Indian stock markets continue to trade in the red during last two hours of trade. Among sectoral indices, Auto and Technology stocks are among the top gainers while Power and Capital goods are amongst the major losers.
The BSE-Sensex and NSE-Nifty are trading down by 31 points and 8 points respectively. Small cap stocks are trading in the red as well with the BSE Small cap trading lower by 0.2%. However, mid cap stocks have bucked the trend with BSE Mid cap trading higher by 0.3%.The rupee is trading at Rs 52.1 to the US dollar.
Cement stocks have been trading mainly in the red led by Ambuja Cement and India Cements. Ambuja Cement has reported its results for the first quarter of CY12 (calendar year ending December 2012). The company has reported a year on year (YoY) decline of 23% at the bottomline level. The topline for the quarter registered a 19% YoY increase. The company has changed its depreciation method on captive plants from Straight Line (charged on original cost of goods) to Written down Value (charged on depreciated value of goods) with retrospective effect. The raw material cost during the quarter increased by 28% YoY while power and fuel costs were up 30% YoY. As per the management's guidance, despite better realizations, the margins are expected to be under pressure due to high energy costs and increase in the rail freight.
Auto stocks have been trading mainly in the green led by Mahindra and Mahindra and Force Motors. As per a leading financial daily, Hero MotoCorp, that has 45% market share in the domestic two wheeler market, has ramped up its production capacity to seven million units. This would translate to production of more than 800 units per hour. With this increase, the company is expected to surpass industry growth of 10%-12% projected for this financial year. Currently, the company has three operational plants in the country at Gurgaon, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Among the new plants, one is expected in South India. Also, it is gearing up to launch a 125cc bike named 'Ignitor' and an 110cc commuter bike called 'Passion XPro'. The company has recently reported a 2.41% YoY increase in the sales units for the quarter ended March 2012 (up 15.4% YoY for FY12).
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