Mid & small caps buck trend

Fri, 13 Mar 01:30 pm

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Indian benchmarks opened today session strong above 8800 but couldn't retain the gains for long. Investors booked profits as a result of which BSE Sensex lost nearly 1% while NSE-Nifty 0.9% in the post noon session. All the sectoral indices are trading in the red with banking sector in maximum losses. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap have, however, outperformed the markets. Midcap and Smallcap stocks are trading with 0.4% and 0.3% losses respectively.

Commodities are trading firmly in green. Gold prices, per 10 grams, have gained around 0.5% or Rs 135 and trading at Rs 25,800 levels. Silver price, per kilogram has gained about 0.4% or Rs 160 and is trading at Rs 35,500 levels. Crude oil prices have extended losses. Per barrel crude oil prices have fallen 0.6% and trading with a loss of Rs 16 at Rs 2,970 levels. The value of Indian rupee gained momentum and is trading with moderate gains of 0.3% or 0.30 at Rs 62.68 against the US Dollar.

Asian stock markets pared early gains, however, mostly finished in the green. A spate of bank rate cuts infused fresh optimism in investors. Japanese, Chinese, Hong Kong and Korean markets finished with moderate gains of 1.4%, 0.6%, 0.1% while Taiwanese market finished in the red with 0.2% losses.

Capital goods stocks are trading in the red owing to profit booking. Shares of Reliance Infrastructure fell nearly 2% after the company decided to put 50% of its cement business on sales. According to a leading financial daily, the company has reportedly offered 50% stake in Reliance Cement, a wholly owned arm of Reliance Infrastructure, in order to part fund the Pipavav deal. The JV partner buying the 50% share will also help the company to increase its cement producing capacity from 5 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes within 3 years. With acquisition of Pipavav Defence, the company aims to gain a strong foothold in the defence sector and intends to execute Rs 1,200 billion worth of orders acquired by Pipavav Defence in next 5 years.

Realty sector has witnessed profit booking today. However, Mahindra Lifespace Developers gained more than 3% after it unveiled the second phase of housing project in Boisar, Mumbai. According to the company, the upcoming phase of housing project will be targeted towards the rising middle-class people. The flats would be starting from Rs 1.1 million and will go up to a maximum of Rs 2.4 million with spaces starting from 351 sq ft upto 750 sq ft. The company has sold over 300 units in the first phase.