no complaints at Dalal street with the Union Budget

• Sensex closes  at 16429, up 175 points and Nifty at 4922, up 62 points from the previous close.
• Metals, auto, banks are the major gainers today.
• Experts believe the market had gone into the Budget with no expectations so the positives (no change in Service Tax, infra spend, personal tax front among others) saw a surge in sentiments and now market is likely to get back to global cues next week.

• FM prunes tax rates:
  Income up to Rs 1.6 lakh – nil Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh – 10 per cent
  Income above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 8 lakh – 20 per cent
  Income above Rs 8 lakh – 30 per cent.
• Income Tax department ready with two-page Saral-2 return forms for individual salaried assesses.
• New tax rates would offer relief to 60 per cent of tax-payers.
• Government’s net borrowing to be Rs 3,45,010 crore for 2010-11.
• Additional deduction of Rs 20,000 allowed on long term infrastructure bonds for income tax payers; this is above Rs one lakh on saving instruments allowed already.
• A unique identity symbol would be provided to the Indian Rupee in line with US Dollar, British Pound Sterling, Euro and Japanese Yen.
• Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively.
• Total expenditure pegged at Rs 11.8 lakh crore, an increase of 8.6 per cent.
• Gross tax receipts pegged at Rs 7,46,656 crore for 2010-11, non-tax revenues at Rs 1,48,118 crore.
• FM appeals to “misguided elements” (left wing extremists) to eschew violence and join the mainstream.
• Planning Commission to prepare integrated action plan for Naxal-affected areas.
• Defence allocation pegged at Rs 1,47,344 crore in 2010-11 against Rs 1,41,703 crore in the previous year. Of this, capital expenditure would account for Rs 60,000 crore.
• Fiscal deficit pegged at 6.9 per cent in 2009-10 as against 7.8 per cent in the previous fiscal.
• Finance Minister to continue giving cash subsidy for fuel and fertiliser instead of previous practice of bonds.
• Non-plan expenditure pegged at Rs 37,392 crore and Plan expenditure at Rs 7,35,657 crore in budget estimates. 15 per cent increase in plan expenditure and six per cent in non-plan expenditure.
• The government said on Friday it would increase borrowing next year to a new record level, putting pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to be more aggressive in its monetary tightening this year.

• The budget focused on keeping the economic recovery robust, but there was little mention of reforms, such as freeing state fuel and food subsidies, that investors say could help India rival China’s years of double-digit growth rates.
• Some market watchers said India had missed a chance to take more aggressive fiscal measures as Asia’s third-largest economy gathers speed, reinforcing perceptions that the coalition government may not have the heart to make tough decisions about liberalising the economy.
• Gross borrowing for the new fiscal year will total 4.57 trillion rupees ($99 billion), slightly below a Reuters poll forecast for 4.61 trillion rupees but above a record 4.51 trillion rupees expected in the current year ending in March, Mukherjee said.
• “With the fiscal deficit expected to be still high over the next fiscal year, it is clear that the onus will be on the RBI to hike rates in coming months in order to move policy settings closer to neutral and to deal with emerging inflation pressures,” said Brian Jackson, strategist at Royal Bank of Canada.

• Some analysts believe the slowdown in spending growth may help ease inflation. High food prices have helped push broader inflation to what some economists expect could hit 10 percent next month.
• Opposition lawmakers boycotted much of the budget session, saying government plans to increase fuel prices would further add to the woes of millions of Indians hit by high prices.
• The 165-billion-rupee ($3.6 billion) recapitalisation plan for state-run banks and extension of farm debt waiver scheme would benefit banking sector, analysts and bankers said, sending sectoral shares up.
• The government expects stake sales in state firms to fetch 400 billion rupees ($8.6 billion) in 2010/11, an estimate analysts believe is achievable if the stock market holds up and government offerings are priced attractively.
• The government will boost farm spending and lift agriculture sector growth to 4 percent in the medium term, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday, but analysts said the budget failed to introduce measures to curb rising food prices.
• The economy is likely to do better in the quarter to March than the three preceding quarters, Finance Secretary, Ashok Chawla said on Friday.
• Construction companies cheered government moves to increase funds to the sector in the budget, tax breaks to infrastructure bond investments and increased lending to the industry, but the share reaction was mixed.
• Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday allocated 1.73 trillion rupees to infrastructure projects and said individual investments of upto 20,000 rupees in bonds floated by such companies will be tax-exempt.
• This budget had mixed reaction from different quarters, but Dalal street no complaints.

