Sensex, Nifty slip to one-week lows as profit taking continues

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty were seen trading with negative bias ahead of tomorrow's trading holiday and July F&O expiry on Thursday. Market breadth was largely negative. Small-cap and mid-cap indices fell due to persistent selling pressure from retail investors.

The 30-share index Sensex resumed higher at 26,173.47 hovered in a range of 26,181.83 and 25,900.25 before ending at 25,991.23, showing a loss of 135.52 points or 0.52 percent from Friday's closing. It has now dropped 280.62 points, or 1.07 percent, in two consecutive sessions.

Today's closing is its weakest since July 21 (25,715.17).

The CNX 50-share Nifty dropped by 41.75 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at one-week low of 7,748.70. On Friday, it had slipped by over 40 points.

In eight straight trading sessions (July 15-24), the Sensex and the Nifty spurted by over 5 per cent to hit lifetime highs.

Stocks of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever gained 3.69 percent after the company reported increase in standalone net profit at Rs 1,056.85 crore for the June quarter.

Among major losers, Coal India suffered the most by plunging over 3 percent, the most in three weeks. Other laggards include Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, RIL, ICICI Bank, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and Bajaj Auto.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 125.51 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data.

In Asia, Chinese stocks led gains by jumping over 2 percent on strong growth in profit at industrial companies in June 2014. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea ended higher by 0.20 percent to 2.41 per cent while Taiwan weighted index declined by 0.20 percent.

European markets were trading mixed in their early trade as investors weighed company earnings and awaited data on American services and home sales. Key indices and France and UK firmed up by 0.15 percent to 0.48 percent while Germany's DAX was quoting lower by 0.03 percent.

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Collective pressure on states needed to deny sanctuaries to terrorists: Modi

In his first multilateral engagement with world leaders, Modi addressed the sixth summit of BRICS nations in which he made it clear that terrorism in any form was against humanity and there should be zero-tolerance against it.

He said the menace has assumed war-like proportions and called for early adoption by the UN of the draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
  
"We must also put collective pressure on states to deny sanctuaries and support to terrorists," he said in his first major speech at an international forum in which he also referred to international hot spots like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
  
"Terrorism is a threat that has assumed war-like proportions. It is in fact a proxy war aimed at innocent civilians. Due to different yardsticks the international community has not been able to combat terror effectively," he told the meeting of five-nation grouping attended by host President Dilma Rousseff, Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
  
"I firmly believe that terrorism, in any shape or form, is against humanity. There should be zero tolerance towards terrorism. Humanity must unite, and isolate terrorist forces, especially states that flout basic norms. Selective targeting of terrorism will not work," he said.

"BRICS must translate our political resolve into a concrete and coordinated plan of action. I call for an early adoption by the UN, of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. We are meeting at a time when the world is facing a high level of turmoil and uncertainty. Global economic weakness also persists," Modi said.

He said restoring a climate of peace and stability is therefore an urgent need for global progress and prosperity. "I come from a land where the idea of the 'whole world being one family' is rooted in our ethos - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," he said.

Modi said the world must unite as one to decisively confront global challenges. Corrective action must begin with the reform of institutions of global governance. This has been on the BRICS agenda since its inception.

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Rajasthan Assembly pays tribute to Gopinath Munde, others

Speaker Kailash Meghwal made the obituary references on the first day of the budget session and recalled services and contributions of the departed leaders after mild protests by Congress and NPP members who wanted to raise other issues which the Speaker did not allow.

  

The House paid homage to former Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Samarth Lal Meena, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr N Janardan Reddy, former Deputy CM of Maharashtra and Union Minister Gopinath Munde, former Rajya Sabha MP Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi, former members of the assembly Gangaram

Chaudhary, Ruparam Dudi, Jitendra Ninama, Hirala Arya, Laxmikumari Chundawat, Banshi Lal Saraswat, Laduram Sulania, Ramnarayan Verma.

  

Tributes were also paid to the victims of the bus accident in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.

The members observed two-minute silence after which the House was adjourned for the day.

