Energy and metal stocks weigh on markets

Thu, 9 Feb 01:30 pm

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The Indian stock markets continued to trade weak on account of selling pressure in heavyweights during the last two hours of trade. Stocks from the oil & gas, metal and software are leading the pack of losers while those from realty, consumer durables and auto space are trading in the green.

The BSE-Sensex is trading down by 58 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 15 points below yesterday's closing. However, the BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices are trading up by 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. The rupee is trading at 49.31 to the US dollar.

Food & Tobacco stocks have been trading mixed with Golden Tobacco, Wadala Commodities, Sterling Biotech and Tata Coffee leading the pack of gainers. However, Ruchi Soya Industries and United Spirits are trading in the red. Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) has announced its December 2011 quarter results. The company put up an impressive sales performance. Its topline grew by a robust 18.6% led by 11% growth in offtake. Both health food drinks and biscuits clocked double-digit increase in volumes. But higher promotional spends and other expenditure dragged down operating margins by 80 basis points to 13.5%. The company's earnings grew by a tepid 10.7% due to slower rise in operating profits and a 43.6% jump in tax outgo. For the year ended December 2011, GSKCH's net profits grew at a faster rate of 18.5% on a 16.5% rise in turnover. The company has recommended a dividend of Rs 35 per equity share for the year. The stock of the company is trading in the green.

Auto stocks have been are trading mixed as well with Escorts, TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto Ltd are leading the pack of gainers. However, Eicher Motors and Force Motors are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, auto maker Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) has launched a makeover version of its successful multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Xylo with several new features. This new version comes in five variants with entry model priced at Rs 7.37 lakh. It means that customers have to pay around Rs 15,000 extra for the new version. The new version may give a tough competition to Innova of the Japanese giant Toyota. This might cannibalise the market share of other sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) such as Mahindra XUV500 of the company itself. However, the management said that they are not worried as long as products of the company are sold in the market. The new version has a voice command technology (to control headlamps, doors, wipers, etc) which is a major differentiating factor. As per the management, this technology is adopted for the first time ever in the auto industry in the country. The stock of the company is trading in the green.