Investors gain 108% on BSE since last muhurat trading

Investors have seen an addition of Rs 30.45 lakh crore (108.6%) in their wealth on the Bombay Stock Exchange (^BSESN : 17223.01 0) (BSE) since muhurat trading last year. The total BSE M-cap has increased to Rs 58.49 lakh crore on October 17 muhurat trading this year, from Rs 28.04 lakh crore on October 28, 2008. A significant increase in m-cap on October 17, 2009 was seen in steel, sugar, tyres and aluminium stocks.


Investors gain 108% on BSE since last muhurat trading

Market Today

The Sensex, which moved up to 17,493.17 earlier this evening, has drifted down to 17,357 due to profit taking at some front line counters, trimming down its gain to around 0.2% or 32.49 points. The Nifty is up 5.40 points or 0.11% at 5147.55. It had earlier surged to 5176.80.
Non-ferrous metal stocks Sterlite Industries, Hindustan Copper, Hindustan Zinc and Tinplat are up with sharp gains.
In the cement space, ACC, Ambuja Cements and Ultratech Cement have gained 1% - 1.75%. Prism Cement has notched up a gain of 3.6%. OCL India, Rain Commodities, JK Lakshmi Cement, Dalmia Cement, Shree Cements and Mangalam Cements are also trading notably higher.
Among technology stocks, Tata Consultancy Services is up 1.65% on strong results. Infosys Technologies and Wipro are up with modest gains. NIIT Technologies, Mastek, Patni Computer Systems, Rolta India and Oracle Financial Services are also trading firm.
Telecom stocks Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and MTNL are trading with sharp to moderate gains.
Cipla, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ABB, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Hindalco are exhibiting weakness.

Economy report

Economists were expecting the index to increase to 48 The measure is closely watched because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.

The index posted declines in June and July,despite August's increase, the index remains at historically low levels. An overall reading above 90 indicates the economy is solid, and 100 or above signals strong growth.

The percentage of respondents expecting more jobs in the next six months rose to 18.4% from 15.5%.

Similarly, those saying jobs are "hard to get" slipped to 45.1% from 48.5% in August, while responses that jobs are "plentiful" ticked up to 4.2% from 3.7%.

Earlier this month the Labor Department reported that 247,000 jobs were lost in July and the unemployment rate fell to 9.4% from 9.5% in June -- the first decline in more than a year.

According to government figures, 237,000 fewer people were unemployed last month. That decline could be due to discouraged job seekers who have stopped looking, people who have now retired, or those have gone back to school. But the rate does include people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits or do not collect them.

Income expectations. Consumers were only slightly more positive in their income expectations, Franco noted. Those expecting an increase in their incomes jumped to 10.6% from 10.1%.
Business conditions. Consumers anticipating business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 22.4% from 18.4% in July, the report said.

Conversely, respondents expecting conditions to worsen in the months ahead slipped to 15.8% from 19%

Mega outsourcing deal between top ITs

Top Indian IT firms TCS, Wipro, and Infosys and global majors Accenture and IBM have landed a mega five-year outsourcing deal from the oil and gas major BP.

Earlier in the day, BP said the deal was part of its vendor consolidation strategy, where in it has reduced the number of vendors from 40 to just five. "The work covers IT application, development, and management." The process, it said, took over 12 months. "We had called for tenders worth USD 2 billion and have awarded deals worth USD 1.5 billion, saving USD 500 million."

Draft Direct Tax Code

The code will replace the existing Income Tax Act, which was enacted in 1961 and would subsume the direct tax legislations.
Reasons to make it Unique:
First, in naming it the direct tax code and not the Income-tax (I-T) Act, perhaps the government is attempting to send a signal.By naming the new legislation a “code” rather than an Act, the government appears to be giving a signal that in the future sensing it as a good signal.
Second, there has been a conscious effort to do away with exemptions—so that effective rates of taxation reflect the charges on incomes that are transparently defined.a major shift away from area-based exemptions, from choosing winners and losers in industry and, indeed, in removing distortions that have crept in the way of “development initiative
Third, there is considerable relief for individuals,calling it the direct tax code rather than the I-T legislation, there is an attempt to bring some of the newer tariffs such as the fringe benefit tax and the securities transaction tax into the legislation.

Wal-Mart stores- the highest profit maker in retail

Wal-Mart Stores Inc NYSE WMT 12:00 AM ET 8/14/09
Last: 51.79 Change: -0.09 %Change: -0.17% Volume: 17,238,900
Open: 51.87 P/E Ratio: 15.32


High: 52.25 EPS: 3.38
Low: 51.54 Ex Date: 12/9/2009
Bid: 51.83 Dividend: 0.27
Ask: 51.82 Shares Out: 3.9 B
Yield: 2.10% Market Cap: 201.8 B
52wk High: 63.85 52wk Low: 46.25 Avg Volume: 22.1 M

In the middle of the tough retailing environment, slower consumer spending and lower revenues did not stop the world’s largest retailer from boosting profits.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $3.45 billion, up from $3.4 billion one year ago. Revenue for the Bentonville-based retail giant slipped 1.4 percent compared to last year’s $100.08 billion. U.S. sales accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s revenue and same-stores sales rose 1.5 percent.

Wal-Mart officials say they are focused on “accelerating” expense reductions, but they only predicted future same-store sales in the zero to two percent range.

India affecting Recession

JOB CUTS is the most terrible word for any employeer and employee. With the market turning worse and expensive job cuts are shattering many lives.With Recessions big impact private companies are opting for low profile in terms of selections. In India Job cuts are not seen in a major amount besides cost cutting factor, where big private companies and off shore business are showing their losses the sectors like Handlooms, Real estates, Hospitals, Insurance companies, Retailing and many are providing many options for jobs and entreprenureship.
India has emerged as the second most optimistic nation across the world in terms consumer confidence level, with a majority of people having bullish opinion about job prospects, personal finances and their willingness to spend in the next 12 months, a survey has said.

According to the survey conducted by global consultancy firm The Nielsen, consumer confidence in India is on upswing, registering a 13 point rise to 112 index points in the second quarter after Indonesia (113 points).

"The recent elections in India have had a positive effect on Indians' sentiments towards its economy. With the UPA government back in power for the second term, consumers are more confident that political and policy continuity will help recover the Indian economy," The Nielsen Company Associate Director Consumer Research Vatsala Pant said.

Ulips definations

Premium Allocation charge is the difference between the gross premium paid and the amount actually invested. This is used to pay the agency commission and other marketing expenses. The policy administration charge varies from Rs. 700 to Rs. 1500 per annum.

Mortality charge is the premium collected for providing the life cover. It is calculated on the sum at risk, this is the amount the insurer will have to pay if the policy holder dies.