Indian share markets open firm

Thu, 27 Jun 09:30 am

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   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

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All the major Asian stock markets have opened the day in the green with South Korea (up 2.8 %) and Indonesia (up 2.7%) leading the pack of gainers. The Indian share market indices have also opened the day on a positive note. All sectoral indices have opened in the green with stocks in the oil and gas and realty sector leading the gains.

The Sensex today is up by around 221 points (1.2%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by around 66 points (1.2%). The mid cap stocks and small cap stocks have also opened in the green with BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 1.0% and 0.9% respectively. The rupee is trading at Rs 60.34 to the US dollar.

Telecom stocks have opened the day mainly in the green with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and Tata Teleservices Ltd leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, the Department of Telecom (DoT) will shortly modify the licence conditions of mobile phone companies under the Indian Telegraph Act. As such, the mobile phone companies will be legally bound to buy security-sensitive telecom products from domestic gearmakers. The move has come up in wake of India notifying "preferential market access" or PMA policy that calls for 100% local sourcing of security sensitive telecom equipment and electronics from October 2013. So far, the leading private mobile operators have been running their business through outsourcing of all key operational functions. The move is likely to create ripples in the telecom sector. As per Cellular Operators Association of India and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India , the domestic sourcing and value-addition targets mandated by the PMA norms are unrealistic due to the absence of established telecom gear manufacturing ecosystem in India. DoT is also hoping to extend PMA compliance to private sector telecom gear procurements to curb India's telecom gear import bill.

Energy stocks have opened the day mainly in the green with Oil India Ltd and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) fully owned subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) is eyeing new oil and gas assets in the US. OVL is considering Chesapeake Energy's oil and gas assets for acquisition. It is to be noted here that Chesapeake Energy is the second largest natural gas producer in the US. Its most important asset is the Permian Basin oilfields in Texas, which is the largest oil-producing area in the US. The acquisition plans of ONGC are in line with the target 11% annual growth in overall global Exploration and Production portfolio and with a six-fold increase in overseas portfolio in the next three years. Regarding funds for acquisitions, the daily stated that of the Rs 270 bn cash reserves that the firm has, it is likely to use around Rs 130 bn to Rs 140 bn for acquisitions. The rest is likely to be raised by OVL through borrowings which will be guaranteed by ONGC.