Brokerages call on Sun TV, Mah Satyam, ABB, Sobha Devlp

JP Morgan maintains its underweight stance onABB with a target of Rs 816. This is because the reported EBITDA margin for the first quarter was well below estimates. Margin pressure was led by raw material cost pressures.

Merrill Lynch has downgraded Sun TV to neutral from buy and cut its target from Rs 540 to Rs 345. The stock has underperformed by 30% and Merrill Lynch expects limited upside to the share price.

RBS recommends a buy on Mahindra Satyam with a target of Rs 94. Satyam's good execution continued in the first quarter and high lateral employee additions indicates continued demand visibility. RBS believes the recent correction due to increased macro headwinds factors in any risk relating to Satyam's higher exposure to discretionary spend.

Merrill Lynch reiterates a buy on Sobha Developersbut has cut its target price to Rs 375. The increase in debt due to investment in its Gurgaon project was a big disappointment. Merrill has cut earnings estimate by 12% for FY12 to factor in lower sales and higher taxes.

Buying banks, autos; moving out of pharma: PN Vijay

PN Vijay, Portfolio Manager, in an interview to CNBC-TV18 citied his views on various sectors and how should one play stocks in these sectors in the current market situation.

"We have been buying beaten down stocks in sector like banks and auto." The reason being, a precipitous fall in commodities including crude. This is expected to lead to a downward trend in inflation and interest rates in the last quarter of calendar year.

He suggests, one should follow a pecking order to enter infrastructure space in some time. He said, "L&T would be one everybody’s list. Then one can look at contractors, companies which are not asset based companies but who play for a margin likeIVRCL or IRB Infra ."

For the IT sector, he says one should wait and watch but with an inclination to get into it again. He says, IT majors will see some softness in the volume of contract but they aren't unduly worried. However, these majors will feel some pressure on pricing. He picks Infosys and TCS from the IT space.

Sensex closes up 272 points after 6 days of bloodshed

The BSE benchmark snapped a six-day losing streak, on Wednesday, rallying 1.6% following strong global cues, which included the US Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates near zero for two more years.

However, a volatile European market and fragile US index futures kept investors on the edge of their seats in the last hour of trade.