Barring Japan stock market (down 0.6%), most of the Asian markets have opened on a positive note. The stock markets in China (up 1.6%) and Hong Kong (up 0.9%) are the leading gainers in the pack. The Indian markets have also opened firm. Majority of the sectoral indices have opened in green led by realty and consumer durables.
The BSE-Sensex is currently trading higher by about 106 points (up 0.4%), while the NSE-Nifty is higher by about 42 points (up 0.46%). Both Midcap and small caps have also opened firm. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are up by 0.6% each. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.43 to the dollar.
As per a leading financial daily, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for month of January, shows consumer prices stood at 5.1% in January. This is higher than the previous month's 4.3% after the base year was changed from 2010 to 2012. The retail inflation was 5% under the old series. Further, the index of industrial production (IIP) rose by just 1.17% in December vs 3.9% growth in the preceding month. The Industrial growth slowed in December on back of the poor performance of the mining sector and sub-par manufacturing. This indicates a sharp departure from the national income numbers that suggested that the economy was in good health and manufacturing sector was in much better shape.
Majority of the Indian Pharma stocks have opened in green with Cipla Ltd and Lupin Ltd being the leading gainers in the pack. Glenmark pharmaceuticals reported results for the quarter ending December 2015 (3QFY15). The topline grew by 6.2% YoY for the quarter. The India and Latin American markets witnessed healthy growth; however US and Rest of the World markets declined for the quarter. The operating margins were down by 720 bps to 15.6% YoY for the quarter. Consequently, even the net profits witnessed sharp decline of 46.5% YoY for the quarter.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Indian markets open firm". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!