Stock picks

Allahabad Bank can go up to Rs 100-115, says Ashwani Gujral, technical analyst, on CNBC-TV18. It has support at Rs 85-86, he adds. The stock is currently trading at Rs 91.80, down 1.2% on the BSE.

In the next few weeks, PFC may witness selling pressure between Rs 200 and Rs 210, says Sudhanshu Pandey of LKP Shares, on NDTV Profit. The stock has support at Rs 178, he adds. It is currently trading at Rs 181.85, down 2.6% on the BSE

One should have a long term view on JP Associates, as there’s nothing much for it in the short term, says Mandar Jamsandekar of Precision Technicals, on NDTV Profit. The stock has support at Rs 270 and resistance at Rs 295, where it may consolidate for a few weeks, he says. But int he next 3-4 months, it can go up to Rs 380-400, he adds. The stock is currently trading at Rs 286.25, down 0.1% on the BSE

Bharti Airtel Falls on Concern MTN Bid May Strain Finances

Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s biggest mobile-phone company, fell in Mumbai trading on concern that it may have to raise debt or sell shares to fund a takeover of African operator MTN Group Ltd.

Bharti fell 2.9 percent to 868 rupees as of 9:59 a.m. on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Bharti and Johannesburg-based MTN Group said in separate statements that talks are ``exploratory’’ and may not lead to a deal.

Bharti has arranged $12 billion of financing and may seek to buy 51 percent of MTN, valuing the company at about $39 billion, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The acquisition would be the biggest by an Indian company, eclipsing Tata Steel Ltd.’s $13 billion takeover of Corus Group Plc last year.

``History indicates markets worry about overpayment and dilution first before looking at synergies and extended growth opportunities,’’ Citigroup Inc. analysts Anand Ramachandran and Rhys Summerton wrote in a report today, citing Tata Steel’s takeover of Corus.

Tata Steel fell 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 as it had to raise its bid for Corus to fend off a rival takeover offer for the U.K.-based steelmaker.

Bharti spokesman Senjam Raj Sekhar today declined to comment beyond yesterday’s statement. Pearl Majola, a spokeswoman for MTN, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

MTN, which generates more revenue than its Indian suitor through services in Nigeria, Iran and South Africa, has climbed 13 percent to a record in Johannesburg trading since the Financial Times reported on April 25 Bharti may make an offer.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest telephone company, may be ``directly’’ involved in a potential acquisition of MTN, Citigroup said.

Singapore Telecom, which owns a 30.5 percent stake in Bharti said in a statement today that the company was ``pleased’’ the Indian operator is in talks with MTN.

Connie Ling, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. declined to comment. Goldman is advising Singapore Telecom, the Financial Times said.

MTN climbed 3.8 percent to 150 rand yesterday, raising its market capitalization to about $37 billion, or about 10 percent less than Bharti’s value.

Source : Bloomberg

India, China responsible for rising oil prices: US

Close on the heels of President George W Bush’s remarks linking Indians’ food habits to rising global prices of commodities, the United States has now partly attributed the surge in oil futures to the increased demand in India and China.

"There are a lot of different ways that we can reduce our dependence, but we have more to do and it’s just – and also I would point out that, obviously, the demand for oil is growing around the world," White House Deputy Spokesman Scott Stanzel said in a briefing.

"Many developing nations like India or China are having greatly increased demand, which obviously is having an impact on price," the senior White House official said responding to a question on the crude oil price crossing USD 120-mark.

The senior White House official stressed that it was important for the United States to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

Highlighting the need for "domestic exploration", he said. "We also have to do more in terms of building refineries. We haven’t built refineries in about 30 years".

Stanzel also spoke regarding Bush’s remarks, which have drawn a lot of flak from every section in India, saying the United States saw "higher living standards" of people there as a "good thing".

"We think that it is a good thing that countries are developing; that more and more people have higher and higher standards of living," he said.

