Stock Market Update

Market Update

* ECONOMY : Index for Industrial Production (IIP) grew 16.8% YoY in Dec'09
(highest growth recorded since 1994) v/s consensus est of 12.4% & 11.8%
growth in Nov'09

* BHARTI : Kuwait based Zain Telecom agrees to sell most of its African assets
excluding Sudan & Morocco for ~$10.7bn to Bharti

* RELIANCE IND : Lyondell Chemical Cos settlement with creditor Bank of New
York Mellon Corp approved by US bankruptcy judge after it was amended to
allow rival offers to finance the Cos reorganisation

* INFRA : RBI in a bid to give fillip to infra funding allows commercial banks
to enhance exposure to infr cos up to 20% of their capital funds and also
introduces a new category of non banking finance cos as Infra finance cos

* OIL MKTING COS : Oil Minister & Finance Minister fail to arrive at an "all-
acceptable" consensus on the price rise issue.. may not happen immediately

* CEMENT : rpts prices in the Southern states have inched up by Rs10 per bag of
50kg from last week

* POWER SECTOR : Power Min working on plans to develop 25k mw of new generation
capacity using gas as feed stock over next 3-4 yrs

* BHEL : plans to step up focus on transmission equipment and renewable energy
sector.. co expects to revise upward its Rs450bn turnover target for 2011-12

* RCOM : to buy 2mn CDMA handsets for Rs3.4bn from Chinese co Huawei Tech

* PNB : plans to enter South Africa & Indonesia to expand its international biz
operations and raise its share in the total biz to 7% in next three years

* SAIL : sales for the period April to Jan rose 12% to 9.97mn tonnes on back of
improved domestic demand

* LANCO INFRA : in process of restructuring its operations to bring its various
power units under a single holding entity within the listed co

* JSW STEEL : mulls acquisitions of coal mines overseas to meet its long term
captive requirement

* ANSAL API : plans to setup an 80 acre biotech park with an investment of Rs
10bn by year end

* SUN PHARMA : Co sued by Abbott to block generic version of its cholestrol
drug Niaspan

* HPCL : plans to double refining capacity by building new plant to process
20mn tons/year costing $5.4bn

* INDIABULLS REAL ESTATE : board appoints advisors to restructure its wholesale
trading business by way of demerger

Corporate News – Industry trends

– Bharti Airtel's quest to become an international telecom player got a boost with
the Kuwait-based Zain Telecom agreeing to sell most of its African assets for
about US$10.7bn; this would be one of the biggest cross-border deals by an
Indian company. (BL)

– Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s Mumbai refinery has begun production of
BS IV petrol and diesel. The refinery will meet a large part of the demand in
Mumbai and Delhi. (BL)

– Lanco Infratech Ltd, a diversified player engaged in power generation and
trading, roads and other infrastructure segments, is in the process of
restructuring its operations, bringing various power units under a single holding
entity within the listed company. (BL)

– The Gujarat Government's decision to put its mining policy on the fast track
will give a new lease of life to eight cement companies that plan to add 22 mn
tonnes of capacity. (BL)

– The gauge conversion (from metre gauge to broad gauge) over the 108-km
stretch between Katihar and Jogbani under the North Frontier Railway being
complete, the Container Corporation of India is mulling to run container trains
right up to Jogbani to facilitate transportation of Nepal's containerised imports
through Kolkata port. Right now there is no such service. (BL)

– The cement industry is poised for expansion on the back of a reasonable
recovery in the domestic economy and demand for cement hitting doubledigit
growth trajectory. The industry is undergoing expansions worth
Rs500bn to take the overall capacity to close to 300 MT by 2012. (BS)

– Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel is evaluating proposals to acquire coal mines
overseas to meet its long-term captive requirement and hedge against surging
prices of the dry fuel. “We have been looking for coal mine acquisitions in
Australia, America and Africa,” JSW Steel Joint Managing Director M V
SSeshagiri Rao said. (BS)

– Orbit Exports, the country’s largest exporter of specialty made ups, plans to
invest Rs250mn in setting up a state-of-the-art weaving facility that will
increase its product line four-fold. (BS)

Economic/Regulatory development

– Market regulator Sebi has told the government that it favours giving
companies five years to increase their public shareholding to 25%; Sebi’s
letter to the finance ministry follows a proposal by Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee to increase the minimum public holding in all listed companies —
whether government- and privately-owned in last years Budget. (BS)

– Facing opposition from key allies in the UPA government, Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee and Oil Minister Murli Deora discussed an "all
acceptable" rise in fuel prices. But it appeared the two failed to reach a
consensus and the fuel price hike may not happen immediately. (BS)

– The United States, represented by 25 companies, will be the biggest
exhibitor at Defexpo 2010, the biannual exhibition of land and naval defence
systems that begins tomorrow. Israel, which has emerged as a leading
supplier of weaponry and equipment to the Indian defence forces since 1999,
will occupy the largest exhibit space at 1,248 square metres. (BS)

– India’s handicraft exports grew by over 325% at US$102.87mn in January,
compared to the same period in previous financial year, on account of an
increase in demand from the US and European markets.(BS)

Commodity/Money Market News

– Cane farmers in Maharashtra are set to rake in at least Rs40bn of additional
income in the current 2009-10 season due to better prices paid by sugar mills;
during the previous 2008-09 season (October-September), mills in the State
crushed 400.27 lt of cane and paid an average final rate of Rs1,513 a tonne to
growers at their farm-gate. That translated into a total income of Rs60.5bn for
the farmers. (BL)

International trends

– British oil major BP Plc is in talks to pay about US$1.2bn for a majority stake in
a privately held Canadian company with large reserves of oil-rich sand deposits,
the Sunday Times reported. A deal to take a stake in Value Creation Inc could
anger environmentalists and some BP shareholders who fiercely oppose the oil
sands business, which they say is expensive and environmentally damaging. (BS)