The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, November 02, 2003

Tyres: Punctured by high input costs
THE performance of corporates in the auto-ancillary segment in recent quarters has been quite impressive. The steady increase in automobile production has had a positive impact on the financial performance of quite a ... More

How they roll
MRF: Buy
Apollo Tyres: Hold/Buy on declines
Ceat: Buy
TVS Srichakra: Book profit More

AUTOMOBILES

Makeovers for Diwali
CAR and motorbike makers seem to have looked towards Hollywood for the flavour of the season when it came to the spate of recent launches. Hollywood, incidentally, is teeming with new releases, which are reruns, sequels ... More

INSIGHT

MF funds flow: Boarding the equity bandwagon late
"Our attempt is to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy" - Warren Buffet WARREN Buffet's statement on stock market investing captures the essence of a winning stock market ... More

Churn could dent performance
THE patterns in fund flows into equity mutual funds over the past four years reinforce the view that investors in equity mutual funds are guilty of the cardinal error of buying high and selling low. These trends could ... More

Mutual fund income schemes: Expenses stay stubbornly high
Expenses charged to mutual fund income schemes continue to be high. And the returns from income schemes could get substantially lower if expenses are not reduced. Distributors and asset management companies need to reduce costs if they seek continue d investor patronage. More

Regulator as a risk
TRAI's moves are no surprise because it was responsible for patching on WLL to the basic service when the licences were handed out, about three years ago. All along, the WLL route has been a backdoor, low-cost entry into full-fledged mobile services. More

Disconnecting the regulator... Connecting to a new market
IN A single and striking policy move, the Group of Ministers' acceptance of the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in toto and the Union Cabinet's approval of a unified licence involving ... More

Calculating VaR
XLRI Jamshedpur recently tied up with Riskmetrics, US, for risk management practice. Riskmetrics made popular the concept of Value-at-Risk (VaR) in the late 1980s. What is VaR? VaR is a measure of portfolio risk. ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Principal Cash Management Fund Liquid Option: Invest
PRINCIPAL Cash Management Fund Liquid Option generated an annualised return of 4.9 per cent in the last six months. The returns are on par with interest rates on six-month bank fixed-deposit. Investors who prefer ... More

US-95: Well-balanced
INVESTORS can hold their exposures in the US-95, a balanced fund of UTI Mutual Fund. Its track record across different time periods has been fairly good. The fund has maintained exposures in the 53 per cent to 60 per ... More

Alliance Frontline Equity: Sell
INVESTORS in the Alliance Frontline Equity Fund can sell and switch to diversified funds with a superior track record. The funds' performance compares favourably with the benchmark index but is unimpressive compared to ... More

STOCKS

Tata Motors: Hold/Buy on declines
STRONG revival in the commercial vehicles market, robust demand for passenger cars, especially the Indigo sedan, and the salutary effect of a tight-fisted approach on costs, have all combined to make the September ... More

Exide Industries: Book profits
ALONG with a host of auto-ancillary companies, the storage battery major — Exide Industries — too has seen a steady improvement in financial performance and market capitalisation over the recent quarters. ... More

State Bank of Travancore: Buy
FRESH investments can be considered in the stock of State Bank of Travancore. The stock trades at a discount of 25 per cent to its book value and its performance in the past couple of years has been encouraging. ... More

Oriental Bank of Commerce: Book profits
SHAREHOLDERS of Oriental Bank of Commerce can consider reducing exposure to the stock, whose valuation is now rich and at a considerable premium to stocks of other public sector banks. The premium is justified to ... More

Voltas: Hold
THE highlight of Voltas's performance for the quarter ended September 2003 is the sharp improvement in operating profit, driven by a favourable product mix. Though the turnover registered a marginal growth, profit ... More

Tata Steel: Hold/Sell on uptrend
TATA Steel is reaping the benefits of the buoyancy in the steel market and the sustained improvement in its operational efficiencies. The company's net profits during the second quarter ended September more than ... More

GE Shipping: Buy
INVESTMENTS can be contemplated in the stock of Great Eastern Shipping as it is poised to benefit from the strong undertone in the dry-cargo-freight market (ferrying of cargoes such as coal, iron ore, grains), and the likely stability in the ... More

