DMK's withdrawal spooks markets

Tue, 19 Mar 11:30 am

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Indian equity markets shed their initial gains during the previous two hours of trade because of DMK's withdrawal of support from the current UPA government. All sectors are trading in the red with metal and oil and gas facing the maximum selling pressures. At the time of writing, the BSE-Sensex was down by 265 points and NSE-Nifty was down by 75 points. BSE Mid Cap index was trading lower by 1.15% while BSE Small Cap index was trading lower by 1.03%. The rupee was trading at 54.33 to the US dollar.

Steel sector shares were trading on a mixed note with Tayo Rolls and Jindal Saw leading the pack, while Adhunik Metaliks and Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) faced the maximum selling pressures. The Government has announced its decision to offload 10.82% of its stake in SAIL through a public offer. A panel of Cabinet ministers is scheduled to meet today to finalise the floor price within the band of Rs 63 to Rs 65 per share with an expectation of accumulating a sum of approximately Rs 28 bn. The year 2012-13 is expected to be the most successful year not only because the disinvestments proceeds are the largest ever in a particular year, but also because the process attracted genuine investors as the issues were priced attractively. In the current fiscal, the government has sold minority stakes in seven companies through the offer-for-sale route, which included the share sale in NMDC, Oil India and NTPC. Disinvestment in SAIL is the government's last disinvestment in the current fiscal year. The current fiscal's disinvestment programme is expected to fetch the government a total of Rs 250 bn, Rs 50 bn less than the target of Rs 300 bn.

Hotel shares were trading on a mixed note with Country Club and Taj GVK leading the gains while The Indian Hotels and Oriental Hotels witnessed the maximum selling pressures. According to a leading business daily, Roots Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Hotels Ltd. is planning to come up with 50 budget hotels under its 'Ginger' brand within the next two years. The current number of hotels under this brand stands at 26. Ginger hotels are designed to have unique space that is conducive for guests in terms of comfort, relaxation and work requirements. Tata group had revolutionised the Indian hospitality sector by opening its first budget hotel at Whitefield in Bangalore seven years ago (2005-06) and setting up a chain of such hotels across metros, tier-one and tier-two cities in the country. With an average occupancy of about 70 percent, Ginger hotels provide smart, stylish and chic services at affordable rates in the range of Rs 2,500-3,000 a room a day.