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The Sensex opened 125 points lower at 9,111 on the back of weak cues from the overseas markets. The index soon touched a low of 9,087. However, fresh buying at lower levels helped the index recover and rebound into the positive zone as the day progressed. The buying gained momentum in late trades, and the index rallied to a high of 9,438 - up 351 points from the day's low. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 188 points at 9,424. In the process, while the index ended the week with a smart gain of 750 points, it was still down 223 points for the month. The BSE Realty and Metal indices surged over 4% each to 1,668 and 5,100, respectively. The Oil & Gas index rallied 3.5% to 6,252. The FMCG index and Bankex were up 2% each at 2,033 and 4,900, respectively. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,501 stocks traded, 1,381 advanced, 1,014 declined and the rest were unchanged today. Jaiprakash Associates zoomed over 11% to Rs 77. Hindalco soared 7.6% to Rs 50. DLF surged nearly

Larsen & Toubro on Friday reported a three-fold surge in profit after tax at Rs 1,520.44 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008. The firm had a PAT of Rs 481.79 crore in the December quarter of FY'08, L&T said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income rose 35 per cent to Rs 8,615.59 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal, from Rs 6,387.99 crore in the same period last fiscal. During the quarter, the engineering major had an extra-ordinary gain of Rs 916 crore from the sale of company's Ready-Mix-Concrete (RMC) business. “Despite the best efforts of the government to shore up the investment climate, the capital goods industry is expected to grapple with the impact of slowdown, which is likely to continue through 2009-10,'' L&T said. For the nine months ended December 2008, L&T posted a PAT of Rs 2,483.14 crore, up two fold over the same period last fiscal. The company had a PAT of Rs 1,206.66 crore in the third

 Suzlon Energy on Friday reported a standalone net loss of Rs 390.93 crore for the third quarter ended December 31 largely due to forex losses. The company had a net profit of Rs 338.18 crore for the same quarter FY 2008, Suzlon Energy said in a f iling to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The amount for the mark-to-market losses for the third quarter and for the nine-month period ended December stood at Rs 111.40 crore and Rs 202.03 crore, respectively, it said. Total income of the company dipped to Rs 1,504.29 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1,660.95 crore reported in the corresponding period year ago. For the nine months ended December, the company posted a standalone net loss of Rs 285.91 crore. The total income stood at Rs 5,212 crore. Further, during the quarter ended December 31, the company made an additional provision of Rs 171 crore towards its blade retrofit programme (wherein the company had to bear costs arising out of events like blade failures in overseas markets), t

The index today dropped to a low of 9,165 - down 215 points from the day's high - led by significant weakness in realy and capital goods stocks. The Sensex recovered partially towards the close and finally ended with a loss of 21 points at 9,236. The BSE Realty index shed 2.8% at 1,599, and the Capital Goods index dropped 2% to 6,148. The market breadth was negative - out of 2,506 stocks traded, 1,259 declined, 1,151 advanced and 96 were unchaned. Jaiprakash Associates soared 5% to Rs 70. Maruti surged 4.7% to Rs 545. Mahindra & Mahindra rallied over 4% to Rs 296. Tata Steel and Hindalco gained around 3.5% each at Rs 183 and Rs 46, respectively. Tata Motors moved up over 2.5% to Rs 151. Infosys advanced nearly 2% to Rs 1,310. HDFC was up 1.7% at Rs 1,530. Tata Power and HDFC Bank added 1% each to Rs 761 and Rs 921, respectively. DLF slumped over 7% to Rs 165. Bharti Airtel plunged nearly 4% to Rs 628. Wipro shed 3.3% at Rs 227. BHEL and Reliance Communications dropped 2.7% each

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd, an RPG Group company and the country's largest carbon black manufacturer, has posted a loss of Rs 45.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31 as falling oil prices induced a fall in carbon black prices.  Net sales for the quarter increased by a marginal 4.4 per cent. "As the price of raw material fell by 50 per cent during the quarter, carbon black prices were lower by over 30 per cent since September last year.", informed A Goyal, managing director, PCBL. The company could not cash in on the falling prices as it had forward bookings for import of raw materials. Interestingly, its raw material costs went up from Rs170.64 crore same quarter last fiscal to Rs256.72 crore in Q3FY09. Carbon black prices were now in the range of Rs50,000 to Rs55,000 per metric tonne, depending on the grade. Goyal added that demand is unlikely to pick up in the upcoming quarter as well,as demand is already lower by 55 to 60 per cent in January. PCBL had to cut produ

The Paper Products Ltd (PPL), the country’s leading manufacturer of primary consumer packaging manufacturer, posted 58.41 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 3.81 crore in the fourth quarter of 2008 as compared to Rs 9.16 crore in the comparative period of last year. The company's accounting year ends on December 31. The company posted net quarterly sales of Rs 142.79 crore that recorded a marginal 0.3 per cent growth from Rs 142.29 crore in the same period last year. For the calendar year ended 2008, PPL recorded 24.96 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 21.29 crore from Rs 28.37 crore during the last year. The company’s sales during the period surged 15 per cent to Rs 612.09 crore from Rs 532.06 crore.

