Mid cap & small cap lead gains

Fri, 2 May 01:30 pm

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Indian stock markets continue to trade higher during the previous two hours of trade led by continuous buying activity among index weights. Stocks from IT and healthcare sectors are leading the gainers, while capital goods stocks are trading weak today.

The BSE-Sensex is up by 50 points and the NSE-Nifty is up by 13 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading higher by 0.5% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.7%. The rupee is trading at 60.22 to the US dollar.

Majority of auto stocks are trading firm today with TVS Motors and Hero MotoCorp leading the stock of gainers. As per a leading business daily, two-wheeler manufacturers announced their April sale volumes. The industry major Hero Motocorp's total sales volume increased by 14.4% YoY to 571,054 units during April 2014. The double digit volume growth has come despite the non-festival season. As per the company, the growth is backed by various initiatives incorporated over the last few of months like customer friendly new launches and brand building activities. For instance, Hero Motocorp has launched Splendor iSmart under its most selling Splendor variant, that has been received well by consumers. The company has launched its operations in Bangladesh through a joint venture in April 2014. This would enable the company to set up its first manufacturing plant outside India. It is expected to be operational in the mid of FY16.

Bajaj Auto, on the other hand, reported decline in sales volumes by 4% YoY in the month of April 2014. The company managed to sell 344,178 units which include two-wheelers as well as three-wheelers. Despite the overall decline in volumes, the company's export segment witnessed a double digit growth. Its exports, which comprise over 40% of to its total sales volumes, were higher by 16% YoY during the month.

As per a leading financial daily, the government cut the import tariff value on gold from $431 per 10 gms to $422 per 10 gms and on silver from $646 per 10 kg to $632 per kg. The import tariff value is the base price on which customs duty is calculated to prevent under-invoicing and is revised on a fortnightly basis. Gold being the second largest importable item after petroleum, the government had imposed restrictions on its import and raised the import duty to 10% to keep the high current account deficit in check. As result, the total gold and silver imports fell by 40% to $33.4 bn in FY14. However with improving current account deficit, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is demanding an ease on gold import restrictions to boost gems and jewellery exports from the country. The gems and jewellery exports fell by 8.8% to $39.5 bn in FY14.