Numbers Game

The domestic markets tracked global cues. But the last trading day of the week and month, which was also the first day of February F&O expiry, saw a huge rally on the back of short covering.

During the last week, both Sensex and Nifty were seen closing up around 2 per cent. Nifty has support at 7453 and 7402. Going forward, we can expect some more pull-backs towards 7641 and 7702.

Investors can buy Nifty 7600 call options and should book profits when Nifty comes very close to the resistance levels.

Results Season
For the third quarter that ended in December 2015, Kajaria Ceramics reported an increase of 27.58 per cent in its consolidated net profit at Rs 58.19 crore as compared to Rs 45.61 crore in the same period last fiscal. On a consolidated basis, the total income from operations was up 8.02 per cent to 601.59 crore as against Rs 556.89 crore in a year ago period. The operating income for the quarter stood at Rs 117.3 crore compared to Rs 86.42 crore in the previous year and the operating margin for the same period stood at 19.50 per cent, compared to 15.52 per cent in the last year.

Packaging and laminating solutions firm Cosmo Films, announced its earnings for December 2015 quarter, where the company reported over a six fold jump in net profit. The net profit of the company stood at Rs 32.93 crore compared to a net profit of R5.01 crore in a year ago period. For the period under review, the total income from operations was up 7.83 per cent to R389.26 crore as against Rs 360.99 crore in the same period of the 2014-15 fiscal.

The lower commodity prices, along with the volume growth in the domestic and international markets, made Godrej Consumer Products report a 23 per cent increase in the consolidated net profit.

For the quarter that ended December 2015, the net profit stood at Rs 322.95 crore as compared to Rs 263.57 crore. The net sales for the period under review were at Rs 2353.54 crore as against Rs 2225.82 crore in a year earlier period.

Disinvestment Action
Last week, the government had decided to sell its 10 per cent stake in Engineers India as a part of its disinvestment plan. The disinvestment took place through Offer For Sale (OFS) on Friday, January 29, 2016 and the floor was fixed at Rs 189 per share, which would have fetched about Rs 637 crore to the exchequer. OFS started at 9.15 am and closed on the same day at 3.30 pm. The company provides engineering and construction consultancy, particularly in the hydrocarbon space. In February last year, the government has budgeted target of Rs 69,500 crore from stake sale.

The rollover figure for the first month of the year stood better, but remained below the previous month's figure. The January month rollover stood at 67 per cent, compared to 73 per cent in December 2015. The rollover for Bank Nifty and IT stood at 71 per cent and 66 per cent respectively. The highest rollover was seen in IDFC (94 per cent), Jain Irrigation, Divis Lab and Tata Global, three of them 93 per cent. The lowest rollovers were seen in TVS Motor (51 per cent), Hexaware and Ambuja cements each at 58 per cent respectively.

Banking on
Oil prices remained the major course of action for the markets around the globe. The meeting of global central banks also remained in focus. The US Federal Reserve hinted at an outlook change for the economy, which triggered the possibility of a near term interest rate hike to be unlikely. Meanwhile, the Japanese central bank adopted a negative interest rate strategy to support the economy.

In the US markets, Markit manufacturing PMI, total vehicles sales, markit composite PMI, services PMI, unemployment rate, factory orders, balance of trade, non-farm payrolls, initial and continuing jobless claims are the important data. The major triggers for the Chinese markets are manufacturing PMI and non-manufacturing PMI.

Back Home
In the coming week for Indian markets, Nikkei manufacturing PMI, services PMI, infrastructure output and RBI monetary meet will be in focus.

Along with it, some companies may announce their earnings in the week which includes Tech Mahindra, Century Textiles, Shalimar Paints, TIIL, SBT, EID Parry, OCL, Escorts, KRBL, DLF, Tube Investment, Snowman Logistics, Tata Communication, Greaves Cotton, IOC, TD Power system, KEC, TBZ, Berger Paint, ABB, Dolphin Offshore, GE Ship, SCI, Specialty, Take, Lupin, COX & Kings, BOSCH LTD, FDC, Jet Airways, JK Cement, and Selan exploration.

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