Share markets in India are presently trading marginally higher. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and energy sector witnessing maximum buying interest, while automobile stocks and IT stocks are trading in red.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 59 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 13 points. Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading down by 0.2%.
Speaking of Indian share markets, with the final election results approaching, what can market participants look forward to?
Note that stock markets have remained volatile in the pre-election period.
It has certainly turned out that way again.
History of the past few elections paints a rosy picture.
Despite governments changing hands in 2004 and 2014, the Sensex gave returns of 44% and 13% in a year respectively.
Even in 2009, when the same government retained power, Sensex was up by 18% in a year.
So, do you think there are good times ahead for Indian stock markets? We will keep you updated on the developments.
Meanwhile, look out for the stocks that will rise fast when the tide of the market turns up.
Market participants are tracking DLF share price, Tech Mahindra share price and Bosch share price as these companies are set to announce their March quarter (Q4FY19) results today.
You can also read our recently released Q4FY19 Results: Bajaj Auto, PI Industries, GSK Pharma.
In the news from the energy sector, BPCL share price has reported a rise of 16.2% in its net profit at Rs 31.2 billion for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 26.9 billion for the same quarter in the previous year.
Total income of the company increased by 10.5% at Rs 850 billion for Q4FY19 as compared Rs 769.1 billion for the corresponding quarter previous year.
Meanwhile, HPCL has reported 69.9% rise in net profit at Rs 29.7 billion as compared to Rs 17.5 billion in the same quarter of previous fiscal.
For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company has reported a fall of 5.2% in its net profit at Rs 60.3 billion. However, total income of the company increased by 21.4% at Rs 2985.6 billion for year under review as compared to Rs 2459.3 billion for year ended March 31, 2018.
HPCL share price is presently trading down by 2.7%.
Moving on to the news from the pharma sector, Torrent Pharma share price is witnessing selling pressure today after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1.5 billion in Q4FY19. The drug firm had posted a consolidated profit of Rs 2.3 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Reportedly, the net loss during the quarter was because of one-time loss of Rs 3.6 billion due to Rs 2.2 billion impairment provisions on certain intangible assets and goodwill recognized as part of acquisition of Bio-Pharm Inc in the US as well as product recall charges of Rs 1.4 billion in the US.
Total income increased by 7% to Rs 18.7 billion in Q4FY19, up from Rs 17.5 billion in Q4FY18. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin was down 187 basis points (bps) at 25.5%.
For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company posted a fall of 35.7% in its net profit at Rs 4.4 billion as compared to Rs 6.8 billion for the previous year.
However, total income of company increased by 23.7% at Rs 77.3 billion as compared to Rs 62.5 billion for the previous fiscal.
Torrent Pharma share price is presently trading down by 4.5%.
In other news, Dr Reddy's share price is planning to spend up to US$ 300 million on research and development (R&D) during financial year 2019-2020. The R&D spends for the January-March quarter of FY19 is US$ 53 million.
Reports state that the company will continue to focus on R&D for some interesting pipeline of proprietary products. But, on an overall basis, the R&D spend would be lower in proprietary products when compared to previous year.
Yesterday, shares of the company plunged around 7% after it reported disappointing margin in January-March quarter.
The company's gross margin for the Q4 was at 52.4%. On the year-on-year (YoY) basis, the gross margin declined by around 100 bps, primarily on account of price erosion, partially offset by new launches and favorable forex rates.
EBITDA margin was down 50 bps quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) at 22%, while it was up 570 bps on YoY basis. Revenues grew 14% to Rs 40.2 billion for the quarter under review while consolidated revenue rose 44% at Rs 4.3 billion on YoY basis.
Dr Reddy's share price is presently trading up by 2.5%.
Speaking of pharma sector, we at Equitymaster believe that pharma companies that invest in creating a pipeline of complex generics or building competencies in alternative dosage forms are better equipped to tackle the changing dynamics in the US generics market as well as in the overall industry.
To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
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