Axis Bank, Britannia, Power Finance: India Equity Preview - Bloomberg

The following companies may have unusual price changes in India trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and share prices are as of the last close.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 116.36, or 0.6 percent, to 20,184.74. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.5 percent to 6,048.25. The BSE 200 Index decreased 0.8 percent to 2,494.58.

SGX S&P CNX Nifty Index futures for January were little changed at 6,071.5 as of 10:42 a.m. in Singapore.

Axis Bank Ltd. (AXSB IN): India’s fourth-largest lender by market value was lowered to “sell” from “hold” by Jatinder Agarwal, an analyst at RBS Equities India Ltd. The shares lost 0.4 percent to 1,305.85 rupees.

Bank of India (BOI IN): The state-controlled lender was raised to “overweight” from “neutral” by Adarsh Parasrampuria, an analyst at JPMorgan, with a 12-month price estimate of 590 rupees a share. The stock added 0.8 percent to 443.15 rupees.

Britannia Industries Ltd. (BRIT IN): A court asked Britannia Industries Ltd. to respond by Jan. 25 to an injunction suit filed by Kraft Foods Inc. for allegedly infringing the trademark and copyrights of its Oreo cookies, Kraft’s lawyer Chandra Mohan Lall said in New Delhi. The shares declined 2 percent to 401.65 rupees.

Power Finance Corp. (POWF IN): The state-owned lender to utilities may begin a share sale around May 15, the Press Trust of India reported, citing an unidentified power ministry official. The government, which owns 89.78 percent in Power Finance, plans to sell a 5 percent stake and the company will offer new stock equivalent to 15 percent of the current share. The shares fell 1.1 percent to 298.15 rupees.

Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM IN): The nation’s second-largest mobile-phone operator was raised to “buy” from “reduce” at BNP Paribas. The brokerage increased its share- price estimate to 200 rupees from 160 rupees, according to a report by analysts including Sameer Naringrekar. The shares declined 0.2 percent to 139.75 rupees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Siddharth Philip in Mumbai at sphilip3@bloomberg.net; Rajhkumar K Shaaw in Mumbai at rshaaw@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reinie Booysen at rbooysen@bloomberg.net

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