"Indian Walmart" A dream will become reality soon after government approved biggest retail reforms.
India threw open its $450 billion retail market to global supermarket giants on Thursday, approving its biggest reform in years that may boost sorely needed investment in Asia's third-largest economy.
The world's largest retail group, Wal-Mart Stores, and its rivals see India's retail sector as one of the last frontier markets, where a burgeoning middle-class still shops at local, family-owned merchants.
Allowing foreign retailers to take stakes of up to 51 percent in supermarkets would attract much needed capital from abroad and ultimately help unclog supply bottlenecks that have kept inflation stubbornly close to a double-digit clip.
Wal-Mart hailed the decision, but said it would take a close look at the fine print to see what the decision entails for its ability to do business in India.
"We believe this is an important first step," said Scott Price, president and chief executive of Walmart Asia in a statement.
Raj Jain, who heads Wal-Mart India, told CNBC TV18 the decision will "redefine the way consumers shop in India, but more importantly, the way supply chains in India run."
Under fire for a slow pace of reform, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's embattled government appears to be slowly shaking off a string of corruption scandals to focus on policy changes long desired by investors.
"This is a very bold move and the economic reforms process is back on track." Rajan Mittal, vice chairman of India's Bharti Enterprises, which is Wal-Mart's partner in that market, told reporters.
Millions of small retail traders vigorously oppose competing with foreign giants, potentially providing a lightning rod for criticism of the ruling Congress party ahead of crucial state elections next year.
Food Minister K.V. Thomas said the government will allow foreign direct investment of up to 51 percent in multi-brand retail — as supermarkets are known in India. It will also raise the cap on foreign investment in single-brand retailing to 100 percent from 51 percent, he added.
The new rules may commit supermarkets to strict local sourcing requirements and minimum investment levels aimed at protecting jobs, according to local media.
A heavyweight member of Singh's coalition government warned on Thursday it unequivocally opposed opening the sector.
The move is politically risky.
Fears of potential job losses could heighten popular anger at the Congress party ahead of key state polls next year that will set the stage for the 2014 general election.
But slowing growth and investment in India, with the rupee currency around historical lows and government finances worsening, may have spurred the government into action.
"Manmohan Singh, after all the scams and the impression of government paralysis, has realized it's time to take some bold steps. This is a very bold step that will please the middle class," said political analyst Amulya Ganguli.
Political Opposition
India previously allowed 51 percent foreign investment in single-brand retailers and 100 percent for wholesale operations, a policy Wal-Mart and rival Carrefour, among others, had long lobbied to free up further.
"For international retailers, it will open up a $1.6 trillion market growing at 8-9 percent so it's a big business opportunity for all of them," said Thomas Varghese, CEO of Aditya Birla Retail, an Indian supermarket chain.
For Wal-Mart, it's a very big opportunity to reach further abroad, said Moody's senior retail analyst Charles O'Shea.
"There are 1.2 billion people and if you're Wal-Mart, it's a place you need to be," O'Shea said.
Indian retailers have operated supermarket chains in India for years, but their expansion has been hampered by a lack of funding and expertise as well as poor infrastructure, which makes the cold storage of food transported around the country practically impossible.
Political opponents of the proposal, with an eye to the ballot box, argue an influx of foreign players — which could include France's Carrefour and Britain'sTesco will throw millions of small traders out of work in a sector that is the largest source of employment in India after agriculture.
India's biggest listed company, Reliance Industries, was forced to backtrack on plans in 2007 to open Western-style supermarkets in the state of Uttar Pradesh after huge protests from small traders and political parties.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposes opening up the retail sector, arguing that letting in "foreign players with deep pockets" would bring job losses in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
"Fragmented markets give larger options to the consumers. Consolidated markets make the consumer captive," the BJP's leaders of the upper and lower houses of parliament said in a statement before the decision. "International retail does not create additional markets, it merely displaces (the) existing market."
Global - Economy and Market
ECB mulls ultra-long loans to help banks
BRUSSELS - The European Central Bank is looking at extending the term of loans it offers banks to 2 or even 3 years to try to prevent the euro zone crisis precipitating a credit crunch that chokes the bloc's economy, people familiar with the matter say.