a flat day before union budget

• SENSEX today ended day with 1.77 down , at 16,254. SENSEX was in red for most of the day. Surprisingly, there was low volatility even though it was F&O expiry today, the release of the Economic Survey and a day to go for the Union Budget.
• Opinion is divided among experts on whether the market will breakout or breakdown from its dull trading range since a week. Most believe there are no expectations from the budget, thus any positive surprise and the market will rally.
• The government should start rolling back its economic stimulus and cap its debt, the finance ministry said.
• A day ahead of the annual budget, the government proposed to more than half its fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by the year ending in March 2014 and said economic growth should reach 8.5 percent in the year starting in April and accelerate thereafter.
• India is projected to have a fiscal deficit of 5.7 percent in the year to March 2011, falling to 4.8 percent the following year, a top government panel said.
• The report of the 13th Finance Commission, tabled in parliament on Thursday, said the fiscal deficit should drop to 4.2 percent in 2012/13 and to 3 percent in 2013/14.
• The government has rolled out about 1.86 trillion rupees ($40 billion) in tax concessions and a further $4 billion in new spending since 2008, but this has strained the deficit and borrowing.
• The food price index rose 17.58 percent in the 12 months to Feb. 13, while the fuel price index was up 9.89 percent, the government said on Thursday.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has increased its gold holdings to diversify its reserves, looks set to be a buyer again when the International Monetary Fund begins selling 191.3 tonnes of the precious metal amid volatility in major currencies.
• Japan’s Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent on Thursday, helped by exporters such as Canon Inc.,after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said interest rates would remain at very low levels for a long time, boosting global stocks.
•  European shares rose in early trade on Thursday, with gains for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Credit Agricole, after they reported results, outweighing lower commodity stocks.
• India’s gold imports so far in February are provisionally at 30-35 tonnes, about four times the level of a year ago as lower prices encourage demand, the head of Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) said on Thursday.
• Union budget for the next financial year  will concentrate more on reducing fiscal deficit , generating more revenue for different sources, may have concessions for the export oriented sectors, will concentrate on increasing foreign reserves. All these moves will have its repercussions on the stock market.

Wall Street edged lower at the open

• The Dow Jones industrial average   down 9.14 points, or 0.09 percent, at 10,374.24 at the open. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index  fell 1.63 points, or 0.15 percent, at 1,106.38 at the open . The Nasdaq Composite Index .dipped 2.40 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2,239.63 at the open.(08:34 pm, India , feb 23).
• This fall is speculated because of an unexpected fall in U.S. home prices heightened concerns about the strength of the economic recovery.
• Home prices fell just 2.5% during the last three month of 2009 compared with the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a closely watched gauge of home price movement. That was a big improvement over the past three years.
• World stocks shed early gains and the dollar rose on Tuesday as investor optimism subsided after gloomy euro zone economic data and as expectations for rapid monetary tightening faded.
• Dow down   by 67 points trading at 10,316 ,  NASDAQ down  by 26  points trading at 2,215 , S&P 500 down  by 7 points  trading at 1,100.(08:53 pm , India , Feb 23).
• US’s Consumer confidence fell in February to the lowest in 10 months, as consumers’ short-term outlook for the jobs market worsened, according to a private report released on Tuesday.
• The number of “problem” U.S. banks jumped 27 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009 to 702, the highest level since 1993 and a sign the industry’s recovery is still shaky, regulators reported on Tuesday.
• Financial Reform Bill Appears Likely in US.
• Dow down   by 90 points trading at 10,292 ,  NASDAQ down  by 33  points trading at 2,208 , S&P 500 down  by 13  points  trading at 1,094.(11:13 pm , India , Feb 23).
• A much larger-than-expected drop in consumer confidence drove U.S. stocks lower on Tuesday as investors reassessed the pace of the economic recovery.

