Indian equity markets had a choppy trading session today. After opening in the red, the markets recovered for a bit during the pre-noon session. However, the recovery was short lived and the indices nose dived into the negative zone again. While the Sensex today closed lower by 111 points, the NSE-Nifty closed lower by 36 points. The BSE Mid Cap and the BSE Small Cap, were not spared either as both closed lower by 1.4% and 1.9% respectively. Losses were largely seen in capital goods and energy stocks.
As regards global markets, with the exception of Singapore and Korea, most Asian indices closed firm today. European indices have opened on a glum note. The rupee was trading at Rs 53.93 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Energy stocks closed the day on a mixed note with Essar Oil and Jindal Drilling closing in the red while Petronet LNG and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) closed the day in the green. State run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has declared that it would invest between Rs 100 bn to Rs 110 bn in the financial year 2014 (FY14). This would be spent towards expanding the company's network. The management has further stated that it would invest Rs 560 bn over the next 5 years. These investments would be made in lines with the 12th 5-year plan. In addition to this amount, it also plans to invest between Rs 35 bn to Rs 40 bn on non plan areas. This would include changing pumps.
Banking stocks have closed the day in the red with Vijaya Bank and Syndicate bank leading the losses. The country's largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has declared its third quarter results for the financial year 2012-2013 (3QFY13). The bank saw its interest income grow by 9.5% YoY. This was driven by a 16% YoY growth in advances. This was lower than the 3.8% seen during the same period last year. The net interest income declined by 3.2% YoY during the quarter. The fall in net interest income was offset by the increase in other income during the quarter. As a result, net profits increased by 4.1% YoY. The net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.4% in 9MFY13. The NPA increased to 2.59% in 9MFY13 from 2.22% in 9MFY12. Capital adequacy ratio for the bank stood at 12.21% at the end of December 2012 as per Basel II.
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