S&P cuts Egypt credit ratings after violence
Standard & Poor's lowered Egypt's credit rating on Thursday to B+ from BB- with a negative outlook. It affirmed the B short-term rating, saying the political and economic outlook had deteriorated following violence that has killed 39 people in five days.
Asian shares, euro fall on Europe deadlock,European shares fall on Merkel comments
TOKYO - Asian shares and the euro both hovered near seven-week lows on Friday as European officials failed to soothe investor fears that the euro zone's debt crisis could trigger a credit crunch if funding costs run out of control.
The Nikkei share average held near a two-and-a-half-year low on Friday as statements by German and French officials convinced markets that leaders were no closer to a consensus on how to contain the region's debt crisis.
European shares fell for the sixth consecutive session in low volume on Thursday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel restated her position against changing the role of the European Central Bank to ease the euro zone debt crisis.
Oil climbs on stock draws, France moots Iran import ban
LONDON - Oil prices rose modestly in holiday-thinned trading on Thursday after France said it was pushing for a Europe-wide ban on crude imports from Iran, ratcheting up geopolitical risk in a tightening market.
India - Economy and Market
FDI in retail: Farmers gain, but SMEs & kiranas complain
With the entry of foreign supermarket players, farmers across India's six lakh villages stand to gain from greater market access, higher profits, better technology and direct linkage with consumers.
Food inflation slips to four-month low of 9.01%
Food inflation fell to nearly four-month low of 9.01% for the week ended November 12, prompting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to express the hope that the overall price situation will improve in the coming weeks.
Food inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 10.63% in the previous week. It was 11.38% in the corresponding period in 2010.
Sept-qtr GDP growth seen slowest in over 2 years
REUTERS FORECAST - The Indian economy probably grew an annual 6.9 percent in the quarter through September, at its weakest pace in more than two years, the median forecast from a poll of 22 economists showed.
India's industrial output grew by a meagre 1.9 percent in September from a year earlier, the slowest pace in two years.
The Indian services sector contracted at its fastest pace in over two years during October, knocked by a slump in global demand and tight monetary policy.
The partially convertible rupee hit a record low of 52.73 against the U.S. dollar on Nov. 22, as investors fled risky assets and its recent weakness is expected to spike India's import bill and in turn, push up prices.
The Reserve Bank of India may hold rates in its December policy review as growth risks from a slowing economy and a fragile global economic environment take centre stage. It had said in the October review that further rate increases may not be needed, if inflation starts to ease from December.
Indian exports in October probably slowed to just over 10 percent from a high of 82 percent in July, reflecting risks to growth coming from the euro zone beset with sovereign debt woes.
2,000 Crore bonanza for NHAI: Amid slowdown, highways are going for premium
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has got over Rs 2,000 crore as premium from awarding highway projects during the current financial year and to the authority's surprise some of the nondescriptive stretches have gone for premium. Highways sector is emerging as a sunrise one amid Indian economy is coming under slowdown grip.
Technology News –
TCS targeting 1000 customers in SMB segment this year
KOCHI: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which launched a first of its kind fully integrated information technology solution for Small and Medium Business (SMB) segment recently, today said it was targeting to reach over 1000 customers in the segment nationally this year, a top official today said.
iON, TCS's strategic unit for small and medium business, presently has over 250 customers who are experiencing the benefits of increased efficiencies, predictability of technology, talent on call and an expanded customer based following the end-to-end integrated suite of cloud based business solutions, V Ramaswamy Global Head iON told reporters here. The third generation service model allows SMBs to capture growth through seamless technology deployment.
To provide its customers with seamless service, iON has created an eco-system of over 100 Cloud Service Partners across India. iON's industry solutions are currently available for Manufacturing, Textile, Education, Retail, Restaurant, Wellness and Professional services.
AT&T braces for T-Mobile deal collapse
LONDON/FRANKFURT - AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover of T-Mobile USA fails, a tacit recognition of the dwindling chances that the deal will get through U.S. regulators who say it would destroy jobs and curb competition.
Alibaba.com posts slowest quarterly growth in almost 2 yrs
SHANGHAI - Alibaba.com, China's largest e-commerce firm, posted an 11.9 percent rise in quarterly net profit, its slowest growth in nearly two years, with the company raising concerns due to a weak trade outlook stemming from debt woes in Europe and the United States.
