Bombay Dying Shining Markets shrugged off the nervousness and acted positively to the credit policy of RBI. As predicted earlier not much would come in the credit policy and it didn’t actually except for a rise in CRR of 25bps which would suck the liquidity and would help stem the inflation expectations. Today the nifty crossed 5200 mark the real test would be at 5250 levels and if it can break the 5300 levels than the bears might have little hope of pulling it back and if they are unable to pull the nifty back we might even see 5500 levels soon. So the bulls have 100 points more to score to put real pressure on the bears. The star performer of the day undoubtedly was Bombay Dyeing it almost crossed the 1k mark. RPL has also crossed 200 levels and looks strong along with RNRL there might be some resistance at these levels for both but if they were to cross 210 and 130 respectively one can see levels of 230-240 for RPL and 135-140 levels for RNRL. Tomorrow the markets might once again show some signs of nervousness as the BOJ and FED is scheduled to meet tomorrow. But like RBI nothing will come from BOJ and Fed may either cut rate by 25 bps or may do nothing. We have given recommendation on Modern India Ltd. The company has received permission from Government of Maharashtra, Urban Development Department to develop / redevelop the mill land as per Regulation 58 of Revised Development Control Regulation Gr., Mumbai 1991. It will approximately develop 7.5 lac sq feet land in Mahalaxmi area Mumbai. Modern India Ltd is also planning to set up (IT / ITES SEZ (Information Technology / Information Technology Enabling Services) (Special Economic Zone) 15 Hectare of land at Khopoli and the project will be implemented through a wholly owned subsidiary Company viz. Modern India Property Developers Ltd. The land was acquired by the Company about six months ago at a cost of about Rs 35 Crores and the State Government has already given their recommendation to the Central Government for formal approval of the project. "If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock."

State Bank of India Profit Beats Analysts' Estimates... State Bank of India, the nation's biggest by assets, reported a 26 percent increase in fourth- quarter profit, beating analysts' estimates, as record economic growth spurred demand for loans. Net income climbed to 18.8 billion rupees ($462 million) in the three months ended March 31 from 14.9 billion rupees a year earlier, the state-owned bank said. That beat the 17 billion rupee median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. State Bank completed its first share sale in a decade in March to boost lending to its 130 million customers, equivalent to the population of Japan. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said yesterday interest rates are unlikely to climb from a six-year high, easing concerns that loan growth will slow. ``Banks in India will continue to be a good bet as the economy grows,'' said Mihir Vora, who manages $800 million as the head of equities at HSBC Asset Management (India) Pvt. in Mumbai. ``Banks with good asset-liability balance and credit control will outperform.'' Economic growth that's averaged 8.7 percent annually for four years has spurred companies and individuals to borrow from lenders led by State Bank, which controls more than a fifth of India's banking assets. Chairman Om Prakash Bhatt is required to offer credit to high-risk groups including farmers and artisans and operate branches in less profitable towns and villages. Shares rose 2.7 percent to 1,822.4 rupees in Mumbai trading. The stock was the fourth-best performer on India's equity benchmark Sensitive Index in the past 12 months. Investment State of Bank of India will need 250 billion rupees to hire workers?add branches and increase revenue by an average 25 percent for the next three years, Bhatt told reporters in Kolkata today. The bank plans to add 2,000 branches this financial year and may consider buying or allying with a bank in the United Arab Emirates, he said, without identifying a target. The investment will be in addition to the 167 billion rupees it raised selling shares to stakeholders in March, Bhatt said. Loans and deposits increased 23.4 percent in the year ended March 31, Bhatt said today. The chairman has previously forecast loan growth to slow this fiscal year as higher interest rates and inflation lead to a reduction in consumer spending. The bank estimates loans will increase 25 percent and deposits will climb 22 percent this financial year, Bhatt said. Interest rates are expected to remain ``stable'' in the next three to six months, he said. Cars, Homes Credit growth in India slowed to 21.6 percent in the 12 months ended March, from 28.1 percent a year earlier, according to data from the central bank, as consumers deferred purchases of automobiles and homes. State Bank expects to receive government approval to merge with its seven units this month and plans to complete the consolidation by March, Bhatt said. The bank had already started the process of combining with the State Bank of Saurashtra to grow assets and gain more branches. ``If State of Saurashtra goes through, we will decide on the sequence and pace of remaining associate banks,'' Bhatt said. ``We have a sense that before March 2009, we will be able to merge all of them.'' State Bank's focus on extending banking services across the world's second-most populous nation has limited its exposure to the collapse in the U.S. subprime market. Meltdown The bank set aside about $10 million to cover mark-to-market losses in the year related to the meltdown in the credit markets, it said today. More than 100 of the world's biggest banks and securities firms have reported $312 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007, including reserves set aside for bad loans. The lender needs to bridge a gulf in assets with overseas competitors such as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. as regulators consider letting foreign financial-services firms take control of India's private banks. State Bank's market value of $28 billion is less than a tenth of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s $306 billion. ICBC is the world's biggest by market value. To help achieve this, State Bank plans to get about 25 percent of profit from overseas within five years, up from about 11 percent now, the bank said.

