Indian stock markets end flat

Wed, 2 May Closing

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   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

he Indian stock markets had a lackluster outing on the bourses today post the market holiday yesterday. After opening in the green, markets remained in the positive zone for a bulk of the trading session today. However towards the final hour or so, the indices trended towards the dotted line and finally closed below par. While the BSE-Sensex closed lower by around 17 points (down 0.1%), the NSE-Nifty closed lower by around 9 points (0.2%). The BSE Mid Cap index also had a negative outing in trade today, closing 0.3% lower. The BSE Small Cap, however closed the day 0.2% higher. Consumer durables were the biggest index gainers by a fair margin, up 2.4%. IT stocks also trended higher. Auto and power stocks had a negative day on the bourses with blue chips trading in the red.

As regards global markets, major Asian indices had a positive today with the exception of India. European indices opened the day on a mixed note. The rupee was trading at Rs 52.95 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Bharti Airtel has declared its fourth quarter (4QFY12) and full year (FY12) results for financial year 2011-2012 today. The company saw its net sales increase by 14.9% YoY during the quarter. The growth was driven by the growth in total minutes of usage (MOU) on an absolute basis. Total minutes on the network increased by 9.4% YoY during the quarter. The realized rate per minute stood at 43.8 paise per minute. This was higher than the 43.1 paise realized during the same period last year but lower than the 44.6 paise realized during the previous quarter (3QFY12). Operating margins declined marginally to 33.3% during the quarter as compared to 33.6% during the same period last year. This was on account of higher network operating expenses as well as higher access charges which offset the increase in the SG&A expenses during the quarter (all as a percentage of sales). Net profits for the quarter declined by 28.2% YoY. This was on account of higher tax expenses as well as higher interest costs and depreciation charges during the quarter. For FY12, net sales grew by 20% YoY while net profits declined by 29.6% YoY. The stock closed the day on a positive note, rising over 2.5%.

Hero Motocorp announced its results for the fourth quarter (4QFY12) and the full year (FY12). Sales for the full year increased by 21% YoY while profits also saw a similar increase of 23%. Sales for 4QFY12 rose over 11% YoY and profits grew over 20% YoY on the back of higher other income and lower tax outlay. The company sold over 1.6 m two wheelers in the 4QFY12, and over 6.2 m vehicles for the full year. Hero Motocorp also declared a dividend of Rs 45 per equity share with a face-value of Rs 2. On the back of a good financial performance, the stock breached a new high today. It closed around 0.5% higher for the day.