Markets see a final hour surge

Thu, 9 Feb Closing

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

The Indian stock markets opened the day on a lackluster note. The indices were trading below the dotted line for the greater part of today's session. However towards the fag end of the day the resistance was overcome. The indices saw a final hour surge towards the close of the session that helped them close in the green on yet another occasion. While BSE-Sensex edged higher by close to 123 points (up 0.7%), gains on the NSE-Nifty came in at around 44 points (0.8% higher). BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices fared even better, edging higher by 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Metal and realty stocks closed the session on a positive note, while oil and gas stocks closed weak.

As far as other markets are concerned, Asian markets closed mixed while Europe is trading in the positive currently. The rupee was poised at Rs 49.5 to the dollar at the time of writing.

The telecom industry in India seems to be the government's favourite scapegoat. The sector is still under shock from the cancellation of 122 2G licenses issued post Jan 2008. Now the government may ask major players including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea to pay Rs 370 bn for the excess spectrum that they hold. According to a leading business daily a Cabinet note may recommend the same. If any telecom player holds spectrum in excess of 6.2 megahertz (start-up spectrum), they will be charged. According to the note, the spectrum should be charged from the date of the allocation. This move would have an impact on all of the incumbents. As of now it is still unclear whether Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices would be impacted by this as the ruling is for GSM spectrum.

Ambuja Cements today announced its results for the calendar year 2011. Sales jumped 30% on a YoY basis for the fourth quarter. However on a full year basis the company reported a 15% increase in sales. Sales in volume terms were up 4.5% for the year to 20.9 million tonnes. This was in line with the 4.2% increase in production. The company reported a 17% YoY increase in net profit for the Oct-Dec quarter. For the full year period however the company saw a 3% decline in net profits. Power and fuel costs rose 6% for the quarter, while increasing 18% for the full year period. Employee costs also shot up 26% for the year. This was mainly on the back of a change in the accounting of employee stock options. EBITDA margins for the year were down to 23% from 26% earlier on higher costs. The stock closed the day 0.4% higher.