HERO MOTO FORMS JV WITH MAGNETI MARELI

Country's largest motorcycle maker Hero MotoCorp today announced a joint venture with Italy -based Magneti Marelli for new generation powertrains and said both the partners would invest USD 27 million in the JV over the next ten years.
The JV firm 'HMC-MM Auto Ltd', in which Hero MotoCorp will hold 60 per cent stake, is targeting sales of USD 200 million in the next ten years.
"We have decided to form a JV with Magneti Marelli for next generation fuel injection systems...a total equity injection of USD 8.5 million in ratio of 60:40 will be invested in the JV over a period of three years," Hero MotoCorp MD and CEO Pawan Munjal told reporters here.
The total investment is likely to be around USD 27 million over the next ten-year period, he said adding that the JV would be targeting sales of around USD 100 million in the first five years.
"We believe that this development will help the cause of Hero products, Hero engines immensely. It will surely improve the drivability of our products. It will also help in meeting environmental regulations as we go forward," Munjal said.
Elaborating on the terms of the agreement, Munjal said: "The JV is also open to supply to other manufacturers and would not be an exclusive supplier to Hero MotoCorp".
The JV will bring in key engine related technology within the Hero group thereby reducing dependence on external vendors, he added.
The JV company would start manufacturing by the end of 2014. Currently, only two models from Hero MotoCorp--ZMR and Glamour 125 cc, have advanced fuel injection systems.
Commenting on the JV, Magneti Marelli CEO Eugenio Razelli said the aim is to partner with Hero MotoCorp in order to equip advanced powertrain solutions to all Hero motorcycles and scooters.
"We believe in partnerships and we care a lot about this this new JV. We hope to be a great asset for the Hero group," he added.
The JV would help build electronic fuel injection systems which will offer advantages to the engines used in Hero's two wheelers, Razelli said.
To enhance its R&D capabilities, HeroMotoCorp has already forged alliances with US based Erik Buell Racing (EBR) and Austria's AVL.
The company has also roped in Italian two-wheeler design firm 'Engines Engineering' to partner it in bringing next generation product line up.
Magneti Marelli, which designs and produces advanced systems and components for the automotive industry around the globe, reported a turnover of 5.8 billion Euros in 2012.

HELMETS FROM TITAN

After watches, jewellery and eyewear, Titan Company Ltd today announced its foray into the Rs 400 crore organised helmet market under its Fastrack brand, priced between Rs 1,495 and Rs 3,495. "India has one of the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world. With unorganised players currently driving the helmet business, the category has a large potential in the market," Titan Company Ltd MD Bhaskar Bhat told reporters here. The organised helmet market is estimated at approximately Rs 400 crore, accounting for 45 per cent of the retail market. He said: "Using our in-house design and marketing expertise and wide retail footprint we took a step to enter the helmet sector." "The category is currently unorganised and under served - with our superior quality product, we aim to ensure safety and comfort for two wheeler riders," he added. The collection was revealed today during a fashion show by designer Prasad Bidapa. Stating that the helmets are ISI approved and have been designed keeping in mind the youth of today, the company officials said: "The new range will see 24 different variants for guys and girls in a plethora of colours and vibrant graphics making them a style-essential." Speaking at the event, Titan Company Ltd Vice President & CMO - Watches & Accessories Division Ronnie Talati said: "We are getting the helmets manufactured in India, we have tied up with an Italian company called AGV, one of the largest helmet manufactures in the world; ...We are tied up to make our helmets to our design and we control marketing, we control design and safety standards." Stating that the company plans to sell helmets through 147 Fastrack stores, Titan Company Limited COO H G Raghunath said it would have 200 stores by the end of the fiscal. On Fastrack brand, he said: "Now as a brand of watches and accessories, Fastrack from a turnover of Rs 30 crore in 1998 - today the brand has a turnover of Rs 770 crore."

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 4th DECEMBER & REVIEW OF 3rd

SECOND HALF BETTER

Nifty snapped Three day winning streak and appeared cautious ahead of big even of State Election results / exit poll results. Stop loss for Nifty long positions may be continued at 6100 on close basis.  Nifty spot is expected to encounter resistance at 6240, 6275 and find support at 6165, 6130 for Wednesday. While Global cues and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market is expected to be generally better in the  afternoon session.

Nifty                               6202       -16

Review for Tuesday, 03rd December, 2013 :: Mixed Trend with minor Bearish Bias ..!!