SENSEX struggling

• Sensex started trade with 16190, down 46 points and Nifty is at 4839, down 17 points from the previous close.
• “Several anti-inflationary measures will continue during 2010/11,” Pranab Mukherjee told parliament in a written reply to a question.
• SENSEX up by 64,trading at 16,286.(03:25 pm, India).
• European markets in green.
• Indian shares provisionally rose 0.4 percent on Tuesday, supported by gains in global equities, with ICICI Bank  and Housing Development Finance Corp  leading the rise.(03:42 pm, India).
• The 30-share BSE index .BSESN provisionally ended up 0.39 percent or 64 points at 16,301.05 with 19 components gaining.The 50-share NSE index .NSEI provisionally closed up 0.4 percent at 4,875.75.
• The government will not defer plans to sell stakes in state-run firms, required to bridge its yawning fiscal deficit, despite a poor response to two of its recent sales, a finance ministry official told .
• Japan’s Nikkei average fell 1.2 percent on Tuesday, giving up some gains made the previous day, with investors holding back ahead of congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke later this week.
• Britain’s top shares were flat in early deals on Monday, pausing after five sessions of gains, with weakness in heavyweight pharma stocks countering strength in commodity issues and banks.
• European equities ended lower on Monday after advancing in the previous five sessions as weaker drugmakers and food producers put pressure on the market, but analysts said overall momentum remained positive.
• The Indian rupee edged higher on Tuesday supported by slightly higher stocks, but mixed cues from Asian peers kept trading in a tight range.
• Sterling hit the day’s low versus the dollar and the euro, while gilt futures rose to a session high on Tuesday after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the UK’s recovery was fragile and risks to the MPC’s central view of a gradual recovery remained to the downside.
• India’s Budget to push harder for financial inclusion.

Stocks seesaw in early trading at Wall street

• Dow up   by 11 points trading at 10,413 ,  NASDAQ up  by 1  points trading at 2,245 , S&P 500 down  by 1 points  trading at 1,107.(09:07 pm , India , Feb 22).
• U.S. stocks fell slightly in choppy trading on investor uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s intentions after last week’s increase in the interest rate for emergency loans to banks.
• Dow down   by 15  points trading at 10,387 ,  NASDAQ down  by 5  points trading at 2,238 , S&P 500 down  by 1 points  trading at 1,107.(10:51 pm , India , Feb 22).
• President Barack Obama tried to rejuvenate his stalled healthcare overhaul on Monday with a revised plan to make insurance coverage more affordable and bolster federal authority to regulate premium hikes.
• Home prices in US  seen stabilizing, sales rising.
• A makeshift assistance should be enough to rescue Greece but bigger problems facing Europe would leave the future of the euro currency in question, billionaire investor George Soros said.
• A federal judge on Monday morning approved a $150m settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America  involving disclosure issues related to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
• President Barack Obama, who will be meeting with business leaders on Wednesday, plans to discuss his proposals for tightening international tax rules, the White House said.
• The White House unveiled President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the health insurance system on Monday that it said would provide coverage for 31 million uninsured Americans and set up federal monitoring of private insurers’ rate increases.
• Fury over Greece using derivatives that masked its debt conveniently ignores the fact that euro zone countries and EU bookkeepers have approved other deals worth billions of euros for over 10 years.
• Day ended with Dow down   by 18 points ,at 10,383 ,  NASDAQ down  by 1  points ,at 2,242 , S&P 500 down  by 1 points , at 1,107.(03:07 am , India , Feb 23).
• Stocks ended a choppy session lower  as investors weighed earnings news, President Obama’s health care proposal and Schlumberger’s $11 billion buyout deal for oil services rival Smith International.

