REAL ESTATE IN INDEA

PERFORMANCE OF CARS IMPROVED

Long-term vehicle dependability has improved as 38 per cent of owners said they did not experience any problems with their vehicle, a recent survey said. This is the highest proportion of owners not experiencing any problems since 2012, when 34 per cent of owners did not report any problems, J D Power Asia Pacific 2014 survey said. The study measures problems experienced by original owners of 30-42-month-old vehicles in 169 different problem symptoms across nine vehicle categories. The categories include vehicle exterior; driving experience; features, controls and displays; audio and entertainment; seats; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); vehicle interior; engine; and transmission. The study includes 70 models in 12 vehicle segments like entry compact, compact, upper compact, premium compact, entry midsize, midsize, premium midsize, entry luxury,luxury car and MUV/ MPV, SUV and van segments. According to the survey, the overall vehicle dependability averages 218 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) in 2014, as com[pared to 280 PP100 in 2013. Overall dependability is based on the number of problems reported per 100 vehicles, with a lower score reflecting higher long-term vehicle quality. Although owners of diesel-fueled vehicles in India continue to report more problems overall, compared with owners of petrol-fuelled vehicles, the gap between the two has narrowed over the past three years, IT SAID. In 2014, owners of diesel vehicles report 234 PP100 overall, which is 22 PP100 higher than the number or problems reported by owners of petrol vehicles, compared with a gap of 71 PP100 in 2012.

Across categories, problems with diesel vehicles have improved notably, especially in driving experience, where fewer instances of such problem symptoms as uneven tire wear, excessive misalignment of wheels and unusual suspension noises have been reported, the study revealed. "With improvements in engine technologies and overall vehicle build quality, diesel car owners are reporting fewer noise-related problems than three years ago," J D Power Asia Pacifics executive director Mohit Arora said. While savings in terms of running costs have always been an advantage for diesel car owners, going forward, the ongoing refinements are likely to lead to an enhanced ride-comfort and a more positive ownership experience over the longer-term, Arora added.

EXTERNAL DEBT UP 7%

Higher non-resident deposits led to a rise of 7.6 per cent in India's external debt at USD 440.6 billion for the financial year ended March 31. "India's external debt, as at end-March 2014, was placed at USD 440.6 billion showing an increase of USD 31.2 billion or 7.6 per cent over the level at end-March 2013. "The increase in total external debt during financial year 2013-14 was primarily on account of rise in Non-Resident Deposits," Reserve Bank data showed today. In a release about 'India’s External Debt as at the end of March 2014', it said the surge in outstanding stock of NRI deposits can mainly be attributed to mobilisation of fresh FCNR(B) deposits by commercial banks under the swap scheme offered by the RBI during September to November 2013. In terms of major components, the share of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) continued to be the highest at 33.3 per cent (USD 146.5 billion). It was followed by NRI deposits at 23.6 per cent (USD 103.8 billion) and short term debt at 20.3 per cent (USD 89.2 billion). The RBI said: "US dollar denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India's external debt with a share of 61.8 per cent as at end-March 2014, followed by Indian rupee (21.1 per cent), SDR (6.9 per cent), Japanese Yen (5.1 per cent) and Euro (3.4 per cent)." Also, government or sovereign external debt stood at USD 81.5 billion as at end-March 2014 as against USD 81.7 billion as at end-March 2013.

INDIAN EMPLOYERS FOCUS ON HEALTH PROGRAMMES

Indian employers are increasingly focusing on health and productivity programmes, which has a direct bearing on the company's financial success, and 3 in every 4 employers expect the focus on their initiatives to grow in the next two years, a report says. Leading the Asia Pacific markets, 44 per cent of the Indian companies plan to put in place a health and wellbeing strategy within the next couple of years, while 48 per cent already have one in place. About 72 per cent of Indian employers, i.e. three in four, believe the focus on such initiatives is likely to grow stronger two years down the line. Globally, companies with the most effective health programmes are more productive and generate 34 per cent higher revenue per employee and such companies enjoy more than 20 percentage points higher market premium. Moreover, the number of leaves taken by employees of these companies goes down for each employee per year. Similarly, employee participation in lifestyle behaviour coaching programmes is higher by 20 percentage points for such companies. "These companies are naturally able to build and sustain better well-being over time and achieve even greater benefits in terms of reduced healthcare costs as well as greater productivity and performance," Anuradha Sriram, Director Benefits, Towers Watson, India said. Around 44 per cent of Indian employers claim to offer health risk assessments, more than 2 in every 5 (42 per cent) of Indian employers in 2013 having instituted work-site diet or exercise activities, almost one in three (32 per cent) have instituted stress or resilience management programmes. According to the Staying@Work Survey Report, conducted by global professional services company Towers Watson, Indian employers' focus on health and productivity programmes is growing and is the highest in the Asia Pacific region. Indian employers are reluctant to offer financial incentives for doing such programmes. While 8 per cent of employers in Asia Pacific offer cash as a financial incentive to encourage programme participation, in India the number drops to 2 per cent. The Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey was fielded across countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia and had a total of 892 participating companies. In Asia, the survey had 372 respondents from China, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

TRUST DEFICIT IN JEMS AND JEWELLERY SECTOR

Saddled with bad assets like the Rs 6,000 crore Winsome Diamonds account, lenders have come out strongly against shady practices in the gems and jewellery sector, stating that there exists a "trust deficit" that makes doing business with the industry difficult. "As of today, there is a huge trust deficit within the industry, bankers, regulators and government. This is one segment where trust is most important," Bank of Baroda's Chairman and Managing Director S S Mundra said, speaking at a gathering of the gems and jewellery industry over the weekend. His reservations included the likely diversion of funds by the players into real estate, equities and commodity market investments; an "intermingling" between gold, diamond and jewellery verticals which led to interest arbitrage and "confusion" in working capital positions; and even a lack of trust in the trade data put out which makes it difficult to compute the net exchange earning. Mundra, who is widely tipped to be the next Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, hinted that such practices make it very uncomfortable for a bank to do business with the sector, even though the sector may deliver benefits on employment generation and foreign exchange earning front. State Bank of India's Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya targeted the lack of transparency in the sector and said it is due to this that regulations governing lending to the sector are very stringent and hence, bankers are retreating from this business globally. "At this point of time, there is very little transparency as to which part of business is utilising what funds and what value and what margins are there in individual parts of the business," she said, affirming SBI's commitment to the sector, where it has a Rs 4,000 crore exposure.

