Indian stock markets fall further

Fri, 17 Jun 01:30 pm

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The Indian stock market continued to fall during the previous two hours of trade. Stocks from the software, oil and gas, healthcare and realty space are leading the pack of losers.

The BSE-Sensex is trading down by 95 points, while NSE-Nifty is trading 25 points below the dotted line. The BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices are down by 0.7% and 0.6% respectively. The rupee is trading at 44.94 to the US dollar.

Most of the energy stocks are trading in the red with ONGC, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Petronet LNG and BPCL leading the pack of losers. However, Essar Oil is trading flat. As per a leading financial daily, the Supreme Court has issued notice to Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) directing it to file a reply within two weeks over a plea filed by GAIL. The company has alleged PNGRB for issuing license to Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSP) for Rs 50 bn Mehasana Bhatinda Natural Gas Pipelines (MBPL). As per GAIL, the licence has been issued in an arbitrary and illegal manner, violating the interim direction that all such decisions should be done by a multi-member board and not by its chairman's nominee. GAIL has submitted that PNGRB's going ahead with pipe line project will cost the exchequer heavily at an estimated Rs 50 bn when with just about 10 per cent of the said expenditure GAIL could extend its existing pipelines to the concerned areas in a shorter time frame. The Court has given a week's time to GAIL to file its rejoinder over the reply filed by the board in this matter. Meanwhile, the bench also clarified that the status of MBPL would be subject to the outcome of its final order. The stock of the company is trading in the red.

Sofware stocks are trading weak with TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and CMC Ltd leading the pack of losers. As per a leading financial daily, the Rajasthan government has given approval to Infosys to construct its facility in Mahindra World City - the 3000-acre multiproduct SEZ in Jaipur. The company is coming up with a 6 lakh square feet development facility in the SEZ. The construction is expected to start very soon with an initial capacity of 4000 seats. Infosys has taken 200 acres in SEZ for two significant investments - Infosys BPO and Infosys Technology. The company intends to invest around Rs 1.5 bn in its BPO operation and around Rs 2.5 bn in its development facility. It plans to hire 10,000 software professionals in its development facility at its peak while Infosys BPO plans to accommodate up to 5,000 employees through indigenous sources and 50% through imports if feasible. The stock of the company is trading in the green.