Indian stock markets continued to trade in the green during the post noon trading session. consumer durables and power stocks witnessed maximum buying interest, while realty and FMCG stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure.
BSE-Sensex is up by 50 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up by 20 points. While BSE Mid Cap is trading up by 0.1%, BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.2%. The rupee is trading at 54.51 to the US dollar.
Majority of auto stocks are trading in the green, with Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland being among the leading gainers. Maruti Suzuki has reported sales volumes for February 2013. The total sales for the month have declined by 8% YoY to 109,567 units. This decline was largely due to the fall in domestic sales by 10% YoY for the said period. On the other hand, export sales increased by 3% YoY. On the domestic front, the decline was witnessed in all the categories of passenger cars except its Super compact category (Dzire model), which grew by 22% YoY. Among the passenger cars, major decline was witnessed in mid size and executive cars by 89% and 84% respectively. However, the utility vehicles grew at an impressive pace for the month. The stock was trading up by 2.3%.
Steel stocks are trading in the green with Jindal Steel and Jindal Saw Limited leading among the gainers. As per a financial daily, in the budget, the finance minster has proposed stake sale of various government companies, in order to achieve Rs 540 bn of divestment target. This includes companies like Hindustan Zinc, where the government is currently holding little stake. The other companies which can see government stake sale are Coal India, Indian Oil and NHPC. Reportedly, the FM has decided to use a part of the share sale proceeds towards Indian Railways to finance its capital expenditure and also to infuse an equity capital of Rs 140 bn into public sector banks during 2013-14.
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