"Those who are in the entire value chain need to understand that there has to be much greater clarity in how the value gets captured and therefore, give much better understanding to the bankers as to what financing is required and how it needs to be done," Bhattacharya advised. Mundra said problems for the sector started in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown, which led to a massive correction in demand. The ambitious expansion by the players before and after the crisis was also a major pain point, he said. Bhattacharya said branching out further into the value chain like retailing, beyond the traditional cutting and polishing of rough diamonds by the Indian companies also hurt the players hard. The Rs 6,000 crore default by Winsome Diamonds are representative of the trend in the sector. Some of the 15 lenders in the consortium are mulling to declare the account as a "wilful defaulter". With a Rs 1,800—crore exposure, Punjab National Bank is the leader of the 15—member consortium of lenders, who are mostly state—run banks. The others include Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Vijaya Bank and IDBI Bank among others.

INDIA HAS POTENTIAL TO BE THE LARGEST ECONOMY

India, an emerging global economic power, has the potential to become the largest economy in the world, Facebook Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg said today. Sandberg, who served as Chief of Staff for the US Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton, said the over USD 2 trillion Indian economy has immense potential to create jobs and drive growth, especially with its huge base of small and medium businesses (SMBs). "India has the potential to become the largest economy in the world. And if you look at economic growth, particularly recently, jobs is a very hard situation all over the world. From the US to developing markets, everyone is very concerned about jobs." "And majority of the growth, as I understand it, is certainly here, certainly in the US. In most countries, I have visited, SMBs are the way to growth," she told PTI. Explaining further, Sandberg, whose previous stint was as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google, said "the answer to growth is entrepreneurship". "Individuals are creating businesses and employing other people, and in India, the SMB growth is strong. And Internet provides more growth stories to SMBs. People are connecting to people and getting more customers and that's what leads to economic growth," she added. Micro, small and medium businesses contribute nearly eight per cent of India's GDP, 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and 40 per cent of exports. The sector is estimated to have given employment to about 595 lakh people in over 261 lakh such enterprises throughout the country. India, which is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, saw its growth rate plummeting to less than five per cent in the last two years. However, the industry is hopeful of a rebound with a new stable government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely perceived as a pro-business leader. Modi had also said recently that there is a need to administer "bitter medicine" to revive the ailing economy. The International Monetary Fund has projected a growth rate of 6.4 per cent next year, in line with the gradual strengthening of global markets. Reminiscing her association with India, the former management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an economist with the World Bank said she started her career in India in 1981 working with the World Bank on Leprosy. "And now when I look at leprosy, it's no longer a threat here. The way I see it, India has grown so much in the past two decades," she added.

Sandberg said Facebook wants to be a part of the growth story in India, which is on the cusp of leapfrogging ahead in economic as well as social development. India has the world's third largest Internet userbase with over 200 million users, most of whom are logging onto the web using their mobile phones. "India is Facebook's second largest market, fastest growing market, fastest growing Internet connectivity in APAC. It is of high priority for us," Sandberg said. According to research firm eMarketer India, which has the highest number of Facebook users outside the US, will account for the fastest growth in people logging on to the social networking platform this year. Over 100 million Indians are on the California- headquartered firm's platform, with around 84 million users accessing the social networking site from their mobile devices.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 1stJULY & REVIEW

MIDSESSION BETTER

After Three weeks of minor losses, Nifty began the week with a bang and closed above 7600 mark with a gain of more than 1%. Pre budget rally appears to have begun.  While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market can be expected to remain in a narrow range and consolidate after the big range Monday.

Nifty                               7611    +102

Review for Monday ::  Nifty Scores a TON., PSU Banks Shine  … !!!

Market opened better and made most of the gains in the opening session and traded in a narrow range thereafter to close with a gain of more than 1.20%. 42 of Nifty stocks gained and broader market too was quite positive with Advance Decline ratio placed at 3.3:1. All Sectoral indices gained and notable gainers among them were PSUBank, Infra, Pharma, Energy etc., ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC and ONGC  contributed more than 40 points to Nifty’s gain .

BPCL, IDFC, PNB, Sun Pharma, Tata Power        remained major gainers  among Nifty stocks while Mc Dowell, MAruti, Bajaj Auto and M&M  remained marginal   losers.

 Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank, JP Power, JSW Energy, CESC, IOB  remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Just Dial, Unitech, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors DVR, Colpal  declined among F&O stocks. 

MARKET CATCH PRE BUDGET RALLY...>

The Sensex today wrapped up the best quarterly gain in almost five years after rallying 314 points today on hopes of strong economic reforms in the first budget under the Narendra Modi government. Fall in global crude oil prices also boosted the market sentiment to some extent, dealers said. ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, ONGC, HDFC, Sun Pharma, SBI, TCS, Infosys and HDFC were the major gainers in Sensex that ended at nearly two-week high levels today. 

The BSE Sensex resumed higher at 25,179.55 and firmed up further to a high of 25,460.96 before settling at 25,413.78, its best closing since June 17. It notched up a rise of 313.86 points or 1.25 per cent, today. It had gained over 37 points on Friday. "Now, the countdown has begun for the Union Budget and market participants are eyeing pre-budget rally," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities. 

For the quarter ended June 30, the Sensex rose 3,027.51 points or 13.5 per cent on the back of robust inflows as the BJP government stormed to power at the Centre after polls. This was the best quarter since the index rose by 18 per cent in September 2009 quarter. The BSE index gained about 1,196 points in June alone.