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Curbs on gold import can go after situation improves: Finance Minister

"Not at the moment (easing curbs on import of gold). If our situation gives me more comfort level, obviously these are flexible polices. They are not engraved in stone that you can't change them," the Finance Minister said in an interview.

  

He, however, said the government has to be careful on current account deficit (CAD) and fiscal deficit.

"On both CAD and fiscal deficit, I think we will have to be cautious and careful," he said.

In order to check rising CAD, the government had raised import duties on the yellow metal to 10 percent while RBI imposed curbs on import of gold and also laid down various pre-conditions for inward shipments of the precious metal.

As a result of combined efforts, imports of gold have been declining. They fell by 72 percent to USD 2.19 billion in May due to restrictions imposed by the government.

India's CAD, which is the excess of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a historic high of 4.7 percent of GDP in 2012-13, mainly due to rising imports of gold and petroleum products.

  

During 2013-14 India's CAD sharply narrowed to 1.7 percent of the GDP or USD 32.4 billion.

For the January-March quarter, CAD stood at USD 1.2 billion or 0.2 percent of GDP, as against USD 18.1 billion, or 3.6 percent of GDP in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the RBI.

The highest ever CAD reported in 2013-14 had led to a slew of problems, including a heavy drop in the value of rupee, which touched an all-time low of 68.85 against the US dollar last August.

However, it has strengthened since then and is hovering around the Rs 60 mark.

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Singapore to stop issuing notes to deter money laundering

A spokeswoman for the Monetary Authority of Singapore said “the decision was a pre-emptive move to mitigate the higher money laundering risks associated with large value cash transactions".

The note is one of the world's most valuable banknotes in circulation, along with the 1,000 Swiss franc (USD1,120) note, the Singapore dollar1,000 note and the 500 euro (USD 680) note, according to the Standard Catalogue of World Paper Money.

The highest banknote for the US currency is USD 100 while China makes do with the 100 renminbi (USD 16) note. Notes currently in circulation will remain legal tender but stocks are expected to decline over time as worn notes are returned and not replaced, the monetary authority spokeswoman said.

   

The central bank's comments come days after an Indonesian financial watchdog urged Singapore to immediately withdraw all Singapore dollar10,000 notes instead of just discontinuing them.

"If the notes remained on the market, let's say for five or 10 years after their production stopped, Indonesia would still be vulnerable to money-laundering and graft," said Agus Santoso, the deputy chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre in Jakarta.

Santoso said in Indonesia the Singapore dollar10,000 note is the "bill of choice for bribe-payers or graft suspects because they can exchange a large amount of rupiah for just a few banknotes".

Singapore, a global financial centre and major player in the wealth management industry, has rejected accusations that it is a haven for money-laundering and foreign tax cheats.

In March, it began regulating intermediaries of Bitcoin such as exchanges and vending machines dispensing the virtual currency, citing the increasing risk that they could be used for money laundering and terrorist financing.

The government has also said it is scrutinizing new forms of illicit financing such as through the trade of precious stones and metals.

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NHRC issues notice to Delhi government over poor quality of mid-day meal

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi calling for a detailed report within four weeks. It has also asked the DCP (East), Delhi to submit an action taken report in the matter, the Commission said in a statement.

   

The notice was issued after the Commission took suo motu cognizance of media reports that 22 students, aged between 7 to 14 years, of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Patparganj area of East Delhi had fallen ill after consuming mid-day meal.

"Reportedly the students had claimed to have found a dead rat in the food. The students were admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Khichripur. The food was supplied by Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Dalit Uthan Evam Shiksha Samiti. Allegedly, it had been blacklisted earlier but was again given the contract to supply the food," the statement said.

   

The media also reported that incidents of mid-day meal poisoning had happened earlier also in some of Delhi schools on July 26, July 31 and November 8, 2013 respectively.

   

The commission said the contents of the press report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights.

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Rs 1K monthly pension a reality now, wage ceiling raised to Rs 15K

While announcing that government is notifying the minimum pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme-1995 (EPS-95), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also stated in his budget speech on Thursday that wage ceiling covering organised sector workers under schemes run by EPFO has been raised to Rs 15,000 per month from existing Rs 6,500.