an uncertain day at dalal street

• SENSEX today up by 45.42 , day ended at 16,237.05.
• Except IT,Metals,tech. all the sectoral indices are in red.
• Asian markets had a good run  with Straits Times up by 0.01%, Hang Seng up by  2.43%, Nikkei 225 up by  2.74%.
• India’s economy will accelerate in the coming years as it recovers from the global downturn and the government will act to protect the poor from the impact of food inflation, the president said on Monday.
• The government will be able to finance its deficit comfortably, Goldman Sachs said in a note, adding that India’s net borrowing in the coming fiscal year will likely be lower than that in the current year.
• Britain’s top share index fell 0.2 percent by midday on Friday, weighed down by miners that fell on lower metals prices and offset gains in defensive stocks such as tobacco.
• Japan’s Nikkei stock average climbed nearly 3 percent on Monday, buoyed by gains across the board after U.S. shares shrugged off the Federal Reserve’s discount rate hike to edge higher, reassuring investors.
•  The Indian rupee strengthened on Monday, boosted by gains in other Asian currencies and domestic shares.
• India’s macro-economic conditions look better compared to a year ago, but Standard and Poor’s wants to see improvements in both government revenue and expenditure, an S&P analyst said on Monday.
• GREECE – The two biggest unions representing about half of Greece’s 5 million-strtong workforce plan a one-day general strike on Wednesday to protest against a deficit-cutting programme. This includes plans for a public-sector wage freeze, tax increases, including a VAT hike, and welfare cuts.
• Dubai dropped plans to seek preferred creditor status in the restructuring of state-owned Dubai World, a reversal which removed a key stumbling block in talks with lenders.It said the restructuring of some $22 billion in debt would be “equal” for all creditors but a source said Dubai World will likely not repay a $980 million Islamic bond linked to its property unit Nakheel and due in May.
• Indian states have completed 96.1 percent of their targeted borrowings for 2009/10 via loans as on Feb. 8, the central bank said in a report on Monday.
• Investors wary of budget on Friday; uncertainties prevail.
• Reliance drops on reports of raised offer for Lyondell.
• Outsourcers gain on hopes for higher U.S. orders.
• The government has rolled out about 1.86 trillion rupees
  ($40 billion) in tax concessions and a further $4 billion in
  new spending since 2008, but this has strained the deficit and
  borrowing.
• Dalal street  started on a good note, helped by strong global cues.
  But then reality is that budget is around the corner and
  investors avoid taking big positions before that.

Wall street down at the open

• Dow down  by 23 points trading at 10,369 ,  NASDAQ down  by 8  points trading at 2,233 , S&P 500 down  by 4 points  trading at 1,102.(08:57 pm , India , Feb 19)

               Wall Street dipped , after an unexpected increase in the Federal Reserve’s discount rate signaled to some investors that the U.S. central bank may be starting to retreat from its easy money policy.

                       Consumer prices  in US rose less than expected in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time since 1982, supporting the Federal Reserve’s contention it would keep its benchmark interest rate low for an “extended period.”

                       The Federal Reserve on Friday poured more cold water on speculation that a surprise hike to its emergency lending rate signaled a change in monetary policy, saying borrowing costs in the economy would remain low.

• Wall street recovers with Dow up  by 21  points trading at 10,414 ,  NASDAQ up   by 1  points trading at 2,243 , S&P 500 down  by 0.65 points  trading at 1,107.(10:02 pm , India , Feb 19).

                   Consumer prices in US edged higher in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time in 27 years, supporting the Federal Reserve’s contention it would keep its benchmark interest rate low for an “extended period.”

• Wall street recovers with Dow up  by 6  points trading at 10,399 ,  NASDAQ up   by 0.01  points trading at 2,241 , S&P 500 up  by 0.58  points  trading at 1,107.(02:09  am , India , Feb 20).

a difficult week ended today with SENSEX down by 136 points

•  SENSEX today slipping further down by 136.21, at 16,191. Except health care sector , all the  sectoral indices were in red. Metal stocks being the major losers.
• Experts feel next week market is likely to be volatile and rangebound being F&O expiry and budget.
• The Indian  government should begin to lower its fiscal deficit in the budget set to be announced next week but should not cut capital spending on infrastructure.
• The fiscal deficit, running at a 16-year high of 6.8 percent of GDP this year, threatens to push up long-term market interest rates and constrain the setting of monetary policy, the prime minister’s economic advisory council said.
• Continued heavy government borrowing would crowd out credit to the private sector, drive up rates and add to the government interest burden.
• India needs to urgently import 3-5 million tonnes of white sugar and may ship in rice to calm food prices, a top aide of the prime minister said, signalling a tighter supply situation than previous estimates.
•  India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $279.199 billion as on Feb. 12, from $278.714 billion a week earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.
• India’s food price inflation, which is near 18 percent, will moderate in the next two to three months, C. Rangarajan, the prime minister’s economic adviser, said on Friday.
• European shares fell by midday on Friday, snapping four sessions of gains, with banks under pressure after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised an emergency lending rate, while miners fell on lower commodity prices.
• Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 2.1 percent on Friday, with resource-linked shares, hurt after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s discount rate hike jolted commodities prices.