However, he apparently did not go back on Bush’s point that Indian food habits were contributing to spiralling prices of commodities, which in turn, were worsening the global food crisis.

Oil spikes to a new record above $120

World oil reached a new record price above USD 120 a barrel onTuesday as concerns over the United States Economy eased, analysts said.

New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, reached an all-time high in electronic trade of USD 120.3 a barrel, breaking the last record of USD 120.20 reached during intraday trade on Monday.

After breaking the symbolic USD 120 ceiling for the first time, the contract was trading today in Asia at USD 120.15 a barrel against a record closing price of USD 119.97 reached yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery hit an intraday record high of USD 118.58 before settling up USD 3.43 at a record USD 117.99.

Trading volume in London was light as Britain marked a bank holiday.

Oil futures prices on both sides of the Atlantic have nearly doubled in a year.

Stock Picks

In private sector banks, HDFC Bank can move up to Rs 1,700 and Kotak Mahindra Bank to Rs 950, says Ashwani Gujral, technical analyst, on CNBC-TV18. HDFC Bank is currently at Rs 1,542, up 0.8% and Kotak is at Rs 858.65, on the BSE

TTML can go up to Rs 43-44 in a few weeks time, says Sudhanshu Pandey of LKP Shares, on NDTV Profit. The stock is currently trading at Rs 37.85, up 0.7% on the BSE.

The long term charts of Jet Airways are in a downtrend, says Mandar Jamsandekar of Precision Technicals, on NDTV Profit. The stock has support at Rs 575 and a relief rally can take it to Rs 700-740, he adds. On should try to exit the counter there, he suggests. The stock is currently trading at Rs 589, up 1.4% on the BSE

Ashok Leyland can go up to Rs 49-50 in a week’s time, says Sudhanshu Pandey of LKP Shares, on NDTV Profit. the stock is currently trading at Rs 43.05, up 0.4% on the BSE

Asian Stocks Fall for First Time in Three Days; Banks Decline

Asian stocks declined for the first time in three days, led by financial companies, after Kookmin Bank and St. George Bank Ltd. reported profit fell amid turmoil in credit markets.

Kookmin, South Korea’s biggest bank, dropped to a one-week low, while St. George Bank, Australia’s fifth-largest, tumbled the most in three weeks. Shinhan Financial Group Ltd. retreated in Seoul on lower net income, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. declined in Taipei after UBS AG cut its rating on the stock.

``Results so far are not showing that things are turning around, especially in the financials,’’ said Leslie Phang, Singapore-based head of private client investments at Schroders Plc, which manages $275 billion. ``Earnings estimates in Asia haven’t been lowered enough to take into account the macroeconomic headwinds.’’

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index lost 0.2 percent to 498.29 as of 11:10 a.m. in Hong Kong, halting a two-day, 2 percent advance. Financial shares fell 0.9 percent, the biggest decline among the regional benchmark’s 10 industry groups.

Japan’s markets are closed for a holiday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.5 percent. Benchmarks also retreated elsewhere in the region, except for South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, advanced after crude oil prices surpassed a record $120 a barrel and copper futures gained. South Korea’s Posco rose after it agreed to buy a stake in Sandfire Resources NL, an Australian minerals explorer.

Banks Drop

U.S. stocks fell yesterday, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower for the first time in three days. Macy’s Inc. led a decline among retailers on concern record oil prices will damp consumer spending and Yahoo! Inc. tumbled the most in almost two years after Microsoft Corp. abandoned its $50 billion bid for the company.

Kookmin, South Korea’s biggest bank, slipped 3.2 percent to 69,200 won, declining for the first time since April 24. The company said first-quarter net income fell 47 percent, prompting Morgan Stanley and UBS AG to cut their ratings on the stock.

Shinhan fell 4.2 percent to 56,400 won, set for its largest loss since Jan. 3. South Korea’s second-largest financial company said first-quarter profit dropped 35 percent on higher funding costs.

