BOR: Market Outlook: Indian markets may open flat to positive opening & remain ranged

Market Outlook: Indian markets may open flat to positive opening & remain ranged with a negative bias following weak cues from global cues. Nifty has supports at 5190-5230 and resistance is at 5310-5350.

Global Events to watch for today

• Personal Income and Outlays
• 4-Week Bill Announcement
• 3-Month Bill Auction
• 6-Month Bill Auction

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10850 (+09.15)

NASDAQ : 2295 (+02.28)

Nikkei 225 : 10939 (- 57.24)

Hang seng : 21177 (+124.1)

SGX CNX Nifty : 5281 (- 11.00)

INR / 1 USD : 45.34

Stocks in action for the day : Kingfisher, Pipavav Shipyard, Max India, Jubilant Organosys, Blue Dart

Cos turn generous, step up dividend rates: About 50 companies increased their dividend rates this financial year, even as Corporate India, in general, was focussed on cutting costs, because of a lower-than-expected topline growth. Crompton Greaves, Engineers India, India Infoline, TVS Srichakra, Educomp Solutions, Garware Offshore and Kirloskar Oil are among high-profile companies that offered higher dividends to their shareholders. The rates of dividend, in fact, are the highest in recent years, going by dividend history of these companies.

Kingfisher starts New Delhi-London flight; to add 7 intl routes: Kingfisher Airlines today said it has launched its daily direct flight to London from the National Capital and will add seven more international routes within the next one month. While the flights from the Capital will connect Hong Kong, Bangkok, Dubai and Kathmandu, the airlines will also fly to Bangkok, Dubai and Kathmandu from Mumbai. All the flights will be started between April 7 and April 24.

Huge build positions in Bafna Pharma: Sources says the company is close to receiving approvals for over nine drug formulations over the next few months. Bafna Pharmaceuticals is engaged in molecular research to formulate lifestyle drugs, for ailments like hypertension, heart diseases and cholesterol. If market sources are to be believed, the Chennai-based pharma company is expected to start ‘contract research and manufacturing’ (CRAM) in its new research facility, to be opened in the next fiscal

SKIL Infra plans share sale to PE funds to raise $300 mn: Pipavav Shipyard (PSL) promoter SKIL Infrastructure plans to raise up to $300 million by selling shares to private equity (PE) funds just beforean IPO due in six months to retire short-term loans it took to buy out co-promoter Punj Lloyd, people close to the transaction said. SKIL will buy Punj’s 19.5% stake in India’s first private shipyard on Monday morning in a block deal on the stock exchange. The company will spend nearly Rs 1,500 crore to raise its stake from 20% in PSL, including paying Rs 676 crore in cash to Punj Lloyd, and the rest for an open offer at Rs 62 a share to minority shareholder

Credit Suisse too gets licence to bank: Swiss bank Credit Suisse has received RBI’s in-principle approval to offer banking services here. It is the second Swiss Bank after UBS to have a branch in India. Goldman Sachs, the world’s largest investment bank, has also applied for a bank licence some time ago. In the recent years, RBI has allowed a host of new banks to start India operations. They include UBS, First Rand Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ. Also, Singapore’s UOB was given a branch licence along with eight additional branch licenses to DBS as a part of a bilateral agreement between India and Singapore on opening up services.

Axis Bank eyeing less than five pc stake in Max New York Life: Private sector Axis Bank is in talks with Max New York Life to pick-up a less than five per cent stake in the latter and hopes to seal the transaction soon, a senior bank official said. Axis Bank has entered into a tie-up with Max New York Life for distribution of the latter's life insurance products from April 1 after ending its relationship with MetLife.

Hero Honda falls on low interim dividend hopes: Hero Honda shares drifted lower in a steady market. Dealers say this reflects lower expectations about the special interim dividend that the company has proposed. The stock closed at Rs 2,006.25, after touching a high of Rs 2,077 earlier in the session, as most investors chose to play it safe by booking profits.

Jubilant raises $85 mn in share sale: Sources: Drug maker Jubilant Organosys has raised $85 million through a share sale to institutions, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. The company sold shares to institutions at Rs 344.5 apiece in the qualified institutional placement (QIP) and the order books have been closed, said the sources, who did not wish to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Blue Dart Express offers attractive investment opportunities: BLUE Dart Express, which is currently 81.03% controlled by DHL Express Singapore, is a leading player in South Asia for courier and integrated express package distribution. It was promoted in 1983 by Clyde Cooper, Tushar Jani and Kushroo Dubash and DHL Express (Singapore ) took a majority stake in the company in 2005. Blue Dart Express, at Rs 734.85, trades at 28.7 times on a trailing fourquarter basis. Although, not strictly comparable, but the largest domestic logistics player Container Corp trades at nearly 21.7 times on a trailing basis, while Allcargo Global trades at 16.5 times on a consolidated basis. However, given the strong position enjoyed by Blue Dart Express in the courier and integrated express package distribution, investors can consider this stock with a medium- to long-term horizon.