Indian share markets remain in green

Mon, 27 May 11:30 am

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Indian share markets have remained in green during the previous two hours of trade. While oil and gas and consumer durables are leading the pack of winners, auto is the only sector which is facing a slight selling pressure. The BSE-Sensex is up by 158 points and NSE-Nifty is up by 43 points. Both BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are up by 0.8%. The rupee is trading at 55.63 to the US dollar.

PSU banks shares are trading on a mixed note with Corporation bank and Bank of Maharsahtra leading the gains while Bank of Baroda and United Bank of India are facing the maximum selling pressures. According to a leading financial news medium, State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, would restructure Rs 50-60 bn of debt in the next three to four months. It has restructured Rs 81 bn of loans in the fourth quarter. The bank's total restructured book now stands at Rs 431 bn. The bank's net profit has contracted by 18.5% at Rs 33 bn for the fourth quarter as compared to Rs 41 bn for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. However, total Income of the bank has increased by 7% to Rs 363 bn for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 from Rs 34 bn for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. For the year ended March 31, 2013, the bank's net profit has surged by 20.5% at Rs 141 bn as compared to Rs 117bn for the year ended March 31, 2012. Bank's total Income has increased by 12.3% to Rs 1.4 trillion for the year under review from Rs 1.2 trillion for the previous fiscal. SBI's share is trading up by 0.2%.

Steel shares are trading on a mixed note with Tayo Rolls and Jindal Steel leading the gains while Gujarat Mineral Development and Maharashtra Seamless are leading the losses. According to a leading financial news medium, Tata Steel has clarified that it has put no European assets up for sale, following a US$1.6 billion write-down for the region in the previous financial year due to sluggish demand. The company is reported to explore sale of some of the assets, given that it expects severely depressed conditions in Europe to continue over the short to medium term. Two-thirds of Tata Steel's 27 million tonne annual capacity is in Europe, where demand has shrunk by almost a third since 2007. The company now reportedly is expected to now focus more on its high-margin India operations, where its costs are far lower.

The company plunged into a consolidated net loss of Rs 71 bn in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 hit by weak demand and depressed steel prices in Europe, against net profit of Rs 54 bn in the same period last year. The company's consolidated net sales barely grew by 0.9% at Rs 341 bn in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013, compared to net sales of Rs 339 bn in the same period last year. Tata Steel's share is trading down by 0.3%.