Markets flat, Coal India down 2%

Thu, November 17, 2011

New Delhi: Markets were trading on a flat note in the noon deals on back of the selling pressure visible in oil & gas, PSU and power stocks. The Sensex was down 25 points at 16,750, and the Nifty was at 5,015, down 14 points.

Meanwhile, on the economic front the government released the inflation data for the week ended November 5. The primary article inflation eased to 10.39% versus 11.43% on a weekly basis. Food article inflation came in at 10.63% versus 11.81% and the fuel group inflation was at 15.49% compared to 14.5%.

Back to markets, Coal India was the top loser among the Sensex stocks. The stock was trading lower by 2.4% near its 8-month low price of Rs 305. Maruti Suzuki was down 2.2% at Rs 969 and the index heavyweight Reliance Industries was at Rs 833, down nearly 2%. Wipro. ITC, Tata Motors, J P Associates, ONGC, Jindal Steel, BHEL and Tata Power were also among the losers down 0.5-1.2% each.

On the other hand, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, SBI, Cipla, DLF, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.

Among the individual stocks, Kohinoor Foods has gained nearly 4% in morning trades after the company posted a sharp jump in its net profit at Rs 212 crore for the quarter ended September 30, on account of sale of part of its business.

Patni Computer Systems has rallied 18% to Rs 459 after its promoter - iGate said it plans to delist shares of its Indian unit to obtain full ownership of the company. iGate holds around 80.4% stake in the company.

On the sectoral charts BSE Oil & Gas index was the top loser, down 99 points to 8,490. PSU index was at 7,023, lower by 32 points. FMCG, Power, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and Auto index were also among the losers. At the same time, realty, banking, metal, IT and capital goods stocks witnessed some bit of buying.

From the realty space, HDIL was the top gainer, up 3.3% to Rs 77. Sobha Developers, Anant Raj Industries, Indiabulls Real Estate, DLF, Phoenix Mills and Parsvanath Developers were also among the prominent gainers.

The broader markets was also flat. The BSE mid-cap index was up 8 points at 5,859 and the small-cap index was at 6,377, up 2 points.

The overall breadth was negative as 1,404 stocks declined while 1,151 stocks declined.
(sourced BS)

Iron ore price slump nearing floor on China restock - UBS

Saturday, 29 Oct 2011

Bloomberg quoted UBS AG said iron ore prices down 30% this month are nearing a floor as Chinese buyers replenish stocks and shipments from India dwindle.

UBS analysts led by Sydney based Mr Tom Price said the price may rebound as much as USD 30 per tonne to near USD 150 a ton in coming weeks. The benchmark Asian price has dropped 16% this week heading for its biggest such decline on record.

UBS said “The scale & speed of this week’s correction has little to do with trade fundamentals. The reported collapse in trade liquidity instead suggests a buyer strike with consumers deferring purchases until prices stabilize.”

According to The Steel Index iron ore for delivery to the port of Tianjin in China a benchmark for Asia fell 5.7% to USD 120.20 per tonne recently. That’s the lowest since July 19 2010.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)

Euro exchange rate key to European coal prices

Monday, 24 Oct 2011

According to Mr Karim Kanji Barclays Capital head of coal and dry freight trading has said at the Coaltrans the euro dollar exchange rates have been keys to recent falls in the API 2 derivatives market. Calendar 2012 prices on API 2 have slipped in recent weeks mirroring the euro's fall against the dollar.

He said that there has also been strong correlation between the front-month Brent crude contract and the calendar 2012 coal contract, as these are the two largest global energy supply sources. The correlation between crude and coal disconnected during the “Arab Spring”, when crude prices rocketed, but have been close for the rest of this year.

