A 'gain' ful quarter

The markets ended in the negative with a weekly loss of around 1 per cent In the large cap stocks Infosys was the major gainer ndash up around 154 per cent ndash and the losers were Ambuja Cement and Ultratech Cement down around 96 per cent and 775 per cent respectively Polaris Financial Technology remained the gainer in the midcap sector with a weekly change of 25 per cent and the losers were PC Jewellers and Balrampur Chini which were down around 165 per cent and 115 per cent respectively Corporate earnings The corporates have begun to unveil their earnings The first one in the row was IndusInd bank whose net profit for the quarter ended December 31 2012 rose 30 per cent on the back of loan growth The net profit of the bank rose to R267 crore from R206 crore in the same quarter last year The net interest income also rose 342 per cent to R578 crore from R431 crore Once these results were revealed there was renewed buying by foreign institutions The IT major Infosys revealed that its earnings for the quarter stood at R2369 billion against R237 billion in a year ago period The revenues rose 12 per cent to R10424 billion from R93 billion in same period last fiscal The company raised its sales forecast for FY13 to atleast USD 745 billion IIP data The IIP data which was announced during the week contracted to 01 per cent for the month of November against a level of 83 per cent in the previous month of October and against 6 per cent in a year ago period Weak investments due to festive season was cited as the reason The manufacturing sector showed a growth of only 03 per cent as against 96 per cent and electricity showed a growth of 24 per cent as compared to 55 per cent in the month of October But the capital goods sector showed a decline of 77 per cent against a growth of 75 per cent in October Disinvestment options For reaching its disinvestment target the government is considering selling some shares of ITC Axis Bank and LampT which are held by the Specified Undertaking of UTI SUUTI The government might create a basket of three stocks and sell it through the secondary market During the week the government approved 10 per cent stake sale in Engineers India which may fetch the government around R800 crore The government has a disinvestment target of R30000 crore in this fiscal and has only raised around R7000 crore through the stake sale in Hindustan Copper and NMDC Global matters There was no major news from the global end as investors in the US were waiting for the revelation of corporate earnings The earnings season started with the declaration of results of largest aluminum producer Alcoa which beat market expectations The Chinese trade data was also released which showed that the trade data surplus rose to USD 316 billion from a surplus of USD 196 billion in November and was also above the forecast of USD 197 billion The countryrsquos exports grew 141 per cent in December whereas the imports grew 6 per cent on a year on year period Also the Japanese government unveiled a USD 2265 billion stimulus package to support the country In the ECB meeting this week the central bank kept its key rates unchanged at 075 per cent despite the high unemployment and economic contraction Nifty has support at 5918 and 5817 levels and resistance at 6018 and 6040 in the short term HUL MampM LampT JP Associates Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank lost major support levels and investors with low risk appetite can buy their put options Rupee is weak against dollar and it is likely to trade towards 552443 It has resistance at 5440 and 543615 Major firms that may release their earnings in this week include Reliance TCS Axis Bank HDFC Bank Bajaj Auto Hero Motocorp ITC HCL Tech Wipro and TTK Prestige Also the inflation data will be closely monitored Alex K Mathews is the author of Financial Services And Systems as well as Option Trading Bear Market Strategies published by Tata McGraw Hill He is also the technical and derivatives research head of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd The author may have a vested interest in investments he has recommended Feel free to email him at alexgeojitcom Geojit BNP Paribas has membership in and is listed on the National Stock Exchange NSE and the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Disclaimer No financial information whatsoever published anywhere in this newspaper should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or as advice to do so in any way whatsoever All matter published here is for educational and information purposes only and under no circumstances should be used for actual trading or making investment decisions Readers must consult a qualified financial advisor prior to making any actual investment or trading decisions based on information published here Any reader taking decisions based on any information published here does so entirely at his or her risk u00a0