After trading in the positive territory during post noon trading session, the Indian equity markets gathered some ground and closed the day in the green after having scaled the psychological 29,000 mark. While the BSE Sensex today closed higher by 117 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by 32 points. Midcaps and Smallcaps too closed the day in the green. While the BSE Mid Cap index closed higher by 0.07% the BSE Small Cap index closed higher by 0.23%. Healthcare and capital goods stocks were the biggest gainers today.
As regards global markets, Asian pack closed strong today. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.65 odd levels to the dollar at the time of writing.
The 3QFY15 results of FMCG stalwarts namely ITC and HUL were not that encouraging. However, as per market research firm Nielsen that specializes in giving forecasts for FMCG products, the core strength of the sector is still intact. In fact, the agency expects a 7% market growth in CY15 and 8-9% in CY16. Rising rural demand is the key to growth here. Over the years, disposable income in the hands of rural Indians has been rising that has spiked demand and boosted growth. However, with concerns over rural wages emanating off late, it would be interesting to see if the growth forecast indeed materializes.
Engineering stocks have ended the day on a weak note. Suzlon has sold off stake in its German arm Senvion to a US PE firm for Euro 1 bn in an all cash deal. The deal is expected to be completed by end of March and will help the company reduce Rs 50 bn of debt arising from the proceeds of sale. It may be noted that the company got loaded with debt after it made the choice to grow inorganically. Two banks namely SBI and IDBI bank have the biggest exposure to this troubled wind turbine maker currently. Thus, the news of sale would come as a sigh of relief to these banks.
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