Indian Stock Picks - Share Ideas , News, Fundamentals

Larsen & Toubro on Monday said it has received an order worth Rs 345 crore from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for manufacturing and supplying steam generators. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, L&T said it has bagged an order valued at Rs 345 crore from NPCIL for design, manufacture and supply of four steam generators for 700 megawatt electric (MWe) pressurised heavy water reactors. The steam generators would be supplied to the Kakrapar Atomic Power project, the filing added. These would be one of the largest steam generators built in the country so far, and would increase the size of the nuclear power project to 700 MWe from 540 MW e, the filing said. 

The substantial price falls suffered by the stock of diamond jeweller, Gitanjali Gems, offers an entry for investors with a long investing horizon. At Rs 41, the stock has fallen 87 per cent from a high of Rs 315, in May 2008. The share trades at just 2.4 times its trailing standalone earnings versus closest competitor Titan’s price-multiple of 16 times. The stock’s fall may have been precipitated by the floundering gems and jewellery industry — imports and exports deteriorated, both mining and production were put on hold —but appears to have discounted a fair bit of the negative news. For Gitanjali, a rising proportion of domestic retail sales (as opposed to exports), a shift in product mix towards jewellery (from low-margin polished diamonds) and diversification moves suggest reasonable growth prospects over the long term. The company’s presence across the value chain allows sourcing from both the Diamond Trading Corporation and other mines (helping better cost control), while forwar

The Hindu Business Line recommends a buy on the Praj Industries stock. Praj Industries is in a structural bear market since the lifetime high of Rs 273 recorded in late-2007. This long-term downtrend has, however, lost momentum since October 2008 and the stock is attempting to consolidate sideways since then. The lower end of this consolidation range is around Rs 50 that corresponds with the trough formed in February 2006. A falling wedge pattern, which is a bullish reversal pattern, is also apparent in the daily charts. Investors with a three-month horizon can buy this stock with a stop-loss at Rs 49. The medium-term outlook is encouraging and an up move to Rs 70 levels is possible in this period. Long-term investors can also consider investing in this stock, while retaining the stop-loss at Rs 44. Following a likely sideways consolidation in the range between Rs 55 and Rs 70, the stock has potential to reach Rs 110 over a longer time horizon.

Car sales posted their biggest percentage gain in two years in February because of an improvement in retail financing and of a lower sales base in the year-earlier period. Sales rose 22% to 115,386 cars from 94,757 a year earlier, data issued Monday by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed. The sales growth is the first since September 2008 and the highest since February 2007.

Showing signs of recovery for the two consecutive months, the country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, on Monday reported a 24.08 per cent rise in its total sales during February at 79,190 units compared with 63,822 units in the same month last year. After September last year, MSI's sales had declined drastically for the next three months by 7.1 per cent, 27.4 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. In January, the company's sales, however, rose by 5.39 per cent. The domestic sales of MSI stood at 7 0,625 units in February compared to 59,311 units in the same month a year-ago, up by 19.08 per cent. MSI registered the highest ever exports at 8,565 units as against 4,511 units in the corresponding month last year, a jump of 89.87 per cent. Sales of its once bread and butter model M800, however, fell by 29.07 per cent at 4,075 units last month ag ainst 5,745 units last year. The A2 segment (comprising A-Star, Alto, Zen Estilo, Swift and WagonR) sales stood at 50,331 units a