Meanwhile, the NSE 50-share Nifty rose by 102.55 points or 1.37 per cent, to end at 7,611.35 today. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 182.55 crore on last Friday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Second-tier counters attracted good retail investors buying support and their indices outperformed the Sensex. Asian stocks firmed up ahead of packed week of economic data. Key indices in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan rose by 0.44 per cent to 0.93 per cent while indices in China and Singapore fell by 0.13 per cent to 0.47 per cent. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 26 cents to USD 105.48 and Brent crude eased 22 cents to USD 113.08 per barrel in afternoon trade. 

IITans IN CHAI BUSINESS

Quitting high flying jobs in the US, two IITians have joined hands to start a tea cafe chain 'Chaayos' in the NCR region and are looking to raise venture capital to open nearly 50 odd stores across the country.
Currently, there are five cafes with the theme 'Experiments with Chai' in Gurgaon and Noida and five more would be opened by the end of this year.
"We already have raised one round of angel investment of over Rs 2 crore from Powai Lake Ventures, led by Zishaan Hayath who is an angel investor. We are planning to go in for institutional round towards end of this year," said Nitin Saluja, founder of Chaayos.
The chain plans to add another 50 cafés in the next two years by covering at least two more cities and increase penetration in Delhi NCR region.
"We are targeting cities with lots of young population," he said.
Talking about USP of Chaayos, Saluja, an IIT Bombay graduate, said that they give customer the flexibility to customise their chai in their own way.
"Customers can customize their chai in over 12,000 ways depending on the various add-on choices they make," he said.
The chain's co-founder, Raghav Verma, an IIT Delhi graduate, said the chai café offers over 25 interesting tea flavours and some delightful tea-snacks.
"We have wide range of varieties. It starts from traditional desi-chai to Kangra tea to unique aam-papad and harimirch-chai," Verma said.
"Since India is a tea-drinking nation and we believe that Chaayos can grow to over 1000 cafés in next few years," said Saluja.
In order to allow patrons to enjoy its chai at their homes, the chai chain is also looking to sell merchandise including adrak-tusli chai, desichai, green tea, chai masala and chaimug.
"We will be selling our merchandise from our outlets, starting next month," he said.

PROTECT COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY

The cotton textile industry has a potential to invest up to Rs 4,000 crore leading to generation of 50,000 new jobs if the government accepts the sector's demands in the forthcoming Budget, a top industry official has said. "We have urged the government that Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) should be extended during the blackout period from June 29, 2010 to April 27, 2011, when the scheme was suspended to all cases which have been left out for no fault of the industry," Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (Texprocil) Deputy Chairman R K Dalmia told PTI here. Dalmia urged Textile Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar to restore the benefit as investments made during the 18 month gap are eligible investments before and after extension of the TUFS. Should the Rs 1,000 crore of TUFS money surrendered is given back to the textile industry, we can assure that it would help the industry invest up to Rs 4,000 crore and kickstart the process of capacity creation leading to creation of 50,000 new jobs, he said. Texprocil, a government constituted body, is seeking duty cut on textile machinery and extending interest rate subvention of three per cent on rupee export credit to cotton textile exports to mitigate high cost of export finance. "We would have performed even better but for certain impediments we face on account of high tariffs imposed by some countries and discriminatory Free Trade Agreements (FTA's) signed by others," Texprocil Executive Director Siddhartha Rajagopal said.

Rajagopal said the Indian textile industry has been able to maintain its competitive edge in world trade. International data shows that India emerged as the second largest exporter of textiles and clothing in the world after China in 2013-14. "We request the government to negotiate favourable terms of trade with the European Union by expediting the FTAs so that we are on par with our competitors like Pakistan and Bangladesh who enjoy zero duty status," he said. He added that higher allotment is required to kickstart export growth which is currently sluggish as India faces serious duty discrimination as compared to its competitors. Advances against cotton should be treated as agriculture advances and Nabard refinance should be allowed to banks which will help mills buy from farmers at the early part of the cotton season instead from traders who buy from farmers, he said. In return, farmers will get higher prices and mills will be able to get it at lower prices, he added. Among other measures which can boost the industry are withdrawal and reduction of customs and excise duty on furnace oil; abolition of excise duty on textile machinery, spares and components; reduction of central sales tax to one per cent and concessions on service tax, he said. On the global stage, the Indian textiles industry has emerged as the second largest textile exporter beating competitors like Italy, Germany and Bangladesh in 2013-14. The rise in textiles exports from India is largely due to the growth in exports of cotton textiles at USD 15.18 billion in 2013-14, Rajagopal added.

LACK OF AWARENESS HINDER GROWTH OF mWallet

Even with over 900 million subscribers, India is yet to see strong demand for electronic account services that allow consumers to transfer money and pay bills using their mobile phones, experts say. Lack of awareness of these mWallet services and fees imposed by banks on firms offering them continue to curtail the growth of the globally multi-billion dollar segment. mWallet is considered an effective tool in developing nations since these countries generally have higher number of cellphone users than of traditional computers, they added.
Also, since there is lower rate of banked individuals, mobile phones can be a potent medium for taking banking services to the smaller parts of the country. Players like MMP Mobi Wallet Payment Systems (MMPL), Oxigen, Paytm and MobiKwik feel that mWallet can play a major role in not just tier II and III cities but also in rural areas. Besides, mWallet applications enable the users not just to pay their utilities and mobile bills, but also buy various services like transport, banking, etc.
Research firm Greyhound said mWallet as a service is an untapped market in India. It gives telecom vendors scores of opportunities to tap into markets where people do not have banks or bank accounts.
It can easily be applicable in sectors like ticketing, communication or even paying at petrol stations.
The Reserve Bank of India has started a pilot project to check feasibility of offline cash-out trial using biometric authentication. The project allows mobile payment providers to test cash withdrawal facilities for a small portion of their semi-closed mobile wallet users. "Our primary objective is to drive the evolution of the payments landscape in India. mWallets is one such service that can help in reaching out to almost all the corners in India providing affordable and reliable services," MMPL, a Tata Teleservices subsidiary, COO Pradeep K Sampath told PTI. MMPL's wallet service, mRupee, currently has over 300,000 customers and will increase focus on the migrant population in the country to offer domestic money remittance by expanding retail presence in more than 25 cities, he added.
mWallet services firm Oxigen's Founder Pramod Saxena says that such service not only reaches the areas where penetration of banks have not been as expected, but it also enables people to safely transact their business without going to banks, that in some cases is in the next district or town.
Oxigen launched its wallet in 2008 and is the first virtual mobile wallet in India to be integrated with NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). "It is instant, secure and completely reliable and can be used across multiple devices like web, mobile or SMS. Besides, it is also convenient and simple to adopt. It has been quite successful with the migrant workforce who use it frequently to send money to their towns and villages," he added.

