India Equity Preview

Tata Steel, Cipla, KPIT Cummins, Mundra: India Equity Preview

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in India trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are from the last close, unless stated otherwise.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, declined 118.4, or 0.7 percent, to 16,983.14. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.8 percent to 5,066.7. The BSE 200 Index dropped 0.8 percent to 2,128.64. SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for December delivery fell 0.1 to 5,054.0 at 11:20 a.m. in Singapore.

Overseas funds bought a net 4.45 billion rupees ($96.2 million) of Indian stocks on Dec. 4, taking their total investments in equities this year to $16.4 billion, the nation's market regulator said yesterday.

A.K. Capital Services Ltd. (AKCPS IN): The financial services company's board of directors approved a plan to raise funds by selling shares to large investors. A.K. Capital shares fell 1.3 percent to 276.35 rupees.

Cipla Ltd. (CIPLA IN): The drugmaker got notices from the Indian government's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority demanding as much as 201.51 million rupees regarding the drugs Ciprofloxacin and Doxycycline, it said in a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Cipla fell 2 percent to 351.8 rupees.

Hero Honda Motors Ltd. (HH IB): India's largest motorcycle maker was raised to "buy" from "neutral" by Sonal Gupta, an analyst at UBS AG, who set a price estimate of 2,050.00 per share. The stock advanced 0.7 percent to 1,676.9 rupees.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL IN): The second-largest state refiner plans to shut a 2.2 million metric ton diesel unit at its refinery in Vizag for a month, starting in two or three days, K. Murali, director of refineries, said. Hindustan Petroleum rose 1.5 percent to 386.1 rupees.

ICICI Bank Ltd. (ICICIBC IN): India's second-largest lender is in discussions to sell its entire 27 percent holding in software-services provider 3i Infotech Ltd., the Economic Times reported, citing an official it didn't identify. ICICI Bank has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on the sale, the newspaper reported. ICICI Bank shares fell 1.2 percent to 860.7 rupees.

J. Kumar Infraprojects Ltd. (JKIL IN): The construction company plans to sell shares to large investors, according to a share-sale document. The company has set 180.25 rupees as the floor price for the sale. The shares rose 2.4 percent to 188.75 rupees.

KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd. (KPIT IN): Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s two Asia funds sold a 3.84 percent stake in the software maker for 358 million rupees, sending the shares to a 23-month high. The stock gained 0.9 percent to 118.05 rupees.

Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (MSEZ IB): The operator of India's largest non-state cargo terminals was raised to "neutral" from "sell" by Sandip Bansal, an analyst at UBS, who set the share price estimate at 640.00 rupees. Mundra lost 1.8 percent to 556.6 rupees.

Nestle India Ltd. (NEST IN): The company's board of directors approved a proposal to buy a healthcare nutrition business from Speciality Foods India Pvt. The shares gained 0.5 percent to 2,628.2 rupees.

NTPC Ltd. (NATP IB): The power utility was raised to "neutral" from "sell" by Pankaj Sharma, an analyst at UBS, who set the price estimate at 230.00 rupees a share. The shares declined 1.4 percent to 206.9 rupees.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC IN): Itochu Corp. and Mitsui & Co. are bidding for a 25 percent stake in ONGC Petro-additions, a unit of Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the Economic Times reported. ONGC could raise as much as 50 billion Indian rupees through the sale, the newspaper said. The shares fell less than 0.1 to 1,179.05 rupees.

Patni Computer Systems Ltd. (PATNI IN): The software services provider was rated "underweight" in new coverage at HSBC Holdings Plc, which said it expects margins to "disappoint" as supply pressures emerge. Patni added 1 percent to 468.05 rupees.

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL IN): India's most valuable company is in discussions with several banks to establish $8 billion-$10 billion in financing to buy LyondellBasell Industries AF, which has filed for bankruptcy, Economic Times of India reported, citing bankers with knowledge of the matter. Shares of Reliance fell 3.1 percent to 1,055 rupees.

Tata Communications Ltd. (TCOM IN): The telecommunications service provider's share price forecast was cut to 365 rupees from 426 rupees at HSBC Holdings, which maintained its "underweight" recommendation. The stock sank 6 percent to 357.5 rupees.

Tata Steel Ltd. (TATA IN): India's biggest producer of the metal reported November sales rose to 498,000 metric tons from 370,000 tons a year earlier. Tata Steel fell 3.5 percent to 555.85 rupees.

Titan Industries Ltd. (TTAN IN): India's biggest watch and jewelry retailer was raised to "hold" from "reduce" by Abneesh Roy, an analyst at Edelweiss Capital Ltd. Titan fell 0.2 percent to 1,352.15 rupees.

To contact the reporters on this story: Vipin V. Nair in Mumbai at Vnair12@bloomberg.net Anoop Agrawal in Mumbai at aagrawal8@bloomberg.net