Thermax’s Q3 net sales were down 7% at Rs.787.99 crore compared with Rs.845.43 crore. Its OPM stood at 11.38% against 11.8%. While, The company’s PAT was down 3.65% at Rs.72.29 crore versus Rs 75.03 crore. Commenting on the road ahead for company, MS Unnikrishnan, MD, Thermax, said the benefit of falling commodity prices has started trickling in. He sees clients slowing down execution, and doesn't see a substantial improvement in Q4 topline.

 The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday reported a 54.27 per cent dip in its net profit at Rs 213.57 crore for the December quarter. The auto major had a net profit of Rs 467.04 crore in the December quarter of FY'08, Maruti Su zuki said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “The reduction in net profit has been mainly due to lower volumes, a rise in material costs and adverse impact of currency changes in the fiscal,” Maruti said in the statement. Also, a higher provision for depreciation has impacted the company's bottomli ne, it added. The total income declined nearly three per cent to Rs 4,625.81 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 4,759.43 crore in the same period last fiscal. During the October-December quarter, the company's sales stood at 1,73,494 units, down 14 per ce nt over last fiscal. During the nine months ended December 2008, Maruti posted a 32 per cent dip in net profit at Rs 975.54 crore, while it was Rs 1,433.14 crore

The Anil Ambani group controlled Reliance Power Ltd has emerged as the front-runner for the 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand. Reliance’s bid was the lowest among the five bidders for the project. Mr J.P. Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Power, told  Business Line  that Reliance’ bid of Rs 1.77 per unit levelised tariff, has emerged as the lowest among the five bidders. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is likely to make a formal announcement about the winning bidder shortly. The financial bids for the project were opened on Wednesday. A committee, which includes representatives of the government of Jharkhand and Bihar, selected the lowest bidder. Reliance Power has already bagged the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project in Madhya Pradesh and Krishnapatnam Ultra Mega Power Project in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. For the Sasan project, the per unit levelised tariff is Rs 1.19 and for Krishnapatnam it is Rs 2.33. The Tilaiya project entails an inv

The Sensex opened 74 points higher at 9,078. The index after moving ahead, pared gains and touched a low of 9,054 in noon trades. Steady buying, thereafter, mainly in realty and metal stocks helped the index bounce back to higher levels. The Sensex touched a high of 9,271 - up 217 points from the day's low - in late trades. The index finally settled with a gain of 253 points at 9,257. The BSE Realty index soared 6.3% to 1,644, and the Metal index surged 4.4% to 4,880. The Bankex and the Oil & Gas index were up nearly 4% each at 4,790 and 6,089, respectively. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,528 stocks traded, 1,406 advanced and 1,023 declined, today. Ranbaxy soared over 8% to Rs 215. ICICI Bank surged 7.8% to Rs 411. DLF rallied nearly 7% to Rs 178. Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors gained 5% each at Rs 671 and Rs 147, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra moved up 4.7% to Rs 285. Reliance and ONGC advanced around 4% each to Rs 1,276 and Rs 645, respectively. HDFC B

JSW Steel today reported a net loss of Rs 127.50 crore for the third quarter ended December 2008, while it had a net profit of Rs 355.37 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The total income of the steel major rose marginally to Rs 2,826.74 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 2,822.74 crore in the same period last fiscal, JSW Steel said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. During the nine-month period, JSW Steel posted a profit after tax of Rs 409.30 crore, a 70 per cent dip over the year-ago period. The firm had a PAT of of Rs 1,358.01 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal. The total income rose 35.40 per cent to Rs 10,829.62 crore during the nine-month period, from Rs 7,998.41 crore in the year-ago period. Besides, the board would also consider buying back of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) from the international bank.

