Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers queries on how to invest in stocks.
State-run Coal India on Wednesday toppled billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries as the country's most valued company, with a slightly higher market valuation around mid-day.
Amid strong opposition from CIL workers union to the proposed stake sale in the company, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said the disinvestment proceeds of about Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) from the coal behemoth will be invested in public sector banks.
HCL Tech and ONGC were the top gainers in the Sensex, rising up to 3.40 per cent.
The government's disinvestment programme is set to get a boost this Diwali, with the finance ministry planning to hit the market to sell a five per cent stake in Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) by October.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The Sensex rally was driven by Tata Motors, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Larsen and Toubro and HCL Tech.
According to latest data (October 13) by the Central Electricity Authority, total fuel stocks at 103 coal-based stations have come down to 7.2 million tonnes.
On the gaining side, Hero Moto, SBI, HDFC, HUL and L&T have gained between 1-1.4 per cent.
The index compiler will add Coal India's stock into FTSE All-World Index and FTSE All-Emerging Index on a fast entry basis.
NTPC was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks, rising by 3.53 per cent. Coal India, ONGC and Sun Pharma also rose up to 2.41 per cent.
If the markets regulator has not yet sent an advisory note to Coal India on its chief executive's frequent announcements in the media, it is probably because it is a public sector enterprise.
Coal India Ltd's Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) mega issue, which opens on Monday for public subscription, has garnered a bullish endorsement from most of the market experts who believe it would be the star attraction of this week for all, including retail investors.
In a setback to initial public offer (IPO)-ready Coal India, the Jharkhand government has rejected a forest clearance for a railway link being planned for evacuation of coal from the North Karanpura coalfield operated by the coal miner.
The government expects to raise up to Rs 12,000-15,000 crore (Rs 120-150 billion) through Coal India IPO, billed as the country's largest ever.
Major losers include Lupin 1.96 per cent, along with Tata Motors, Coal India and Sun Pharma.
Besides offtake pact, the navratna firm has planned equity infusion and forming joint ventures to expand its global footprint.
Bajaj Finance was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.64 per cent. Tata Motors, Infosys, Vedanta, ONGC, PowerGrid, NPTC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, TCS and RIL too rose up to 3.48 per cent.
In her fourth tranche of the economic package, she said commercial mining will be done on revenue sharing mechanism instead of the regime of fixed rupee/tonne.
Aiming to raise Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) from disinvestment, the government on Wednesday said it will sell its stake in 10 more PSUs, including IndianOil, MMTC, Coal India Ltd, SAIL, RINL and Shipping Corporation, in the current financial year.
The combined market valuation of top six Sensex companies surged by Rs 26,346 crore last week, with Reliance Industries and HDFC contributing the most to the gains.
Yes Bank gained the most, spurting 5.94 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, Infosys, SBI, M&M, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors rose up to 1.65 per cent.
Top losers in the Sensex pack include Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Asian Paints, RIL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, ONGC and M&M, falling up to 3.09 per cent.
The world's largest coal producer Coal India Ltd on Tuesday said it may consider setting up power plants in the country to utilise excess coal.
Assocham president Niranjan Hiranandani said his talks with government officials showed dues to industry and states were pending in the form of refunds of income tax, value-added tax, and GST, and compensation, payments to discoms in the power sector, fertiliser subsidies, etc.
India's largest ever public offer to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) will hit the market by the third week of October.
Coal India would be second company to hit the markets under the government's disinvestment programme.
The country's largest coal producer Coal India on Thursday said it will facilitate opening of demat accounts for its 4 lakh employees to ensure their participation in the upcoming public issue which is likely to fetch around Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) to the government.
Coal India wants to organise PAN cards and demat accounts for each of its 400,000 staff ahead of its IPO.
There is a strong hint that the proposed IPO will be of 11 per cent instead of the earlier plan of 15 per cent (10 per cent public, 2 per cent employees and 3 per cent land losers).
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' queries on stocks they own or want to buy.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included Yes Bank, Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, L&T, SBI, NTPC, Kotak Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Infosys and ITC, falling up to 4.18 per cent.
Sectorally, metal, auto and IT stocks were leading gainers amid sustained foreign fund inflow.
The government is likely to take a call on the much-talked about divestment in Hindustan Copper next week.
Other top losers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, TCS, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Hero MotoCorp, declining up to 3.28 per cent.
Besides financials, shares of telecom, IT, auto and pharma were in demand.
State-owned Coal India is expected to seal deals worth $1.8 billion (about Rs 8,000 crore) with foreign firms in the next two months for mining coal abroad.
"We are in interactions with the Ministry of Steel for SAIL, we are in interactions with the Coal Ministry on Coal India. On BSNL also, we are in interaction with the IT and Communication Ministry."
Tata Sons stake in the group's listed companies is now worth Rs 9.28 trillion, up 34.4 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. In comparison, the Government of India's stake in listed central public sector undertakings (PSUs) is currently valued at Rs 9.24 trillion
