Indian stock market indices reversed their earlier losses and are trading flat over the last two hours of trade. Auto and Realty stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure while oil and Gas and Consumer durable stocks witnessed maximum buying interest.
The BSE-Sensex is up by 12 points, while the NSE-Nifty is down 3.4 points. BSE Mid cap index and the BSE Small cap index are down by 0.37% and 0.05% respectively. The rupee is trading at 53.28 to the US dollar.
Energy stocks have been mainly trading in the green during the last two hours with Castrol and Chennai Petroleum trading the strongest and Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (IGL) and Gujarat State Petronet leading the pack of losers. As per a leading financial daily, British Gas Exploration and Production India (BGEPIL), the Indian subsidiary of UK based BG Group will exit from Krishna-Godavari (KG) offshore block (KG-OSN-2004/1). The block currently is jointly held by BGEPIL and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in the ratio 45:55. The decision follows the announcement by BG Group of its intentions to sell its stake in Gujarat Gas.
Once BGEPIL exits, ONGC will hold 100% stake in the block. It will complete the minimum work programme for which it will have to spend around US$ 90m. Besides, ONGC will incur additional work programme expenditure of us$ 10.2 m. The liability of around US$ 100 m could be a matter of concern for ONGC. The group will take a decision on the issue in the next Board meeting scheduled on January 4.
As per a survey of purchasing managers, the manufacturing activity in December is six months high, boosted on account of an increase in new orders from both domestic and international clients and a spike in the factory output. The outcome of the survey reflects hopes for Indian economy as manufacturing here is expanding, in contrast to the developed economies where factory activity has seen contraction. As per the monthly official data, the industrial output registered 5.1% decline, the steepest fall since March 2009, in the year to October raising the fear of a slowdown. However, the new orders index was up from 52.8 to 57.9 in November, suggesting that the future output will be better in the coming times.
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