RIL, Coal India, M&M and Oil India may witness some action today

The natural gas supplies from Reliance Industries' (RIL) KG-D6 block to power plants has completely stopped after the output from the eastern offshore fields dropped to an all-time low. Beginning this week, none of the 25 power plants that were allocated gas from KG-D6 fields are getting any supplies. This follows KG-D6 output dipping to an all-time low of 17.3 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) this week. Of this, about 15.2 mmscmd was supplied to top priority urea-making fertilizer plants and about 2 mmscmd was consumed by state-owned GAIL India's LPG extraction units. The rest was used to fire the East-West pipeline that transports the fuel from its landfall point at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Brauch in Gujarat. This left no gas for power plants, which are placed third on the priority list of consumers receiving KG-D6 gas.

Coal India (CIL) has set for itself an ambitious 492 million tonne (MT) production target for the next fiscal even as the state-run firm is set to miss the current fiscal's 464 MT target by a whisker. If the target for 2013-14 is met, CIL's move to burden itself with higher production would set an unprecedented example, particularly when missing targets have often become a norm for PSUs. For Coal India, next year's target was supposed to be 487 MT but it takes the target to 492 MT. The additional five MT production that it plans to achieve compared to 487 MT set by the Planning Commission would be allocated to the power sector and thus, the total supply to the coal-hungry sector would go up to 377 MT from earlier 372 MT envisaged for the 2013-14 fiscal. CIL would however miss the 464 MT target for production for current fiscal by 2-3 MT attributing the shortfall to workers' resorting to strike and other issues.

Upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has approved commerciality of a significant oil find of state-owned Oil India (OIL) in Rajasthan. OIL had struck crude oil in the block RJ-ONN-2004/2 last year. The DGH after going through results of test done to establish the discovery, confirmed that the find was commercially viable and issued Declaration of Commerciality (DoC).The discovery can produce a peak of 30,000 barrels per day. OIL has named the discovery in the Rajasthan block as Punam-1. Block RJ-ONN-2004/2 lies in close vicinity of Cairn India's prolific Rajasthan oil block.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is all set to inaugurate its new facility at Zaheerabad in Medak district on March 06, 2013. This new facility will manufacture tractors.  The company has its automobile plant spread over 343.36 acres of land at Zaheerabad, 135-km from Hyderabad, where its products like UV (Maxx), 3-wheelers (Champion Alfa), Light Commercial Vehicles and buses are manufactured. Mahindra & Mahindra is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group. The company's core automotive and farm equipment businesses have grown into market leaders whose triple bottom line ethic is driving industry trends towards technological innovation, social responsibility, and constantly improving customer satisfaction.

Videocon Industries has initiated the process to sell its 10% stake in the Mozambique based Rovuma offshore gas field in a deal that may fetch the company $2.5-$3 billion. The company, along with US based Anadarko Petroleum Corp, is in the process of together auctioning 20% stake in the oil field to raise an aggregate of $5-6 billion. The first round of bid is scheduled for March 14. Anadarko Petroleum, which holds 36.5% in the property, intends to sell up to 10% stake in the Rovuma Offshore Area 1 but would retain operatorship of the asset. India's Oil India, ONGC and international players like Shell, PetroChina, and Exxon Mobil Corp may acquire the stake in gas as the recent gas discoveries in Mozambique has renewed interest. Mozambique, which is pegged to emerge as a major global supplier of liquefied natural gas, has had two significant gas discoveries in the Rovuma offshore field area in the recent past. With these discoveries, Mozambique's gas reserves is pegged at 150 trillion cubic feet.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories (RLL), has entered into an in-licensing agreement with Alembic Pharmaceuticals to exclusively market Desvenlafaxine Base Extended Release Tablets in the US healthcare system. Alembic Pharmaceuticals is the sponsor and manufacturer of the New Drug Application (NDA) Desvenlafaxine Base Extended Release Tablets. The product is a bioequivalent version of innovator drug - Pristiq by Pfizer Inc. Desvenlafaxine Base Extended Release Tablets is indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The product will be available in 50 mg and 100 mg dosage strengths. Alembic has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and Ranbaxy expects the product to be available in the US marketplace during the first quarter of 2013.

