Indian share markets open in green

Wed, 13 Feb 09:30 am

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   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

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Barring Japan (down 0.5%), most major Asian stock markets have opened the day on a firm note with stock markets in South Korea (up 1.3%), Singapore (up 0.9%) and China (up 0.6%) leading the gains. The Indian share market indices have opened the day on a firm note. Barring FMCG and metal, all sectoral indices have opened in the green with the stocks in the auto and realty space leading the gains.

The Sensex today is up by around 77 points (0.4%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by around 21 points (0.4%). BSE Mid Cap index is higher by 0.4% while the BSE Small Cap index is up by around 0.2%. The rupee is trading at Rs 53.85 to the US dollar.

Energy stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) leading the losses. However, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Petronet LNG Ltd have opened in the green. HPCL has announced its results for the third quarter of the financial year 2013 (3QFY13). The company has reported 11% year on year (YoY) growth in the revenues during the quarter. The crude throughput during the quarter increased by 3.4% YoY. However, the net profits during the quarter registered a steep decline of 95% YoY. This was mainly due to poor refining margins and losses due to under recoveries. The refining margins for the quarter stood at US$ 1.92 per barrel, a sharp contraction from US$ 4.09 per barrel in 3QFY12. The company did not get a full compensation for its fuel losses. For the first nine months of FY13, the company lost around Rs 277 bn on the sales of petroleum products. Of the total, around 80% of the under recovery burden has been shared by the Government and the upstream oil companies while around Rs 54.6 bn of the under recoveries remained unmet.

Steel stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with Jindal Steel Ltd and Adhunik Metaliks leading the losses. However, JSW Steel Ltd and JSW Ispat Ltd were leading the gains. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has announced its results for the third quarter of the financial year 2013 (3QFY13). The revenues for the quarter declined marginally by 0.5% on a year on year (YoY) basis. The net profits for the quarter declined by 23.4% YoY on account of higher finance costs and lower net sales realization. The net sales realizations declined due to a subdued market. An increase in royalty of raw materials also impacted SAIL's profitability. The company has approved declaration of interim dividend at Rs 1.60 per share for FY13. The date of payment of dividend will be February 19, 2013. Regarding outlook, the management has suggested that 2013 is an important year for SAIL with new capacities coming up in its plants. The management has said that the company is well positioned to gain from growth phase of the economy and steel industry in near future