Though still in positive territory, Indian stock markets have shed gains in the last two trading hours. The sectoral indices are trading mixed with consumer durable and oil and gas trading the strongest. capital goods, power and realty stocks are the biggest losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading up 44 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up 15 points. The BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices are up by 0.12% and 0.45% respectively. The rupee is trading at 48.85 to the US dollar.
Majority of FMCG stocks are trading in the green with Colgate and Gillette India the biggest gainers. Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) posted an 18.6% growth in sales led by 11% volume growth in the December 2011 quarter. Its operating margin was down by 70 basis points to 13.5% due to higher input costs and advertisement spends (as a proportion of sales). GSKCH saw its advertisement & promotional spends shoot up to 19% from 17.6% in the year-ago quarter on account of new launches in oats and health food drink segments. The company clocked a 10.7% increase in net profit during the quarter. For the CY11, the company sales and profits grew by 16.5% and 18.5% respectively.
As per a leading financial daily, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has surrendered an IT/ITeS special economic zone (SEZ) proposed at Coimbatore. The Board of Approval has decided to approve the company's denotification request for over an area of around 11.03 hectares post some deliberations. The company has cited economic reasons for denotification of the proposed tax free zone. The approval is subject to certificate that the company has refunded the benefits related to tax and duties that it was entitled to avail under SEZ rules. It is important to note here that as of now, only 148 out of 381 notified zones are operating. The Commerce Ministry has floated a discussion paper to revamp its SEZ policy.
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