just like the measure of circuit-breakers in the stock market, commodity markets have safeguards in the form of speed-breakers.

The committee would submit its recommendations to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) within 45 days.

It would also suggest ways to use existing infrastructure of bourses for commodity markets. Both infrastructure and human resources of many bourses, that are lying unused because of reduced margins after the sebi’s move to ban the badla and switch over to the rolling settlement, would be utilised once the proposal is put into practice.

Bourses at present are allowed to lease their infrastructure to commodity markets, but the present proposal would enable brokers to involve in these markets in much larger way, the sources said.

Brokers of the capital market are allowed to enter commodity, real estate and foreign exchange markets in the United States and other developed countries.

The brokers interested in entering commodity markets will have to float a separate company and register it with the Forward Market Commission (FMC), the regulator of the commodities markets, unless the concept of super regulator materialises, the sources said. (UNI)

Stocks expected to extend gains next week

MUMBAI, Oct 13: The market may continue their uptrend next week also tracking firm trend in the US markets and anticipation of better-than-expected quarterly results, say experts.

The market will open on a strong note and the financial results likely to take the market further ahead with encouraging results like in the past week, said Mr Jignesh Shah, strategist at the Ask Raymond James Associates.

Mr Shah further said the US markets likely to go for a small technical correction before bottoming out towards the later part of the next week. Indian markets may turn volatile during at a time US marekts undergo a correction, but may able to maintain firm trend, he said.

Equities ended firm at the Bombay and National Stock Exchange during the week ended Friday, October 11, 2002 buoyed by better-than-expected second quarter financial results by software major infosys, firm trend in the US market and renewed hopes on disinvestment.

The 30-stock Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex gained 65 points (2.23 per cent) at 2,996 points against the previous week’s close of 2,931 points. The S P CNX nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also advanced smartly by 23 points (2.41 per cent) at 971 points compared with its previous week’s close of 948 points.

There was a general feeling among the marketmen that the firm trned may continue during the next week. However, some were cautious of the firm trend.

There are several negative factors such as uncertainity over the PSU disinvestment, Government’s spending on drought relief, the outcome of state elections are expected to restrict the major players from entering the market, said Mr Vasudeo Joshi, head-research at the HSBC Ltd. Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers during the last week after infosys announced better-than-expected quarterly results and presented an encouraging outlook for the year, dealers said.

Shares in hughes software rallied after the company reported 32 per cent jump in the second quarter. The scrip soared by 18 per cent to close at Rs 152.

Mphasis BFL surged by nearly three per cent to close at Rs 521 after the company reported a 61 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 16.1.

Besides, it, shares in PSUs also advanced after the report that cabinet would soon meet to discuss the disinvestment in HPCL and BPCL.

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s positive statements indicating Centre’s commitment towards the privatisation also boosted investors confidence, dealers said.

Oil PSUs HPCL shot up by over 20 per cent to close at Rs 217 and BPCL registered a smart gain of over 12 per cent to close at Rs 205. The shares in SCI rose by four per cent to Rs 75.

Automobile stocks such as Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda firmed up last week on sustained buying interest from institutional investors. Media stocks witnessed a mixed trend while, pharma shares looked up on bargain hunting.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained sellers in the equities in most part of the week. According to market sources the FIIs have recorded net sales of Rs 420 crore in last week. The FIIs have reportedly pressed sales in PSU and select tech stocks, dealers said.

Total market capitalisation at the BSE shot up by 2.65 per cent at Rs 5,79,002 crore from Rs 5,64,068 crore.

In the overseas markets, US stocks rallied on the last two trading sessions, wiping out losses registered earlier in the week.

For the week ended Friday, Oct 11,2002, Nasdaq shot up by 6.2 per cent, Dow Jones rose 4.2 per cent and S P CNX 500 registered a rise of 4.3 per cent over the previous week’s close. (UNI)

Grasim open offer for L&T shares at Rs 190 per share

MUMBAI, Oct 13: Grasim Industries Ltd, a flagship company of Aditya Birla group, today announced an open offer to acquire upto 20 per cent equity shares of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) at Rs 190 per share aggregating in an outgo of Rs 945 crore.

