Markets give up most of the gains

Mon, 18 Feb Closing

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Indices in the Indian stock markets gave up most of their gains during the closing stages and consequently ended the day only marginally higher. While BSE Sensex edged higher by around 33 points, gains on the NSE-Nifty came in at around 11 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices on the other hand had a better outing, closing 0.4% and 0.7% higher respectively. Nearly two stocks fell for every three stocks that closed the day in the positive on the Sensex.

While most Asian indices closed higher today, Europe was trading mixed currently. The rupee was placed at Rs 54.2 to the dollar at the time of writing.

After falling to their lowest level of the year last week, indices showed some fight today but could not carry on till the end and closed just marginally higher. To be fair, there isn't anything exciting on the cards that the markets should look forward to. With hopes of further rate cuts ruled out unless inflation is brought down, all eyes are now on the union budget to see whether the FM does indeed take some tough measures. Till such time, sentiments are going to remain weak we believe.

National Aluminate Corporation (NALCO), India's largest producer of Aluminium in the public sector closed quite buoyant today with gains of around 2%. The optimism was triggered by the hike in Aluminium prices that the company undertook recently. As per the management, the company has increased prices of all its products by Rs 5,000 per tonne. This was close on the heels of the aluminium price going up on the LME. The company's products include aluminium ingots, sows and billets. NALCO's prices are closely tracked as it is Asia's largest integrated aluminium producer.

The next phase of growth for Titan Industries is set to come in from smaller tier II & III cities in India. The World of Titan, India's largest watch retail chain, is looking to expand presence in these smaller towns with small format stores (around 400 sq feet in size). This will help boost company sales and also increase its brand presence. There are around 400 towns in India with the population range of 1 lakh to 1 million people. By the end of FY13, it plans to open such stores in 40 new towns, and over the next 2-3 years it plans to be present in around 200-300 such small towns across the country. Over the next few years, these small-format stores are expected to contribute around 3-5% of 'World of Titan' turnover. In FY12, the turnover from this division was it around Rs 7.8 bn. Titan currently has 357 'World of Titan' retail stores across the country.