Persistent selling mars indices

Thu, 6 Jan Closing

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   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

Although the indices opened the day’s proceedings on a positive note, selling pressure in the subsequent hours took its toll and the indices slipped into the negative. There they languished till the final trading hour. While the BSE-Sensex closed lower by around 116 points (down 0.6%), the NSE-Nifty lost around 32 points (down 0.5%). The BSE Midcap and the BSE Small cap were not spared either as they raked losses of 1% each. Barring IT stocks, most stocks across sectors closed in the red today.

As regards global markets, most Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened in the green. The rupee was trading at Rs 45.24 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Indian pharma stocks closed mixed today. While Lupin, Glenmark and Cadila found favour, Cipla and Biocon closed into the red. As per a leading business daily, pharma major Lupin is eyeing acquisitions in Latin America. In this regard it appears to be in talks with at least a couple of potential companies in Brazil and Mexico. The company is looking to shell out US$ 50 m for acquisitions in this region. It must be noted that Lupin has set a target of generating revenues to the tune of US$ 150 m from Latin America by FY13. Lupin’s business has been growing strongly in the US too and the company is looking to strengthen its businesses in the other key geographies as well. One such important market for Lupin is Japan. It is the most difficult of the 3 developed pharma markets notably US, Europe and Japan. As a result, the business there has not ramped up much. But the company expects that to change by 2013 when it expects revenues from Japan to touch US$ 200 m.

As per a leading business daily, engineering major L&T’s engineering and construction (E&C) division has bagged orders worth Rs 11.8 bn. This includes Rs 5.6 bn from leading developers to construct residential buildings in major cities as well as Rs 3 bn from other clients to build factories. Plus, the company has bagged a turnkey project worth US$ 3.3 bn from a major client for the design & construction of a specialised support building facility. This is a positive for the company and will enhance its revenue potential in the future. It must be noted that at the end of September 2010, the company had an order backlog of Rs 1.15 trillion. Having said that, as is the case with engineering companies, execution is the key especially given that the company has had delays on this front in the past. The stock closed lower today.

IMF expects India and China to continue leading the economic growth story of the Asian continent in the future just as in 2010. That said, although growth will be strong, there are some challenges and concerns as well. First is the risk of a prolonged recession in the US and Europe which would then dampen sentiments in Asia. Further, high growth in the Asian region would mean the risk of higher inflation. Already, China and India have been feeling the heat on this front. India, particularly, has not yet managed to bring down inflation to acceptable levels simply because food prices have continued to remain high.