Indian share markets returned to positive territory but remained close to the dotted line in the post-noon trading session. Majority of the sectoral indices are trading positive with IT, banking and capital goods stocks being the major gainers. pharma, oil and gas and metal are among the few stocks trading in the red.
BSE-Sensex is up 20 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up 7 points. Both BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading up by 0.2% each. The rupee is trading at 54.2 to the US dollar.
Majority of food & tobacco stocks are trading in the green with Godfrey Philips and Golden Tobacco being the major gainers. However, GSK Consumer and Tata Coffee are languishing in the red. As per a leading financial daily, Uttar Pradesh has cut VAT rates on cigarette/cigar from the present 50% to 25%. This is expected to reduce the tax burden on cigarette companies operating in the state. The state government had raised the VAT on cigarette/cigar and tobacco products from 12.5% to 50%, last year.
Most of the PSU banking stocks public sector banking stocks are trading in green with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Union Bank leading among the pack of gainers. PNB declared March 2013 results. Net profits declined by 21% YoY for Q4FY13. Net-interest income grew by 14.2%. The non-performing loans rose to 4.27% from 2.93% in the year-ago period. The bank is focusing more towards its credit quality and hence its loan book witnessed slower growth of just 5% YoY. On QoQ basis the bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) has grown to 12.7%.
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