St. George, Maybank

``While the thinking prevalent a month ago that the world is over for the financial markets is no longer there, you’ll still see some more writedowns by banks,’’ said David Ng, who helps manage about $1 billion at Hwang-DBS Asset Management Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. ``We don’t doubt there will still be credit weaknesses’’ in some banks, he said.

St. George dropped 3 percent to A$26.90, the biggest retreat since April 14, after saying net income declined 10 percent. Chief Executive Officer Paul Fegan cut his forecast for earnings per share growth to 8 percent to 10 percent for the full-year, from 10 percent estimated in February.

Cathay Financial, Taiwan’s largest financial-services company, declined 1.4 percent to NT$80.30 after UBS cut its recommendation to ``neutral’’ from ``buy’’ and HSBC Holdings Plc lowered its rating to ``neutral’’ from ``overweight.’’

Malayan Banking Bhd. dropped 3.8 percent to 7.70 ringgit, set for the lowest close since January 2004, after Citigroup Inc., UBS and Macquarie Group Ltd. cut their share-price forecasts for the Malaysia’s largest bank. The company said yesterday it will pay as much as 60.3 billion rupees ($916 million) for a 20 percent stake in Pakistan’s MCB Bank Ltd.

Oil, Copper

Limiting declines, BHP Billiton advanced 0.6 percent to A$44.40. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, rose 1.3 percent to A$140.81.

Crude oil for June delivery yesterday rose to an intraday high of $120.36 a barrel after the Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the U.S. economy, grew for the first time since December, signaling higher energy use.

Meanwhile, copper prices advanced 3.3 percent yesterday in New York, while gold added 1.9 percent.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, added 2.6 percent to A$29.03. Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, jumped 2.8 percent to HK$13.88 in Hong Kong.

Posco, Asia’s third-biggest steelmaker, climbed 3.1 percent to 509,000 won, on course for its highest close since April 7. The company agreed to buy a 19.9 percent stake in Sandfire Resources for A$7.2 million ($6.7 million).

Shares of Sandfire surged 7.9 percent to 48 Australian cents.

Source : Bloomberg

Mkt opens flat; Metal, realty, pharma marginally up

The markets have opened flat. Modest buying interest is seen in metal, realty, pharma and banking indices. However, IT, auto stocks are trading in red.

At 09.56 am, the Sensex is down 61.86 points or 0.35% at 17429.04, and the Nifty down 6.80 points or 0.13% at 5185.45.

About 1499 shares have advanced, 1359 shares declined, and 226 shares are unchanged.

Relaince Petroleum, Idea Cellular, Sterlite Industries and Cairn India are among major gainers.

TCS, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, NTPC are among major losers.

Asian Markets

Asian markets were trading lower. China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 1.80% or 67.81 points at 3,693.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.35% or 91.10 points at 26,092.85. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted was down 0.18% or 16.11 points at 8,820.96. Singapore’s Straits Times declined 0.22% or 7.28 points at 3,240.76. However, South Korea’s Seoul Composite was up 0.13% or 2.32 points at 1,850.59.

US Markets

US markets fell on worry that Bank of America may renegotiate its deal to buy Countrywide, while record oil prices above USD 120 a barrel increased worry about consumer spending. The Dow shed 89 points to close at 12,970. While the Nasdaq lost 13 points and shut at 2,464. The S&P 500 also lost 6 points and shut shop at 1,407.

Market cues:
FIIs net buy $178.5 mn in equity on May 2
MFs net sell Rs 76.2 cr in equity on May 2
NSE F&O Open Int up by Rs 1021 crore at Rs 67706 crore

F&O cues:
Futures Open Int down by Rs 165 cr, Options Open Int up by Rs 1185 crore
Nifty Futures add 2.5 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty Open Int Put-Call ratio at 1.41 Vs 1.40
Nifty Puts add 11.4 lakh, Calls add 7.3 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 5200 Put adds 3.6 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 5200 Call adds 4 lakh shares in Open Int
Stock Futures’ Open Int unchanged