MTECHTIPS EQUITY MARKET NEWS

MTECHTIPS:-Traders bullish on futures contracts, fuel hopes of rally gaining momentum

MUMBAI: Traders rolled over their bullish bets on the expiry of the October series of futures contracts, fuelling hopes of a continued rally. Though the rollover in Nifty index futures to the November series was in line with that of past expiries, the rollovers took place at a higher premium to the spot index.Nifty futures rollover was at around 63 per cent, similar to 64 per cent seen at the expiry of the September series. The November series closed on Thursday at 5,746.85, at a premium of nearly 42 points to the underlying. Nifty closed at 5,705.30, 0.24 per cent above its prior close. Open interest of the November contracts increased over 23 per cent intra-day to end at 1.8 crore units."Investors carried forward long positions in Nifty futures to November, causing the premium over the underlying index to expand. Retail investors are holding many long positions above 5700 levels,"Full market rollover of stock futures was around 83 per cent, also in line with earlier averages, traders said.Rollover in Bank Nifty futures, however, dropped in absolute terms to a little over 10 lakh units, even as the percentage of rollover remained at 68 per cent, higher than the previous expiry.

MTECHTIPS;-How to trade ICICI Bank ahead of its quarterly results

ICIC BANK is all set to announce its second quarter numbers on Friday and the stock price continues to consolidate around the Rs1075-1100 levels.The stock seems interestingly poised ahead of the results and in all probability is likely to break out on the upside given that most momentum indicators point to a strong next few sessions for the counter.The immediate resistance for ICICI Bank seems to be just shy of the Rs 1100 mark and breach of which should be seen as a strong and decisive 'buy' signal.One look at the stock's chart from a slightly long-term perspective indicates that ICICI Bank has started outperforming the broader markets after almost a year and seems to have put in place a firm bottom at Rs1000 levels.We recommend a 'buy' on the stock from both a short term and a medium-term perspective with target prices of Rs1160 and Rs1250, respectively.The entire private banking space seems to be leading the current charge and is likely to do well going forward as well.For a trader trying to make a quick buck on the result pop, we recommend a buy with a stop loss below Rs1060 and a target of Rs1145.Another way to play the results can be to buy ICICI Bank and sell an equivalent quantity of Bank Nifty futures, thereby limiting risk and betting on the stock to outperform. ET NOW estimates: ICICI Bank LtdBSE 0.58 % is slated to declare its quarterly results for the quarter ended September 30 on Friday. India's largest private sector bank is expected to report a 24.3 per cent YoY rise in its second quarter net profit to Rs 1869 crore from Rs 1503.20 crore reported in the year-ago period, according to ET NOW Poll. Net interest income or the difference between interest earned and interest paid is likely to rise by 29.4 per cent on year-on-year basis. Net interest income is expected to have grown to Rs 3242.40 crore, up 29.40 per cent, against Rs 2506.40 crore (y-o-y). However, net interest margins (NIMs) are likely to decline QOQ, while improve on YOY basis.Pre provision profit (PPP) or profits before deducting any provisions is likely to rise by 29 per cent on year-on-year basis. PPP is expected to have grown to Rs 3037.30 crore, up 29 per cent, against Rs 2353.80 crore (y-o-y).

MTECHTIPS:-UBS upgrades Mahindra & Mahindra to buy from neutral on strong outlook
UBS has upgraded Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to 'buy' from 'neutral', citing a "strong" outlook for profit margins despite falling tractor sales, as well as increased demand for utility vehicles.The investment bank also expects a recovery in tractor sales to boost earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a widely used gauge of operational profitability.UBS raised

its target price on the stock to Rs. 1,050 from Rs. 780 as part of its ratings change. M&M shares were up 0.1 per cent in pre-open trade on Friday.India's biggest SUV manufacturer reported a 22 per cent in July-September profit on Thursday, beating analyst estimates.

MTECHTIPS:-Petrol price to be hiked by 30 paise, diesel by 18 paise: sources

Petrol prices will be hiked by 30 paise per litre and diesel rates by 18 paise a litre with the government deciding to increase the commission paid to petrol pump dealers. The hike will be effective either today or tomorrow, depending on when the ministry issues a formal letter to oil companies.The Petroleum Ministry today decided to increase the dealer commission on petrol from Rs1.499 per litre to Rs. 1.799 a litre. The commission on diesel has been hiked from 91 paise to Rs. 1.09 a litre, official sources said. Petrol currently costs RS 67.90 per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs. 46.95. After the hike, petrol will cost Rs. 68.2 per litre and diesel Rs. 47.13 a litre.The increase in dealer commission is the first since July 2011. In July, the commission was hiked by 28 paise on petrol and by 15.5 paise on diesel.

