STOCK TO WATCH - FEB 15

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP 
    * Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.17
percent up. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan 
 gained 0.06 percent.       
    * Asian shares were range-bound on Friday with investors
turning cautious as weak euro zone growth data presaged the G20
meeting in this session and on Saturday in Moscow. 
    * The S&P 500 eked out a small gain for a third
straight session on Thursday, helped by a flurry of merger
activity, though investors see no catalysts to lift the market
further with major averages near multi-year highs. 
 
    FACTORS TO WATCH 
    * FX, bank lending data (1130GMT) 
    
    INDIAN STOCKS TO WATCH
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NOTE: Reuters has not verified third-party stories and does not
vouch for their accuracy.
    
    FINANCIAL/REGULATORY
    * Life insurance companies such as HDFC Life, Birla Sun Life
and ICICI Prudential have shown interest in purchasing HSBC's
  stake in its JV with two public sector banks,
two people with direct knowledge of the development said.
(Economic Times)
    Oriental Bank of Commerce Ltd and Canara Bank Ltd
, HSBC's partners in the joint venture, have not yet
decided whether to sell or not, and they may take a call
depending upon the price being offered by the bidders, according
to the newspaper.
here
    * India's central bank has relaxed rules on gold deposit
scheme offered by banks by allowing the lenders to offer the
product with lesser maturity. (Reuters) 
    
    ENERGY/COMMODITIES
    * GAIL (India) said October-December net profit
rose 17.8 percent to 12.85 billion rupees from a year ago.
(Reuters) 
    * Coal India Ltd will miss its production target
for the current year by up to 6 million tonnes and will meet its
supply target by drawing on stocks, its chairman said on
Thursday. (Reuters) 
    * Canadian oil and gas producer Niko Resources Ltd 
said the sale price of gas from its wells in India may nearly
double  to between $8 and $8.50 per million British thermal
units based on a pricing formula recommended by an Indian
government panel. (Reuters) 
   
    TELECOMS
    * The finance ministry is likely to seek permission from the
Cabinet to enter into discussions with Vodafone Group Plc
 to settle the long-running $2-billion tax dispute
between the Indian government and British telecom giant,
according to sources familiar with the matter. (Economic Times)
here
    
    AUTOS
    * Tata Motors Ltd posted its first drop in profits
in five quarters as its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) business faced
higher spending and a drop in operating margin after 18 months
of soaring profit. (Reuters) 

    PROPERTY
    * DLF Ltd reported a 10.5 percent rise in quarterly
net profit, helped by a one-time gain from the sale of non-core
assets during the quarter ended Dec 31. (Reuters)
 
    
    IT
    * Mahindra Satyam  will undertake
organizational restructuring by creating mini business units
headed by mini CEOs as the software services company works
towards its 2015 sales target of $5 billion, said CEO CP
Gurnani. (Economic Times)
here
    
    TELECOM
    * India's top court on Thursday upheld a decision to revoke
the operating licences of several mobile phone companies after
police said the sale of the licences was tainted by corruption.
(Reuters) 
    Eight carriers including the local subsidiary of Russia's
Sistema and Indian firms Idea Cellular,
Videocon Telecommunications and Tata Teleservices, were affected
by the court order.  
   
    SPIRITS
    * United Breweries Ltd said the brand "Kingfisher"
has not been pledged by the company to any lender to secure its
loans and added no shares of the company are pledged to the
lenders of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. (Reuters)

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