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Ambani brothers in race for CBM-III blocks

2006-07-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ambani brothers in race for CBM-III blocks

New Delhi: The Government has received 54 bids for the 10 Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks that it offered for exploration under the third round of its CBM policy, with Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd bidding for all the blocks on offer and Mukesh Ambani-managed Reliance Industries putting in bids for five blocks.

The tally of 54 bids, which includes bids from eight foreign players and 18 domestic firms, is the highest-ever received by the Centre under its CBM policy so far. Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) put in joint bids with Reliance Energy Ltd and GeoPetrol of France for all the 10 blocks, having a CBM resource base of 586 billion cubic metres and spread over Jharkhand, West Bengal (one block each), Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh (two blocks each)

Among the big foreign players, British Petroleum has made bids for two blocks, while CDX Gas of the US has marked an entry into India with bids for five blocks. ONGC has tied up with Indian Oil Corporation for two blocks and with GSPC for another two. It put a solo bid for the Jharkhand block.

Essar Oil bid for seven blocks, while GAIL (India) Ltd tied up with Arrow Energy of Australia for seven blocks. The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dinsha Patel, said CBM-III attracted more number of bids than the earlier two rounds put together.

Other foreign players that are participating as consortium partners for CBM-III include EIG and MOLOPO of Australia and OMIMEX and Coal Gas of the US. The contracts for all the 10 CBM blocks would be awarded in two months and Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) would be signed by October 31.

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US stocks fall on qtr's last day as PMI disappoints

2006-07-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

US stocks fall on qtr's last day as PMI disappoints

New York: U.S. stocks ended the final day of the second quarter on a down note, slipping on Friday after weaker-than-expected data on Chicago-area manufacturing stirred concerns about the economy and offset fresh hopes for a faster turnaround at General Motors Corp.

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Midwest manufacturing activity fell in June more than analysts had forecast, casting a shadow over the prospects for corporate profits.

Before the opening bell, General Motors shares shot up after news that one of the blue-chip company's largest investors is urging the automaker to consider a partnership with Nissan and Renault. For details see

"You have GM out there with positive news and the consensus was that we'd have a rally with some end-of-quarter marking up," said Ted Bretschger, principal in equity sales and trading at First Albany Corp. in New York. "The Chicago purchasing number was a little light. That was the only thing that was a little bit off of expectations. People may be calling it quits ahead of the holiday."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.58 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 11,150.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 2.67 points, or 0.21 per cent, to finish at 1,270.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.29 points, or 0.11 per cent, to end at 2,172.09.

MIXED FOR THE QUARTER, UP FOR THE WEEK

For the second quarter, the Dow inched up 0.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 ended 1.9 per cent lower and the Nasdaq slumped 7.2 per cent.

All three major indexes gained for the week, with the Dow advancing 1.5 per cent, the S&P 500 rising 2.1 per cent and the Nasdaq gaining 2.4 per cent.

Trading was volatile in the final few minutes of the session as money managers made last-minute adjustments to their portfolios to try to match their mutual funds to a major market benchmark set to change at the close.

The Russell 3000 Index was rebalanced on Friday at the end of trading, compelling investors to try to buy shares at their closing price.

Friday's Chicago PMI report for June painted a picture of slower-than-expected manufacturing activity in the heartland, while the region's pace of inflation picked up sharply. The Chicago PMI's prices-paid index jumped to its highest since July 1988, signaling that the Federal Reserve may need to do more to battle inflation. That countered earlier government data showing inflation was contained.

Forex Market Today

2006-06-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Forex Today

Forex	Market
30-06-2006
Currency	INR
US Dollar	46.65
Euro	58.24
GB Pound	84.46
Jap Yen	0.398

Sensex soars 447 pts, ends above 10,600; Nifty jumps 130 pts

2006-06-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

Sensex soars 447 pts, ends above 10,600; Nifty jumps 130 pts

With strong global markets providing them the trigger, the bulls had a perfect day out on the major Indian bourses today. As they kept lapping up stocks irrespective of the sectors they belonged to, the benchmark indices Sensex and the Nifty cruised along merrily and ended the session on a high note this afternoon.

The hike in US Federal interest rates, at 25 basis points, was on expected lines. The statement by the Federal Reserve chief hinted at a possible pause on future rate hikes had lifted values of stocks in US and Asian markets. With that backdrop, the market never really had any trouble as it opened for trade this morning. There were no concerns such as expiry of derivatives contracts and the rise in crude oil prices did not prove a dampener either.

After a flying start that saw the Sensex move past the 10,500 mark, the market remained rangebound for a long time. There was a mild bout of profit taking around mid afternoon, but the Sensex recovered in style and even managed to sail past the 10,600 mark in subsequent trades.