Discarding doubts about the success of mWallet service, Saxena said Oxigen connects over 150,000 customer touch points (retail outlets and chains), aggregating services from more than 40 brands and has over 35 million transactions a month. Another digital wallet services firm Mobikwik said the service is making an impact in two areas -- domestic remittances (led by likes of Airtel Money, Vodafone M-pesa) and online or mobile shopping. "First use case is fairly simple, where a migrant from Mumbai wants to send money to Uttar Pardesh, he can make use of the wide distribution network of the telco," MobiKwik Founder Bipin Preet Singh said.
Second use enables people who are un-banked or do not know how to use credit or debit cards to start transacting online. This is done through firms like MobiKwik, he added. Paytm General Manager (Payments) Amit Lakhotia said the increasing penetration of smartphones and with users becoming comfortable with other uses, besides voice and SMS, it is a matter of time before mWallet catches on.
"Growing use of smartphones in small cities helped dispel the 'owning desktop/laptop' barrier to access internet. Now people are experimenting and also trying such services, which are simpler than opening a back account," he added. Greyhound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia feels that the opportunities are enormous.
He says most of the telecom giants already have this service and the others are following. Vodafone and Airtel have been heavily promoting their mWallets within in their enormous subscriber base. Vendors like Itz cash, Paytm, Mobiwick, are one step ahead in terms of allowing the customers to make transactions beyond their utility bills, he added.
"Giants like IBM, Google are also developing mobile wallet services. It is a reflection on the possibilities that mWallet possess," Gogia said. However, almost all the players feel that one of the major factors that blocks the effective utilisation of mWallet is lack of awareness. "mWallets has its advantages, there are challenges that both government and firms needs to address. Security is one of them. The digital age is brutal and the gatekeepers need to be strong to build the confidence of the customers," Gogia said. While security layers are being implemented through biometrics and voice recognition, it does not solve the problem for phones that are not smart. There are loop holes where companies need to work together to solve these issues, he added. Oxigen's Saxena feels that while this service has given great relief to banks to shift traffic from their branches to retail, the banks are also imposing cash deposit fee from companies. This reduces viability of financial services.
"I think government should direct all PSU merchants like utilities, electricity companies, water boards, metro, railways, etc to start accepting mobile wallets for payments," Mobikwik's Singh said.

ASTRO GUIDE FOR NIFTY

2 IITians OPEN TEA CAFE CHAIN

Quitting high flying jobs in the US, two IITians have joined hands to start a tea cafe chain 'Chaayos' in the NCR region and are looking to raise venture capital to open nearly 50 odd stores across the country.
Currently, there are five cafes with the theme 'Experiments with Chai' in Gurgaon and Noida and five more would be opened by the end of this year.
"We already have raised one round of angel investment of over Rs 2 crore from Powai Lake Ventures, led by Zishaan Hayath who is an angel investor. We are planning to go in for institutional round towards end of this year," said Nitin Saluja, founder of Chaayos.
The chain plans to add another 50 cafés in the next two years by covering at least two more cities and increase penetration in Delhi NCR region.
"We are targeting cities with lots of young population," he said.
Talking about USP of Chaayos, Saluja, an IIT Bombay graduate, said that they give customer the flexibility to customise their chai in their own way.
"Customers can customize their chai in over 12,000 ways depending on the various add-on choices they make," he said.
The chain's co-founder, Raghav Verma, an IIT Delhi graduate, said the chai café offers over 25 interesting tea flavours and some delightful tea-snacks.
"We have wide range of varieties. It starts from traditional desi-chai to Kangra tea to unique aam-papad and harimirch-chai," Verma said.
"Since India is a tea-drinking nation and we believe that Chaayos can grow to over 1000 cafés in next few years," said Saluja.
In order to allow patrons to enjoy its chai at their homes, the chai chain is also looking to sell merchandise including adrak-tusli chai, desichai, green tea, chai masala and chaimug.
"We will be selling our merchandise from our outlets, starting next month," he said.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 30 & REVIEW

CONSOLIDATION MODE

Nifty closed with minor gain for the day and flat for the week. Strong support is seen around 7450 / 7400 mark. Pre budget rally can be expected from next week with out breaching the above support level. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market can be expected to consolidate before taking further directional move .

Nifty                               7508.80         +15.60

Review for Friday  ::  Oil and Gas stocks triggers Sell off  … !!!

Market traded in a zigzag manner with bullish bias and closed with a minor gain. It closed flat even for the week too. 22 of Nifty stocks closed in the green and broader market was positive with Advance Decline ratio at 1.3:1. Pharma, IT indices remained major gainers followed by Realty, FMCG and Energy. Metal, Auto, PSU Bank, Infra and Media indices declined. TCS and ITC, Infy contributed about 25 points to Nifty’s gain while ICICI Bank, M&M dragged down by about 10 points.

Tech Mahindra, TCS, Sun Pharmma, Power Grid, Cipla        remained major gainers  among Nifty stocks while Ultra Cement, Mc Dowell, BHEL, Hindalco, M&M  remained major  losers.

HDIL, Divis Lab, Mc Leod, Hexaware, CESC  remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Ashok Leyland, IDEA, Ultratech, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco  declined among F&O stocks. 

