After opening firm, Indian share markets continued to remain buoyant in the post-noon trading session. Majority of the sectoral indices are trading in the green with consumer durables, banking and metal stocks being the biggest gainers. However, power, capital goods and oil & gas stocks are trading in the red.
BSE-Sensex is up 94 points and NSE-Nifty is trading 26 points up. BSE Mid Cap is trading up 0.6% and BSE Small Cap index is trading up 0.7%. The rupee is trading at 61.9 to the US dollar.
Majority of the energy stocks are trading in the green with Essar Oil and Castrol being among the major gainers whereas Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) are among the few stocks trading in the red. As per a leading financial daily, the government has raised the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 220 per cylinder. This is the third increase in non-subsidized LPG rates in a month in line with rising international rates. Currently, every Indian household is entitled to nine LPG cylinders at subsidized rate in a year. As per state-owned fuel retailers, a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder beyond the subsidized quota will cost Rs 1,241 up from Rs 1,021 in Delhi. At subsidized rates, the cylinder costs Rs 414 in Delhi. Reportedly, public sector oil firms are currently making loss of Rs 762.7 per cylinder on the sale of subsidized LPG.
As per a leading financial daily, the HSBC India's purchasing manager index (PMI) slowed down to 50.7 during December 2013 as compared to 51.3 in November 2013. The prime reason for the same is sluggish order flow in the domestic market. However as per the index, the order inflow from export markets picked up. The PMI index measures business activities of Indian factories' order inflows. It may be noted that although the index slowed down over the previous month, it remained above the 50 mark, a key indicator that separates growth from contraction. The index languished below the 50 mark for 3 months before rising above it in the month of November 2013.
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