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Standard and Poor's said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration hasn't made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation's sovereign grade.
"Japan's finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second," Takahira Ogawa, Singapore-based director of sovereign ratings at S&P, said in an interview today. Asked if this means he's closer to cutting Japan, he said it "may be right in saying that we're closer to a downgrade. But the deterioration has been gradual so far, and it's not like we're going to move today."
S&P rates Japan at AA- and has had a negative outlook on the rating since April. Ogawa said Japan needs a "comprehensive approach" to containing its debt burden, which the government projects will exceed 1 quadrillion yen ($13 trillion) in the year through March as the nation pays for reconstruction costs from March's record earthquake.
The yen pared gains after Ogawa's remarks and traded at 77.09 against the dollar as of 2:43 p.m. in Tokyo. Yields on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond rose to as high as 0.98 percent today from the previous close of 0.965 percent before the nation's markets shut yesterday for a holiday. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1.8 percent to 8,167.28 as of 2:49 p.m. Tokyo time.
Tax Measure
Japan's lower house of parliament today approved legislation that would add an additional 2.1 percent levy to an individual's annual payment. Lawmakers revised the government's proposal to extend the period of the measure to 25 years, from 10 years, to help pay for earthquake rebuilding. The measure takes effect in 2013.
"Just because this passes doesn't mean that it's positive for public finances," Ogawa said. "Politicians are squabbling over the minute details, while avoiding what's most important."
While Japan's policy makers have signaled they will double the nation's sales tax from 5 percent by around 2015, a bill has yet to be enacted.
Moody's Investors Service cut the nation's debt rating by one step to Aa3 on Aug. 24. S&P lowered Japan to AA- in January. Fitch Ratings also has Japan at AA- with a negative outlook.
Inflation at 9.08%
24 November 2011
Wholesale Price Indices for Primary Articles and Fuel & Power in India (Base: 2004-05 = 100) Review for the week ended 12th November, 2011 (21 Kartika, 1933 Saka)
The WPI for the week ended 12th November, 2011 in respect of 'Primary Articles' and 'Fuel & Power' is given below:
PRIMARY ARTICLES (Weight 20.12%)
The index for this major group declined by 0.5 percent to 201.9 (Provisional) from 203.0 (Provisional) for the previous week.
The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 9.08 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 12/11/2011 (over 13/11/2010) as compared to 10.39 percent (Provisional) for the previous week (ended 05/11/2011).
The groups and items for which the index showed variations during the week are as follows:-
The index for 'Food Articles' group declined by 0.7 percent to 198.5 (Provisional) from 199.8 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of poultry chicken (6%), bajra and fruits & vegetables (2% each) and condiments & spices, urad, fish-inland, maize and moong (1% each). However, the prices of masur and coffee (4% each), tea (2%) and barley, ragi, fish-marine, wheat and gram (1% each) moved up.
The index for 'Non-Food Articles' group declined by 0.7 percent to 174.7 (Provisional) from 175.9 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of raw rubber (9%), gaur seed (3%), sunflower, groundnut seed and raw cotton (2% each) and mesta, copra, coir fibre and castor seed (1% each). However, the prices of flowers (9%), fodder and gingelly seed (3% each), linseed and raw silk (2% each) and raw jute and rape & mustard seed (1% each) moved up.
The index for 'Minerals' group rose by 0.4 percent to 310.5 (Provisional) from 309.2 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of crude petroleum (1%).
FUEL & POWER (Weight 14.91%)
The index and annual rate of inflation calculated on point to point basis remained unchanged at their previous week's level of 171.5 (Provisional) and 15.49 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 12/11/2011 (over 13/11/2010).
Build up inflation over the week, financial year end and over the year is given in Annexure-I for some important items. Trend of rate of inflation during last six weeks is also given for some important items in Annexure II.
"Weekly" options on shares of LinkedIn started trading Wednesday for the very first time.
The ticker was included on the list of "weeklys" distributed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and available for trading on both the CBOE and the International Securities Exchange (ISE) as of November 23rd for expiration December 2nd, 2011.
Trading in the newly listed "weekly" was very light ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday with just about 1,400 contracts changing hands.