SENSEX  37 POINTS  UP

The BSE benchmark Sensex today snapped its two-day losing streak by jumping 37 points to end the day at 25,099.92 on fresh buying in healthcare, IT and teck sectors even as investors are now awaiting Budget for clear cues, amid uncertain geopolitical situation. The 30-share Sensex rose to 25,209.61 on initial buying. However, it declined afterwards to 25,032.94 on fag-end selling pressure on weak Asian cues. The index finally ended the day at 25,099.92, a gain of 37.25 points or 0.15 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty moved up by 15.60 points or 0.21 per cent to finish at 7,508.80. Brokers said RBI remark that growth recovery appeared bright also helped. The Sensex had lost 306.23 points of 1.21 per cent in the previous two days. Major gainers today were Sun Pharma (3.97 per cent), TCS (3.85 per cent), Cipla (2.59 per cent), Wipro (1.90 per cent), Dr Reddy's Lab (1.80 per cent), ITC (1.14 per cent), Bajaj Auto (1.03 per cent) and Infoys (1.02 per cent).
Hindalco dropped by 2.63 per cent, followed by BHEL 2.57 per cent, Bharti Airtel 2.08 per cent, SSLT 1.78 per cent, M&M 1.69 per cent, Coal India 1.66 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 1.52 per cent, Icici Bank 1.32 per cent, Tata Motors 1.30 per cent and Tata Steel 1.20 per cent. "Markets ended almost flat on Friday with the defensive sectors like IT and pharma gaining. For the week, markets remained in a range, ahead of the Budget and on concerns relating to monsoons. Geo-political issues also kept the sentiments weak," said Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.
The geo-political issues globally have kept the rupee also under pressure over the past few sessions. The rupee was relatively stable at around the 60/USD mark, he added.

MF's LOOKING TO ATTRACT RETAIL INVESTORS

Having crossed the Rs 10-trillion mark in AUMs for the first time last month, mutual funds are striving hard to see further rise in participation from retail investors, apex industry body AMFI said today. "There has been significant retail participation in equity schemes in the recent months and our effort to reach out to the retail segment and locations beyond Tier 2 and 3 towns has started showing results," Sundeep Sikka, chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), told PTI on the sidelines of a CII-organised summit. "The rise in retail participation is on the back of more investors opting for systematic investment plans (SIPs)," said Sikka, who is also Chief Executive of Reliance Capital Asset Management. As per AMFI, the AUMs (assets under management) of MF players rose to Rs 10.11 trillion in May from Rs 9.45 trillion in April. There has been a 1 percentage point increase in retail participation from beyond top 15 (B-15) towns with the industry seeing net inflows from these geographies since November (barring March), he added. As per data from registrar Computer Age Management Services, 53 per cent of the about 7,00,000 SIP folios opened in FY'14 came from B-15 towns. This data covers about 60 per cent of the sector size, said Sikka. Reliance Mutual Fund's 100 per cent equity funds have outperformed the benchmark indices in the last six-month period, Sikka said. Also, 99.7 per cent of the 18 equity funds managed by the company have outperformed the corresponding benchmark indices in the past one year, he added. "The performance in the past one year is a result of thorough research and effective stock picking," said Sikka. "We have played successfully on emerging themes like chemicals, building materials, e-commerce and the retail sector, and would continue to work towards creating superior returns for our investors and stakeholders." "If economic reforms continue, the primary market will also grow and help bring in more retail investors to our fold," UTI Asset Management Managing Director Leo Puri.

MODI TO FLAG OFF KATRA RAIL LINE

CHENAB BRIDGE

The much-awaited train service to Katra, the base camp for pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, is likely to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4. Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda will accompany Modi to the inauguration of the 25-km Udhampur-Katra line, and accordingly all arrangements are being made, said a senior Railway Ministry official. After missing several deadlines, the Railways has finally got the mandatory safety clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) this month to commission the line passing through a difficult hilly terrain. The CRS had conducted the inspection of the Udhampur- Katra line, constructed at a cost of Rs 1,050 crore, for three days from January 27. There were certain issues raised by the CRS and the mandatory clearance was obtained this month after those were addressed, said the Railway Ministry official. There has been a trial run of the Udhampur-Katra service after it got the CRS clearance. The 53-km Jammu-Udhampur rail line is already operational and once the Udhampur-Katra line, which is a part of the Kashmir rail link project, is made operational, the trains will be able to come up to Katra directly. That would enable pilgrims headed to the Vaishno Devi shrine to travel directly to the base camp at Katra. Railways is considering extending the Jammu Mail and Sampark Kranti Express up to Katra, besides introducing new trains, including Katra-Kalka Express, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur Express, and Ahmedabad-Udhampur Express. According to the official, there are demands from several zones for train services to Katra. A set of local trains from Jammu to Katra and Pathankot to Katra are also likely to be introduced to cater to the rush of Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims. An estimated 10 million devotees visit the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine every year. The line to Katra has seven tunnels and over 30 small and large bridges. Katra station has been completed with modern facilities, including tourist guide counter, cloak room, waiting hall, VIP lounge, escalators and lifts and parking spaces.

KERALA RECORDS 20% LESS RAINFALL

With the south-west monsoon failing to gain momentum, Kerala has registered a 20 per cent deficiency in rainfall after three weeks of its onset, sending danger signals to power and farm sectors. According to the Meteorological Centre here today, the state had so far received only 433.3 mm rainfall since the onset of monsoon on June 6 against the normal 540 mm rains expected in the period. Most districts have recorded shortfall in rains. Deficient rains at the catchment areas of major reservoirs, especially in Idukki, has rendered the power scenario bleak since the state depends heavily on hydro electric project for domestic generation of power. Registering a drastic fall, Idukki reservoir received only 468.2 mm of rainfall till yesterday compared to 1,071.8 mm during the same period last year. Despite passing through a phase of acute power shortage, the Government has decided to lift the 90-minute load-shedding from tomorrow, apparently in view of the commencement of holy month of Ramadan and football world cup matches. The supply-demand gap is to be met by borrowing from outside sources like NTPC at higher cost.

