Market Analysis: Review on Thursday, Dec 2

Mumbai, Dec 3: BSE Sensex gained 142 points and closed at 19,992, while Nifty gained 50 points and closed at 6,011 on Thursday, Dec 2. BSE Realty and Metal indices gained 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. BSE Auto and Capital Goods indices were down by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

Apollo plans to hive off pharmacy retail chain

India"s largest hospital Chain, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, plans to hive off its pharmacy retail chain. The Company is weighing the option of either a strategic sale of up to 49 percent stake or listing the unit.

At present Apollo Pharmacy is part of the listed parent company and has over 1,200 pharmacies. The business is growing at around 36 percent annually and is expected to post revenues of Rs 650 crore this fiscal. Apollo plans to add another 300-400 pharmacy stores in 2011. As per the Management, the pharmacy business has attained a critical mass and the stake sale would help it scale up the business.

Food inflation back in single digits at 8.6 percent

Food inflation fell to single digit for the first time since May 2009, but there was little respite for consumers as the prices of several essential items continued to rise. Food prices for the week ended Nov 20 rose 8.6 percent from a year ago, down sharply from 10.1 percent in the previous week, even as the index for food articles rose 0.2 percent during the course of the week.

The wholesale price index-based headline inflation has moderated to 8.5 percent and should drop further because of the sharp moderation in food inflation. Food articles have a 14 percent weight in the WPI. As per the experts, the headline inflation to soften to 6 percent by the end of the year, largely because of the favorable base effect. Fuel price inflation eased to 9.9 percent in the latest week from 10.5 percent, while the primary articles price index rose 12.7 percent compared with the annual rise of 13.3 percent a week earlier.

R-power to double Rosa project to 2,400 MW for an extra Rs 6000 crore

Reliance Power is planning to double the capacity of its Rosa power project at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh from the current plan of 1,200 MW to 2,400 MW, with an additional investment of Rs 6,000 crore.

Currently, the project being set up in two stages of 600 MW each. The first one is the maiden project of R-Power. Work on the second phase would be fast tracked to start production before the end of 2011. R-Power has achieved financial closure for the second phase of Rosa in Jul 2009.

Industrial Development Bank of India and other domestic banks are lending around Rs 2000 crore of the project cost of Rs 2,700 crore. For the first phase, the company has a purchase agreement with Uttar Pradesh Power Company Ltd (UPPCL) on a cost-plus rate basis.

Bajaj Auto motorcycle sales up

Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales grew 9 percent in Nov at 2.65 lakh units against 2.42 lakh in the corresponding period a year ago while three-wheeler and light commercial vehicle sales were flat at 34,195 units. The exports in Nov were down by 8 percent at 90,869 units due to logistics constraints.

As for the motorcycle business, domestic sales were up 19 percent on a year-on-year basis. Discover brand's sales crossed one lakh mark while Pulsar sales grew 66 percent at 83,146 units.

(An article by DAS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORS Pvt Ltd)