The Hindu Business Line : Two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff

Jogin was surprised that Wal-Mart had posted its first quarterly profit decline in 10 years. Sridevi spent an afternoon reading about the founding of Infosys. Dakshinamoorthy cranked up his worksheet to analyse global car sales. And Khan marshalled them all for the market chat. Join in, fast!

* * *

Kay: Hi, pals! Market looks stronger.

Dax: Though it ended flat on Friday. Nifty thoughts?

Sri: On the downside, could see support around 3286.

Jog: And on the upside, resistance around 3425 levels.

Dax: Expect markets to move to higher levels.

Sri: Sensex may take another shot at the 12000-point mark!

Jog: IOC, BPCL, HPCL were the Dhonis of the market on Friday.

Dax: Bombay Dyeing, Rolta are expected to continue good run.

Sri: Mid-cap tea stocks are fighting back after being dumped.

Kay: Sugar stocks presented a mixed bag last week.

Jog: Watch out for Uttam Sugar, say brokers.

Dax: At one point, REL and RIL were neck-to-neck in pricing.

Jog: The latter has marched ahead. REL hovering around 450-470. Why?

Kay: Pay attention to IPCA Lab and Cipla. FMCG scrips...

Sri: Could come under pressure! Commodity prices are rising.

Jog: Especially wheat. And that's hitting the margin...

Dax: Of companies such as Britannia. Will show in Q2 results?

Sri: "Two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff... "

Jog: As says Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice!

Kay: Cotton-based textile cos may gain from rising prices.

Jog: Glut of cotton in the country. With another good crop in sight...

Dax: Cheaper prices than China? Time to look at these firms!

Kay: Last week's numbers?

Jog: ING Vysya was up almost 12% last Monday. Mahavir Spg

gained more than 6% while Hind Zinc and JB Chem earned a

profit of about 5% on Aug 14. Bhagya Nag gained 3% and Exide

2% that day. In the sub-2% category were Reliance, Aftek Infos,

IPCL and Kabra Extr. Ending last Monday on a +ve note were

Mro-tek and Kesoram Ind.

Sri: Cement sector to outperform the market on good demand.

Kay: ACC, GA Cement, India Cements worth a follow up.

Dax: Watching Mahindra Gesco and Savita Chemicals.

Jog: In small caps, sharp rise in volumes in ETC Network and Maral Overseas.

Dax: Could move up further. Tera Soft plans bonus on Aug 28.

Sri: Ended on Friday at Rs 68. Will bonus make any impact?

Kay: HCL Tech could see some +ve moves due to results.

Dax: Falcon Tyres may see some strength.

Jog: Owing to proposed tie up with Sumitomo?

Sri: Hospitality stocks could sport an upward bias.

Dax: A leading research house has projected bullishness for the industry.

Kay: Dubai Financial's stake in Thomas Cook is almost 70%

Dax: After the recent 8% buy!

Sri: Wildcard picks include Novartis, Calsoft, Kilburn Engg.

Jog: SBI gaining well. Raised interest rates.

Dax: In tune with the latest trends on the rates front.

Kay: Lakshmi Vilas Bank reported a 573% jump in net profit!

Sri: To Rs 22 crore for FY06, compared to Rs 3 crore last year.

Dax: Capital adequacy ratio at 10.8%

Jog: Centurion Bank should see some action, with plans to acquire Lord Krishna Bank.

Dax: "Do glorify the banks that bound them in," as in King John! Bye.

* * *

Lee with inputs from Nat, Mad, Nil, Sub, The and Bij.

Blog at http://MarketChat.blogspot.com