MTECHTIPS;-HULs standalone Q2 PAT seen up 18% at Rs 769 crore FMCG major Hindustan UnileverBSE 0.03 %is expected to report a 18 per cent rise in net profit
to Rs 769 crore for the quarter ended September 2012 as compared to Rs 652 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, says ET Now poll. The company's net sales are seen up 14 per cent at Rs 6,300 crore for the quarter as against Rs 5,522 crore in the same period a year ago. EBIDTA is seen up 11 per cent at Rs 920 crore as against Rs 826 crore, year-on-year while EBIDTA margins are seen at 14.6 per cent as compared to 14.9 per cent.

MTECHTIPS:-CESC tanks 14% on Firstsource deal; hit by brokerage downgrades NEW DELHI: CESC LtdBSE -13.98 % slipped over 14 per cent in trade on Friday after Sanjiv the
Goenka-promoted company agreed to pay around Rs 400 crore for a 49.5 per cent holding in Firstsource. CESC will acquire 34.5 per cent in Firstsource through a preferential allotment and a further 15 per cent from the existing investors.Most brokerages are of the view that the CESC deal with Firstsource is unrelated and the past track record has shown that any unrelated diversification has been poor.At 09:28 am, CESC was trading 14 per cent lower at Rs 293.80. Firstsource Solutions

LtdBSE -11.66 % was down 2.1 per cent at Rs 13.00. Citi downgraded CESC to 'sell' and slashed its
target price from Rs 345 earlier to Rs 300. The brokerage firm sees the deal as unrelated and it would increase standalone parent leverage which could depress profits. Further, CESC is spending 15 per cent of its current market capitalization on this unrelated diversification. "Although the BPO business should not guzzle cash like the retail business, but it could lead to higher leverage in the power business as it has its own needs," Citi added. The money raised from fresh issue of shares - about $50 million -and cash reserves of about $140 million will help Firstsource pay its bondholders as about $237 million worth of foreign currency convertible bonds are coming up for redemption in December. "Firstsource, which gets a majority of its revenues from healthcare, telecom and media clients in the US, had revenues of Rs 2,255 crore in the year ended March 2012, and a net profit of Rs 62 crore," ET reported. However, management has cited difficult growth environment in power sector and attractive valuations to justify the deal. "There is scepticism around business justification for the deal since last key diversification into retail has not worked out in favour of CESC," Macquarie said in a report. "There is no clarity on any synergies, potential improvement in business fundamentals. This puts in spanner into a strong emerging story around power business and reduction in retail losses," said the Macquarie report. CESC is likely to fund the acquisition with 70 per cent debt, or Rs420 crore, while the remaining will be funded through internal accruals. CESC has cash on books close to Rs700 crore on consolidated basis, IDFC said in a report. IDFC is of the view that CESC has acquired an unrelated business in which it has no expertise and which cannot add strategic value. Cashflows could have been utilized for acquisition of potential

power assets.The brokerage firm downgrades the stock to 'neutral' and also cuts its target price from Rs 363 earlier to Rs 333. "While we like CESC's core power business (one of the most efficient power distribution companies in India), unrelated investments in areas like retail and BPO are dilutive for minority shareholders," IDFC said in a report.

MTECHTIPS:-Asian shares edge lower, eye on corporate results

Asian shares edged lower on Friday as investors kept a wary eye on corporate earnings results under way.The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent. Australian shares held steady, drawing support from a rise in iron ore prices to a 3-month high.South Korean shares opened down 0.4 percent. Before trading began, Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics company and accounting for about 15 percent of Korea's benchmark KOSPI index, reported record quarterly profit of $7.4 billion on Friday.Samsung's results came just hours after Apple Inc, the most valuable public company in the United States, which posted quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations.In a sign how worries over a possible sharp tightening in the U.S. federal budget are already weighing on the economy, data showed on Thursday U.S. business investment may be stalling in September. But another report suggested a slowly healing labour market as the number of Americans filing for initial jobless claims fell last week.

MTECHTIPS:-Kingfisher Airlines shares jump 5% for 2nd day as staff return

Kingfisher Airlines shares rose nearly 5 per cent for a second straight day as employees agreed to return to work after the 25-day strike. Shares in the debt laden carrier traded 4.6 per cent higher atRs. 11.40 on the BSE in early trade on Friday.The Kingfisher management will now try to convince aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation to reinstate its licence, which was suspended last week as Kingfisher failed to address DGCA's concerns over safety. Kingfisher has not flown since the start of October after the employee protest turned violent.Kingfisher has never made a profit since its launch in 2005 and has debt of nearly $2.5 billion, according to an estimate by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. The consultancy has said it would cost at last $1 billion to turn around Kingfisher, which has failed in efforts thus far to bring in new capital.Kingfisher has been scrambling to find investors to bring in fresh capital, buy no foreign carrier has publicly expressed interest in taking a stake.Promoter Vijay Mallya's liquor business, United Spirits Ltd, is in talks to sell a stake to UK drinks giant Diageo Ltd, which could potential free up funds for him to invest in Kingfisher.