BOR: Market Outlook: Indian equities are likely to open flat to positive range.

Market Outlook: Indian equities are likely to open flat to positive range. we see the rally to continuing for a while till the foreign markets get stabilized and confidence returns into equity markets. US stocks rocketed to their biggest gain in a year and bond prices fell Monday after a nearly USD 1 trillion plan to contain Europe`s debt crisis reassured investors.

Results today: Ranbaxy Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Hindusthan, Bajaj Binserv, Bajaj Auto Finance, Hindalco, Jain Irrigation

Indian ADRs: Tata Motors up 12%, ICICI Bank up 11%, Sterlite up 10%, Satyam up 9%, HDFC Bank up 8%, MTNL up 7.5%, Patni up 7%, Infosys up 6%, Dr Reddy’s up 5.4%

Global Events to watch for today:

• Goldman Store Sales
• Wholesale Trade
• 4-Week Bill Auction
• 3-Yr Note Auction

Global indices Update @ 8:

Dow Jones : 10758 (+404.7)

NASDAQ : 2374 (+109.0)

Nikkei 225 : 10539 (+08.31)

Hang seng : 20373 (- 53.45)

SGX CNX Nifty : 5102 (+05.00)

INR / 1 USD : 44.96

Stocks in action for the day : Fortis Healthcare, Jindal Steel, R Infra...

Vedanta buys UK co's zinc business for $1.3 billion: London-listed Vedanta Resources, which was thwarted in its bid to acquire a US mining major last year, on Monday edged out global majors such as Xstrata and China Metallurgical Corp to buy the zinc unit of the UK’s Anglo American for $1.3 billion (Rs 5,850 crore).

Fortis Health sells 6.58% to Singapore`s GIC for Rs 3.8 bn Fortis Healthcare, Asia`s biggest hospital chain, raised Rs 3.8 billion by selling shares to Singapore state-run investment company GIC Special Investments as part of its plans to raise Rs 30 billion for expansion. The company has agreed to sell 6.58% of the company, or 22.35 million equity shares, at Rs 170 apiece, 1.5% higher than its closing price on Monday. Its shares rose 1.27% to Rs 167.25. The funds will be used to part finance recent acquisitions like the purchase of TPG Capital`s 25% stake in Singapore`s Parkway Holdings for around USD 715 million and also for more in the future, said a statement. The deal may close by June.

Jindal Steel may be fined in Bolivia Bolivia has said that the multi-billion dollar contract it signed with Jindal Steel to develop an iron ore mine has not been rescinded, but the steel company would have to pay a penalty for not fulfilling the terms of the agreement. ``The contract will continue, but there is a penalty because the partners need to respect their contract in Bolivia and the Bolivian people,`` Bolivian president Evo Morales said. ``We need some kind of guarantee and Jindal company has not fulfilled its contract,`` he said. In 2007, Jindal signed a joint venture agreement with the government to develop the El Mutun mine - one of the world`s largest iron ore reserves - that may produce as much as two million tones of iron ore in its first year.

Tata Tele approaches Raja, seeks end to discrimination against co Tata Teleservices has approached communications minister A Raja seeking a level-playing field and ending the discrimination against the company on the policy front. The telco has pointed out that it has been given a raw deal for many years and has listed out 11 policy-related issues where it has been discriminated against as compared to its competitors. The Tatas run India`s fifth-largest telecom operator after Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar and BSNL. It has a market share of 12% with over 67 million customers as of March-end as per the latest data released by sector regulator Trai.

Maharashtra asks GAIL to give gas to Tata Power`s stalled unit The Maharashtra government intervened with GAIL India to organize gas supply till end-June for one unit of Tata Power`s Trombay plant. The unit had stopped production for want of fuel. The compulsion was the state?s own need for more power. The state government`s MahaVitaran - the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co - will take all the output from Trombay, officially of 150-Mw capacity, but now able to generate only 100 Mw, as it is an old unit. GAIL has already begun the supply; the arrangement is for 0.8 million standard cubic metres per day of gas. A government official said: ``The entire power is being procured by MahaVitaran at Rs 5 per unit, competitive when compared to the Rs 9 a unit in the open market. This is to help MahaVitaran tackle the rising power deficit, of 4,500-5,000 Mw. MahaVitaran is also buying traded power at Rs 5-8 per unit.``

Radico Khaitan distills plans for spirited catch-up move The number two company in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) market, Radico Khaitan, would launch two premium whiskies this year, said its chief financial officer, Dilip Banthiya. Radico`s mainline whisky brands, Whytehall and 8PM, sit in the prestige and regular segments, respectively. The company has no presence as of now in the premium domain, which it hopes to address with the launch later this year. Says Banthiya, ``the premium segment is something we are looking at seriously this year. We wish to close the gap in our product portfolio.``

Tata may reject Mumbai supply order on R-Infra The courts might again have to rule on the power supply standoff in this city between Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure; with the former saying it might reject the state government order to maintain the existing arrangement for a specified period. Said a Tata Power spokesperson: ``we are studying the government memorandum. Prima facie, we cannot accept the state government`s directive to supply power to Reliance Infrastructure, as it would cause great hardship to (our) customers.`` The matter had earlier gone to court and Tata Power got a favorable ruling, on its decision that it wished to stop supplying electricity to its rival - each has consumers in the city. However, the state government then intervened.

Cognizant to acquire London-based firm PIPC: Nasdaq-listed Cognizant on Monday said it has reached a deal to acquire PIPC Group, a London-based management consulting firm. The acquisition will give Cognizant expertise in programme management, which is increasingly becoming necessary for IT companies as they sign up complex, multi-million dollar contracts.

Maruti, Tata, Toyota, Nissan & Ford shift focus to mini multi-purpose vehicle segment: A slew of automakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Toyota, Nissan and Ford plan to blaze the trail in the mini MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) segment by rolling out new products, people familiar with the matter said. Competitive pricing and volume sales are reasons cited by the automajors to step up investments in this segment, which was hitherto unexplored and is likely to see heightened action this year.

Institutions dump Cipla after poor quarterly nos: Institutional investors are believed to have dumped Cipla shares on Monday, after the company’s March quarter earnings fell way below market estimates. The stock fell almost 7% on Monday to Rs 319.85 in a strong market.

Jubilant Organosys net up at Rs 137 cr: Pharmaceutical company Jubilant Organosys rode revenues from three manufacturing contracts and improved sales of key inputs to post a consolidated net profit of Rs 137 crore for the quarter to end March, compared with Rs 12 crore a year ago.

StanChart plans country’s maiden IDR on May 25: Standard Chartered is likely to hit the markets with the country’s maiden Indian Depository Receipt issue on May 25, with an offering of securities worth around $600 million. The London-headquartered bank will issue around 240-million IDRs, with each share representing 10 IDRs. Sebi has approved the offering which now awaits clearance from the Registrar of Companies.

HT Media Q4 (cr - crore, vs - versus) -Consolidated net profit at Rs 48 cr Vs Rs 7.6 cr (YoY) -Consolidated net sales at Rs 374 cr Vs Rs 338 cr (YoY)

Jubilant Foodworks Q4 -Net profit at Rs 10.4 cr Vs Rs 3.8 cr (YoY) -Net sales at Rs 124 cr Vs Rs 74 cr (YoY)

Orissa Sponge Q4 -Sales at Rs 49.6 cr vs Rs 43.5 cr -Loss at Rs 8.7 cr vs Loss at Rs 19.6 cr

Technocraft Q4 -Sales at Rs 108.9 cr vs Rs 99.7 cr (YoY) -PAT at Rs 3.02 cr vs Loss at Rs 7.01 cr (YoY)