INDIA BUSINESS UPDATE-- Sensex Vaults 623 Pts; Auto Sales Up In Feb

Tuesday, Mar 01, 2011 SPECIAL LEAD Click here for India Business Update Mobile Version SENSEX ZOOMS 623 PTS IN POST-BUDGET RALLY Indian equity benchmarks staged a spectacular performance on Tuesday lifting the Sensex to its highest single-day gain in over 21 months. The rally was supported by various reasons viz relief rally in auto stocks, stabilisation in crude oil prices after the Libya concerns, interest rates hike not likely in near term, short covering by FIIs who had built up short positions before budget and lower-than-expected fiscal deficit and government's borrowing programme for FY12. Auto index gained around 6%, and banking and realty indices by around 4% each. Sensex closed up at 18,446.50 points, while Nifty settled at 5522.30, up 189.05 points. read more LEAD STORIES AUTO MAKERS POST ROBUST FEBRUARY SALES Auto makers reported higher sales in February. While M&M posted 20% increase in sales, TVS jumped 24%, Maruti 16% and Tata 12%. read more GOVT'S SUBSIDY BILL UP BY OVER 100% IN 4 YRS The subsidy bill will jump by over 100% during the 4-year period ending 2011-12 to Rs 1.43 lakh crore on rising outgo towards petroleum, food items. read more TOP STORIES • Petrol prices may rise by Rs 2/litre soon • Investors richer by over Rs 2.3 lk cr post-Budget • FIIs net buyers of Rs 419 cr in cash mkt today • Silver scales new peak at Rs 50,700 on global cues • Rupee up 32 paise, ends near 2-mth high at 44.95/$ • Jan infrastructure output up 7.1% vs 6.1% MoM • AXA sells 51% stake to BoI in AMC venture • JP Morgan eyeing minority stake in Twitter • SBI bond oversubscribed 8.5 times, gets Rs 8,580 cr • HC reserves verdict on Vedanta expansion bid plea • BSE, NSE, commodity mkts to remain closed on Mar 2 • Govt says study on black money to take 18 mths • CWG Scam: CBI searches Kalmadi's bank lockers • CWG Scam: Bhanot, Verma sent to jail for 14 days • Godhra Verdict: 11 get death, 20 life term • Intel completes $7.68 bn buyout of McAfee • FM's budget worthy of our praise: Corporate America • Gaddafi deploys forces as world raises Libya pressure • Oscar telecast least-watched in the past 10 yrs • Penthouse launches first 3D adult channel in Europe more stories TOP VIDEOS Profit Can't Be The Only Priority Of Business: Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries See No Impact Of FII Permit To Invest In MFs: Samir Arora, Fund Manager, Helios Capital I Know A Lot Of Investors Say These Are Uncertain Times, But The Point Of Maximum Uncertainty Is Also The Point Of Maximum Returns: Ridham Desai, MD, Morgan Stanley Diesel Excise Cut Would Have Eased OMC Burden: Kirit Parikh, Chairman, Committee On Pricing & Taxation Of Petroleum Products AT A GLANCE BSE 18446.5 +623.1 NSE 5522.3 +189.05 TURNOVER Rs. 149,183 cr BSE CASH Rs. 3,354 cr NSE CASH Rs. 13,457 cr NSE F&O Rs. 132,371 cr BULLION GOLD 20948 +25 SILVER 50100 +250 CRUDE WTI 97.62 +0.65 BRENT 5081.59 -8.11 FOREX $ / Re 44.94 -0.32 £ / Re 73.153 -0.22 € / Re 62.112 -0.14 EVENTS 1-2 March Conference On Overseas Coal Acquisitions & Coal Imports, The Imperial, New Delhi 3-4 March India Energy Security Summit 2011, Shangrila Eros Corporate Plaza 4 March The Game Changer, Conference On Leveraging Technology In MBA Education, IHC, New Delhi 4-5 March Enterprising India, Changing The Nation, Leading The World, NCPA, Mumbai 4-7 March Light India International, Chennai Trade & Convention Centre, Chennai 7 March Exhibitors Knowledge Forum, Novotel, Mumbai 9-10 March Conference On Waste Management In India, The Imperial, New Delhi EXPERT VIEWS "The sheer confidence this budget represents is worthy of our praise. The opening of the mutual fund industry to FIIs is a step that will serve to mobilise significant amounts of capital and expertise in India's financial markets." Ron Somers President, US-India Business Council "I don't think that it is government's view that the present inflation cannot be brought under control without FDI in multi-brand retail...Govt is not ruling out FDI in multi-brand retail. We have said that it is a sensitive area. Montek Singh Ahluwalia Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission "Just as India is looking at Sachin Tendulkar to bring smiles to our faces at the end of this cricket World Cup, business is looking at you (Pranab Mukherjee) to steer the Indian economy through the rough patches." Rajan Bharti Mittal President, FICCI WATCH OUT Exclusive Interview with FM Amidst hopes of fixings the 3 'D's: fiscal deficit, current account deficit and government deficit, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the Union Budget 2011-12 on Monday. In an exclusive interview with Raghav Bahl, Pranab Mukherjee admits that he "could have done better with the budget". Tune into CNBC-TV18 for this exclusive Interview. SHOW TIMINGS Wed 9:30 pm