Wall Street holds gains

                   The Dow Jones industrial average , gained 31.14 points, or 0.30 percent, to 10,340.38. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index , gained 1.83 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,101.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index , gained 1.30 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,227.59. (08:36 pm, India, Feb 18 ).

• US Stocks edged higher  as data pointing to gains in the manufacturing sector.
• Oil rose above $78 a barrel , supported by a fall in U.S. heating oil inventories and as the dollar weakened after an unexpected increase in U.S. jobless claims.
•  Dow managed gains early and  afternoon on Hewlett-Packard’s improved quarterly results, but the broader market struggled amid weak readings on jobless claims and inflation and pressure from the stronger dollar.
• Wal-Mart Stores posted a quarterly profit , but the retailer’s store sales dropped during the period that included the all-important year-end holiday sales. Wal-Mart suffers sales decline in key quarter.

               Dow up by 26 points trading at 10,335 ,  NASQAQ up by 3  points trading at 2,229 , S&P 500 up by 1 points  trading at 1,110. (00:08 am , India , feb 19).

• The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week, while producer prices increased sharply in January, raising potential hurdles for the economy’s recovery.
• China’s move to reduce its holding of US debt is likely to continue in the long term while the “euro scare” may last a while, legendary investor Jim Rogers.
• President Barack Obama signed an order unilaterally creating a bipartisan commission to rein in unruly deficits after Congress rejected a similar body with considerably more enforcement power.

         Dow up by 59 points trading at 10,369 ,  NASQAQ up by 9  points trading at 2,235 , S&P 500 up by 5 points  trading at 1,114. (01:02 am , India , feb 19).

• The European Union should be more specific on how it would support Greece in a crisis, to help lower the highly indebted country’s borrowing costs now, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said.

             Dow up by 77 points trading at 10,387 ,  NASQAQ up by 13  points trading at 2,239 , S&P 500 up by 7 points  trading at 1,117. (01:28 am , India , feb 19).

• President Barack Obama’s deficit commission will have to pick from a menu of unpleasant options as it comes up with a plan to get the U.S. budget under control. That will be the easy part.

               Dow up by 87 points trading at 10,396 ,  NASQAQ up by 14  points trading at 2,241 , S&P 500 up by 6 points  trading at 1,116. (02:18  am , India , feb 19).

SENSEX tumbling

               Sensex today down by 101.07 , day ended at 16,327.84. US markets closed stable and Asian markets looked quiet well could not help the Indian market have a positive look.

                   Inflation update for week ended February 6: WPI Primary Articles index is up 0.2% (WoW) at 16.23% versus 15.75% (WoW), reports NDTV Profit. Fuel Group inflation is at 9.89% versus 10.44% (WoW) and Food Articles is at 17.97% versus 17.94% (WoW).

          Metals ,Oil and gas, Realty stocks were the major losers today.

• Reliance, the country’s largest-listed firm with the most
  weight in the main index .BSESN, dropped 3.4 percent to
  997.40 rupees. It was the biggest one-day fall in two weeks.
• The government is widely expected to start rolling back
  fiscal stimulus measures in the budget on Feb. 26, but should
  also push ahead with key reforms such as asset sales.
• The Indian rupee weakened on Thursday as the dollar climbed overseas, triggering demand for the U.S. unit from importers. Lower domestic shares also weighed.
• The International Monetary Fund said it will soon begin phased sales of 191.3 tonnes of gold to the open market, a move that has called into question demand for bullion from official sector buyers.
• India’s new fertiliser pricing policy will not make any major difference in the government’s subsidy bill, the fertiliser secretary said.
• RBI said on Thursday seven states will sell 10-year loans worth 37.33
  billion rupees on Feb. 23.
• Supply chain and logistics firm Arshiya International Ltd , will invest 25 billion rupees to set up five Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ) across India by fiscal year 2011/12.
• Fuel costs in India flared up in late January and food prices rose for a third straight week, threatening to push headline inflation into double-digits, and raising pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tighten monetary policy.