While the BSE barometer ended the session with a thumping gain of 447.09 points or 4.4% at 10,609.25, a few points down from its intra-day high of 10,626.84, the broader 50 stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange, which hit a high of 3134.15, settled a few points below that level, at 3128.20, netting an impressive gain of 130.30 points or 4.35% for the day.

The mood remained so positive that all the sectoral indices on the bourses ended on a high note today. The Metal index, which was the biggest gainer, closed 6% up. Reflecting the surge in values of capital goods stocks, the BSE CG index moved up by 5.14%. Oil & Gas, FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto indices closed stronger by 4.3% - 4.6%. The IT and Teck indices firmed up by 3.18% and 3.39% respectively while the PSU index rose 3.85%. The Bankex went up by 2.87% while the Healthcare index, which gained the least in today's session, recorded a rise of 2.12%.

Buying was not confined to large cap stocks. A number of stocks from the mid and small cap space too attracted firm buying enquiries today. Mirroring the gains posted by key stocks in these segments, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 3.44% and 2.81% respectively.

Reliance Communications Ventures extended its overnight gains. The stock, which had been taking a severe beating ever since it entered the Sensex, scored a hefty gain of 11.75% today. Car maker Maruti Udyog clocked a gain of 8.7%. Hindustan Lever moved up by around the same margin to Rs 229.10.

Hindalco surged 7.7%. BHEL finished with a 6.1% gain. ACC, HDFC Bank, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Satyam Computers and Bajaj Auto ended stronger by 4% - 6%.

NTPC, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and ITC gained more than 3% each. Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Infosys Technologies, State Bank of India, Reliance Energy, ICICI Bank and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories also finished with impressive gains. Hero Honda, which remained somewhat subdued today, ended with a modest gain of around half a per cent.

SAIL, Zee Telefilms, IPCL, Suzlon Energy, MTNL, GlaxoSmithKline, GAIL India, Siemens, Mahindra & Mahindra, VSNL and Punjab National Bank flared up to sharply higher levels. Tata Tea, HCL Technologies, ABB, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Tata Power and Oriental Bank of Commerce also ended with handsome gains. Sun Pharmaceuticals and Dabur India settled with marginal gains.

Ranbaxy Laboratories was the lone Sensex component to miss out on the rally today. The stock price of the drug maker fell nearly a per cent to Rs 356.40. It was a trip down south for airlines major Jet Airways too. The stock, which has been moving downstream for a long time, suffered a loss of 3.6% today. BPCL, the other prominent stock to end on the losing side today, drifted down by 1.55%.

The market breadth remained highly positive right through the session. When trading ended, as many as 1683 stocks, out of a total of 2438 stocks that were traded on BSE today, had advanced into the positive territory. 685 stocks closed weak while 70 stocks finished unchanged from their previous closing levels.

UB has euro 500 mn for Europe buy

2006-06-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

UB has euro 500 mn for Europe buy

A month after losing the battle for French champagne company Taittinger, liquor baron Vijay Mallya has put together 500 million euro (around Rs 2,300 crore) to acquire a wine company in Europe.

Sources in the UB Group, the world's second largest producer of spirits, said it had short-listed for the purpose three companies in the UK and France.

"Acquisition of one of them may happen soon," they said, adding that the targets included Taittinger's subsidiary Bouvet-Ladubay.

For funding the acquisition, the group has tied up with a consortium led by Standard Chartered Bank. It would take term loans from banks. PricewaterhouseCoopers is helping the company in doing the due diligence.

The company is also planning to float a foreign currency convertible bond to the tune of $150-250 million.

"UB is the market leader in India. The growth opportunities in the domestic market have almost reached the saturation point. Now, growth will come through overseas acquisitions," a senior UB executive said.

The wine market, both in India and abroad, is set to grow manifold. The UB Group would be in an advantageous position to exploit the Indian market with the superior quality of wine that was made in Europe, he explained.

The UB Group had pulled out of the race for Taittinger, the world's sixth largest champagne company, a month ago when American real estate group Starwood Capital asked it to hike its offer by 15-20 percent.

Starwood Capital had put up the champagne company for sale less than a year after it bought it from the Taittinger family. The UB Group had offered nearly Rs 3,000 crore for Taittinger and its Californian winery, Carneros. It was among the eight bidders shortlisted from 40 interested parties.

This was the third pullout by Mallya from an acquisition deal. He had earlier backed out of bids to acquire Invergordon Distillers of UK and Air Sahara.

As for acquisitions, Mallya last year closed a Rs 1,300-crore deal to buy a 54.54 per stake in Shaw Wallace from the MR Chhabria group, to emerge as the second largest producer of spirits in the world after Diageo.

Following this, the group merged all its companies under one entity, United Spirits.

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2006-06-30T01:11:00.000-07:00