Elgi Equipments: Buy
INVESTORS can consider fresh exposures in Elgi Equipments. Business Line had recommended a `buy' on the stock at Rs 24 in May. We reiterate our buy on the stock in the light of consistent performance, notable rise in operating margins and ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Divergent trend in key stocks
The market does not appear too enthused by the quarterly performance of the company if the price action in the past few days is any indication. The near-term trend depends on the price movement in the next few days. A close above Rs 890 could ... More

Focus of the week
J.B.Chemicals (Rs 279.7): The overall outlook for the stock is positive. A move towards the Rs 350-360 range appears likely. Current holders could remain invested with a stop loss at Rs 250. A move above Rs 290 could be used to take ... More

Query corner
I am holding Southern Iron & Steel (at Rs 6) and ACC (at Rs 198). Please advise whether to hold or exit.— M. Elango Southern Iron (Rs 5.6): The stock has been on a steady decline from the Rs 13-14 range. There appears to ... More

Near-term outlook stays positive
Preferred view: The movement in the index was in line with last week's anticipation. The index ruled firm as expected and moved to the target zone of 1540-1550 that was mentioned last week. The price action in the past few days indicates ... More

CARS

Question `n' auto
I am planning to purchase either a Fiat Palio NV or Maruti Alto. While you had written in detail about the Palio NV, I would request you to clarify the details about the Alto's performance, pricing and mileage per litre. If I do decide to ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

INSURANCE CORNER

LIC's Jeevan Sukanya
THIS is a unique product targeted at the girl child. The product's distinctiveness is that it provides double cover for the life of the insuree and her spouse, and also pays a lumpsum at age 20 for meeting expenses such ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Up `n' down the street
Sundaram Fasteners (Rs 798): The robust earnings growth in the quarter ending September 2003 and the merger of TVS Autolec with the company has induced this stock to surge 18.2 per cent. TVS Autolec, on the other hand, fell by 25 per cent. ... More

DEBT MARKET

May remain bid
THE bond market was wobbly intra-week. The 10-year yield rose to 5.20 per cent due to tight liquidity on account of OMO, but later fell to close at 5.12 per cent. Going forward, bonds are likely to remain bid, with the November 3 credit policy ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Open interest buoyed by positive sentiments
GAINING strength from the uptrend in the index, most of the positions on the October contracts were rolled over to the November contracts; and new positions initiated in the last three trading days. The turnover in the F&O segment of NSE hit an ... More

CREDIT MARKET

Loan options for pensioners
MR and Mrs Sharma are a typical middle-class retired couple leading a peaceful life out of a monthly income from investments and pension. One morning, Mrs Sharma falls ill and is admitted to a hospital. Mr Sharma is ... More

INTERVIEW

`Operational excellence is important'
`Customer intimacy is why global companies will stay with you. In this market, it is almost imperative that you anticipate the customer needs and act.' More

INCOME TAX

Account for NSC interest as it accrues
HOW IS NSC interest accrued to be treated for tax purposes? Will long-term capital gains be taken as part of gross total income for the purpose of determining the percentage of rebate that a person is entitled to under ... More

No sops for funding son's education
MY SON has joined a full-time engineering course. For funding his education, I have taken a loan from a scheduled bank. The education expense is likely to be Rs 40,000 per annum, which is to be given as a loan by the ... More

Duplicate Form 16
I am the drawing and disbursing officer of my employer company. We have on salary payments, deducted tax at source from the employees of the company. We have also issued a TDS certificate to the employees in Form 16. Some of the employees have ... More

Mediclaim rebate
Our employer company has made arrangements for a group mediclaim insurance with National Insurance Company. As a result , there is a substantial reduction in the premium which is paid by the company and recovered from our salary. The insurance ... More

BOOKS

BOOK VALUE

See a `V' in value
IQ is intelligence quotient, EQ is emergency quota for the must-travel types, DQ is a computer magazine, and HQ is headquarters. So, what is VQ? A new tool called value quotient from Peter S. Cohan, who tells all in his ... More

CARTOON