iPhone 4S making frenzied debut in Asian markets

Apple's new iPhone 4S made glitzy and chaotic debuts in three new Asian markets on Friday, with customers and profiteers queuing for up to a week to get their hands on the popular gadget.

Thousands of people thronged Apple's new harbourside store in the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong as staff cheered and clapped, while midnight launches in South Korea and New Zealand featured celebrities and sports stars.

Top South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom put the iPhone 4S on sale at midnight for 100 enthusiasts who had placed pre-orders, with the country's most popular actor Wonbin and actress Shin Min-A counting down to the time.

Hip-hop musicians performed at the event at the company's headquarters.

Korea Telecom laid on comedian Choi Hyo-Jong and offered drinks and a prize quiz to 100 people awaiting its own launch at 8:00 am.

Die-hard fans had been keenly awaiting an upgrade to the earlier iPhone 4 long before the 4S was unveiled on October 4.

"I've been waiting for the iPhone4S for over an year, and I didn't hesitate when I heard the news that it will be sold in Korea," said Lee Jae-Kwang, 31, the first in line for the phone at SK Telecom.

The latest version of Apple's "must-have" accessory was due to roll out in 12 other markets from Europe to Latin America later in the day.

The celebratory atmosphere was soured in Hong Kong by the presence of dozens of aggressive profiteers and professional queuers who established a grey market outside the store almost as soon as the phones went on sale at 7:00 am.

"I have collected about 198 phones since this morning from my queuers," said mobile phone dealer Ken Wong, adding he paid the queuers around US$70 each for their efforts.

He said the phones were for his "friends and customers".

"The response on the iPhone 4S has been overwhelming," he added.

Regular customer Xu Yaojun came from Xiamen in China with his wife and eight-year-old daughter, who skipped school for the occasion.

He arrived at 10:00 am but staff told him there were only enough phones in stock for people who had waited in the queue, which was about 1,500-strong when the store opened its doors.

"The staff told me the phones are all sold out... I can't wait for the official release in (mainland) China, that's why I'm here," the 33-year-old businessman said.

He said he would have to pay extra to buy an iPhone 4S on the grey market.

The launch was more laid back in New Zealand, where about 100 people showed up for the midnight launch in Auckland. Telecom Corp. laid on pizza and entertainment, and All Black rugby star Dan Carter manned the sales desk.

The iPhone 4S is already a record-breaker for an Apple product, with more than a million sales in the first 24 hours of pre-orders when it first went on sale last month, shortly after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The latest in the iPhone series boasts faster speeds, a voice-controlled assistant called Siri and an improved camera.

New Zealander Jonathan Mosen, who is blind, queued for six hours to ensure he got his hands on the phone, saying its voice recognition technology was a boon for the visually impaired.

"It's the only cellphone you can take out of the box and it is usable by a blind person," he told Fairfax Media.

Apple plans to make the iPhone 4S available in more than 70 countries by the end of the year.
The buyer frenzy comes despite software bugs that have caused some iPhone 4S owners to report lower than expected battery life, and reports that the Siri software may not cope well with foreign accents.

Consumer Reports, the influential magazine for product reviews, gave the new model a thumbs up on Tuesday after declining to recommend the previous iPhone version because of reception problems.

Sensex down by 89 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 89 points in early trade on Today as lower Asian cues influenced investors to reduce their holdings of capital goods, metal, FMCG, banking and realty stocks.

The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed lower at 17,540.55 and hovered in a range between 17,661.78 and 17,537.06 before quoting at 17,616.08 at 1015 hours, a net loss of 88.93 points, or 0.50 per cent, from its previous close.

The NSE’s 50-share Nifty Index was also down by 30.10 points, or 0.57 per cent, at 5,296.50 at 1015 hours.

The major losers in early trade were Sterlite Industries (down 3.22 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.20 per cent), Larsen & Toubro (2.18 per cent), ITC (1.45 per cent), Tata Steel (1.26 per cent), Jindal Steel (1.11 per cent) and DLF (0.85 per cent).

Meanwhile, most Asian markets began the new month on a relatively subdued note in early trade today. The key benchmark indices in China, South Korea and Taiwan were up by between 0.01 per cent and 0.22 per cent, while indices in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore were down by between 0.56 per cent and 1.47 per cent.

Sensex slips below 16,000 on worsening global markets

Indian equities are headed for another big fall Monday as the 30-stock Sensex dived nearly 2 per cent to slip below 16,000 levels. At 1107 hours, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark was down 281.84 points to 15,880 and the Nifty declined 84.35 points to 4,783.

The Nifty is now trading below the crucial support of 4,800 levels indicating further downside in the markets. Salil Sharma, Partner at Kapur Sharma & Co had earlier said that 4,810 is a key support, because it was the 200 weekly moving average, below which the Nifty can plunge to 4,200 levels.

Outlining the reasons for the weakness, Dr Adrian Foster of Rabo Bank said this is a continuation of the trend that was seen after Wednesday last week. "Investors have started to catch up on the idea that our policymakers don't have too many options," he said.

All sectoral indices were down led by metal stocks that plunged over 3.5 per cent over the possibility of another recession. Banking, oil and gas and realty stocks were trading with over 2 per cent losses. The consumer durables index on the BSE tanked over 4.5 per cent.

All but two stocks - Tata Power and Wipro- on the Sensex were down. Sterlite was the top loser, falling over 5 per cent. Hindalco and Coal India were down 5 per cent too.

The market breadth was extremely weak with only 7 per cent stocks rising on the BSE 500 index.

With key levels broken and volatility at an all-time high, analysts said any speculation on the downside will be futile.