Arvind Mills Board to consider dividend Arvind Mills Ltd has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on May 10, 2008 to consider and approve the Audited Annual Accounts of the Company for the financial year ended on March 31, 2008 and recommend dividends, if any, on Equity and Preference Shares

SBI Board declares dividend State Bank of India (SBI) has informed that the meeting of the Central Board of the Bank held on May 02, 2008, inter alia, has declared a dividend of Rs 21.50 per share for the year ended March 31, 2008.

Fed Raises Cash-Loan Auctions by 50% to $75 Billion The Federal Reserve expanded its cash- loan auctions for banks by 50 percent to $75 billion each after higher borrowing costs blunted the impact of the four-month-old program. The Fed also increased its currency-swap arrangement with the European Central Bank by two-thirds to $50 billion and doubled the amount with the Swiss National Bank to $12 billion, extending their terms through January. In a third move, the Fed will accept other AAA rated asset-backed securities as collateral for Treasury loans through another program. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke created the Term Auction Facility and two other programs to reverse a decline in liquidity that began last year with the collapse in the market for subprime mortgages. Today's move may reduce loan payments for some companies and homeowners with variable-rate mortgages. The actions were taken ``in view of the persistent liquidity pressures in some term funding markets,'' the Fed said in a statement.

Inflation will be tamed and contained,assures Finance Minister Finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday counselled patience and expressed confidence that inflationary pressures would subside even as the rate of inflation for the week ended April 19 rose to a three-and-a-half-year high of 7.57%. “Inflation will be tamed and contained. Our sympathies are with the people. One must be patient. The Union government’s procurement (of foodgrains) is ahead of the target. Against a target of 150 lakh tonnes of wheat, we have procured 154 lakh tonnes till April-end. Rice procurement stands at 230 lakh tonnes,” he told reporters here. Seeking to draw a contrast with the previous NDA government, the finance minister said that procurement levels under the UPA were higher than in the past and had been rising every year since 2004. The leakage from the public distribution, however, was worrisome, he observed. It is estimated that 39% of the foodgrains meant for the public distribution system are diverted. The rate of inflation in 2000-01, when the NDA was in power, was higher than 6% for 48 out of 52 weeks, he added. “I am not saying inflation is not worrying us. We have had instances when crude prices were high but commodity prices were benign, and sometimes it was vice-versa. However, this time around, we are having a situation when both commodity and crude prices have been on the rise.” He said global crude prices had risen from $37.70 per barrel, when the UPA came to power, to $120 per barrel now. Observing that there were protests globally about rising food prices, Mr Chidambaram said all governments had to first ensure the availability of foodgrains for their own population before looking at exports.

Bombay Dyeing denies real-estate division hive-off The stock of Bombay Dyeing has been gaining sharply in the last few days accompanied by increased volumes. The low delivery volumes were only adding to the speculative pressure in the scrip. The stock has gained 71.40 per cent during the last one month and 23 per cent in the last one week on the BSE. Trading volumes, which were around 10,000 on April 1 on the BSE, zoomed to 18.6-lakh shares last week. On Friday, volumes stood at 8.5-lakh shares, higher than its two-week average of 8-lakh shares. The deliverable quantity of just 5 per cent on Friday suggests increased day-trading activity in the counter, which is much lower than April month deliverable ratio of about 19 per cent. The company recently disclosed to the stock exchanges that Perman Project Supports Ltd and Bombay Burmah Trading Corp Ltd have hiked stake in the company during March. Market grapevine has it that the management of Bombay Dyeing is considering de-merger of its real estate business into a separate company. However, when contracted, the Company Secretary said that these are mere market speculations. “There is no such proposal,” he told Business Line. The company is scheduled to announce quarterly and full-year financial performance on May 26.