Sensex ends the week lower by 1.2%

Fri, 2 May Closing

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After having started the day well in green, the Indian equity markets pared their gains as the day progressed and ended the day on a flat note. While the BSE-Sensex closed lower by about 14 points (down by 0.06%), the NSE-Nifty closed lower by 1.6 points (down by 0.02%). The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices were however in favour today. While the BSE Midcap Index closed up by 0.46% and the BSE Smallcap Index ended higher by 0.57%. IT stocks and healthcare stocks were the top gainers for the day. However capital goods and banking stocks were among leading losers.

As for the global markets, majority of Asian markets closed firm. European markets have opened weak. The rupee was trading at Rs 60.23 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Stocks of automobile companies ended the day on a mixed note. While TVS and Mahindra & Mahindra led the pack of gainers, Escorts and Maruti Suzuki were among leading losers. As per a financial daily, TVS expects its loss making Indonesian unit to curb its losses. The company expects improvement in its performance helped by new launches in the country. During FY14, the Indonesian arm made loss of Rs 540 m for the full year. However, the CFO of the company admitted that while the losses will continue for a few years, these are expected to narrow down to Rs 240. The company sold 19,300 units in Indonesia and also pumped in Rs 500 m in the business in 2014, mainly towards development and launching of its scooter Dazz. It plans to further invest Rs 250 m in 2015. Reportedly, the company had entered the market approximately seven years ago; however it has met very little success. Further, TVS has been investing in the Indonesian market for a while now, and already has invested Rs 5 bn so far. The company's current volumes in Indonesia are less than the levels it needs to break even, which is estimated at 6,000 units per month. Thus, the company still needs to strongly ramp up its sales volumes in order to become profitable.

Majority of the stocks in the MNC pharma space closed the day on a weak note with Merck Ltd and Abbott India leading the pack of losers. It is reported that Pfizer Ltd has given clarification about the recently rumoured news that the company is looking to acquire Wockhardt Ltd. Pfizer has clarified that it is not in talks or is not looking for buying any stake in Wockhardt. Wockhardt, which is facing various USFDA issues has been in news recently. It is believed that various MNC companies have been in race to acquire Wockhardt, and that Pfizer was also rumoured to be one of them. Further, Pfizer had recently announced about consolidating the Indian operations of Wyeth Ltd after both the parent companies had entered into deal around three years ago.