Market traded in a narrow range with minor bearish bias  and closed with a minor loss  of about 0.25%. Sectoral trend was mixed as Realty, Media, Metal, Energy and IT indices gained while FMCG, Bank, Infra, Auto and Pharma indices declined. 28 of Nifty stocks ended in the red and broader market was steady with Advance Decline at about 1:1. GAIL, BHEL, DLF, Jindal Steel and NMDC   remained  major gainers among Nifty stocks while Indusind Bank, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy, HCL Tech and L&T  remained losers among Nifty stocks. 

Among F&O stocks,  Mc Leod Russel, Unitech, Sun TV, Dish TV and CESC     remained  major gainers  while Apollo Tyres, Bank of India, IRB, PTC, Mc Dowell, UCO Bank      remained  losers.

Inputs provided by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

He can be reached @sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

SENSEX SNAPS 3 DAY WINNING SPREE

The benchmark Sensex fell for the first time in four days to close 43 points lower after a volatile session today as positive cues from current account figures were countered by weak global markets and profit booking. ITC and Larsen & Toubro shares dragged the index lower as Reliance Industries and GAIL India propped it up. Sesa Sterlite, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and NTPC were among the 19 Sensex shares that declined. FMCG, consumer durables and bank shares led seven of the 13 BSE sectoral indices down. 

The S&P BSE Sensex resumed lower than yesterday's close and hovered in a range of 20,817.75 to 20,927.05. It ended at 20,854.92, a loss of 43.09 points or 0.21 per cent. Over the previous three sessions, the index had added 477.75 points, or 2.34 per cent, to an almost one-month high.  The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange slipped 16 points, or 0.26 per cent, to end at 6,201.85. The SX40 index on the MCX Stock Exchange ended at 12,371.94, down 3.82 points. Asian stock markets ended mostly lower after stronger US manufacturing data revived speculation the Federal Reserve may pare its stimulus programme sooner than anticipated. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan dropped, while those in China and Japan moved up.

 

INDIA RANKS 94th IN GOLBAL CORRUPTION INDEX

India was today ranked among the world's highly corrupt nations at the 94th spot in a global list topped by Denmark and New Zealand as the cleanest, while Somalia emerged as the most corrupt. While India's rank has remained unchanged from the last year, it has emerged as more corrupt than three of its BRICS peers -- China (80th), South Africa and Brazil (both ranked 72nd) -- but better than Russia (127th) in this annual list of 177 countries compiled by Transparency International. According to the list, India has scored 36 points on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is perceived as very clean. None of the countries have managed to get the perfect 100 score. Top-ranked Denmark and New Zealand have scored 91 points each to share the first place on the list. Somalia shares lowest rank with North Korea and Afghanistan with 8 points each. Those scoring marginally better than these three countries include Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Haiti, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. On the other hand, Denmark and New Zealand are followed by Finland, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia and Canada in the top ten. Among other major countries, Germany is at 12th, the UK 14th, Hong Kong 15th, Japan 18th and the US at 19th spot. India has done better than its neighbour Pakistan (ranked 127th), as also countries like Thailand (102nd), Mexico (106th), Egypt (114th), Nepal (116th), Vietnam (116th), Bangladesh (136th) and Iran (144th). Releasing the list here today, Transparency International said that its "Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 offers a warning that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world". More than two thirds of 177 countries have scored below 50 -- the mid-way point between most corrupt and the cleanest.

FDI INFLOWS DECLINE 38% IN SEPTEMBER

Foreign Direct Investment into the country declined by about 38 per cent, year-on-year, to USD 2.91 billion in September, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. In September 2012, the country had attracted foreign investment worth USD 4.67 billion. During the April-September period of 2013-14 fiscal, FDI has thus dipped by 11 per cent to USD 11.37 billion, from USD 12.84 billion in the first half of 2012-13, DIPP said. Decline in FDI in sectors like services, telecom and metallurgical industries have lowered the inflows. From April-September this fiscal, FDI in services, telecom and metallurgical industries declined to USD 1.32 billion, USD 32 million and USD 240 million respectively. In the first six months of last fiscal, services had attracted USD 3.04 billion, telecom - USD 43 million and Metallurgical industries - USD 685 million. However, according to various estimates, the recent steps announced by the government are expected to improve the investment climate in the country and push up FDI inflows. It has relaxed FDI policy in 12 sectors, including telecom, tea and petroleum & natural gas. FDI inflows in 2012-13 aggregated to USD 22.42 billion, a decline from USD 36.50 billion in 2011-12. India is projected to require around USD 1 trillion between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the 12th Five Year Plan period, to fund infrastructure growth covering sectors such as ports, airports and highways. A decline in FDI would hurt the rupee, which had depreciated to a record low of 68.85 against the US dollar on August 28. It has strengthened since then to about 62 level.

