Indian Equity markets slip in red

Mon, 8 Apr 11:30 am

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

Indian equity markets have slipped in red in the previous two hours of trade. Maximum buying interest have been witnessed in the consumer durables and healthcare sectors while FMCG and IT have faced the maximum selling pressures.

The BSE-Sensex is down by 41 points and NSE-Nifty is down by 10 points. BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.09% while BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.25%. The rupee is trading at 54.73 to the US dollar.

All except two auto shares, Ashok Leyland and Maruti Suzuki are trading in green. According to a leading financial news medium, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), the country's largest utility vehicle maker has embarked on building a new platform for bigger electric vehicles. M&M is planning to invest about Rs 1.5 bn for developing electric versions of its three existing vehicles: Gio, Maxximo and Verito. M&M is also anticipating support from the central government for promoting eco-friendly vehicles and it also plans to extend the electric mobility technology to its two-wheelers. M&M had successfully launched its first electric car e2o recently and had spent a total of Rs 1 bn on the development of e2o and construction of a manufacturing plant with a yearly installed capacity of 30,000 units. It is envisaged that the new platform for electric vehicles can also be used by M&M's Korean subsidiary, SsangYong Motor. M&M's share is trading up by 0.21%.

Mining shares are trading on a mixed note with Ashapura Minechem and Gujarat NRE Coke leading the gains while National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Sesa Goa are facing the maximum selling pressures. According to a leading financial daily, Coal India (CIL) has unearthed that 36 projects located in Maharshtra would turn out to be unviable because of exponential land price appreciation. The estimated annual production capacity of all these projects is expected to be around 18 m tonnes. CIL has shelved these projects and may take them up only if it can get a price that covers production cost from these proposed mines. Historically, CILs average cost of land for coal projects in Maharashtra ranged between Rs 40,000 and Rs 100,000 per acre. However, because of the land price appreciation happening all over Maharashtra CIL would now have to shell out Rs 600,000 per acre for boro land, Rs 800,000 per acre for non-irrigated land and Rs 1 m per acre for irrigated land. Based on the revised land prices, the cost of all these 36 projects have risen by approximately Rs 27 bn. The Chairman of Western Coalfields of CIL has admitted that the growth prospects of CIL would get severely affected over the coming years because of CIL's decision to shelve these projects. CIL's share is trading up by 0.42%.