Tata Steel today reported 56.37 per cent drop in its net profit at Rs 466.24 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, as compared to Rs 1,068.58 crore in the same period last year. Total income declined 4.19 per cent to Rs 4,810.63 crore for the quarter under review as against Rs 5,020.97 crore. During the nine month ended December 2008, the company reported net profit of Rs 3,742.45 crore, as compared to Rs 3,481.52 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Total income of the nine-month ended December 2008 rose to Rs 18,076.92 crore, whereas it was Rs 14,192.71 crore in the year-ago period.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) today reported 56 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 843.34 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, as compared to Rs 1,934.66 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total income decreased 3.78 per cent to Rs 9,475.67 crore for the quarter under review, as against Rs 9,847.64 crore.The company has informed Bombay Stock Exchange that the board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 1.30 per share, at the rate of 13 per cent, on shares face value of Rs 10.

es Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 105.7 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, as compared to Rs 54.2 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, up by nearly 95 per cent. The total income for the reporting quarter has increased to Rs 726.15 crore from Rs 443.18. The bank's net interest income has surged from Rs 91.2 crore at the end of the third quarter of FY08 to Rs 120.4 crore at the end of the third quarter of FY09 driven by growth in advances of 27.2 per cent and sustained net interest margin of 2.8 per cent.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) today recorded a 15.73 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 546.83 for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, as compared to Rs 648.93 crore in the same period last year. The reason for the lower profit in the current year is that in the year-ago quarter, there was an exceptional profit on the sale of investments amounting to Rs 103.42 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Profit before other income and exceptional items, however, was higher in the  quarter under review, at Rs 774.51 crore, as compared to Rs 652.45 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. Total income for the reporting quarter rose 35.74 per cent to Rs 2,924.84 crore as against Rs 2,154.72 crore.

 ITC today reported a 8.73 per cent growth rate in its net profit at Rs 903.21 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008, on the back of strong revenues from the FMCG segment. The firm had a net profit of Rs 830.72 crore in the December quarter of financial year 2007-2008, ITC said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The revenue from the FMCG segment rose nearly 16 per cent to Rs 2,713.64 crore during the quarter, from Rs 2,339.65 crore in the year-ago period. According to a release issued by the company to the BSE today, Q3FY09 total income increased by 10.03% to Rs 3,956.21 crore from Rs 3,595.39 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2007. Other income, however, dropped 29% to Rs 97.56 crore as against Rs 137.40 crore.

 The Sensex today ended with a marginal gain of six points at 9,330. The BSE Realty and the metal indices advanced around 2% each to 1,761 and 5,088, respectively. The Oil & Gas index gained 1.5% at 6,020. The Bankex, however, was down 1% at 4,989. The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,472 stocks traded, 1,353 advanced, 1,024 declined and the rest were unchanged. Jaiprakash Associates surged 4.7% to Rs 69. Sterlite rallied 4% to Rs 271. ONGC gained 3.5% at Rs 671. Bharti Airtel moved up 2.3% to Rs 647. Tata Steel advanced 2% to Rs 208. Hindalco and Larsen & Toubro added 1.5% each to Rs 51 and Rs 728, respectively. Reliance Communications is up 1.3% at Rs 185. BHEL, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance were up 1% each at Rs 1,413, Rs 253 and Rs 1,230, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra plunged 4.5% to Rs 309. Grasim shed 2.7% at Rs 1,245. ICICI Bank and Wipro dropped 2.5% each to Rs 413 and Rs 232, respectively. Tata Motors slipped over 2% to Rs 150, and Maruti decline

The Sensex,today deeped into red to a low of 8,947 - down 423 points from the previous close - before settling with a loss of 324 points (3.5%) at 9,047. Global markets were weak today following negative cues from the US markets. Neighbouring Asian markets - Hang Seng, Nikkei, Taiwan, Singaore and Malaysia - ended with significant losses of 3-6% each. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,447 stocks traded, 1,649 declined, 698 advanced and 100 were unchanged today. The BSE Bankex slumped 5.7% to 4,919. The BSE Realty and Metal indices shed over 4.5% each at 1,766 and 4,829, respectively. The IT index was down over 4% at 2,163. Jaiprakash Assocaites slumped 8% to Rs 65. Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Sterlite plunged over 7% each to Rs 198, Rs 409 and Rs 254, respectively. Reliance Communications tumbled 6% to Rs 174. HDFC Bank and TCS shed nearly 5.5% each at Rs 925 and Rs 510, respectively. Hindalco, DLF and SBI dropped around 4.5% each to Rs 48, Rs 202 and Rs 1,147, respectiv

Retail sales fell in December by 2.7 percent, a worse than expected number that shows how rising unemployment, stagnant wages, and an ongoing housing crisis have undermined one of the basic props of the U.S. economy. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, but has headed down every month since June -- an unusual period of decline for an economic indicator typified by steady growth. Data released today by the Commerce Department showed that total sales for December fell by more than $9.3 billion compared to the month before. The decline in sales from October to November was also revised downward, making December's drop all the sharper. The data are seasonally adjusted, to factor out the spike in sales that occur during the Christmas shopping season, in order to examine the underlying trend. On an unadjusted basis, the December result was gloomy as well: unadjusted sales in December were $396 billion, down nearly $40 billion from December, 2007.

