Indian share markets continued to trade higher in the post-noon trading session. Barring IT and pharma, all the sectoral indices are trading in the green with banking, auto and power stocks being the biggest gainers.
BSE-Sensex is up 94 points and NSE-Nifty is trading 37 points up. BSE Mid Cap is trading 0.9% up and BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 1.1%. The rupee is trading at 60.2 to the US dollar.
Most of the mining stocks are trading in the green with Ashapura Minechem and Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India Ltd. (MMTC) being the major gainers whereas Gujarat NRE Coke and Coal India are a few stocks trading in the red. As per a leading financial daily, Coal India Ltd (CIL) is contemplating a hike in coal prices by at least 10% after the elections in May. The company's profitability has been hit by falling production, increasing costs, fall in e-auction realizations and higher supplies to the power sector. The standing Committee on Coal and Steel has asked CIL not to raise prices frequently. Therefore the company is likely to take up the issue at the board meeting after elections and take a final call on the quantum of the price-hike. CIL stock is currently trading down by 0.2%.
Majority of the telecom stocks are trading in the green with Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications being among major gainers. As per a study by Nokia Solutions and Networks, there has been an 87% jump in data traffic generated by 2G and 3G services during 2013, propelled by a surge in 3G services. Thanks to reduced tariffs and sachet packs for Internet services by telecom operators, 3G data traffic grew by 146% in 2013 surpassing the world average growth of 100%. 2G traffic grew by 59% during the year. Even the average data consumption by 3G users continues to remain more than 2G consumers. In December 2013, the data consumed by a 3G user stood at 532 MB as compared to 146 MB consumed by a 2G user. The recent spectrum auctions are likely to enable the telecom industry to expedite the mobile broadband penetration in the country.
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