REMITTANCES TO INDIA TI RISE $ 77 BILLION

Remittances to India are expected to grow 8 per cent year-on-year to reach about USD 77 billion in 2014, Xpress Money's Vice President Sudhesh Giriyan said today. Xpress Money is a money transfer company operating in about 150 countries. Remittances to India surged to USD 71 billion during 2013 compared to USD 69.3 billion in 2012. "Remittances to India is expected to grow by 7-8 per cent in 2014. India has been the largest recipient in the world with an 8 per cent year-on-year growth in remittance in the last five years," Giriyan told reporters in an interaction here today. By the end of this year, the company will also launch its services in account transfer remittances, he said, for which regulatory approvals are in the process. Xpress Money currently has about 10 per cent share in the cash remittance market in India and aims to increase it to about 15 per cent in the next five years, Giriyan said. Of the total remittance market in India, about USD 15 billion is for cash facility, while the rest accounts for non-cash remittances. "Patterns of global migration and remittances to India have shifted in recent decades, as both the number of migrants and the amount of money they send have grown. "In addition to the traditionally high remittance receiving states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, we have seen inward remittances rising robustly in other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Karnataka," he said. These states together make up for almost 80-85 per cent of the total remittances coming into India. Biggest contributing sectors to India's remittance market are real estate, infrastructure, financial institutions, hospitality and healthcare. Inward remittances form about 22-23 per cent of country's foreign exchange income.

MARKET TURNOVER CROSS Rs. 7 LAKH CRORES

The Indian capital markets' turnover today rose to a record high level of more than Rs 7 lakh crore, as leading bourse NSE witnessed a sharp surge in its trade volumes while BSE also recorded huge volumes. Both the exchanges recorded huge volumes of futures and option (F&O) trades today on the day of expiry of current month derivative contracts. The total F&O turnover at BSE rose to Rs 2,31,391 crore, up from about Rs 1.71 lakh crore yesterday. Earlier on Tuesday, BSE had witnessed a sudden surge in its F&O volumes and had also overtaken its larger rival NSE which traditionally commands over 80 per cent share in derivatives market. With a sudden spike in trade volume of three Sensex option contracts, BSE on Jun 24 had recorded Futures & Options (F&O) turnover of Rs 3.36 lakh crore - higher than that of its bigger rival NSE (Rs 3.29 lakh crore) on that day. At the end of today's trading, the total F&O turnover on NSE stood at Rs 4.29 lakh crore -- as against BSE's Rs 2.31 lakh crore. The NSE also recorded equity market turnover of over Rs 20,000 crore, as against about Rs 3,300 crore of BSE in this segment. Along with other market segments, BSE recorded total daily turnover of over Rs 2.40 lakh crore, while that of NSE exceeded Rs 4.60 lakh crore -- taking the combined total for the entire Indian capital markets to over Rs 7 lakh crore. In the equity market, the BSE benchmark Sensex as well as NSE's Nifty closed with fall of about one per cent each.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 27 & REVIEW

VOLATILE MOVEMENTS

Nifty opened lower and closed further lower and below 7500 mark. Nifty was unable to go past 7600 to get into short term bullishness. Strong support is seen around 7450 / 7400 mark. Pre budget rally can be expected from next week with out breaching the above support level. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market can be expected to be better during midsession and could experience profit booking towards close.

Nifty                               7493    -76

Review for Thursday ::  Oil and Gas stocks triggers Sell off  … !!!

Market opened lower following Governments’ decision to defer Gas Price hike as Oil Gas sector stocks opened sharply lower. Thereafter, market traded in a narrow range for most part of the day an fell sharply to close below 7500 mark. Fall could also be attributed to derivative expiry woes. 36 of Nifty stocks ended lower and broader market too was marginally negative  with Advance Decline ratio at 1:1.2. . Barring Media and Pharma, all other sectoral indices led by Energy, Realty, PSU Bank, Metal indices declined. Energy stocks such as Reliance and ONGC were the major losers .Reliance , ONGC and HDFC Duo dragged down Nifty by more than 50 points.

Wipro, Tech Mahindra, L&T, HCL Tech, Dr Reddy and Axis Bank remained  gainers  among Nifty stocks while ONGC, Reliance, DLF, NTPC, Grasim and Mc Dowell  remained major  losers.

Shriram Transport, Arvind, UPL, Sun TV, Just Dial  remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while ONGC, Petronet, IOC, Hind Petro, PFC  declined among F&O stocks. 

SENSEX FELL BY 251 POINTS

The benchmark Sensex today fell 251 pts, its biggest drop in six days, to end at 25,062.67 weighed down by losses in ONGC and RIL shares after the government deferred a decision to hike natural gas prices and caution prevailed on the last day of June derivative contracts. Brokers said a sudden gust of selling at the fag-end in realty, banking and metal shares also pulled down indices. The BSE 30-share barometer resumed lower and remained in negative terrain throughout the day before falling sharply at the end to settle at 25,062.67, a net drop of 251.07 points or 0.99 per cent. In six out of last straight seven trading sessions, the Sensex has showed a bearish trend. The index's drop today was its steepest since 274.94-point fall on June 18. Shares of gas producers were at the receiving end after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last evening postponed a hike in natural gas prices by 3 months and decided comprehensive discussions were necessary on the issue. "This (postponement of decision) has been taken negatively by the market, as it was contrary to the general expectations," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio. All ten shares from sectoral S&P BSE Oil&Gas index ended with losses between 0.81 pct and 5.89 per cent. Sensex constituents RIL and ONGC contributed almost 150 points to the Sensex fall today. Other Sensex-based counters like HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Motors, SBI, NTPC, Gail India and Coal India too suffered marked losses. Profit-booking on the last day of derivatives contract also weighed on the market. As markets enter the July series, volatility is expected to remain high on account of the Union Budget, said Sahaj Agrawal, Deputy Vice President- Derivatives Research, Kotak Securities. "The sentiment today further deteriorated after an update on weak monsoon by IMD," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities. The broader 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE tumbled 76.05 points to end at nearly three-week low of 7,493.20. The Nifty's drop today was its sharpest since 107.80-point loss on June 13. 