Rajasthan government and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) would sign an MoU on March 13 for setting up an oil refinery in the state. The Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily would also remain present on the occasion. The decision to set up the refinery was taken today at the board meeting of HPCL in Delhi. The oil refinery was a long pending demand of the state and it will be the biggest investment in the district and accelerate economic development besides generating employment opportunities. The state government last month had given its nod in principal to provide a financial package of Rs 3,376 crore to set up the refinery.

Facing spiraling bad loans, State Bank of India (SBI) is inviting distressed small and medium sized entrepreneurs to restructure loan accounts to avoid a further strain its books. The bank's gross non-performing asset ratio slipped to 5.30% at as on December against 5.15% three months back, and higher provisions to cover bad loans trimmed profit growth to 4% for the quarter. The intense stress on asset quality is a result of slow economic growth while Reserve Bank of India projected a lower 5.5% growth for 2012-13 as against earlier projection of 5.8%. Gross NPA for the bank stood at a staggering Rs 53,460 crore. Besides, the Bengal circle of country's largest commercial bank has witnessed only 10 percent growth in advances this fiscal so far. The bank's target growth for advances in the current financial year was 25 percent. But so far, the growth was not more than 10 percent. The dip in growth of advances was mainly due to lack of industrial activity during the fiscal.

Welspun India's group company - Welspun Energy, India's biggest developer of solar projects, has tied up funds for its 130 megawatt (MW) solar project in Madhya Pradesh. The company has arranged Rs 885 crore from a banking consortium led by the Central Bank of India. The project located in Mandsuar district of Madhya Pradesh will start generating power by May 2014. The 130 MW project is the largest solar project in the country. Welspun Energy (WEL), which outbid 12 others to get the project, had agreed to sell power at Rs 8.05 per unit. WEL has more than 300 MW of clean energy project in construction, of which 111 MW are operating and the rest are under construction. It aims to commission 1.75 GW of solar and wind projects over the next few years.

Maruti Suzuki India has introduced an exciting limited edition of its popular model Estilo as Estilo Nlive. The company has introduced the new Estilo with a range of new features like leather seat covers, double din sound system with USB, tasteful dual tone interiors, attractive wrap style body graphics, full wheel covers etc. The full package of 14 new features on the Estilo Nlive is worth Rs 23,000 and the company is offering these features at Rs 15,000. The country's largest carmaker has reported 7.9% decline in total sales (including export) for February 2013 at 1,09,567 units as against 1,18,949 units in the same month last year. The domestic sales of the company during the month stood at 97,955 units, down by 9% compared to 107,653 units in February last year. However, the company's export registered a jump of 2.8% during the month which stood at 11,612 units as compared to 11,296 units in February last year.

Bharti Airtel has launched high quality voice service for its subscribers in Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Nigeria in the African subcontinent. With HD voice, customers can talk normally and be heard clearly, without having to raise their voice, even in noisier environments. Mobile HD voice enables high-quality voice calls because it reduces background noise often heard on a regular call. It is based on AMR (Adaptive Multi Rate) wideband technology (W-AMR) which operates with nine different bit rates, providing high-quality voice calls. Compared to the current narrow-band speech codec device, the W-AMR speech-compression algorithm doubles voice bandwidth and produces better results.

EQUITY- STOCK ALERTS

NTPC, SAIL and NMDC may witness some action today

Country's largest power producer NTPC is planning a capital expenditure of Rs 20,200 crore in 2013-14 towards enhancing its generation capacity. This amount earmarked is lesser than Rs 20,995 crore for 2012-13. The company's capital expenditure would be funded through internal accruals. As on December 31, 2012 the authorized share capital of the company stood at Rs 10,000 crore and paid up capital at Rs 8,245.50 crore. NTPC has installed capacity of about 40,000 MW and plans to enhance it to about 70,000 MW by March, 2017. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has also kept a provision for compensating the company after its proposed hydro plant in Uttarakhand was scrapped in 2010. A Group of Ministers (GoM) in 2010 had scrapped the NTPC's controversial 600-MW Loharinag Pala hydel project on Bhagirathi river in Uttarakhand.

