Tata Motors may rally on robust sales in May 2010

Tata Motors said on Tuesday it had sold 79,819 vehicles globally in May 2010, up 50% compared to the same period a year earlier. These included 19,053 vehicles sold by Jaguar Land Rover in the month, 72% higher from a year ago.Essar Oil has informed BSE that the company has issued $115 million Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds due June 2028 (FCCBs) to promoter company, Essar Energy Holdings for part financing expansion programmes of the company. The FCCBs are convertible into Global Depository Shares (GDSs) or equity shares of the company, at the option of the bondholders, at a conversion price of Rs 138 per share. Stocks of companies which have paid higher advance tax may edge higher. Higher advance tax payment normally indicates higher profits for the period under review. Reliance Industries (RIL) has paid Rs 653 crore, an increase of 108 %, while HPCL paid Rs 61 crore, a 307% increase. Bajaj Auto paid Rs 110 crore against Rs 50 crore last year. Infosys Technologies, the country's second-largest software company, reported an advance tax payment of Rs 275 crore, compared to Rs 230 crore in the previous year. TCS paid Rs 128 crore in advance taxes in Q1 June 2010, up 142% from Rs 53 crore it paid in the April-June period last fiscal. The country's top consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever paid Rs 75 crore, the same as last the last fiscal year. Advance tax payments by companies during the April-June quarter account for 15% of the total advance tax payable in the fiscal yearThe country's top pharmaceutical companies have also paid higher taxes, with GlaxoSmithkline Pharma paying Rs 42 crore against Rs 39 crore in the year-earlier period and Ranbaxy's payments rising to Rs 17.5 crore from Rs 15 crore. The banking sector was a mixed bag during the quarter. The country's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) for the first time in many years paid less than a year before. It paid Rs 860 crore against the Rs 1170 crore it paid a year before. Union Bank of India's advance tax payments rose to Rs 168 crore from Rs 104 crore, while ICICI Bank paid Rs 350 crore, the same as it paid in the last fiscal. Housing finance major HDFC has paid advance tax of Rs 215 crore in Q1 June 2010 verses Rs 175 crore in Q1 June 2009. Private sector lender HDFC Bank has paid advance tax of Rs 315 crore in Q1 June 2010 versus Rs 250 crore in Q1 June 2009. Mahindra and Mahindra paid Rs 63 crore, up 270.5%, and Tata Motors paid Rs65 crore, more than double last year's outgo. Steel Authority of India (SAIL) paid Rs 362 crore against Rs 344 crore a year before, while Gas Authority of India paid Rs 280 crore against Rs 250 crore. Ambuja Cement's advance tax payment dipped marginally to Rs 65 crore from Rs 70 crorePrivate equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has reportedly provided a Rs 650 crore loan to the privately-held investment company of Sajjan Jindal group, which owns JSW Steel and JSW Energy. Car companies are reportedly preparing to raise prices for the fourth time this year in July as raw material costs go through the roof. Companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Maruti are negotiating the extent of the hike with their vendors.