"Government is fully committed to the social security and welfare of employees serving in the organised sector. The Government is notifying minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month to all subscriber members of EPS-95 scheme and has made an initial provision of Rs 250 crore in the current financial year to meet the expenditure," Jaitley said.

He said, "Further, increase in mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to EPS-95 from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 has been made and a provision of Rs 250 crore has been provided in the current budget."

At present, workers whose basic wage at the time of joining is up to Rs 6,500 per month, including basic pay and dearness allowance, can be subscribers of the EPFO schemes.

According to the EPFO's estimates, the raising of wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 per month is expected to bring 50 lakh more workers under the ambit of social security schemes run by it.

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Sensex crosses 26K mark, Nifty hits new high ahead of Budget

Besides, a rally in technology stocks, led by Infosys, which will kick-start the earnings season for the April-June quarter later this week, also buoyed the sentiments, traders said.
  
The 30-share BSE index after commencing the session above the historic 26,000 mark, climbed to touch a new intra-day record high of 26,123.55. It finally settled 138.02 points, or 0.53 percent higher, at a new closing peak of 26,100.08. The gauge has now surpassed its previous closing high of 25,962.06 on Friday.
  
The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 35.55 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at a new peak of 7,787.15, breaching previous record closing high of 7,751.60 on Friday. During the session, it touched a lieftime high of 7,792.00, surpassing previous of 7,758.00 reached on Friday.
  
An HSBC survey that said manufacturing and services sectors in India expanded at a faster pace than China during June, too had a positive impact on sentiments, traders added.
  
"Pre-budget rally has lifted the indices to new highs", said Deepak Pahwa, a Delhi-based stock broker.
  
Investors have been accumulating blue-chip stocks on hopes that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on July 10 in the Budget would announce industry-friendly measures to revive the country's economy that is growing at near the slowest pace in a decade. Last week, Sensex jumped 862.14 points.
  
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors bought shares worth a net Rs 943.19 crore last Friday.
  
Among sectoral indices, the BSE IT index gained the most and surged 2.63 percent as Infosys, TCS, Wipro gained in 1.86-3.23 percent range amid weakening of the rupee.
  
The BSE Teck index emerged the second best performer by rising 2.16 percent, followed by Power index (1.12 percent) and Healthcare (0.80 percent).
  
However, the BSE Oil and gas index ended 0.91 percent lower due to profit-taking in RIL, ONGC and GAIL. Banking index was down by 1.21 percent and Realty index by 0.14 percent.

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Oil Minister approves appointment of new IOC chairman

B Ashok, Executive Director (Retail Sales) at Indian Oil Corp (IOC), was on October 9, 2013, chosen to head the company by government headhunters Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) but the previous UPA government could not appoint him before its tenure ended.

   

The Prime Minister's Office, where Ashok's appointment file was pending since last month, had sought Pradhan's comments on the issue.

   

"The Minister has consented to Ashok's appointment and the file has been sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for processing," a ministry official said. 

The appointment orders will be issued after approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

57-year-old Ashok was to succeed R S Butola, who retired from service on May 31 on attaining superannuation age of 60 years. Since a full-time chairman was not appointed in time, R K Malhotra, Director (R&D) and senior most director on IOC board, has been given the additional charge for the time-being.

   

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Tablet sales slip 17.5 percent in Q1, phablets’ popularity soar

According to CMR's India Quarterly Tablet PC Market Review, 746,463 units of tablets were sold (shipped) in the January-March 2014 by 30 domestic and international vendors.
  
However, only 11 vendors shipped in significant volumes of more than 20,000 units during the period, it added.
      
A phablet is a portmanteau of the words phone and tablet. Phablets typically have screens that measure (diagonally) between 5.01 and 6.9 inches while tablets are typically larger than smartphones at 7 inches (18 cm) or larger.
  
Vendors shipped 905,594 units of tablets in Q1 CY2013, while 1,032,739 units were sold in October-December 2013 quarter.
  