State-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) plans to spend Rs 13,000 crore next fiscal to part-fund ongoing expansion, which will take its installed capacity to over 24 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). The proposed investment represents an increase of Rs 1,000 crore than SAIL is expected to put in the current fiscal, but Rs 1,500 crore lower than the budgetary estimate for the current fiscal. The entire expenditure proposed for the next fiscal will be funded by SAIL from its internal resources. SAIL has 14 mtpa steel-making capacity and post-expansion, costing a total of Rs 72,000 crore, it will go up to 24 mtpa. Out of the Rs 13,000 crore capex for the next fiscal, Bhilai Steel Plant is proposed to get the highest share at Rs 5,900 crore for installation of a 700 tonnes per day (tpd) oxygen plant, a hot metal de-sulphurisation unit and a railway track.

Aiming to increase its flagging sales, sate-owned miner NMDC has reduced prices of higher grade iron ore (lumps) by about 2.5 percent for the current month. This is the fourth reduction since October in iron ore lump prices by NMDC. Its sales had dipped over 27 percent (at Rs 2,047 crore) and profit by over 30 percent (at Rs 1,293 crore) during the October-December quarter. However, the company has not changed the prices of iron ore fines (lower grade) for March. Domestic steel makers are going to be benefited the most with the price reduction for iron ore lumps (having iron content of 62 percent or above). After the price cut, iron ore lumps would be available in the range of Rs 4,980 per tonne, while the unchanged fines (having iron content of less than 60 percent) are currently at Rs 2,610 per tonne. Since October, the largest domestic producer of iron ore has either reduced the iron ore prices on a monthly basis or kept them unchanged as demand has been subdued.

With the government withdrawing Kingfisher Airlines' international flying rights and domestic slots, the Jet Airways has approached the Aviation Ministry to acquire six of the vacant slots. Out of the six slots from Mumbai, Jet has sought three morning slots and remaining three evening ones. Last week, the government had withdrawn all domestic and international flying slots of Kingfisher Airlines, which remains grounded since October 1 last, with immediate effect and decided to allot them to other domestic airlines. Besides operating on domestic routes, Kingfisher also used to operate to Britain (seven flights a week), the UAE (21 flights per week), Thailand (21 weekly flights), Nepal (seven), Bangladesh (14 a week), Sri Lanka (35 per week), Hong Kong (14 a week) and Singapore (7). The withdrawal of these slots has made available approximately 25,000 seats per week for other carriers to these eight countries.

Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) has increased prices of its products by up to Rs 1,000 per tonne for the current month. For steel plates and coils, the company has increased the prices by about Rs 1,000 per tonne, while prices of its long products have gone up by about Rs 500 per tonne. The input costs have increased substantially in the last one month due to $20 per tonne increase in coking coal rates internationally, realignment in fuel prices and its resultant impact on freight charges. The Naveen Jindal-led company currently has a total steel production capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at its Raigarh plant in Chhattisgarh. Of this, it produces 2 MT long products like TMT bars and saria, while its flat production capacity is 1 MT.

Tata Communications plans to sell properties across Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to raise more than Rs 2,500 crore to raise capital in the wake of continuing losses. Tata Group's telecom arm, which reported a net loss of Rs 201 crore for the third quarter ended December, has identified land parcels valued at over Rs 2,500 crore in these metros for monetization. The firm owns prime plots of over one acre each across these cities. Tata Communications has appointed property consultancy firms Jones Lang LaSalle India and Cushman & Wakefield to help sell some unutilized properties that originally belonged to Videsh Sanchar Nigam. Tata's acquired VSNL in 2002.

With RBI issuing guidelines for new bank licences, diversified group Videocon Industries will enter the banking sector with a foreign partner and has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for the purpose. Already, the company has entered the financial sector through its joint venture with Liberty Mutual Insurance. The company meets the criteria set by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the new banking licence and would use its experience of collaborations with foreign partners. Last month RBI had issued the much-awaited guidelines for new bank licences, allowing corporates and public sector entities with sound credentials and a minimum track record of 10 years to enter the banking business.

As workers and the Hero MotoCorp management struggle to reach a middle ground, the Gurgaon-Manesar cluster is closely watching the outcome of wage discussions between the workers' union and the management at Hero Motocorp. The workers' demands, if met, will catapult their average cost-to-the-company (CTC) to a range of Rs 60,000-65,000 per month from the current level of Rs 47,000-50,000, which automotive players in the region say will take the sheen off what has so far been touted as the global advantage of low-cost manufacturing. The Gurgaon-Manesar belt alone churns out almost half of the total cars and two-wheelers produced in the country and companies fear that any abnormal rise in wages could prove detrimental to India's auto industry.

