Indian stock market indices shed some gains over the last two hours of trade on the back of some selling activity witnessed across industry heavyweights. Consumer Durable and Realty stocks witnessed maximum buying interest while Power stocks were the leading losers.
The BSE-Sensex is up by 81.1 points, while the NSE-Nifty is up by 19.6 points. However, BSE Mid cap index and the BSE Small cap index are down by 0.27% and 0.20% respectively. The rupee is trading at 50.93 to the US dollar.
Power stocks are trading mainly in the red led by Tata Power and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). According to the Power Ministry, coal shortage caused power utilities to suffer generation loss to the tune of 8.7 bn units during the period April-February 2011-12. Reportedly, the utility sector had incurred a loss of 8.4 bn units in FY11. The government has been taking various steps to overcome the shortfall in coal. These include reduction in e-auction by Coal India from 10% to 7% and allowing power companies to import coal to the extent technically feasible.
Energy stocks are trading mixed with Cairn India and Essar Oil leading the gainers and Gujarat Gas and Gujarat State Petronet Ltd. (GSPL) trading the weakest. As per a leading financial daily, on account of falling gas output from KG basin, Mr. Mukesh Ambani is planning to sell Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure (RGTIL), a business that builds pipelines to carry natural gas across the country. RGTIL operates the Rs 150 bn East-West gas pipeline (EWPL) that connects Kakinada to industrial hubs of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Despite receiving the license to build two pipelines connecting Kakinada-Vizianagaram-Srikakulam and Kakinada-Ennore-Nellore-Chennai in 2007, the company has been unable to commence the project due to unavailability of gas. The state owned companies like GAIL and Oil India have expressed interest in buying the business. The pipelines business' worth is estimated at around Rs 100 bn.
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