Indian stock markets open firm

Thu, 19 May 09:30 am

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Asian stock markets have opened the day on a mixed note. Stock markets in Singapore (up 1%), Hong Kong (0.8%), Taiwan (up 0.6%) and Indonesia (up 0.4%) are trading firm. However, markets in Japan (down 0.1%), South Korea (down 0.4%) and China (down 0.1%) are trading in the red. The Indian stock markets have opened the day in the green. Stocks in the oil & gas and FMCG space are leading the gains. However, realty and capital goods stocks have opened in the red.

The BSE-Sensex is trading higher by around 57 points (0.3%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by around 16 points (0.3%). Midcap and small cap stocks are trading in the positive as well, with the BSE Midcap and the BSE Small cap indices up by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. The rupee is trading at 44.97 to the US dollar.

IT stocks have opened the day on a strong note with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech trading in the green. With the launch of its cloud-based technology solution iON, TCS plans to increase its customer base in the small and medium business (SMB) segment in India to 1,000 this year. Currently, the IT major has about 237 customers on the iON platform. It sees a great opportunity in the Eastern part of the country and expects about 25-30% of the new client base to come from this region. The company has 11 cloud service partners in this region and about 98 across India. It has a 10% revenue-sharing arrangement with them.

iON is an integrated information technology solution which uses a scalable cloud-computing technology to cater to the various needs of the SMB's ranging from human resource, finance and inventory to basic applications such as email, document management and website services. Within the next five years, TCS aims to achieve US$ 1 bn target in business from its iON platform.

Pharma stocks have opened the day on a mixed note with Aurobindo Pharma, Divi's Lab and Sun Pharma trading firm. However, Piramal Healthcare and Biocon are facing selling pressure. Dr Reddy's Lab has entered into a multi-year agreement with US-based Oceana Therapeutics. Oceana Therapeutics focuses on products serving the needs of the gastroenterology (stomach related diseases) and urology specialties. This agreement will give an exclusive sale and distribution rights to Dr Reddy's for Deflux, in India. Deflux is a medicine that consists of two types of sugar-based molecules used as a cure for malformation of urinary bladder in children. As per the US based company, the sales of Deflux globally was around US$ 30 m in 2008. Though Deflux is not a big product, it will help Dr Reddy's to increase its product offerings in the segment. The financial terms of the agreement are yet not disclosed. Currently Dr Reddy's stock is trading marginally in the green.