Samir Arora, Fund Manager at Helios Capital said, "The whole week has been scary, currency has been scary but right now it does not seem that will end... I have been bearish for some time now...only on the basis that in 2008 we reacted differently and maybe we could justify by saying we never saw something like this before and our markets will not be affected. It will be a career recur for any fund manager today to again reclaim that my market is ok therefore because of the recent negative experience in 2008, everybody is going to pull the trigger first and we have done that."

Independent Market Analyst Saumil Trivedi said it is difficult to tell what kind of lower levels the markets can hit. "I am not sure if 4,200 will hold," he added.

Deven Choksey of KR Choksey said most funds operating in the markets are trading funds and not investment funds. These funds have overlooked the strong growth in emerging markets -China and India- and are putting money in US treasury, he added.

Asian markets extended losses. Japan's benchmark Nikkei was down over 2 per cent. Hong Kong's index Hang Seng was also down 2.5 per cent. South Korea's Kospi was also trading 2.6 per cent lower.

Meanwhile, the Dow Futures indicated another weak opening for the Wall Street. At 11.20 hours, it was trading with a 85 point discount (0.8 per cent) at 10,625.

Sensex dumps 100 pts

The race to book profits on expiry day has gained momentum. Fresh shorts were built in technology, banking, telecom and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group' stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,179, down 106 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 37 points to 4,852 amid volatility. 

The broader indices too were following the trend; the BSE Midcap Index was down 1% and Smallcap down 0.7%.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Metal and IT indices fell 2% each. Capital Goods, Bank and Power indices were down 1-1.5%.

Leading largecaps like TCS, Infosys, HDFC, L&T, Bharti, SBI, NTPC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dropped 1-2.5%. Reliance Industries, BHEL and Wipro declined over 0.5%.

However, ONGC, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors bucked the trend; these stocks lost 2-2.5%.

Smallcaps like Sahara One, Carol Info, Kirloskar Brothers, Unisys Software and Thomas Cook gained 5-10% while Modern India plunged 16%. Himatsingka Seide, C & C Construction, Lovable Lingerie, DCM Shriram and fell 6-8%.

 Sensex falls further amid choppy trade; banks, tech down

The BSE benchmark Sensex slipped more than 50 points and the Nifty fell way below the 4900 level amid choppy trade. Even the market breadth turned in favour of declines; about two shares declined for every one share gained. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,208, down 76 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 28 points to 4,860 led by fall in 38 stocks.

Technology, banking, power, capital goods, telecom and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks and select metal stocks were witnessing selling presure. Heavyweight Reliance Industries too was on sellers' radar; the stock declined 0.7%.

However, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Tata Power were top gainers; these stocks gained 1-2%. HUL, Dr Reddy's Labs and DLF too gained.

In the midcap space, Standard Chartered, Simplex Infra, GMDC, Emami and ABG Shipyard were up 1.5-4% while KGN Industries, Sterlite Tech, Educomp Solutions, Aban Offshore and IVRCL slipped 4-5%.

Even some Asian markets saw some profit booking at higher levels. Kospi, which rose 1.5%, was trading 0.5% higher. Even Nikkei slipped from day's high. Taiwan extended loss; it lost 0.9%.

IT, FMCG lift Sensex up 70 points

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued to trade higher by over 70 points in the noon session today on bargain buying by funds and retail investors amid a mixed trend in the Asian markets.

At 12.35 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 70.33 points or 0.42 per cent at 16,801.27 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 11.45 points or 0.23 per cent at 5,047.25.

Volume toppers during the session were SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, DLF and HDFC Bank. Major Sensex gainers were ITC, Infosys, HDFC, TCS, RIL, HDFC Bank and ONGC. Tata Motors, DLF and ICICI Bank were the major losers.

Among the sectoral indices, IT was up 1.4 per cent, FMCG 1.38 per cent, oil & gas 1.00 per cent and teck 0.95 per cent. Realty was down 4.38 per cent, auto 1.36 per cent, bankex 1.2 per cent and power 0.34 per cent. Of the total 2,665 stocks traded, 852 advanced, 1,701 declined and 112 remained unchanged.

During the opening session, the 30-share index, which lost nearly 400 points in the previous three sessions, rose 127.35 points or 0.76 per cent to 16,858.92.

Bargain buying by funds and retail investors and covering up of short positions by speculators led to the Sensex recovery.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index gained 37.3 points or 0.74 per cent to 5,073.10.

Nifty seen Lower, Banks, Tech Down

Indian markets were witnessing selling pressure, in line with other peers, as weak manufacturing data from the US spooked sentiments. Realty, banks and technology were the worst hit while pharmaceutical space was marginally higher.

Nikkei 225 was down 1.32 per cent, Hang Seng declined 0.69 per cent and Seoul Composite fell 2.38 per cent.

Well, looks like the euphoria over the US debt deal has given way to concerns about the health of the global economy. Manufacturing PMI reports from Australia to the US have shown continued moderation. Concerns have also surfaced over the adverse implications of the large spending cuts in the US on the world's largest economy. In addition, a possible downgrade of the US debt rating is still lurking.

At 10:15 AM; National Stock Exchange's Nifty was at 5461.85, down 54.95 points or 1 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5496.30 and low of 5456.40 in trade so far.
US stocks reversed early gains to finish in the red. Across the Atlantic, European stocks suffered nasty cuts. Asian markets this morning are mostly lower. Nifty futures trading in Singapore are pointing to a weak start.

The trading for the rest of the day will hinge partly on global cues and partly on domestic factors. DLF, MMTC, Piramal Healthcare and Power Grid are among the few companies declaring their results today.

Meanwhile, the government is trying its best to convince all that there is no policy drift and that reforms are on track. The monsoon session will be a key test, as spate of crucial bills are slated for presentation.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was at 18120.06, down 194.27 points or 1.06 per cent. The 30-share index touched intraday low of 18118.30 and high of 18283.55.