Indian stock markets extended their initial losses during last two hours of trade. Among sectoral indices, FMCG and consumer durable stocks were leading the gains, while IT and banking stocks were in the red.
The BSE-Sensex is trading down by 77 points and NSE-Nifty is trading down by 14 points. However, BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap indices are trading higher by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. The rupee is trading at 50.10 to the US dollar.
FMCG stocks are trading strong led by Gillette India and Archies Ltd. According to a leading financial daily, following the 2% increase in excise duty in the Union budget, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies and durables companies will soon be hiking the prices of their offerings. However, the companies are looking at raising their prices by only 1-1.5% as against 2% hike in excise duty. Also, the companies may not raise the prices of their products immediately. The reason for this may lie in the fact that Indian companies have been losing their pricing power in the recent months. FMCG companies in particular do not want volume growth to be impacted. It may be noted here that for FMCG companies, volume growth in recent quarters has been 9-15% while price-led growth has been only 5-10%.
Mining stocks are trading in the red led by MOIL Limited and Coal India. According to a leading financial daily, MOIL Limited is planning to enter the power generation business. For this purpose the company plans to acquire and develop coal blocks under public private partnership scheme and has invited expression of interest from private sector players for a tie-up for development of coal blocks. However the company has still not decided on the size and location of the power plant. Depending upon the response from private players on coal blocks, the company may go for tie-up for jointly securing, exploring, mining, commercially exploiting and participating in value addition projects relating to the coal blocks.
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