Indian stocks to watch-Oct 31

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP    
    * Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.03 
percent. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index excluding Japan   
 is up 0.28 percent.       
    * The U.S. stock market was closed for a second straight day
on Tuesday as cash equity trading was canceled in the wake of
Hurricane Sandy.   
    * Asian shares rose and the yen was pressured on Wednesday,
as risk appetite recovered slightly after European equities and
the euro firmed overnight.    
       
    FACTORS TO WATCH   
    * April-Sept fiscal deficit (1030 GMT)
    * RBI post-policy conference call with analysts (0900 GMT)
    * Earnings on Wednesday: Power Grid Corporation of India
, Titan Industries, Bharat Forge,
Financial Technologies 
    * India will release infrastructure data covering eight
sectors for September (Tentative)

    INDIAN STOCKS TO WATCH
For additional press items double click 
NOTE: Reuters has not verified third-party stories and does not
vouch for their accuracy.
    
    FINANCIAL
    * HSBC is restructuring the consumer banking and
wealth management business of its India operations, a top
executive told ET, said Gannesh Bharadwaj, head of retail
banking and wealth management at HSBC India. (Economic Times)
here
    * IDBI Bank's July-September net profit fell 6.2
percent to 4.84 billion rupees from a year ago while net
interest income for the quarter dropped 41.1 percent to 12.5
billion rupees from 21.22 billion rupees a year ago. (Reuters)
 

    ENERGY/COMMODITIES
    * Coal India has awarded the exploration contract
for its Mozambique coal blocks to Tribeni Minerals Mozambique
and will invest about $80 million for the exploration, an
unnamed senior executive of the miner told The Economic Times.
(Economic Times)
here
    * Most institutional shareholders of Jindal Steel and Power
Limited have voted against a resolution authorising the chairman
and managing director to revise the remuneration of wholetime
directors, according to an exchange filing. (Business Standard)
here
    
    * Welspun Corp Ltd said it has completed a buyback
of foreign currency convertible bonds worth $44.1 million.
(Economic Times)
here
    * India's Chennai port on the country's southeast coast has
stopped cargo operations after a cyclone warning, a port
official said on Tuesday. (Reuters) 
   
    INFRASTRUCTURE/CONSTRUCTION
    * Lanco Infratech Ltd's talks to sell stakes in its
power-generating businesses to Macquarie Group have broken down,
a person aware of the development said, according to business
newspaper Mint. 
    However, Lanco denied the breakdown, Mint reported.
    "The dialogue with Macquarie Group is continuing, but it
hasn't come to an agreement," chief operating officer T. Adi
Babu said. "We haven't called that off. We haven't come to an
understanding." 
    Spokespersons for Macquarie declined to comment, according
to Mint. (Mint)
link.reuters.com/saw63t
    * Petron Engineering's July-September net profit
fell 95.8 percent to 3.9 million rupees from a year ago.
(Reuters) 
    * State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) will invest
some 4.1 billion rupees in the airport companies of Mumbai and
New Delhi, two officials said on the condition of anonymity.
(Mint)
here

    AUTOS
    * Maruti Suzuki expects sales growth to accelerate
in the months ahead helped by the launch of new vehicles, after
it posted a fifth straight quarterly profit decline.  (Reuters)
 
    * A section of employees at the Indian plant of Hyundai
Motor's manufacturing facility near Chennai went on
a brief flash strike on Tuesday, partially affecting the
production for little over an hour, the company said. (Economic
Times)
here
    * The anti-monopoly regulator Competition Commission of
India has found no evidence of cartelisation in the tyre
industry, dismissing a complaint filed by the All India Tyre
Dealers' Federation. (Economic Times)
here
    
    PHARMA
    * Glenmark Pharma's July-September net profit
almost tripled to 1.57 billion rupees from 565.8 million rupees
a year ago. (Reuters) 
    
    IT
    * Satyam Computer Services Ltd, in the process of
a merger with parent Tech Mahindra Ltd, met
expectations with a 17 percent rise in second-quarter profit, as
customers, aiming to cut IT costs, gave it more orders.
(Reuters) 
    
    TELECOMS
    * Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, a JV between Sistema
 and India's Shyam Group, is likely to reduce voice
operations in five regions to cut costs and channel resources to
its money-spinning data services business, top executives aware
of the development told The Economic Times. (Economic Times)
here
    * The government will invest more than 200 billion rupees
over the next few years to strengthen the broadband network in
the country, telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar said at a media
conference on Tuesday. (Economic Times)
here
    
    AIRLINES
    * SpiceJet plans to acquire more aircraft, and is
aiming to expand capacity in its international network by 15-20
percent in the next two to three years, airline chief executive
Neil Mills told reporters. (Press Trust of India via Economic
Times)
here

    MEDIA
    * The Aditya Birla group may take a majority 51 per cent
stake in Living Media, which owns 57.46 per cent in TV Today
Network, sources familiar with the developments said,
according to Business Standard.
    Though both Aditya Birla group and Living Media officials
denied any such move, insiders said talks were at an advanced
stage, the newspaper reported. (Business Standard)
here
    
    PROPERTY
    * Global investment firm Xander Group is in talks with
Indiabulls Real Estate to buy 35 per cent stake in the
latter's arm Indiabulls InfraEstate for around 8 billion rupees,
said a person involved in the talks, according to Business
Standard.
    An Indiabulls executive confirmed the news, the newspaper
reported, but said, "the due diligence is on. We are a couple of
weeks away from concluding the deal."
    A Xander spokesperson said, "as a policy, Xander does not
comment on market speculation." (Business Standard)
 OTHER FACTORS TO WATCH                                       
* Indian debt/FX factors to watch                   
* Yen off highs, market resigned to BOJ disappointing    
* Brent hovers near $109; recovery eyed post Sandy        
* Foreign institutional investor flows         
* For closing rates of Indian ADRs

Posted in: STOCKS TO WATCH