Market Today

Finally my fears of market are stepping back from my life and hope it continue to do so. With the market going up and also prices of petrol I seriously think I should now again concentrate on markets and convert my insurance schemes into money values. Let's see what's in the market today :
Today most topped groups are of Pharmacies and Oil companies.

Tata Motors Ltd. (TTMT), the nation’s biggest truckmaker and owner of Jaguar Land Rover, dropped 1.2 percent after June sales declined. Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI), the largest mobile-phone operator, climbed 1.1 percent.

The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX), or Sensex, retreated 0.2 percent to 17,403.83 at 9:54 a.m. after shuffling between gains and losses at least five times.
“Investors are taking a breather given the superb rally we had last month,” said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd. in Kochi. “They are waiting for some trigger which could come from more reform measures by the Prime Minister to boost economic growth.”

Indian stocks jumped the most in Asia in June on optimism Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will accelerate the government’s reform agenda after he took over the country’s Finance Ministry on June 26. Singh, who will head the ministry until a successor for Pranab Mukherjee is named, was finance minister in the 1990s, sparking an economic turnaround that now faces one of its sternest tests.

Reform Pressure

Singh’s administration has seen its agenda stymied by opposition from its own coalition allies, and last year suspended a plan to allow Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and other foreign companies to buy majority stakes in Indian multi-brand retailers. An anti-corruption bill and proposals to allow foreign direct investment in pensions have also been shelved.

The Sensex has gained 13 percent this year and trades at 13.6 times estimated earnings. Valuations sank to a three-year low of 12.4 times on May 23 on concern slowing economic growth will hurt corporate profits. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index trades at 10 times.

Overseas investors sold a net $122.1 million of Indian stocks on June 28, paring their investment this year to $8.6 billion, according to the nation’s market regulator.

Wall Street journal

NEW YORK: US stocks edged higher in choppy trade on Thursday as another batch of positive earnings and a strong housing report put equities on track for a third straight day of gains.

While most corporate results topped expectations, some high-profile misses, including from Exxon and Aetna, kept a lid on gains.

Pending home sales rose to a near two-year high in March, but investors also had to contend with data showing a stumbling labor recovery as weekly initial jobless claims fell slightly but missed forecasts.

With 254 companies S&P 500 companies reporting, more than 72 per cent have topped estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data. A big beat from Apple Inc drove Wednesday's rally, which gave the Nasdaq its best day of the year.

Weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp and online jobs recruiter Monster Worldwide Inc both had higher-than expected net. Monster jumped 15.6 per cent to $9.43, while Lockheed added 1.1 per cent to $91.99.

But Exxon Mobil Corp and Aetna Inc posted lower earnings, a nd United Parcel Service Inc's revenues missed expectations.

Exxon fell 1.8 per cent to $85.33, Aetna slid 10.4 per cent to $44.20 and UPS lost 3.2 per cent to $77.07.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.11 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 13,151.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index put on 2.57 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 1,393.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 6.44 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 3,036.07.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, grappling with a bribery probe at its Mexican operation, was one of the top gainers on the Dow, climbing 2.6 per cent to $58.86. The retailer remains down 5.5 per cent for the week.

Wednesday's rally helped to purge much of April's losses brought on by investors' worries over prospects of a seasonally weak market in May as well as signs Europe's debt crisis was getting worse.

The S&P 500 was back above its 50-day moving average after the level was fiercely contested. Stocks pulled back as much as 4.2 per cent from yearly highs in early April.

Colgate-Palmolive Co slipped 0.9 per cent to $98.71, even as sales topped expectations, while PepsiCo Inc took off 0.3 per cent at $66.48 after earnings fell slightly but still topped estimates.

Shares of Whirlpool Corp, the world's largest appliance maker, dropped 4.6 per cent to $65.75 after sales declined and it missed estimates.

On the upside, Citrix Systems Inc surged 10.5 per cent to $85.81 a day after reporting strong net income, prompting analysts to raise estimates for the business software company.

Wal-Mart stores- the highest profit maker in retail

Wal-Mart Stores Inc NYSE WMT 12:00 AM ET 8/14/09
Last: 51.79 Change: -0.09 %Change: -0.17% Volume: 17,238,900
Open: 51.87 P/E Ratio: 15.32


High: 52.25 EPS: 3.38
Low: 51.54 Ex Date: 12/9/2009
Bid: 51.83 Dividend: 0.27
Ask: 51.82 Shares Out: 3.9 B
Yield: 2.10% Market Cap: 201.8 B
52wk High: 63.85 52wk Low: 46.25 Avg Volume: 22.1 M

In the middle of the tough retailing environment, slower consumer spending and lower revenues did not stop the world’s largest retailer from boosting profits.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $3.45 billion, up from $3.4 billion one year ago. Revenue for the Bentonville-based retail giant slipped 1.4 percent compared to last year’s $100.08 billion. U.S. sales accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s revenue and same-stores sales rose 1.5 percent.

Wal-Mart officials say they are focused on “accelerating” expense reductions, but they only predicted future same-store sales in the zero to two percent range.

Retailing In India

Retail sector is a chain system, which consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store or kiosk, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. This sector directly depends on the consumers choice and their needs which creates a chain; from company stock store to state stock/local stock store to the whole sellers and from wholesellers to consumers or from wholesellers to distributors to dealers then to consumers.
In short it is a bussiness that buy goods at one price ( term it as wholesale rate ) and sell them to consumers adding some profit with the basic price. The Retail sector in India has been at high for last a year or two…The huge Indian middle class consumer are now the blue eyed segment for biggies like Bharti, Wal-Mart, Reliance and loads of others, in race to capture their pie in Indian Retail Market. Now India is slowly becoming the center of attraction for retail backened IT support global giants. Big fat companies now not only trying to capture the city but also the urban and suburbans with big banners and spending hundreds and thousands to attract them as the big part of the profit bussiness comes from them.