Indian stock markets came off the day's highs during the closing stages of the day and as a result, closed only marginally higher. Absent any positive development, the BSE-Sensex gained 88 points (up 0.48%) while NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 20 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices however edged lower and lost in the region of 0.4% each. Advance to decline ratio on the Sensex was pretty evenly balanced with there being one gainer for every loser.
As far as global indices are concerned, while most Asian indices closed lower today, Europe is trading in the positive currently. The rupee was trading at Rs 59.7 to the dollar at the time of writing.
The long awaited merger in the Indian IT industry has finally happened. We are referring to the merger between the erstwhile fraud ridden Satyam Computer Service (later renamed as Mahindra Satyam) and Tech Mahindra. As per a leading daily, the management of the latter has finally announced a formal amalgamation between the two entities. It should be noted that Mahindra Satyam was acquired in 2009 by Tech Mahindra in a bidding process sponsored by the Government but the two companies were operating as separate entities pending legal hurdles. But with the court giving a green signal, the merger has finally happened. The combined entity will have US$ 2.7 bn in revenues with 84,000 employees and will become the fifth largest IT company in India. Tech Mahindra closed marginally higher today.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), India's largest oil exploration and production company ended up by around 3% today. The optimism seemed a result of a definitive agreement signed by the company to acquire Videocon Industries' 10% stake in Mozambique gas field for US$ 2.5 bn. The acquisition will be implemented by way of a new corporate entity where OVL, ONGC's international exploration arm will hold 60% while Oil India Ltd. (OIL), another public sector exploration company will hold the remaining 40%. As per reports, the deal is subject to approvals of the Government of Mozambique and India and other regulatory approvals. The field, Mozambique's offshore area 1 is believed to be holding as much as 65 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves.
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