Z3 FROM BLACKBERRY

Targeting young professionals, BlackBerry today launched its mid-range smartphone Z3 in India for Rs 15,990 with a feature that supports Hindi and Hinglish predictive typing.
It is the first smartphone after the Canadian handset maker's partnership with mobile components maker Foxconn, and has BlackBerry 10 operating system (OS) with version 10.2.1.
"Z3 is the first smartphone to be introduced from our strategic partnership with Foxconn and it further strengthens our commitment to enhance our devices portfolio," BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalvani said at the launch.
It is available for pre-booking with Flipkart, The MobileStore and all BlackBerry Exclusive stores from today till to July 2. It will hit retail stores from July 2.
Featuring a 5-inch QHD display, Z3 is powered by 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor with 1.5 GB RAM, and has 8 GB internal storage that can be expanded up to 32 GB using a microSD card.
The handset features BlackBerry Maps, which provides 2D maps, local search and powerful 3D voice guided turn-by-turn directions.
The company said BlackBerry 10 browser is incredibly fast with fluid and responsive scrolling and zooming. It includes many advanced features and supports multiple tabs.
"BlackBerry Z3 learns how you share and who you share with, helping you reduce the number of steps and amount of time it takes to get your files, photos, or documents to where they need to go," Lalvani said.
Popular especially among the youth for its Curve range of devices and messaging app BBM, India was a strong market for the Waterloo-based firm. It had a 12.1 per cent share of the smartphone market during January-June 2012 period.
However, the firm saw its share fall as devices powered by Google's Android OS and Apple iPhones gained strong traction in the market and despite launching its BlackBerry 10 OS, it has so far failed to re-gain foothold in the market.
During the March-May quarter, the company sold about 1.6 million BlackBerry smartphones compared with about 1.3 million in the previous quarter.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 26th & REVIEW

CLOSING SESSION SUBDUED

Nifty traded in a very narrow range and closed with a minor loss. A narrow day presupposes a Big range day. Nifty needs to close above 7600 to enter into short term bullishness. Nifty has strong support at 7500 /7450 with strong resistance around 7650 / 7700. Being last day of Derivative settlement, scrip specific movements are most likely. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position, market can be expected to be better in the opening session and have subdued closing session. Scrip specific movements are most likely.

Nifty                               7569    -11

Review for Wednesday ::  Narrow / Lack luster Movements … !!!

After a huge gain day, market traded in a lack luster manner and closed with minor loss. 23 of Nifty stocks gained but  broader market too was positive with Advance Decline ratio at 1.2:1. Bank, Energy, FMCG, Metal indices declined while Realty, Auto, Pharma indices gained.  Hind Unilvere, M&M and Bajaj Auto  contributed about 10 points to Nifty’s gain while ITC, ICICI Bank and Reliance  pulled down Nifty  by about 20 points.  It was  a boring session with narrow movement.

Bajaj Auto, MAruti, Lupin, GAIL, Hind Unilever       remained major gainers  among Nifty stocks ITC< IDFC, ICICI Bank, DLF and ONGC  remained   losers.

Ashok Leyland, IRB, REC. Biocon, Aurobindo  remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Tata Motors DVR, Yes Bank, IDEA, Petronet, Syndicae Bank  declined among F&O stocks. 

SENSEX SLIPS AHEAD OF DERIVATIVES EXPIRY

The benchmark Sensex today closed 55.16 points lower at 25,313.74 on caution ahead of monthly derivatives expiry and volatile global oil prices due to continued violence in crude producer Iraq. After opening in positive zone, the BSE Sensex slipped on selling in heavy-weight stocks, to close lower by 55.16 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 25,313.74. Intra-day, it moved between 25,427.80 and 25,274.39. The gauge had rallied 337.58 points in the previous session as fall in crude prices had eased inflation concerns. Automobile company stocks caught buyers' fancy at the fag-end after government extended excise duty concessions by six months. Gains in Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and M&M helped the BSE benchmark cap losses. The 50-scrip NSE index Nifty shed 10.95 points, or 0.14 per cent, to end at 7,569.25 after touching day's high of 7,589.25. Intra-day, it hit a low of 7,557.05. Militants launched a dawn raid today on a key Iraqi oil refinery they have been trying to take for days but were repelled by security forces. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTA) rose 17 cents to USD 106.20 a barrel while Brent crude eased 65 cents to USD 113.81. Brokers said investors, who had been buying in the past few sessions, trimmed positions by booking profits ahead of tomorrow's monthly expiry in futures and options contracts. Besides, a weak trend in other Asian markets and a lower opening in European markets also influenced the sentiment. "Investors are now waiting for the Budget that shall be announced in early next month. Till then, market is likely to continue with volatility and show consolidation," said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio. RIL shares came under pressure and ended 0.84 per cent down following reports government would slap a fresh fine. In the 30-scrip Sensex, 14 stocks, led by RIL, declined. They include ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and L&T. On the other hand, 16 Sensex constituents gained. The BSE Auto index ended in positive zone with a rise of 0.76 per cent. Sectorally, the BSE Oil and Gas index fell the most (0.79 per cent), followed by Capital Goods (0.70 per cent), Banking (0.43 per cent) and FMCG index. On the other hand, BSE Small Cap index closed 0.35 per cent higher and BSE Mid Cap index by 0.52 per cent. 

INDIA MOST CONFIDENT NATION ECONOMICALLY

Formation of "business-friendly" government led by Narendra Modi has made India the most optimistic country economically, looking ahead six months, says a report.
As many as 60 per cent Indians surveyed have predicted that domestic economy would be stronger in the next six months, placing it at the top of the 25 nation-list compiled by global research firm Ipsos.
Besides, India's economic confidence shot up by 6 points to 66 per cent in May compared to the previous month, making it the fourth most economically confident country after Saudi Arabia, Germany and China.
Saudi Arabia led on the parameter with 87 per cent of its people surveyed being optimistic about their economy.
Canada was behind India at the fifth place with 65 per cent economically confident citizens.
"India's economic confidence has got a major boost primarily due to a landslide victory of the business-friendly government led by Narendra Modi, who has vowed to boost growth, control inflation and restore investor confidence," the Ipsos report said.
The survey conducted among 19,242 people in 25 countries, also found that Indians, for the first time, emerged at the top for being the most optimistic about the economic growth for the coming six months.
India is followed by Brazil at second rank, Saudi Arabia (3rd), Indonesia (4th) and China (5th), in this category.
"All the data points in the Ipsos report indicate India's economic confidence has shot up substantially, which is also corroborated by the fact that India's current account deficit has significantly eased, the currency has stabilised, inflation has substantially pulled back, stock market has had a dream run so far and corporate earnings are improving," Ipsos India CEO Mick Gordon said.
"However, recent high food inflation, conflict in oil-producing Iraq and the fear of a below normal monsoon is big challenge for the new government," Gordon added.

