Indian equity markets began the day's proceedings on a strong note and never looked back despite strong negative global cues. As the day progressed, the markets continued to gain and finally ended the day's proceeding on a high on hope of a rate cut by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While the BSE Sensex closed higher by 387 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by 120 points. Both the BSE Mid Cap and the BSE Small Cap closed on a strong note. Maximum buying interest was seen in Banking and Auto stocks.
As regards global markets, Asian indices closed in the red. European indices have also opened in the red. The rupee was trading at Rs 54.29 to the dollar at the time of writing.
According to a leading financial daily, ITC has officially hiked cigarette prices across select brands to the tune of 15% to 20%. The new 10-stick packet of Navy Cut will cost Rs 59 now compared to earlier price of Rs 49. Likewise for Classic, a 20-stick packet will now cost Rs 136 instead of Rs 116. Gold Flake (King) will be available for Rs 136 compared to Rs 116 while Gold Flake regular will be available at Rs 55 as against Rs 48. ITC manufactures three out of every four cigarettes in the country and the price rise was on the cards with the finance minister hiking the excise duty in the budget. Though the new cigarette packets have just arrived in the market, but since early March stockists and dealers have been charging more for selling the cigarettes. As a result, consumers have been shelling out more since March. There could also be another round of price hike as some states have hiked VAT.
According to a leading financial daily, Mahindra and Mahindra has posted 30% growth in tractor retail sales in the United States of America for FY13. The company sold over 10,000 tractors in US in FY13. The company gained over 2% in market share during FY13 and ended the year with the number three manufacturer in the USA under 80 horsepower tractor segment. During the year, Mahindra USA or MUSA also recruited 79 new dealers with the channel strength expanding to over 400 locations. The strong performance can be attributed to their innovative and aggressive marketing and sales strategies which have allowed Mahindra to increase its presence in the highly competitive US market.
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