Mumbai: Asian markets started February with a dip after China’s purchase manager’s index slipped to 50.5, in line with other data that showed that the economy cooled leading up to the Chinese New Year. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were closed on account of a holiday. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average declined 1% in opening trades. US stocks saw their worst monthly decline in January following a sell-off on Friday prompted by disappointing earnings, renewed fears over deflation in the euro zone and a continuing rout in emerging markets, reports MarketWatch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1%, S&P 500 fell 0.6% and Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5%. Telecom stocks will be in focus today on account of the third round of airwaves auction. The operators in the fray are expecting a fierce price battle for airwaves in the 900-MHz band with the entry of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio likely to play a spoiler for incumbents like Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular Ltd, according to a Business Standard news report. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will introduce a number of sops for workers such as a new minimum wage, an assured minimum pension and higher salary ceilings for employment benefits such as gratuity, provident fund, bonus and healthcare over the next few weeks, reports Economic Times. Jaypee group shares may be in the limelight following an Economic Times report that Abu Dhabi’s energy and utilities company—TAQA is set to acquire two hydropower projects for around Rs.12,000-13,000 crore, signaling growing appetite among foreign investors for India’s infrastructure assets. Oil India Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) will be hurt by the subsidy burden after government increased the supply of cheap cooking gas from 9 to 12 at a cost of Rs.5,000 crores. IDBI Bank Ltd shares will be in focus after net profit plunged 75% year on year in the December quarter to Rs.104 crore on back of deteriorating asset quality and losses on bond portfolio. Read more. Tata Motors Ltd shares will be in focus after sales of commercial vehicle fell 37% to 36,657 units in January, while sales of passenger vehicles fell 28%. Lastly, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav once again made a strong pitch for a third front and announced that representatives from around 14 parties will meet on 5 February to discuss third front.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 03:25:13 +0000
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