With infrastructure and construction sectors expected to see a revival over the next two-three years, equipment manufacturer Action Construction Equipment (ACE) is eyeing nearly Rs 2,000 crore revenue by FY16. ACE manufactures mobile cranes, tower cranes, loaders, vibratory rollers, truck-mounted cranes, crawler cranes, forklifts, tractors and other construction equipment and caters to infrastructure, construction, heavy engineering and industrial projects. The BSE-listed company currently has two factories at Faridabad in Haryana and Kashipur in Uttarakhand with a manufacturing capacity of 9,000 construction equipment and 6,000 tractors. The company, which is currently enjoying over 50 percent share in the mobile cranes market is also looking at increasing the contribution of tractors in its revenues. ACE tractors are currently sold in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and plans are afoot to enter Jharkhand, Orissa, Bengal and Maharashtra.

Financial software solutions provider Dion Global expects revenues this fiscal to rise by 35 percent to Rs 235 crore on the back of increased sales from its acquisitions in the UK and Germany. Besides, the company has been performing well in the governance, risk compliance and financial analytics verticals, which will also add up in the sales. The company had reported a consolidated net sales of Rs 174.05 crore in 2011-12 fiscal and a consolidated net loss of Rs 30.90 crore. Dion acquired UK-based Investmaster Group, a provider of wealth management and stock-broking software, in October 2011. In January 2012, the Noida-headquartered company acquired Swissrisk Financial Systems. The Frankfurt-based firm provides solutions in payments, securities and funds industry.