The offer would be funded mostly through internal accruals and the company may take recourse to borrowing for small amount, Grasim Chief Financial Officer and Executive President D Rathi told PTI here after the Board of Directors approved the proposal for open offer.

The offer will open on December nine, 2002 and close on January seven, 2003.

This offer is being made to augment Birla Group’s stake in L&T and also to drive down the average cost of acquiring stake in engineering and cement company, Rathi said.

Currently the average cost of acquiring stake in L&T is Rs 270 per share and in case we are able to acquire 20 per cent stake (through open offer) our cost per share would come down to Rs 223-224 per share, Rathi said.

Birla Group currently holds over 14 per cent stake in L&T which is expected to go upto 35 per cent after the open offer.

‘We are not seeking any change in the management setup in L&T and see our investment as a strategic fit with Aditya Birla Group’s business plans in cement and knowledge intensive businesses+, Rathi added.

The offer price of Rs 190 per share is higher compared to the average price of Rs 174.93 per share over the last 26 weeks and Rs 170.08 per share over the last two weeks on the NSE, which has the highest trading volumes for L&T, Grasim Industries said in a release today.

The acquisition is planned to be done through Grasim and its wholly owned subsidiary, Samruddhi Swastik Trading and Investments Limited, acting in concert, the release said.

In November 2001, Grasim Industries had acquired 2.5 crore shares of L&T representing just over 10 per cent stake from Reliance Industries Ltd at Rs 306.60 per share aggregating Rs 766.50 crore.

Later, Aditya Birla group had raised its stake in L&T to over 14 per cent through open market purchases.

JM Morgan Stanley is the transaction advisor for the offer, the release added. (PTI)

State to get Rs 2000 crore annual income
from hydel power

SHIMLA, Oct 13: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here today said the state would start getting an annual income of Rs 2,000 crore from generation of hydel power by the end of the year 2002 by harnessing 10,000 mw of additional hydel potential for which it has formulated a comprehensive plan.

While addressing a gathering at Tara Devi after inaugurating the Kirtan Bhavan constructed at a cost of Rs 14.50 lakh, he said the endeavours of the Government was to harness the identified hydel potential self-sufficiency. He said the work on over 8000 mw hydel power projects had been started after the present Government came into power in the state four and a half years ago.

He said 2026 mw hydel power would be generated by the end of next year out of which the state would be getting 250 mw free power. He said the State Government was poised to be a power state in the next few years.

The Chief Minister said the Government had accorded priority to the construction of roads, providing of educational and health facilities to the people of the state.

He said various steps had been taken in this regard, especially in rural and difficult areas of the state.

He said during last four and a half years, new roads had been constructed besides 250 bridges constucted so as to ensure the road connectivity. He said special emphasis was being laid to speed up development in rural areas.

Speaking about development in the Kusumpati area, the Chief Minister said 45 roads had been constructed in the area and 160 rooms constructed under Sarswati Bal Vidya Sankalp Yojna to provide at least three rooms in each primary school. (UNI)

8.59 mt of paddy arrived in Haryana Mandis

CHANDIGARH, Oct 13: The state procuring agencies in Haryana have purchased 84 per cent of the total leviable paddy arrivals in the State Mandis while the remaining 16 per cent paddy was purchased by private millers and dealers.

According to the Commissioner and Secretary, Food and Supplies and Agriculture, H C Disodia about 8.59 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in the State Mandis (granaries) till yesterday, out of which 6.87 lakh mt was leviable and 1.72 mt were non-leviable varieties of paddy.

He said here today that senior functionaries of the department, heads of procuring agencies, administrative secretaries and senior officers of the Government including Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala himself were extensively touring the Mandis to ensure smooth procurement operations.

Disodia said no complaints of distress sale of paddy had been received from farmers in the state. It was also being ensured that every grain conforming to specifications was purchased at MSP or higher prices, an official release quoted him as saying. (PTI)

| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports
| international | weather | mailbag | suggestions | search | subscribe | send mail |