Strikes available for trading covered a nearly $50 range from $47.50 on the downside to $95 on the upside. $60 puts was the most actively traded strike.
Shares of LinkedIn have had a rough run this week, dropping nearly 12 percent since close of business November 18th as the so-called lock-up period for investors that bought on the IPO came to an end.
LinkedIn, a professional networking site with more than 90 million members went public in May, 2011 at $45 per share. The company has already announced plans for a secondary offering of stock.
Russia Retaliates Against US: Puts Radar Station On Combat Alert, Prepares To Take Out European Missile Defense Systems
"First, I am instructing the Defense Ministry to immediately put the missile attack early warning radar station in Kaliningrad on combat alert. Second, protective cover of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons, will be reinforced as a priority measure under the programme to develop out air and space defenses. Third, the new strategic ballistic missiles commissioned by the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly-effective warheads.Fourth, I have instructed the Armed Forces to draw up measures for disabling missile defense system data and guidance systems if need be… Fifth, if the above measures prove insufficient, the Russian Federation will deploy modern offensive weapon systems in the west and south of the country, ensuring our ability to take out any part of the US missile defense system, in Europe.One step in this process will be to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad Region. Other measures to counter the European missile defense system will be drawn up and implemented as necessary. Furthermore, if the situation continues to develop not in Russia's favor we reserve the right to discontinue further disarmament and arms control measures. Besides, given the intrinsic link between strategic offensive and defensive arms, conditions for our withdrawal from the New START Treaty could also arise." That said, he concludes that Russia is still open to dialog. However, if Obama merely intends to bomb any nation at will, we are very much concerned that everything Medvedev has just threatened with will be enacted. And exponentially more so when Putin comes back in charge. One thing is certain – Russia is not North Korea, and taking this speech for more empty jawboning is probably not the wisest option.
Rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's said on Monday there will no immediate downgrade of their credit ratings on the United States due to the failure of a congressional "super committee" to reach an agreement on debt reduction.
But Fitch, the third leading ratings agency, which currently has the most positive rating of the three on U.S. debt , said it could cut the outlook on its "triple-A" rating, with a downgrade an outside possibility.
U.S. lawmakers on Monday announced they had abandoned their effort to rein in the country's debt, in a sign that Washington likely will not be able to resolve a dispute over taxes and spending until 2013 — after next year's presidential and congressional elections.
Fitch said in a statement that, when it had affirmed the United States "AAA" ratings with a "stable" outlook in August, it had "also commented that failure by the super committee to reach agreement would likely result in a negative rating action".
It added such action was "most likely a revision of the rating outlook to negative, which would indicate a greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two-year horizon. Less likely would be a one-notch downgrade".
S&P, which in early August had downgraded its top-tier rating on the United States on concerns over the government's budget deficit and rising debt burden, said its rating was not affected by the failure.
S&P's downgrade helped spark a global financial market rout, which has been exacerbated by Europe's worsening sovereign debt crisis.
Moody's said the committee's failure would not by itself lead to a rating change, saying the outcome was "informative for the rating analysis but not decisive".
S&P, in a statement, said: "The fiscal committee's inability to agree on fiscal measures that would stabilize U.S. government debt as a share of GDP is consistent with our Aug. 5 decision to lower our rating to 'AA-plus'."
The committee was given the task to cut U.S. deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Automatic spending cuts are due to begin in 2013 now that the committee has failed.
U.S. President Barack Obama, seeking to calm jittery financial markets, said the United States was not facing an imminent threat of default — as it did last August — and that "one way or another" there would be at least $2.2 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years.
In addition to the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts that are to be triggered with the super committee's failure, there were $1 trillion in cuts agreed to August that are locked in.
S&P's current AA-plus rating on the United States long-term debt is the second-highest rating. The agency's outlook on that rating is negative.
Moody's rates the long-term U.S. debt as triple-A, also with a negative outlook.
Indian equity benchmarks fell for the eighth consecutive session on Monday -- the Sensex shed more than 1600 points in eight days -- tracking sharp fall in the rupee to fresh 32-month lows. Huge cash in by the foreign investors coupled with rising concerns over US and eurozone debt crisis helped the bears to become more greedy. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at one and half month lows and has seen the biggest fall since the May 3, 2011.