EQUITY – WEEKLY COMMENTARY

Low budget proposals weigh on high hopes; market lose over 2% for week
The Indian markets slumped in the passing week as the high hopes of the Street from the Union and Rail Budget 2013-14 were dashed. The government's reform measures to boost the economy were highly expected to be extended in the budget, but Finance Minister P Chidambram concentrated on fiscal prudence and achieved the fiscal deficit target for FY2013 at 5.2 percent instead of 5.3 percent targeted in the last budget, further setting a target of 4.8 percent for FY2014. Though, there were lots of announcements keeping in mind the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) but there was a language confusion that the proposed sub-Section (5) of Section 90 could mean that the Tax Residency Certificate produced by a resident of a contracting State could be questioned by the Income Tax Authorities in India that spooked the markets , prompting investors to sell. However, there was a clarification next day from the Finance Ministry that Income Tax Authorities will not question resident status after the Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) is produced by foreign institutional investors, but it could not do much and markets snapped the week with cut of over 2 percent. Though, the major indices ended in green on three out of five days, but the fall witnessed in other two days was massive and the markets seemed gasping for breadth with a carnage in the midcap, triggered by huge selling in some stocks on margin call.While, the rail budget turned out to be a non-event, the Union Budget was low on expectation. This was not enough, the real GDP growth moderated further in the third quarter of the current fiscal to 4.5%, as compared to 5.3% in the previous quarter and 6% in the same quarter last fiscal due to the slowing pace of growth in agriculture, mining and manufacturing sectors. However, marking a forty-seventh consecutive month of rise and the quickest rate in nine months, the seasonally adjusted HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 54.2 in February, up from 53.2 in January, but the reason proved too little to cheer up the markets.
BSE movement for the week
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex shaved off 398.49 points or 2.06% to 18918.52 during the week ended March 1, 2013. The BSE Mid-cap index was down by 288.08 points or 4.36% to 6320.95 and the Small-cap index down by 369.44 points or 5.63% to 6195.32. On the sectoral front, Realty down by 181.72 points or 8.60% at 1931.40, PSU down by 361.61 points or 5.00% at 6866.07, Oil & Gas down by 415.40 points or 4.59% at 8644.57, Metal down by 436.25 points or 4.56% at 9124.80 and Bankex down by 613.25 points or 4.43% at 13241.87 were major losers on the BSE sectoral space, while Consumer Durables (CD) up by 264.98 points or 3.71% at 7401.46, IT up by 157.97 points or 2.39% at 6763.05 and TECk up by 65.50 points or 1.71% at 3888.49 were top gainers on the BSE sectoral front.
NSE movement for the week
The CNX Nifty plunged by 130.60 points or 2.23% to 5719.70. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bank Nifty down by 528.90 points or 4.38% to 11540.05, CNX IT up by 124.85 points or 1.79% to 7117.70, while CNX mid-cap down by 298.75 points or 3.77% to 7622.40 and CNX Nifty Junior down by 246.35 points or 2.09% to 11560.95.
FII transactions during the week
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the equity segment during the week with gross purchases of Rs 20129.00 crore and gross sales of 19999.80 crore, leading to a net inflow of Rs 129.20 crore. They stood as net buyers in the debt segment as well with gross purchases of Rs 6518.50 crore against gross sales of Rs 3995.70 crore, resulting in a net inflow of Rs 2522.80 crore.
Industry and Economy
The eight core sector industries grew by 3.9% in January 2013, up from 2.2% in the same month in 2012, mainly on the back of negative growth witnessed in the production of crude oil, natural gas, fertilizer and cement. However, the cumulative expansion of these industries in April-January period of 2012-13 slowed to 3.2% from 5% in the same period of the previous year. On the positive side, petroleum refinery production grew by 10.5% in January 2013 compared to a negative growth of 4.6% in January 2012. On a collective basis, it registered a growth of 7.3% during April-January 2012-13 compared to 3% growth during the same period of 2011-12.
Outlook for the coming week
The Indian markets are likely to see some recovery in the coming week, with Budget a matter of the past. Traders will be analyzing the various impacts of budget proposals and will proceed accordingly after the carnage witnessed in the Budget week.
Investors would also watch out for the HSBC Services PMI slated to be announced on March 5. India's services sector logged a growth at its strongest pace in year during January and after a good manufacturing PMI for February, there will be high expectations for the Services to improve further.
Auto stocks too will remain in the limelight after announcing the monthly sales numbers, traders will be analyzing their performance in the backdrop of the budget announcements and its further impact on the sector.
The telecom stocks too are likely to remain in action as Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the present uncertainty in the telecom sector will be resolved and spectrum will be auctioned. Spectrum auction for airwaves in the 800 megahertz (MHz) band, popularly known as the CDMA band will take place on March 11, the day on which the auction of 900 and 1800 MHz band spectrum was supposed to take place.
Apart from the capital market there will be a buzz in the debt market too with the government's 2013/14 gross borrowing target of Rs 6.29 trillion. There is a clarification expected next week by the government on its gross gross borrowing estimates that had sent bonds to their worst day in seven months.
On the global front, investors will be eyeing  ISM Non-Mfg Index data of US on March 5, followed by ADP Employment Report  and Beige Book details on March 6, Jobless Claims  and finally Employment Situation data on March 8.
Top Gainers

• TCS up by 3.21% was the top gainer on Nifty for the week - Tata Consultancy Services , a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation has been chosen as a Leader in Life Science Drug Safety Services (DSS) by the prominent global market intelligence firm IDC. The company got leadership position due to its large life science customer base, broad industry-centric services portfolio, competitive pricing, and strong commitment to growth ensure that the company will continue to be a leading service provider to the industry over both the near and long term.
• JP Associates up by 2.85% was another top gainer on the Nifty - Jai Prakash Associates made a good bounce back after announcements of infrastructure boost in the Budget. The company has reported 64.19% fall in its net profit at Rs 110.93 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 309.77 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