NILEKANI COUPLE WON PHILANTHROPY AWARDS

11 As many as 11 people, including members from the influential Nilekani, Bajaj and Godrej families, were honoured for their outstanding contribution towards the good of the society at Forbes India Philanthropy Awards. Rohini Nilekani, founder of Arghyam, and Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder who presently heads the Unique Identification Authority of India, won the second Forbes India Philanthropy Award in Outstanding Philanthropist category for the year 2013. As many as 11 winners received their awards in Bangalore on November 29. The Godrej and the Bajaj families won the awards in the Outstanding Corporate Foundation and the Distinguished Family categories, Forbes India said in a statement. The philanthropy awards were instituted by Forbes India to recognise the efforts of individuals who have given time, money, skill and expertise to solve some of the most pressing societal issues, to create model institutions and inspire others. Nandan Nilekani said: "Philanthropy should go where markets don’t and governments can’t." On the government's mandate of spending 2 per cent of profits on corporate social responsibility initiatives, Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said it should be looked at by companies as an opportunity to make social impact. Among other winners, Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, founders, Janaagraha, won the Crossover Leader award that recognises a professional who has successfully made the transition from a thriving career in the corporate world to work for the social or not-for-profit sector. Romesh Wadhwani, founder, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group won the 'Distinguished Non-Resident philanthropist' award and Archana Raghuram, Director-Outreach at Cognizant Technology Solutions was given the 'Good Samaritan Award'. Narayana Health won 'the Good Company' award; Anu Aga, Former chairperson, Thermax and Chairperson, Teach For India, won the Corporate Catalyst award and Amit Chandra, MD, Bain Capital, won the NextGen leader in Philanthropy award.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 3rd DECEMBER AND MARKET REVIEW OF 2nd

MID SESSION BETTER

Nifty gained for the Second day in December series and closed above 6200 mark. Stop loss for Nifty long positions may be trailed to 6100 on close basis.  Nifty spot is expected to encounter resistance at 6255, 6290 and find support at 6180, 6145 for Tuesday. While Global cues and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market is expected to be generally better particularly in the mid session.

 Nifty                               6218        +42

Review for Monday, 02^nd December, 2013 :: Bullish Bias amid Narrow movement ..!!

Market traded in a narrow range with bullish bias and closed with a gain of about 0.75%. All sectoral indices barring Energy closed in the green and notable gainers include Pharma, Media, Infra, Metal. 35 of Nifty stocks gained and broader market too was positive with Advance Decline ratio placed at 1.6:!. Ranbaxy, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech and Wipro  remained  major gainers among Nifty stocks while Hind Unilever, Power Grid, GAIL, ONGC, MAruti  remained losers among Nifty stocks. 

Among F&O stocks,  Ranbaxy, Jindal Steel, JSW Energy, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech     remained  major gainers  while Unitech, Hind Zinc, Hind Unilever, GAIL, Power Grid and Exide      remained  losers.

Inputs provided by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

He can be reached @sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

MARKETS MAY CAUTIOUS

Stock markets are likely to start on a positive note on Monday taking positive cues from last week's close and may see cautious trading afterwards ahead of state election results and winter session of the Parliament, which starts on December 5, experts said. Besides, auto companies will be in focus amid release of monthly sales volume data for November.
Trend in investment by foreign institutional investors, global cues and movement of rupee will be key drivers for the stock market in near-term.
"On Monday, we'll see the market reacting on GDP numbers on the opening note and considering the Friday's close, markets are likely to uphold the prevailing positive bias in the next session too. "For fresh buying, one may consider private banking counters & select midcap stocks as decisive breakout above 6,200 in Nifty would accelerate the pace of rise in the days to come," said Jayant Manglik, President Retail Distribution, Religare Securities Ltd. After hitting a four-year low in the first quarter, the economy grew by a higher-than-expected 4.8 per cent in the September quarter.
Gross domestic product or GDP rose 4.8 per cent in July- September compared with 4.4 per cent in the previous quarter. "A GDP figure that beats expectations should lead to a surge in the equity markets and rupee appreciation. It would also give the RBI some leeway for further Repo rate increases in the future, if required," said Raghu Kumar, Cofounder, RKSV. The results of elections in five states — Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan — will be declared early this month.
Delhi will go to polls on December 4, while polling will be held today in Rajasthan.
Over the past week, the Sensex has added 574.54 points to clock its first gain after three successive weeks of declines. The index fell 373 points in November, after a record close of 21,239.36 on November 3.
Mirroring bullish sentiment, overseas investors poured in Rs 8,000 crore (USD 1.3 billion) in the Indian stock market last month.
With this, the total foreign investment in the domestic equity market has reached Rs 97,000 crore (USD 17.5 billion) so far in 2013, as per data available with the Sebi.

