Indian share markets open firm

Tue, 1 Apr 09:30 am

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The major Asian stock markets have opened the day on a mixed note with stock markets in Malaysia (down 0.3%) and Japan (down 0.1%) leading the losses. However, the stock markets in Indonesia (up 1.7%) and Hong Kong (up 1.0%) were leading the gains. The Indian share markets have opened the day on a firm note. It must be noted that the Reserve Bank of India will be announcing its monetary policy review today. The sectoral indices have opened mixed with stocks in the software and consumer durables space leading the gains. However, stocks in capital goods and realty space were witnessing selling pressure.

The Sensex today is up by around 37 points (0.2%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 4 points (0.1%). The mid and small cap stocks have opened in the green with the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 0.1% and 0.3% respectively. The rupee is currently trading at Rs 60.06 to the US dollar.

Engineering stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with Sanghvi Movers Ltd and Bharat Bijlee Ltd leading the gains. However, Manugraph India and Thermax Ltd were leading the losses. As per a leading financial daily, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has bagged new orders worth Rs 10 bn across various business segments in the month of March 2014. As per the company statement, orders worth Rs 5.7 bn were received from a leading real estate company for construction of mixed use development in Lucknow and the construction of a community centre in Bangalore. The scope of the work involves civil, mechanical, and electrical, among others. Besides, the company has bagged orders from an ongoing project in Hyderabad for the work of transit oriented development. In the transportation infrastructure segment, the company has won a new order worth Rs 3.2 bn from a road developer for design, engineering and construction of an elevated road in Kolkata. Besides, its power transmission and distribution business has bagged orders worth Rs 1.2 bn from Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. In separate news, the top executives of the company are selling their shares with Executive Chairman A M Naik leading the pack. As per the daily, Mr. Naik has sold his 5.67 lakh shares in the company worth about Rs 720 m in the last 20 days. Besides, the CEO K Venkataramanan and whole time director Shailendra N Roy have also offloaded part of their stake during the same time period.

Indian Pharma stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with J.B Chemicals Ltd and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd leading the pack of gainers. However, Natco Pharma and IPCA Labs were leading the losses. As per a leading financial daily, leading Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd is planning to buy Standard Chartered Bank's Goregaon property on the suburban fringes of Mumbai city. The purchase will be subject to a successful due diligence, among other things. As per media reports, the purchase cost of this property will be about Rs 2.8 bn. The company has clarified that the purchase of any property for official purposes would not affect the company's earnings. Also, the amount shelled out for the property would be a minor percentage of its net worth/asset base.