Top Losers

• Siemens down by 9.50% was the top loser of the week on Nifty - Siemens launches SIMATIC S7-1500 controller family along with updated version of its Totally Integrated Automation Portal (TIA Portal). The new generation of controllers is characterized by high performance and efficiency and offers numerous benefits such as integrated motion control, plant security, and safety applications that are easy to implement. Greater efficiency is represented in particular by the innovative design that enables simple commissioning & safe operation, by the configurable diagnostic functions that provide the plant status and by the integration into the TIA Portal for simple engineering and low project costs.
• Reliance Infra down by 9.08% was another major loser on the Nifty - Reliance Infrastructure recently announced the launch of online chat service for its 28 lakh Mumbai suburban power consumers.The company has reported 58.57% rise in its net profit at Rs 659.37 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 as compared to Rs 415.82 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the company has decreased by 20.53% at Rs 3698.54 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 4654.07 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Technical viewpoints
During the week, CNX Nifty touched the highest level of 5878.40 on February 25, 2013 and the lowest point of 5671.90 on February 28, 2013. On the last trading day, the Nifty closed at 5719.70 with a weekly loss of 130.6 points or 2.23%. For the coming week, 5634.93 followed by 5550.17 are likely to be good support levels for the Nifty, while the index may face resistance at 5841.43 and 5963.17 levels.
US Market
The US markets showed some strength in the passing week with minor gains after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent a strong signal that he backed the continuation of the central bank's $85 billion bond-buying program. Bernanke warned that the Fed's innovative policy could not completely offset the drag to the economy this year from fiscal policy. He urged lawmakers to defuse the sharp automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester. Bernanke added that Fed policy was not fostering a bubble in the stock market and US banks would not suffer serious damage if Italy was forced to write down its debt.
Meanwhile, the automatic federal budget cuts of $85 billion looked certain to kick in after a pair of bills to replace them failed in the Senate. Neither a Democratic nor a Republican bill aimed at replacing the so-called sequester was able to get enough support to win a test vote on Thursday. While senators from both parties hadn't expected passage, the bills represented a last-ditch legislative effort to replace the across-the-board cuts to domestic and military spending. However, the budget cuts for fiscal 2013 would not take effect all at once. Instead, they would go into effect gradually through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. In total, the sequester would cut about $1 trillion over nine years.
On the economy front, a gauge of consumer confidence jumped up in February, led by brighter expectations, after dropping in the prior month. The Conference Board stated that its consumer-confidence index rose to 69.6 in February, the highest level in three months, far exceeding estimates of 62.3. January's level was revised to 58.4 from a prior estimate of 58.6. The US economy grew in the final three months of 2012 but just barely instead of shrinking for the first time since the end of the recession as originally reported.  Separately, the number of people who applied for jobless benefits dropped in the most recent weekly data. Initials claims for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits dropped 22,000 to 344,000 in the week ended February 23, according to the government.
European Market
The European markets were reeling under pressure during the passing week after the Euro crisis got ignited again thanks to the Italian election and worse growth prospects. The German chancellor Angela Merkel met with Italy's president in Berlin, wishing him success as he forms a new government. Angela Merkel expressed confidence that Italy will emerge from its post-election deadlock. Italy held an inconclusive general election this week that left the country with no workable majority in parliament. Besides, Germany Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stated that Italy's inconclusive election had raised the risk of market turmoil spreading to other euro countries and urged Italian politicians to form a stable government quickly.
On the economy front, euro zone manufacturing activity appeared no closer to recovery last month, when a dire performance in France offset a return to growth in Germany, a business survey showed. Manufacturers helped lift the 17-nation bloc out of the last recession, but purchasing managers' surveys showed activity in France, the euro zone's second-biggest economy, has now contracted for a year. In contrast, German manufacturing expanded for the first time since February last year, joining Ireland as the only countries surveyed in the bloc to show growth in manufacturing activity.
Markit's Euro zone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) remained at January's 47.9 last month, just pipping an earlier flash reading of 47.8 but holding below the 50 level that divides growth from contraction for the 19th month running. Germany's PMI bounced to 50.3 from January's 49.8, while France's reading came in at 43.9, above the previous month's 42.9 but well below the 50 mark for the 12th month.
Asian market
Asian equity indices exhibited optimistic trend during the passing week with all the major indices, barring Singapore's Straits Times ending the week's trade in the green, thanks to Italy's successful bond auction that bolstered investor confidence in the global economic recovery and helped underpin appetite for riskier assets. Back on regional turf, Japanese Nikkei garnered nearly two percent gains during the week as the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved a step closer of having a proponent of his aggressive monetary easing policies become head of the Bank of Japan, after the government submitted its nominee for the top job to parliament.
Nikkei also got some support after the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs of the country said that core inflation in Japan was down 0.2 percent on year in January. Overall CPI was down an annual 0.3 percent after showing contraction of 0.1 percent in December. A separate survey from the internal affairs ministry showed that Japanese jobless rate slipped to 4.2 percent in January from revised 4.3 percent in December. The number of unemployed persons in January was 2.73 million, a decrease of 180 thousand or 6.2 percent from the previous year.
Chinese Shanghai Composite remained the top gainer among other Asian peers gaining about two percent, largely supported by bargain buying following steep fall in the passing week and on hopes that the revised rules on qualified foreign institutional investors will boost the domestic stock market. However, gains on the upside were muted after survey results from Markit Economics showed that China's manufacturing sector growth slowed unexpectedly in February due to a fall in foreign orders and slower expansion of output, dampening hopes of economic rebound at the start of the year. The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 50.4, a 4-month low from 52.3 in January.