Samsung was the market leader with 24.9 percent share, followed by Datawind (15.9 percent) and Apple (10.2 percent).
  
"BIS certification issues had a temporary impact. However, rise in popularity of Phablets has diminished the significance of tablets among potential consumers, particularly in the sub Rs 15,000-20,000 price category," CMR Lead Analyst Telecoms Practice Faisal Kawoosa said.
  
In such a scenario, hopes of the tablet industry are pegged high on enterprises, he added.
  
"However, the challenge there remains bringing to market solutions-oriented tablets rather than plain computing and general content consumption devices," Faisal said.
  
As vendors launch more solutions-oriented devices, with a mix of software and hardware improvisations, one would see tablets gaining adoption within the enterprise segment, he added.
  
Enterprises consumed around 22.1 percent of the total tablet shipments during Q1 CY 2014.
  
Talking about individual vendor performances, CMR Telecoms Practice Analyst Tarun Pathak said Samsung continues to be the leader in the category, primarily due to its diverse product portfolio with offerings at various price points, screen sizes and connectivity perspective.
  
"Also, Apple is back in the 'Top 3' after almost a year on the back of an aggressive marketing campaign and strong sales of iPad Mini that contributed almost 60 percent of Apple's total India iPad shipments during Q1 CY 2014," he added.
  
Pathak said there are only 30 players competing in the Indian tablet segment as compared to an all-time high of 68 during April-June 2013 quarter.
  
This shows that the India tablets market has seen consolidation in recent quarters, as all the players who launched products could not generate sufficient sales to sustain operations, he added.
  
"Going forward, it will be interesting to watch how the seven-inch tablet market, which currently contributes close to 80 percent of total sales, will emerge from the expected stiff face-off from phablets," Pathak said.

Source: Business News

FICCI urges Modi government to make stable policies

A FICCI delegation met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is busy preparing the budget these days, on Monday and said that the new government should only focus on stable policies and tax-related laws.

Amidst wide scale discussions going on over the formulation of the budget, the FICCI delegation kept forward its suggestions and recommendations before the Finance Minister, urging him to make result-oriented policies which would take the economy on the path of development.

FICCI president Sidharth Birla said the companies and government sector need to be assured that whatever decisions are being made, are permanent and those who are calling the shots are safeguarded.

According to FICCI, the corporate world also needs to be reassured that if necessary whatever policies are made they are in the interests of the tax payers.

FICCI is more concerned about the tax laws in the nation and Birla believes that all the pending issues are disposed off as soon as possible.

FICCI also batted for implementing the comprehensive Goods and Service Taxes (GST) on a mandatory basis from 2015.

The corporate body also urged the new government to review the relevance of the Direct Tax Codes (DTC) because most of the changes are already incorporated in the law.

Birla said in a statement, “The government could ideally declare as policy that retrospective action shall not be resorted to, save in rarest of cases, but never for creating a fresh onus or liability for a previous period. In fairness, retrospective change if needed must invariably favour the taxpayer”.

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Party hasn't given me copy of manifesto: Congress candidate

Naik said he has not been able to read the manifesto because he has not been given the document yet.

"I have not read the manifesto yet because I haven't been given the copy of it, by the party yet," Naik said while addressing a press conference.

The election manifesto has been released by the state Congress last week, a few days after the Congress released its national manifesto.

Naik, who has been linked to Goa's drug mafia in a legislative committee report, also said that he was unaware of the election promise made by the Congress state unit in the manifesto to appoint a central agency to probe Goa's narcotics market.

“What is that? I am not very sure. I told you, I have not read the manifesto yet!” Naik said.

Reacting to Naik's claim that he has not been given a copy of the manifesto, state Congress president John Fernandes said the former’s erroneous answer was because of nervousness and exhaustion caused due to constant campaigning.

"I am sure, if he logs on to our website, he can access the manifesto. He is exhausted and tired of campaigning and must have wrongly said that he hasn't read the manifesto," Fernandes said.

(Agencies)

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