AIR INDIA IN STAR ALLIANCE

In a significant decision, Air India was inducted into the Star Alliance, an exclusive club of 26 major global airlines, which would enable seamless travel for the airline's passengers to over 1,300 destinations and may increase its revenues by five per cent. At its Chief Executive Board meeting in London yesterday, the CEOs of the alliance network unanimously approved the membership of Air India, clearing the way for the national carrier to become the first Indian airline to join a global grouping. Teams of Air India, Star Alliance and its member carriers would complete the final works to ensure the Indian airline can offer all customer benefits from July 11, when it finally joins the grouping formally, an alliance spokesperson said. "We are happy to note that Air India has become part of the Star Alliance. This is one of the biggest alliances in the world," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told reporters here today. The decision put an end to a seven-year-long wait for the national carrier, with the integration process starting in December 2007 but being suspended in July 2011 to allow Air India to complete its merger with Indian Airlines before fully integrating it into the alliance network. Asked whether the airline's privatisation was discussed at a meeting he had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Raju said Air India formed "a substantive part of our discussion. All issues relating to it was discussed. No decision has been taken and I would not like to stir the hornet's nest". Air India's revenues may increase by 4-5 per cent by joining the alliance, he said, adding "it is a new beginning for Air India and we wish they fly higher than they have already flown". To a question by when would the airline turn around, he said Air India "has had a rough time. It is premature today to put a time-frame. But there is no doubt they will emerge stronger in future, hopefully near future". The move would help passengers to access the alliance's global network of over 21,980 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries. Star Alliance members jointly own 4,338 aircraft and fly over 640 million passengers a year.

Star Alliance members include major airlines like US carrier United, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Air China, Air Canada, Swiss, Austrian, All Nippon Airways, Thai and Turkish Airlines. On its part, Air India would add over 400 daily flights and 35 new destinations in India to the alliance network. The biggest growth would come from India which is currently being served by 13 Star Alliance members flying to 10 destinations and holding a 13 per cent market share. Bringing Air India into the equation would not only add more airports, but also increase the alliance's market share in the country to 30 per cent. Commenting on the decision, Star Alliance COO Jeffrey Goh said, "We restarted the re-integration with Air India in December last year and just half a year later we are ready to confirm the official joining date" of July 11. Welcoming Air India into the fold, he said, "We look forward to welcoming Air India passengers to our global network and offering them our Alliance benefits. At the same time we are pleased to be providing our existing customers improved access to a region which includes the world's fifth largest domestic aviation market." When asked whether Star Alliance was open to more Indian carriers like Jet Airways joining it, Goh said though it was open to such possibilities, but the priority now was to ensure complete integration for Air India. Air India CMD Rohit Nandan said the airline "worked hard to meet the exacting expectations prior to joining and today, we are elated to be inducted into the Star Alliance family". The membership would result in several benefits for the airline's passengers, including a hike in its share on the India-US route by about 20 per cent from about 13 per cent now within the first year itself. The India-US route being a key market for Air India, the membership would mean that its passengers travelling to the US would have easier access to many more cities as they would be able to seamlessly travel on Star Alliance member airlines, like United, to America. Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits between Air India's Flying Returns programme and those of the alliance partners would also become effective on July 11, providing customers with more options in earning and redeeming miles and upgrades. Besides granting access to over 1,000 lounges across the global network, they would also benefit from check-in at specially designated counters, have increased baggage allowance and receive priority boarding and baggage delivery.

OIL PRICES DROP IN INTERNATIONAL MARKET

Oil prices extended losses in Asia today on fading fears that the fast-moving crisis in crude producer Iraq could result in a major supply disruption, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 47 cents at USD 105.70 while Brent crude eased 19 cents to USD 113.93 in mid-morning trade. WTI dropped 66 cents in New York and Brent fell 69 cents in London, after nearly two weeks of gains that pushed prices to nine-month highs last week. "Oil slipped as Iraq's oil production continued to be untouched by ongoing violence in the country," Singapore's United Overseas Bank said in a note to investors. Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said the price fall indicated the onset of a "period of consolidation as the majority of the geopolitical premium has been priced in". Jihadist insurgents have captured swathes of Iraqi territory in a lightning offensive toward Baghdad from the north and west of the country. They have however yet to directly threaten the key oil-producing region in the south. US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday pledged "intense" support for Iraq against the "existential threat" posed by the militants. The violence in Iraq has a direct bearing on global crude prices because the country is the second-biggest oil exporter in the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia. It has more than 11 per cent of the world's proved resources and produces 3.4 million barrels a day. Analysts said markets are also digesting a survey yesterday showing Chinese manufacturing growing in June for the first time this year, raising hopes for the economy. China is the world's top energy consumer, and is second to the United States in terms of crude oil consumption.

INDIA OIL OUTPUT DIPS

India's crude oil production dropped marginally in May as a fall in output at fields operated by state-owned ONGC and OIL negated increased flows from private firms including Cairn India. Crude oil production was at 3.16 million tonnes in May compared with 3.17 million tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data released by the Oil Ministry here. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 1.3 per cent drop to 1.87 million tonnes as its fields in Gujarat produced less. Oil India Ltd (OIL) produced 5.2 per cent less at 284,143 tonnes, while output from fields operated by private firms rose 3.1 per cent to 1.005 million tonnes. Natural gas production dipped 2.2 per cent last month to 2.94 billion cubic meters as private operators saw an almost 10 per cent drop in output. While ONGC's gas production was almost unchanged at 1.93 bcm, production from offshore fields of private firms such as Reliance Industries dropped 9.8 per cent to 685.22 million cubic meters. India's April-May oil production at 6.26 million tonnes was almost unchanged from the previous year. Gas output in the period dropped 5 per cent to 5.94 bcm.