The Sensex opened 152 points lower at 9,435. After an initial dip the index rebounded into the positive zone and touched a high of 9,630. The index, however, was not able to hold gains for long as it slipped back into red mainly on account of heavy selling in realty, metal and capital goods stocks. The index plunged to a low of 9,251 - down 379 points from the day's high. The Sensex recovered partially and finally ended with a loss of 180 points at 9,406. The BSE Metal index plunged over 7% to 5,204. The Realty index tumbled over 5% to 1,864, and the Capital Goods index dropped 4.7% to 6,679. The Auto and FMCG indices, however, advanced over 1% each to 1,994 and 2,524, respectively. The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,518 stocks traded, 1,879 declined, 577 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Satyam tanked another 40% today on hefty volumes following the accounting fraud disclosed by Raju on Wednesday. The stock ended at Rs 24, off from the day's low of Rs

Ashok Leyland today posted a decline of 74 per cent in domestic sales in December at 1,420 units as against 5,488 units sold in the same month a year ago. In addition, to bring its inventory under control, the company was forced to shut down production at its plants resulting into a cut in output by more than 86 per cent during the same month. Its output fell to only 960 units during the month as compared to 7,110 units produced in the corresponding month a year ago. Company executives had mentioned earlier that the company will undertake heavy production cuts during December and January. Lack of financing from banks and high interest rates impacted the company’s goods carrying medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment. This truck segment suffered massively as sales plunged by almost 87 per cent at 637 units as against 4,153 units.Exports of the company, however grew marginally by 5.75 per cent at 901 units as against 852 units.

The index slumped to a low of 9,510, and finally ended with a huge loss of 749 points (7.2%) at 9,587. In the process, the index wiped out its entire gains registered in the last four trading days. The BSE Mid-cap index plunged over 7% to 3,198, and the Small-cap index shed 6.3% at 3,663. The BSE Realty index tanked 19% to 1,965. The Oil & Gas and IT indices shed 9.3% each at 5,944 and 2,128, respectively. The Bankex dropped 8% to 5,489. The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,582 stocks traded, 2,110 declined, 415 advanced and the rest were unchanged today. Satyam slumped today following Ramalinga Raju's resignation as the company's managing director, and subsequent confession of a fraud in the company's accounts management by him. The stock, which, touched a high of Rs 189 in morning trades, saw a free fall and tumbled to a low of Rs 31. The stock finally ended with a huge loss of almost 78% (Rs 139) on the back of hefty volumes of around 14.30 crore shar

The Sensex today settled with a gain of 60 points at 10,336. In the process, the index has now rallied over 7% (689 points) in the first four trading sessions of this year. The BSE Metal index surged 2% to 5,987. The Bankex and auto index rallied around 1.5% each to 5,970 and 2,592, respectively. On the other hand, the Realty index plunged 4% to 2,366. The market breadth was marginally negative at close - out of 2,606 stocks traded, 1,271 declined, 1,244 advanced and 91 were unchanged today. Grasim zoomed 8.3% to Rs 1,335, and ACC soared 7.7% to Rs 545. Jaiprakash Associates, Satyam and Mahindra & Mahindra surged 7.3% each to Rs 101, Rs 179 and Rs 318, respectively. HDFC Bank rallied 5.5% to Rs 1,100. ICICI Bank and Sterlite gained over 4.5% each at Rs 523 and Rs 316, respectively. Tata Motors and HDFC moved up over 3.5% each to Rs 186 and Rs 1,684, respectively. BHEL advanced 2.3% to Rs 1,471. Ranbaxy and Hindustan Unilever were up around 1.5% each at Rs 253 and Rs 247, respective

Punj Lloyd Ltd said on Tuesday that the company has secured a contract for civil works worth Rs 264 crore from Airports Authority of India in connection with construction of new airport at Pakyong, Sikkim. The project is to be completed in 24 months, the company said in a statement to the BSE.

