MARKET ALERTS

Reliance Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the media and entertainment arm of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) that has interests in film production, distribution and exhibition, FM radio, Internet businesses and television content is set to enter the broadcasting space, a company official close to the development and who did not wish to be identified said.The firm will launch two new companies—Reliance Big TV Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Reliance Big TV News Pvt. Ltd—to launch and operate a bouquet of about 20 channels. The news broadcasting company will launch four channels: two general news channels and two business news channels, one each in Hindi and English in both genres.

The total number of M&A deals announced in February 2008 stands at 36 with a total announced value of $2.95 billion, according to global consulting firm Grant Thornton’s Dealtracker report for that month.

Apollo LogiSolutions Limited, (ALL) a subsidiary of Apollo International and Spire Group, Canada, executed a joint venture (JV) agreement for $250 million to construct and operate temperature controlled warehouses in India. The JV will operate under the name “Apollo Everest Kool Solutions”.

Indian banks and companies may have become more vulnerable to risks, especially those arising from innovative foreign exchange and interest rate hedges, over the past two years. Banks operating in India had Rs127.86 trillion ($3.16 trillion) of derivatives on their books as on 31 December 2007, according to a statement tabled on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha by the country’s finance minister P. Chidambaram.

The Fed promised a $200 billion booster shot for ailing markets -- and Wall Street answered with its biggest bounce in more than five years..

Yields in the government bond market have been on the rise in recent times. This, coupled with the rising rupee and lower borrowing rates in overseas markets, makes it lucrative for overseas investors to look at the gilt market.

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd saw a block deal of 2,286,793 shares, or 3.39 per cent of its equity, at Rs 635 a share on the BSE on Tuesday.

Industrial growth slipped to 5.3% in the month of January, compared to 11.6% in the same month last year as growth in all major sectors comprising manufacturing, electricity and mining declined.Industrial growth, as measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP), has moderated to 8.7% in the first 10 months of the current fiscal, against 11.2% during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to official figures released today.

The World Gold Council (WGC) will cross list its gold exchange traded fund, StreetTracks Gold Shares on the Tokyo and Hong Kong stock exchanges before September. However, WGC is not planning to launch the product in India.

Kiri Dyes and Chemicals, an Ahmedabad based manufacturer of reactive dyes and dye intermediates, has filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter the capital market on Mar. 25, 2008, with an initial public offering (IPO) of 3.75 million equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a price to be decided through a 100% book-building process. The company fixed the price band of Rs 125 to Rs 150 a share. The issue will be open for subscription till Apr. 2, 2008.

The board of directors of Rain Commodities, (Q, N,C,F)* at its meeting held on Mar. 11, 2008, allotted 35,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each to Focus India Brands (P) at price of Rs 200 each (premium of Rs 190) consequent to the conversion of 35,00,000 equity warrants into equity shares.

Crude prices rose to a record USD 109.72 per barrel. It however eased to the USD 108 mark after the liquidity injection by the Fed. Crude has touched record highs for five straight sessions.

Global conglomerate General Electric has said it will invest USD 5 billion by 2010 to tap opportunities arising out of energy deficiency in emerging markets, including India.

State-run National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) on Monday said it will split shares in a ratio of 1:10 and issue two bonus shares for every share held.

The outgoing chairman Mr Lassonde said that gold production has been falling by an average of 2% over the last five years while the demand from Asian countries like India and China is rising. “The rise in jewellery demand is directly proportional to the GDP growth and both India and China are growing at 9% to 10%,” he said. He indicated that these factors along with a weak dollar will determine the price of gold.