The index dropped 425.41 points or 2.60%, to end at 15,946.10 led by fall in 28 stocks. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 2.6%, or 127.45 points, to end at 4,778.35.
Ambareesh Baliga, COO of Way2wealth says, unless the rupee and the inflation fall in place he doesn’t see too much of a hope for the market at least in the short to medium term.
The Indian rupee touched the 52 to the dollar during the day, falling 69 paise - a fresh 32-month low. It fell 76 paise to 69.94 an euro.
PN Vijay, Portfolio Manager feels that this is very serious stuff. He expects some RBI action on both fronts - "It has to bring rupee back to 50 levels, get the exporters out and sell their dollars; and it has to cut rates," he said.
Infosys seems worried about the rising rupee. Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said the company might not meet the guidance at upper end of 17-19%. "Environment remains uncertain and clients are deferring spend," he explained. The stock lost 3%.
Global uncertainty was another cause of concern; British PM David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to narrow differences over the introduction of a financial transaction tax in Europe in last weekend. European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE fell 2-2.4% while the Dow Jones futures lost 146 points.
Metals, banks, realty, power, auto and oil & gas stocks got butchered quite badly; respective sectoral indices tanked 2.6-3.5%. IT and Capital Goods indices dropped over 2%.
Largecaps like ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, BHEL and Sterlite Industries crashed 5% each. Heavyweights Infosys, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC, SBI, TCS, Bharti and ONGC were down 2-3%.
However, Sun Pharma and Maruti outperformed other largecaps - ended marginally higher.
The market breadth was pathetic; about three shares declined for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange. The BSE Midcap Index was down 1.9% and Smallcap down 1.7%.
Pantaloon Retail, Aban Offshore, Delta Corp, Suzlon Energy, Educomp, Sun TV, SREI Infra, Adani Enterprises and BGR Energy plunged 6-12%.
At 15:13 hours IST : Sensex below 16000, Nifty at 4790; rupee falls to 52/$
With rupee breaching the 52/USD mark, the stock market sentiment has been bruised further. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 387 points to below 16000 at 15984.42 and the 50-share NSE Nifty crashed 118 points to 4,788. Global environment, which has been the key reason for today's capitulation, has shown no signs of reversing the trend. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE tumbled 2-3% while the Dow Jones futures lost 138 points.
Not a single sector was in the green; the BSE Metal Index plunged 3.5%. Bank, Realty, Auto, Power and Oil & Gas indices tanked 2.6-3%. Capital Goods, IT, Pharma and FMCG lost 1-2%.
Tata Motors, BHEL, ICICI Bank and Sterlite Industries were down 4.55% each. Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, TCS, SBI, ONGC, Bharti and Tata Steel dropped 2-3%. However, Maruti and Sun Pharma were only gainers.
The broader indices extended losses too; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap fell 1.7% each. Even the market breadth weakened; about three shares declined for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.
At 14:18 hours IST : Sensex crashes 350 pts, Nifty touches 4800 as Europe falls
Indian equity benchmark Sensex has not seen any recovery since morning; in fact it slipped further following a fall of 1.5-2% in the European markets. The Dow Jones futures too lost 152 points. The 30-share BSE Sensex touched the one-and-half months low today; falling 350 points to 16,021 and the 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 107 points to 4,798.
In the last weekend, British PM David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to narrow differences over the introduction of a financial transaction tax in Europe. However, in the US - there were talks that US lawmakers will fail to reach an agreement to cut the budget deficit.
The Indian rupee too depreciated further to 51.87 to the dollar (lost 54 paise) and 69.83 to an euro (fell 65 paise), which resulted huge outflow of money. S&P CNX Defty tanked over 3%.
Heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and BHEL lost 3%, 3.6 and 4.5%, respectively.
HDFC Bank, TCS and NTPC among other largecaps tumbled over 2%. Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Sterlite Industries were down 3-3.7%.
Infosys, HDFC, SBI, ITC, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and L&T declined 1-1.8%. However, Maruti and Coal India bucked the trend, gaining 1% and 0.65%, respectively.
The market breadth worsened further; about two shares slipped for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.