Fresh buying - mainly in metal, oil and select banking stocks - towards the end helped the index surge to a high of 10,306. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 317 points at 10,276. In the process, the index has now gained 6.5% (629 points) in the first three trading sessions of this year. The BSE Metal index surged 5.5% to 5,869. The Oil & Gas index also soared over 5% to 6,560. The Bankex added 3.5% to 5,875. The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,613 stocks traded so far, 1,680 advanced, 859 declined and the rest were unchanged. Sterlite zoomed nearly 10% to Rs 302. Tata Power and Jaiprakash Associates soared around 7.5% each to Rs 830 and Rs 94, respectively. Tata Steel, ONGC and Reliance surged around 6.5% each to Rs 245, Rs 724 and Rs 1,366, respectively. ICICI Bank rallied 6% to Rs 500. Reliance Infrastructure, HDFC and Reliance Communications gained 5.5% each at Rs 666, Rs 1,628 and Rs 264, respectively. Hindalco, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys were up aroun

On expectations of the government announcing second stimulus package, the index bounced back on a strong rally in capital goods, realty and banking counters and crossed the 10,000-mark. The index touched a day's high of 10,070. Profit booking in last trading session saw the index pare gains and finally settled with a gain of 55 points at 9,958. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,600 stocks traded, 1,702 advanced, 820 declined and 78 were unchanged today. The NSE Nifty moved up 13 points to close at 3,047. Hindalco surged 3.2% to Rs 56. DLF and Reliance Infrastructure gained around 3% each to Rs 301 and Rs 630, respectively. HDFC advanced 2.7% to Rs 1,545, while Tata Motors moved up 2.6% to Rs 175. Reliance gained 2.4% to Rs 1,284, and Reliance Communication inched 2% at Rs 250. Mahindra & Mahindra added 1.7% at Rs 287. ITC and ICICI Bank were up 1.5% each at Rs 174 and Rs 471, respectively. SBI moved up 1.1% to Rs 1,330. NTPC was up nearly 1% at Rs 184. Satyam declined

The Hindu Business Line BGR Energy Systems, an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) player in the power sector, has bagged some of its biggest orders in the last two quarters, assuaging concerns about slowing order flow suggested by key macro indicators. If order flow is not a problem, has the company been able to fund its projects given the massive size of the projects and the still tight liquidity scenario? It appears so, given BGR’s recent announcement that it has tied up credit lines for the Rs 3,100-crore Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board project, one of its bigger orders. Healthy growth in revenue and earnings, strong order-book and execution track record differentiate BGR Energy from a good number of mid-cap companies that have succumbed to the pressure of testing macro-economic times. For a sector that caters to the perennially deficit power industry, BGR’s earnings potential too remains unaltered. The sharp de-rating that the stock has undergone, along with some mid

Declining food and fuel prices pushed inflation down for the eighth week in succession to 6.38 per cent for the week ended December 20, a trend that may allow RBI to effect more cuts in key rates to further growth. Inflation, measured by movement in wholesale prices, came down by 0.23 percentage points from 6.61 per cent the previous week. It was 3.74 per cent a year ago. Among the major items, prices of tea, fruits and vegetables declined during the period under review. The index of fuel items came down by 0.5 percentage point on account of decline in prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by 13 percentage point, bitumen by 7 percentage point, light diesel oil by 6 percentage point and furnace oil by 3 percentage point. The prices of these fuel items, which are not decided by the government, declined on account of softening of crude oil prices in the international market. In the manufactured goods category, the imported edible oil, salt, cement, iron and steel became cheaper during the

The index moved in a range of 210 points between 9,712 (low) and 9,922 (high) before finally settling with a gain of 256 points at 9,903. All the sectoral indices were up today. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,560 stocks traded, 2,001 advanced, 493 declined and 66 were unchanged today. The NSE Nifty ended with a gain of 74 points at 3,033. Reliance Communication zoomed 8% to Rs 245. Tata Motors soared 7.5% to Rs 171. Satyam Surged 7.2% to Rs 182. Wipro was up 6.2% at Rs 248, while Larsen & Toubro gained 6.1% to Rs 822. Sterlite and Reliance Infrastructure moved up 5.7% each to Rs 276 and Rs 612, respectively. Maruti advanced 5.6% to Rs 549. Tata Steel and Jaiprakash Associates were up 5.5% each to Rs 229 and Rs 87, respectively. Hindalco closed at Rs 54 - up nearly 5%. Tata Power advanced 4.7% to Rs 784. TCS and ACC gained around 3.8% each to Rs 497 and Rs 496, respectively. ICICI Bank and DLF were up 3.5% each at Rs 464 and Rs 292, respectively. BHEL and Mahindra &