ECONOMY- BUDGET ANALYSIS

Sectoral Budget Impact

Sector	Proposal	Impact
Power	Proposal of zero customs duty for electrical plants and machinery To equalise duties on steam and bituminous coal to 2 pct customs duty and 2 pct cvd (countervailing duty) To reintroduce generation based incentive for wind power projects. Rs 800 crore provided for the purpose to Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. 80 IA benefit for power plants extended.	Nonconventional source of power like wind based power generation to get a boost. Continuation of deduction u/s 80IA likely to help the sector.
Banking	Public Sector Banks to get Rs 14000 crore capital support in FY14 and Rs 12517, crore in FY2012-13. All Women's Bank to be set up via public sector with an initial capital of Rs 1000 crore.  4% farm loan scheme extended to private sector banks.	Capital infusion to help maintain bank's minimum tier - I capital of 8% under Basel III. In turn, lenders can expand their loans maintaining the growth in the balance sheet. This move is expected to empower women and is seen as as a move to foster entrepreneurship among women.
Capital  and Debt market	Plans to issue inflation-indexed bonds. Capital allowance of 15% to companies on investments of more than Rs 1 bln. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can use investments in corporate, government bonds as collateral to meet margin requirements. Insurance, provident funds can trade directly in debt segments of stock exchanges FIIs can hedge forex exposure through exchange-traded derivatives. Investor with less than 10 pct stake in a company will be regarded as FII, more than 10 pct stake as FDI (foreign direct investment) The stock exchange regulator will simplify know-your-customer norms for foreign portfolio investors. To implement quickly recommendations of financial sector legislative reforms commission STT on equity futures from 0.017% to 0.01%. STT on mutual fund redemption of Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) scheme has been reduced to Re 1 from Rs 250 per lakh, and on mutual fund non-redemption of ETF scheme the STT has reduced to Re 1 from Rs 100 per lakh. CTT of Rs 10 per lakh has been introduced in the Budget for FY 2014 on non-agri commodities.	Can give  a boost to FII investments, simplification of KYC a big positive. STT reduction will increase volumes in Exchange Traded Fund schemes, equity futures  and will reduce overall cost. Will have an adverse impact on the trade of commodity.
Realty	TDS of 1% on property deals above Rs 50 lakh. Additional tax deduction limit by Rs 1 lakh for the first time home buyers up to Rs 25 lakh during the period April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. Excise duty on marble slabs increased.	May curb black money generation in property deals but will adversely impact the demand. Likely to promote home ownership and give a fillip to low cost housing and a number of industries including steel, cement, brick, wood, and glass etc.
Infra	Proposal to set up Road Regulatory Authority. Infrastructure Debt Funds will be encouraged. To build roads in North Eastern states and connect them to Myanmar with assistance from WB & ADB.	Road construction companies to gain  Will help boost the economy
Shipping	To add 2 new ports in WB, AP; to add 100 mn tonne capacity. No duty on import of ships, vessels. Proposal for full exemption  of counter vailing duty (CVD) on imported ships and vessels.	Full  CVD exemption on imported ships will help the industry  because most Indian shipping companies purchase their vessels manufactured outside the country.
Electric and Electronics	Electronics chip maker plants to get incentives, zero customs duty for electronic chips. Higher customs duty on set top boxes.	Zero custom duty a negative news for semiconductor industry. Will  boost manufacturing of high tech electronic products in India.
FMCG	Excise duty raised by 18% for cigarettes. Similar increase on cigars, cheroots and cigarillos. Reduced Countervailing duty on dehulled Oat grains.	Mixed for the industry, increase in excise duty will impact all cigarette companies.
IT	Allocation of Rs 532 crore for IT Modernisation project of Post offices which are gearing up to offfer core banking sevices.	An added opportunity for the IT industry at home.
Gems & Jewellary	Imposition of 4% excise duty on silver manufactured from smelting zinc or lead. Baggage rules for bringing the duty-free jewellery limit increased to Rs 50,000 in the case of a male passenger and Rs 100,000 in the case of a female passenger. Reduction in import duty on pre-forms of precious and semi-precious stones from 10% to 2%.	Will bring the rate on par with the excise duty applicable to silver obtained from copper ores and concentrates. Positive for industry, will help the diamond and coloured gemstone industry and will give boost to the exports of precious and semi-precious stones from India.
