Backed by buying interest in commodity, banking and realty stocks, the indices in Indian stock markets topped the gainers in Asian markets today. The momentum was led by stocks in the mid and smallcap spaces as well. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by around 222 points (up 1.2%), the NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 64 points (up 1.1%). The BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap closed higher by 1.5% and 0.9% respectively.
As regards global markets, most Asian indices closed firm today while European indices have opened on a mixed note. The rupee was trading at Rs 45.17 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Coal India declared its results for the fourth quarter and year ended March 2011. The company's sales by volume grew at a marginal rate of 2% YoY to 424.5 m tonnes (mt). Production during the year, which remained flat at 431.3 mt, suffered because of non-availability of railway rakes. Further the company was unable to secure the environment ministry's clearance to expand coal mining in nearly 43 projects. For the fourth quarter, net revenue was up 18.3% YoY, largely on account of the price increase undertaken in the last quarter. The company sold 10.6% of its production through electronic auction, growing the income from this route by 34% YoY.For FY11, the company's standalone net profit grew by 24% YoY.
As per press releases from Zee Entertainment the company has entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Star India for their respective distribution arms. The JV company - Media Pro Enterprise - will offer more than 75 channels to cable distributors. It will control close to 40% TV viewing in India, according to TAM Media Research numbers. The deal is expected to lead to an increase in pay revenues and a fall in carriage costs. Also it may lead to consolidation in the cable industry as also improved access to non-Hindi markets and a push for media regulation.
Meanwhile, Zee Entertainment has witnessed a 22.9% YoY growth during the March quarter led by strong growth in the advertising segment. Advertising revenue increased 36.4% YoY due to higher channel shares across network, a buoyant macro environment and a continued preference of advertisers towards television. Subscription segment also displayed a healthy growth of 23.7% YoY.
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