Asian stock markets have opened the day in the green with the stock markets in Japan (up 0.6%) and Singapore (up 0.4%) leading the gains. The Indian share markets have opened the day on a firm note as well. Among the sectoral indices, banking and power sector indices are leading the gains. However, metal and information technology indices are trading weak.
The Sensex today is up by around 45 points (0.2%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 13 points (0.2%). The mid and small cap stocks have also opened in the green with the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 0.6% each. The rupee is currently trading at Rs 60.88 to the US dollar.
Auto stocks have opened the day mainly in the green with Tube Investments, Maharashtra Scooters and Bajaj Auto leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, nearly 600 permanent employees of auto major Tata Motors are understood to have accepted an early retirement offer (ERO). The company had launched this offer earlier this year in a bid to reduce the workforce and cut costs at a time when the company's domestic operations have been under strain for several quarters. The departing employees include both executives as well as workers across six plants and regional offices. It must be noted that Tata Motors has total workforce strength of about 30,000 people.
MNC Pharma stocks have opened the day mainly in the green with GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK Pharma) and Pfizer Ltd leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, British healthcare conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline Plc has successfully completed the voluntary open offer worth Rs 63.89 bn to acquire additional 24.33% stake in its Indian subsidiary GSK Pharma from public shareholders. This has helped the British drug maker to increase its shareholding in GSK Pharma to 75%. Against the proposal to buy 20.6 million shares at a price of Rs 3,100 per share, more than 23.2 million shares were tendered by shareholders. It must be noted that the British parent firm has stated that it intends to keep its Indian subsidiary listed on the stock exchanges.
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