At 12:46 hours IST : Nifty below 4850; SBI, RIL, L&T, Tata Motors most active
The market has been falling for the eighth consecutive session today due to European jitters, depreciating rupee and now the US debt problem. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 201 points to 16,170.10 and the 50-shares NSE Nifty lost 60 points to 4,845.65 led by sell-off in oil & gas, banks, metals, capital goods and technology stocks.
Ajay Srivastava, CEO, Dimensions Consulting, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, said there could be further downside for our market going forward as global headwinds remain strong.
SAIL, BHEL, HCL Tech, Ranbaxy Labs, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Tata Motors and Sterlite Industries were biggest losers among largecaps, falling 2-3.5%.
However, Maruti Suzuki outperformed other frontrunners, rising 2%. Jaiprakash Associates, Coal India, DLF and Reliance Infrastructure gained 0.5-1%.
SBI, Reliance Industries, L&T, Pipavav Defence, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel were most active shares on exchanges.
Midcaps like Peninsula Land, Amtek Auto, S Kumars Nationwide, MVL and Pipavav Defence rallied 4-6% while Kwality Dairy, Hindustan National Glass, Sterling Tools, Pantaloon Retail and VIP Industries dropped 5-10%.
Declining outnumbered advancing ones by 805 to 463 on the National Stock Exchange.
At 11:30 hours IST : Sensex drops over 200 pts; BHEL hits 52-week low
The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex extended losses led by heavy fall in heavyweights like Reliance Industries and BHEL (hit a 52-week low of 265.20); respective stocks dropped 3-3.5% each. Asian markets too slipped further; Hang Seng was down 2% and Taiwan tanked 2.6%. Shanghai and Straits Times fell 0.7% each; and Kosp lost 1%. The Sensex dived 214 points to 16,157.82 and the Nifty fell 64 points to 4,842.15.
Fund Manager at Helios Capital Samir Arora is critical on the government and RBI’s policy on the Indian rupee. He finds that the market movement is affected due to poor macros projected by them. “In these volatile times we need a comforting voice on the currency,” he says adding that the fundamentals are not determining the currency anymore. A retest of the 4,700 level could happen.
Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto crashed 3% each. In the banking and financial space, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI (has touched more than two-year low of Rs 1690.1) dropped 1.4-2%.
L&T, which was trying to support the market in early trade, too slipped nearly 1%. Among other largecaps, ITC, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Sterlite were down 1-1.7%.
However, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Sun Pharma, JP Associates, Cipla and Coal India were only gainers.
The Indian rupee was trading at 51.68 to the dollar (fell 35 paise) and 69.87 to the euro (lost 68 paise).
At 10:30 hours IST : Nifty loses 1%; banks, tech, metals stocks down
Indian equity benchmark Nifty fell nearly a percent led by further depreciation in the rupee. The sell-off in banks, telecom, technology and power stocks has weighed on the market; heavyweight Reliance Industries was the leading loser since the opening, falling 2.4%. The BSE Sensex fell 147 points to 16,224.51 and the NSE Nifty plummeted 44.75 points to 4,861.05.
Asian markets were continued to reel under selling pressure on account of ongoing eurozone and US debt worries. Hang Seng lost 1.8% and Taiwan tanked 2.2%. Straits Times and Kospi were down 0.7-1%. Nikkei and Shanghai were marginally lower.
The Indian rupee fell 37 paise to 51.70 a dollar today as against Friday's closing level.
Subramaniam Sharma of Greenback Forex Services feels that the rupee is likely to remain under pressure on the back of continued demand from importers, oil marketing companies and weak Asian equities. "Demand from corporates for redemption of FCCBs to the tune of about Rs 5 billion over the next couple of weeks will also add to the rupee woes," he said.
TCS, ITC, HDFC Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and BHEL slipped between 1% and 2%. Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were down 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively.
Metal stocks like Tata Steel, Hindalco, Sterlite and Jindal Steel too melted down - dropped 1-1.7%.
However, L&T, Maruti, Coal India and JP Associates outperformed other frontliners, rising 1-1.9%.
In the midcap space, Peninsula Land, S Kumars Nation, Aurobindo Pharma, Sintex Industries and PTC India gained 3-6% while Kwality Dairy, Shree Global, Vaarad Ventures, India Securities and Puravankara Projects tumbled 4-10%.