Mr Kanji said there is also a strong correlation between the calendar 2012 summer months and the NBP gas summer 2012 contract as rival energy sources. Mr Kanji expects volatility in the market to pick up after a slow summer where volatility dropped to just 5pc because of seasonal factors such as low demand. Implied freight prices are at a premium to actual freight rates showing that South African coal cannot price into Europe. Bankers are looking to Asian markets and at new prices indexes such as CFR south China to hedge their price exposure in Asia-Pacific.

source Argusmedia

LIM inks iron ore sale deal with IOC

August17, 2011

Quebec, Canada-based Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited (LIM) has announced that they have inked an agreement with Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) for the sale and shipping of all of LIM's iron ore production in 2011.

Under the confidential sales contract with IOC, the iron ore will be delivered to Asian markets and resold by IOC's marketing organization on the spot market. The sale price for iron ore sold to IOC will be based on the actual realized prices to Chinese customers, less an allocation for handling, loading, shipping and sales costs.

IOC is Canada's largest iron ore producer from its mines located in Western Labrador and is a leading global supplier of iron ore pellets and concentrates. IOC's major shareholder and operator is the Australian miner Rio Tinto.

World stocks hit fresh 11-month low; down 20 pct since May

Tue Aug 9, 2011

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks hit a 11-month low on Tuesday, entering bear market territory as it fell more than 20 percent since hitting a three-year high in May.

Investors grew concerned about the health of the U.S. economy, the euro zone debt crisis and higher inflation in China.

The MSCI all-country equity index fell nearly 2 percent on the day to its lowest since September 2010. The index has fallen for 10 consecutive days.

The MSCI emerging equity index fell 3.4 percent towards July 2010 lows hit in Asian trade.

(sourced Reuters)

Deals of the day -- mergers and acquisitions

Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:32pm GMT

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals involving European, U.S. and Asian companies were reported by 1430 GMT on Wednesday.

** Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has offered to buy its majority-owned midstream energy firm Duncan Energy Partners L.P. for about $2.42 billion in units to ramp up its pipeline services amid higher North American gas production.

** Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Norinchukin Bank are planning to invest an additional 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in credit card firm Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos, two sources familiar with the matter said.

** Rio Tinto , the world's third-largest miner by market value, said it received a binding $340 million offer from industrial materials group Imerys for its talc business.

** Belgian holding company RHJ International will sell its 77.9 percent stake in Japanese car switches maker Niles Co. Ltd for 15.5 billion yen ($187.5 million) in cash, it said.

** Cable & Wireless Communications said it would sell its operating business in Bermuda to Canada's Bragg Group for $70 million, as it remodels its Caribbean operations to battle a weak economy and strong competition.

** Nasdaq OMX Group Inc could launch a rival bid for NYSE Euronext to avoid being left out of a global merger frenzy among exchanges, a source said.

** Rotork PLC said it is to buy Rotork Servo Controles De Mexico, its Mexican sales and service agent.

** Lockheed Martin Corp is selling its Pacific Architects and Engineers Inc military services business to private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg LLC.

** Tesco , Britain's biggest retailer, is not the leading contender for Polish retail chain Zabka, put on the block by private equity firm Penta Investments, several sources told Reuters.

** Hong Kong's CLP Holdings Ltd is likely to sell a 24 percent stake in Thailand's Electricity Generating Pcl (EGCO) to Tokyo Electric Power Co , a source close to the deal said.

** Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk expects to finalise the sale of supermarket chain Netto in the UK "some time in 2011", Chief Executive Nils Andersen told a teleconference.

** Natixis SA is still interested in UniCredit SpA's asset manager Pioneer, the French bank's chairman said and UniCredit said bids should be made by the end of March.

** Dutch food and chemicals group CSM unveiled plans a for a new bio plastics joint venture and said it was in talks to set up the new factory with Thai-based Indorama Ventures .

** Qatar is open to buying stakes in part state-owned UK lenders RBS and Lloyds Banking Group and has discussed investing in the UK, Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said.

** Spanish infrastructure firm Abertis is studying a plan to spin off its car parking and logistics units, the latest indication of the influence its new, dividend-hungry private equity shareholder is exerting.
(Compiled by Swetha Gopinath and Rachel Chitra in Bangalore, sourced:Thomson Reuters)