Pfizer in News

Publication : Capital Market News
Provider : Capital Market Publishers Pvt. India Ltd.
July 14, 2004

Heavyweights drag market lower

Selling pressure intensified in the heavyweights, dragging the market deeper into the red in the mid-afternoon after early gains and subsequent decline in the stock prices as trading progressed. While frontline stocks traded mostly lower, stock-specific action was seen in select mid-cap side counters.

At 15:25 IST, the Sensex was trading 48.51 points lower at 4,850.58, having come off its day's high of 4,933.34.

The NSE S & P CNX Nifty index was down 15.50 points at 1,523.80.

After early gains, the market turned bearish amid the concerns over the outcome of the finance minister's meeting with the representatives of the broking community over the issue of the turnover tax and the patchy monsoon. According to the Indian Meteorological Department reports, while the monsoons have been below average as yet, their distribution has also been uneven, affecting crops in various regions. A normal monsoon is crucial for the economy to grow over 7% targeted rate. In the event of a deficient monsoon, the government's growth target may go haywire.

ITC (down 3.76% to Rs 1006) lost further ground as selling continued on the counter amid worries over the progress of monsoon. From a recent high of Rs 1,072 touched on 9 July, the ITC stock has lost 6.15%.

ONGC (down 1.80% to Rs 654) also traded lower after the company said that several new taxes imposed in the budget will hit the company's FY-05 profit by Rs 300 crore. In the budget presented last Thursday, the finance minister imposed a 2% education cess on all taxes and also introduced a 10% service tax on surveys conducted by oil exploration companies.

Other heavyweights Reliance Industries (down 2.44% to Rs 419.95) and Hindustan Lever (down 1.01% to Rs 122.45) also contributed to the fall of the Sensex.

Automobile pivotals Hero Honda Motor (down 3.02% to Rs 453.50), Bajaj Auto (down 3.10% to Rs 862.75), Maruti Udyog (down 0.62% to Rs 416.20) and Tata Motors (down 0.80% to Rs 401.40) remained subdued as selling continued amid worries that a deficient monsoon may affect agriculture growth and rural incomes, which are key for the growth of auto sector.

Cement pivotals Grasim (down 1.59% to Rs 944) and ACC (down 0.97% to Rs 228.85) traded lower on sustained selling pressure amid worries that a deficient monsoon may mean poor offtake of cement.

Pharma pivotals Dr Reddy's Labs (down 2.28% to Rs 740), Cipla (down 2.09% to Rs 229.85) and Ranbaxy Labs (down 0.93% to Rs 968.95) continued to trade lower on sustained selling pressure.

Bhel (down 2.02% to Rs 533.50) lost ground - coming off its day's high of Rs 555 - on selling at higher levels after early gains. The stock of PSU power equipment major rose as much as 2% earlier in the day after the company announced that it had won a Rs 410 crore order to set up the 800-megawatt Koldam Hydro electric project in Himachal Pradesh.

Other pivotals Bharti Tele-Ventures (down 1.02% to Rs 150.15), HPCL (down 0.96% to Rs 283.45), HDFC (down 1.52% to Rs 552), Reliance Energy (down 0.32% to Rs 573.90), Zee Telefilms (down 2.25% to Rs 125.40) and Tata Power (down 0.60% to Rs 249) also traded in the red.

Tech pivotals Infosys Tech (up 1.22% to Rs 1,419.85), Wipro (up 2.83% to Rs 510) and Satyam Computer (up 0.44% to Rs 321.70) were trading off highs on selling at higher levels after early gains.

Tata Steel (up 2.39% to Rs 314.90) traded firm on sustained buying after the government revoked the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) benefit for steel exporters effected in March 2004. Steel majors will now get the DEPB benefit with retrospective effect, with adjustments in rates as per the import duty cuts on steel announced in March 2004.

State Bank of India (up 0.55% to Rs 431.25) traded higher - having recovered from the day's low of Rs 426.10 - on selective buying after the bank announced that it has agreed to sell 37% of its stake in SBI Mutual Fund to SocGen AMC. Over 13.50 lakh SBI shares were traded on BSE.

HDFC Bank (up 0.19% to Rs 365.90) traded steady on selective buying following improved Q1 results. For quarter ended 30 June 2004, the banking major posted a 30.47% rise in the net profit to Rs 139.97 crore (Rs 107.28 crore) on total income of Rs 810.59 crore (Rs 709.26 crore).

Pharmacia Healthcare (Rs 102.85) was frozen at the 10% lower limit of circuit breaker as investors sold, disappointed by the share swap ratio ahead of its merger with Pfizer. The board of Pfizer today approved the merger of Pharmacia Healthcare with it. The swap ratio for the merger has been set at one share of Pfizer for every five shares of Pharmacia Healthcare.

Praj Industries (Rs 137.90) was frozen at the 5% upper limit of circuit breaker after the company announced quarterly results on Monday. For quarter ended 30 June 2004, the company posted a net profit of Rs 3.62 crore (Rs 1.30 crore) on total income of Rs 26.17 crore (Rs 21.79 crore).

Biocon (up 1.88% to Rs 563.60) traded steady - yet off its day's high of Rs 585 - on selective buying after India's largest biotech company said that its net profit in the quarter ended 30 June 2004, more than doubled to Rs 48.60 crore from a year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter rose to Rs 180 crore from Rs 110 crore a year earlier.

Kochi Refineries (down 1.88% to Rs 155.10) traded lower on selling pressure after the company announced quarterly results. For quarter ended 30 June 2004, the refining PSU posted a 9.50% fall in the net profit to Rs 153.10 crore (Rs 169.30 crore) on total income of Rs 2,958.30 crore (Rs 2,263.20 crore).

iGate Global Solutions (up 5.35% to Rs 251) traded firm after the company announced quarterly results. For the quarter ended 30 June 2004, the company posted a loss of Rs 3.54 crore (NP Rs 6.34 crore) on total income of Rs 103.12 crore (Rs 93.96 crore). On consolidated basis, for the quarter ended 30 June 2004, the company posted a net profit of Rs 0.11 crore (Rs 7.71 crore) on total income of Rs 143.76 crore (Rs 143.85 crore).

The company announced that it plans to buy Symphoni Interactive, an iGate Corp business entity in an all share deal. iGate said that the proposed acquisition would include the assets of Global Financial Services of Nevada. Symphoni Interactive has more than 140 employees.