Oil & Gas	Proposal to move to revenue-sharing from profit-sharing policy in oil and gas sector. A policy to encourage exploration and production of shale gas will be announced. Natural gas pricing policy will be reviewed and stalled NELP blocks will be cleared.	Negatively impact the industry and increase in risk profile for exploration and production companies.
Fertilizer  Sector	No any direct announcements. Rs. 200 crore pilot scheme announced for introducing micro-nutrients new crop varieties. Credit Guarantee Fund for Small Farmers' Agri Business Corporation with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore.	Positive for the industry as it will increase the demand of the ferlizers.
Telecom -Equipment	Hike in the duty on mobile phones costing more than Rs 2000 from 1% to 6%.	Move is likely to marginally impact the smart phone demand.
Cement	No any direct announcements for the sector A person taking a loan for his first home from a bank or a housing finance corporation upto Rs 25,00,000 during the period 1.4.2013 to 31.3.2014 will be entitled to an additional deduction of interest of upto Rs 100,000. 3000 kms of road projects in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh will be awarded in the first six months of 2013-14.	Demand for Cement will increase.
Education	Education remained the highest priority in FY13-14 budget as FM proposed to allocate Rs 65,867 crore to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which is an increase of 17 percent over the RE of the previous year.  Proposal to provide Rs 27,258 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2013-14.  A grant of Rs 100 crore each to Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.	With the help of higher allocation of fund educational  infrastructure can improve.
Healthcare	Proposal to allocate Rs 37,330 crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare .  Of this, the new National Health Mission that combines the rural mission and the proposed urban mission will get Rs 21,239 crore, an increase of 24.3 percent over the RE.  Proposal to provide Rs  4,727 crore for medical education, training and research.  Proposal to allocate Rs 1,069 crore to the Department of AYUSH.	Increasing expenditure on healthcare and healthcare infrastructure will boost the industry and help in its growth.
Media and Entertainment	Proposal to expand private FM radio services to 294 more cities.  About 839 new FM radio channels will be auctioned in 2013-14 and, after the auction, all cities having a population of more than 100,000 will be covered by private FM radio services. Import duty on Set Top Boxes increased from 5 to 10 percent. Exemption of Service Tax on copyright on cinematography limited to films exhibited in cinema halls.	This is positive for media companies as expansion of FM radio services in smaller areas provide huge opportunities. This will encourage domestic production.
Textile	Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) to continue in the 12th Plan with an investment target of Rs 1,51,000 crore. To set up textile parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP). Working capital and term loans at a concessional interest of 6 per cent to handloom sector. Excise Duty on ready-made garments exempted.	Mostly positive for the sector. With TUFS extension more focus will be on modernisation of the powerloom sector.
Auto	Increase of duty on imported luxury goods such as high end motor vehicles, motorcycles, yachts and similar vessels from 75% to 100%. Increase in the excise duty on SUVs from 27% to 30%. However, the increase will not apply to SUVs registered as taxis. Extension of concession period now available for specified parts of electric and hybrid vehicles up to 31.3.2015. Increase to Rs 14,873 crore in 2013-14 from Rs.7,383 crore in the current year proposed in the allocation for the JNNURM programme.	Negative for the car makers as           SUV manufacturers will be impacted. This will also increase the unqualitative competition in SUV's and other vehicles.    This will encourage manufacturing and selling of environment-friendly vehicles.  Bus manufacturers to benefit as the fund will be used to support the purchase of up to 10,000 buses, specially by the hill states.
Agriculture	To allocate Rs 80194 crore for rural development in 2013-14. Plan to allocate Rs 27,049 crore  for agriculture in 2013-14.	Hike in budgetary allocation to boost agriculture and allied industries.