Nik's Diary
Indian markets
opened in the green tracking positive trade in the major Asian Indices like
Hangseng and Nikkei, which are higher by 0.7% to 0.9%. US markets rose higher
on Friday buoyed by an upbeat employment report from the Labor department,
which showed stronger than expected job growth in the month of February. The
Labor department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 236,000 jobs in
February compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 171,000 jobs.
The report also indicated that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.7% in February
from 7.9% in January, falling to its lowest level since December of 2008.
Upbeat economic data from overseas also generated some positive sentiment in
US, with a report from Japan's Cabinet Office showing that the Japanese economy
stabilized in the fourth quarter of CY2012 after seeing modest contractions in
the two previous quarters. European markets too closed higher on Friday,
tracking positive developments from US. Meanwhile India’s Key benchmark indices
surged on Friday as upbeat Chinese exports data for February 2013 suggested
increasing demand for Chinese goods and a rebound in the global economy. During
the week, markets would keenly observe the economic data to be releases during
the week pertaining to EXIM, IIP and Inflation.
MSIL shuts Gurgaon plant for a day to clear inventory of petrol
cars
Business Standard reported
that Indian automakers are taking evasive action as domestic sales of cars are
headed for a crash for the first time in a decade. Car makers have been
forced to resort to short closure of factories or cut production sharply to
prevent build up of unsold vehicles this financial year. The latest
announcement came from Maruti Suzuki India Limited., which registered a 9% drop
in domestic sales at 97,955 units in February. The country's largest car maker
said that it would stop production temporarily at its facility in Gurgaon align
output with demand. A senior Maruti Suzuki executive said that "The
Gurgaon plant would be closed for a day tomorrow. We already have over a
month's inventory with us and want to adjust our stocks according to demand in
the market” TATA Motors had also felt the heat. It recorded a 70% drop in
sales, selling only 10,613 units in February. The company cut production at
passenger vehicle manufacturing units in Pune and Sanand. It has started single
shifts from January operating half the installed capacities in both the
factories. TATA has slashed monthly production of the Nano by nearly 82% over
the last 2 months. Nano had recorded monthly sales of over 10,500 units at its
peak but sold 1,500 in January. A TATA Motors spokesperson said that production
was being done on a limited scale as per market demand. Industry sources said that TATAs have
an inventory for over one and a half months while the industry's ideal average
is three weeks. An analyst said that "There is one and a half months of
inventory at 175,000-200,000 units with car makers. This is nearly double the
normal levels of around 20 days kept in warehouses and dealer outlets. There
were expectations of a recovery by the end of FY13 but that has not happened." The
industry had last month posted a steep decline in sales. According to data with
the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers passenger car sales declined by
1.80% to 1,556,283 units between April and January. Growth of passenger car
sales is expected to be negative by the end of 2012 to 13. Source -
Business Standard
MM recalls XUV5OO for part replacement
Domestic sports utility major Mahindra & Mahindra is recalling some
of its premium XUV 500 models of 2011 and 2012 make to replace certain parts,
including the front windows. The, company, however, did not give the exact
number of vehicles to be recalled. "M&M will carry out replacement of
the fluid hose, front power window units and left wiper blade covers, for a
select batch of its XUV500 models of 2011 and 2012 make," the company said
in a late night statement. M&M said the move is in compliance with its
recently announced voluntary code on vehicle recall. The replacement will
be carried out immediately. The move to replace certain parts is a
"preventive" one, it said. The model XUV 500 was launched in
September 2011. Source:
FinancialExpress
Employee strike at Bosch’s Bangalore plant ends
The "tool down" strike by
2,500-odd employees at the Adugodi plant of Bosch in Bangalore has been called
off. The strike, started after the first shift on Thursday, ended late evening
on Saturday after the management agreed on certain demands of the Mico Employees'
Association (MEA), who were protesting the suspension of one of their members. "The management has agreed to revoke the
suspension of workman Chandrashekar, and revise THE incentive payment factor
progressively. They have also agreed to allow the general secretary for all
discussions," said Prasanna Kumar, president of MEA. The agreement was
reached after the intervention of the additional labour commissioner late
Saturday evening. Workers resumed production at the plant from the night shift
on Saturday, immediately after the strike was called off, sources said. A Bosch spokesperson confirmed the development:
"The management and the union meeting concluded with a quick resolution on
the issues, supported by intervention of additional labour commissioner. The
suspension of the employee has been withdrawn. However, inquiry will still
continue." The company
management had termed the strike 'illegal', because the union had failed to
serve a seven-day legal notice to the management. It also claimed that the
workers had been on a "go-slow" mode for the last three months, which
had affected productivity by 40 per cent. Source:
Business Standard
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