OFFICES LACK EQUIPMENT TO TACKLE SEXUAL HARASSMENT

India Inc has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to sensitising employees to gender issues at the workplace, HR experts have said, amid increasingly frequent reports of sexual harassment charges in the country. Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal is the latest to face such allegations, joining a list that includes Phaneesh Murthy (Infosys and iGate), David Davidar (Penguin) and Gopal Kanda (MDLR Airlines). According to some experts, such cases expose a deep-seated and sustained gender bias at the workplace and highlight the reality that a vast majority of Indian offices are poorly equipped to handle these instances. The world's largest democracy faced severe criticism globally after the Delhi gang rape incident a year ago, which forced the country to take a hard look at sexual violence. Several organisations are still not compliant with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, according to Kaustubha Mani, an advocate with PXV Law Partners. The Act, which had been in the works since 2005, got presidential assent in April after approval by Parliament. The Act, which is yet to be notified by the Centre, mandates all organisations to sensitise their staff to sexual harassment issues by conducting workshops and seminars. The Supreme Court issued guidelines for dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace in 1997, after a women's rights group called Vishakha had filed a public interest litigation in a gang rape case. "What is more shocking is that even to date, there are organisations that haven't even found the necessity to adopt and implement the Supreme Court's guidelines as laid out in Vishakha," Mani said. He added that larger firms have always been sensitive to the issue and have dedicated wings that specialise in such matters. According to the International Labor Organisation, India ranks 11th from the bottom out of the 131 countries for female participation in the workforce.

According to a workplace sexual harassment survey by the Centre for Transforming India, a non-profit organisation, awareness levels of such issues among female employees is poor and a majority of them continue with their ordeal for fear of professional victimisation. Experts believe that once employees are sensitised about the consequences of sexual harassment, the number of such cases declines by up to 30 per cent. "Most of the Indian corporates do follow strict policy for the discrimination of gender and sex but they are only able to act and react once it is reported," said Sunil Goel, MD of GlobalHunt, an executive search firm.
Prior to the enactment of the 2013 Act, many small and medium-scale organisations formed ad–hoc committees to address sexual harassment issues as and when they arose. The Act requires a permanent committee to be set up to handle such matters. Goel said the Vishakha guidelines must be implemented at the very initial stage and organisations must regularly inform their old and new employees about them, just as they update the staff about company policies related to leave and benefits.

PUBLIC RELUCTANT TO US DOLLAR COIN

The US could save about USD 150 million a year if it switched from USD 1 paper notes to USD 1 coins, according to an official report. But each attempt to introduce a new USD 1 coin seems to just fall flat with the public. The Federal Reserve Banks hold about USD 1.4 billion in USD 1 coins -- enough to meet the country's demand for the next 40 years.
In fact, far more than half of all USD 1 coins ever minted are in government vaults.
Last year, more USD 1 coins were returned to the Federal Reserve than were paid out. More business returned the unpopular coin than asked for them. So the government's stockpile actually grew, says a Government Accountability Office report.

The report traces the history of the USD 1 presidential coins from their inception in Congress in 2005, through initial distribution in 2007, through 2011 when the mint stopped making them because of a lack of public appetite to their current ignoble status as the coin that is now costly to store, CNN reported.
The USD 1 coins are durable and can be used easily in vending machines. They far outlast paper money. But in the public opinion contest, paper always won, the report said.
The public's preference comes at a cost. The federal government would save USD 4.4 billion over 30 years -- or about USD 150 million a year -- if US Congress decided to go metal, according to the GAO, which would like to see the USD 1 paper notes phased out.
One way to tilt public opinion would be to eliminate USD 1 notes, the GAO said. In Canada and the United Kingdom, public resistance to coins dissipated within years when there was "no alternative to the note," the GAO said.
Dollar coins are also supported by the Dollar Coin Alliance, a group that includes vending and snack food associations, mining interests and a carwash association.
But the Treasury Department -- which currently mints only a limited number of USD 1 presidential coins for collectors -- is not swayed.
"Minting USD 1 coins that ultimately end up sitting in Federal Reserve Bank vaults -- and serve no useful purpose for businesses, financial institutions and consumers -- is simply not a prudent use of taxpayer resources," the Treasury Department said when it stopped production of the coins. So the government continues to mint copper pennies, which are largely zinc, and which since 2006 have cost more than a penny to produce. And it mints nickels, which cost more than a nickel to produce. But it eschews dollar coins.