Opening Bell 9 April | Alcoa earnings lift markets
Asian markets trading mostly higher following upbeat cues from Wall Street
Mumbai: US markets ended higher on Monday after the earnings season kick-started on a positive note. Alcoa Inc., the world largest aluminum maker by revenue, beat estimates as net profit rose 59% in the March quarter, reports MarketWatch. The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq were up 0.3% and 0.6% each.
Asian markets were trading mostly higher following upbeat cues from Wall Street. China’s March consumer prices were up less than expected. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% after the data, Japan’s Nikkei stock Average was up 0.2%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained around 1%.
In India, finance minister P. Chidambaram met bankers and corporates to discuss issues regarding stalled project. The finance ministry had identified 215 stalled projects, each above ₹ 250 crore and gave assurances of taking action, reports Business Standard.
State Bank of India shares may see some action as the lender is clamping down on 274 willful defaulters. SBI is sharing the names of such defaulters with RBI and the Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (Cibil) and also plans to publish the photographs of the promoters in leading newspapers, reports Mint.
Coal India Ltd will be in the limelight as it plans to deliver extra coal produced to power companies, to counter criticism of its inability to meet domestic demand, reports Mint. Coal India is planning to produce an additional 32.5 million tonnes compared to 315 mt last year which will go to the power plants.
BHEL may continue to be on the buzzer after the company said that it will recover pending dues worth ₹ 20,000 crore from customers by July. Although order inflow improved in the March quarter, the company reported a 8% dip in net profit to ₹ 31,528 crore year on year. The stock rallied 3% in trade on Monday.
TVS Motors announced a long-term pact with BMW Motorrad, the German carmaker’s subsidiary, that will help TVS access German technology to manufacture a series of sub-500cc motorcycles, which will hit the market by 2015, reports Economic Times.
Bharti Airtel Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd may see some relief after the Supreme Court allowed telecom players to continue to offer 3G services outside their regions via roaming pacts for the next few days. In a separate case, Supreme Court said it will decide next Monday whether Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti should be summoned as accused in the excess spectrum case, reports Economic Times.
Reliance Industries Ltd, in joint venture with BP Plc , Torrent Power , GAIL and Petronet LNG, is in the race to pick up a 25% stake in an LNG terminal at Mundra in Gujarat, worth ₹ 5000 crore, reports Mint.
Lastly, Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s only woman prime minister, who pulled her country back out of socialism and helped guide US and Soviet Union through the cold war died on Monday at the age of 87.
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