India opens on a strong note

Thu, 1 Apr 09:30 am

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In line with their Asian counterparts, the Indian markets have opened on quite a strong note today. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by around 100 points today (up 0.5%) while NSE Nifty has edged higher by around 30 points (up 0.5%). Gains are also being seen all across Asia currently. Heavyweights like Reliance and Infosys are driving the gains on the Sensex currently. The BSE Midcap and Small cap indices are also trading higher, as both are up in the region of 1% presently.

The rupee was seen trading at Rs 44.9 to the dollar at the time of writing.

L&T, the private sector infrastructure major is trading higher by around 1% on the bourses currently. The buoyancy seems to be a consequence of a news item in a leading daily that the company has become the first private sector player to boast of an order book of Rs 1,000 bn. It should be noted that the government backed power equipment maker BHEL is the only company ahead of L&T, having an order book that is 50% higher than the private sector behemoth. L&T seems to be a beneficiary of the big infrastructure and capex cycle that is underway in the country currently and given the growth that lies ahead in the infrastructure and industrial spaces in the country, we won't be surprised if the order book swells even more from the current levels. However, the company will have to be very careful of the execution part as it has shown to be little stressed on that front in recent times.

As per a leading business daily, pharma major Ranbaxy is planning to hire nearly 1,500 marketing executives to expand its sales team by at least 50%. This is with the intention of giving a fillip to its marketing prowess and regaining some lost market share in the domestic markets. As per reports, this recruitment effort will be led by the company's top management. It would be pertinent to note here that Ranbaxy is looking at new rural markets and deeper penetration in interior regions of the country. The company will hire a combination of medical representatives, regional managers and area managers by July to boost sales in the rural markets. These plans have to be seen in light of the fact that the company in recent times has run into a numerous problems in its overseas operations, especially the US. In that backdrop, the company might now be looking to more aggressively tap the domestic market by strengthening its presence in rural India. The stock of Ranbaxy is trading marginally higher on the bourses currently.