The market breadth was weak; about 466 shares gained as against 711 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.
At 9:20 hours IST : Sensex sinks 100 pts on opening; RIL, Bharti draggers
The BSE benchmark Sensex fell over 100 points in the opening trade, tracking weak global cues. The eurozone remianed crisis-prone as British PM David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to narrow down differences over the introduction of a financial transaction tax in Europe last weekend. The ripples of the crisis was felt on Asian markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 158 points to 16,213.69 in the opening trade while the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 50 points to 4,856.05.
The Indian rupee depreciated to 51.48 a dollar in the morning trade, losing 0.3% as compared to Friday's rate of 51.33/USD.
Heavyweights Bharti Airtel (on 2G scam news) and Reliance Industries were down 2% each.
Sterlite, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC, JSPL, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infra, DLF, ITC and M&M were knocked the market 1% lower in early trade.
However, BPCL, ONGC and Cipla were witnessing buying interest.
The CNX Midcap fell 30 points to 6,609. The market breadth has remained in favour of declines; about three shares fell for every share rising.
PFC and Shree Renuka and Kingfisher up 1-2%. Pipavav Defence rose 3.5%.
Parsvnath was up 0.7% on short covering; stock fell 20% last Friday.
Gitanjali Gems tumbled 3% as the stock will go out of F&O from November 25.
Punj Lloyd, IVRCL, GTL, Patni, JSW Steel, S Kumars and IFCI crashed 3-4%.
Global cues
European markets ended off day's low on Friday, but disagreement amid top political leader’s continued.
The US equity markets ended flat ahead of talks that US lawmakers will fail to reach an agreement to cut the budget deficit.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 25 points at 11,794 on Friday; it was down 3% for week while gained 2% YTD.
The NASDAQ Composite was down 15 points at 2,571; it was down 4% for week and down 3% YTD.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.5 points at 1,215; it was down 3.8% for week and down 3.3% YTD.
Europe
British PM David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to narrow differences over the introduction of a financial transaction tax in Europe.
Reports suggest that ECB is considering lending money to the IMF to be used for bailing out euro zone countries.
Another report suggests that Germany and the ECB remain opposed to the plan.
Commodities
CRB Commodity Index was down 0.7%.
Crude Oil fell 1.4% at USD 97.41/barrel after opening up 1%
Natural gas was up 2.6% at USD 3.31 per MMBtu
Gold rose 0.2% at USD 1724.5/ounce
Silver went up 3% to USD 32.47/ounce
The Australian arm of collapsed U.S. futures broker MF Global was shut down after failing to get an adequate offer and the Australian administrator expects a similar outcome for the brokers Asia business.
"We could not get a sale as a going concern," Chris Campbell, a partner at administrator Deloitte told Reuters by telephone.
"I am pretty sure the Asian sale is not happening either. I believe Asia will have a similar outcome."
MF Global went bankrupt on Oct. 31, sunk by its disastrous bets on euro zone debt.
Three weeks its collapse, furious former customers are still fighting for access to billions of dollars globally as they question why as much as two-thirds of their money is still stuck.
A sale failure to could mean the end of the road for MF Global's Asia business, which according to firm's last annual report generated around 14.4 percent of its global revenue. Asian liquidators had earlier said there were more than 50 interested parties for the Asia-Pacific business.
The provisional liquidators for the business in Hong Kong earlier this month said the sale process has proved increasingly complex and the focus was on selling units separately. No deal has been reached yet though.
In Asia, the brokerage has large derivative businesses in Singapore, offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai and a joint venture in India with Sify Technologies.
The Australian business made 83 employees of MF Global Australia redundant last Friday, Campbell said and the administrators would now focus on returning money to clients.
Earlier this month Campbell estimates administrators have nearly half the total funds owed to the Australian business's clients in cash, with most of the remainder tied up with counterparties.
Counterparties owed MF Global Australia A$167 million ($168.7 million), or just over half the A$313 million of client funds, he had said.
There was no material change to the estimates and it would take a while before clients money is returned, Campbell added.
"There is a fair amount of work to be done," he said.
( Source: Reuters )
