Markets up on Oil & Gas stocks

Wed, 30 Jun 01:30 pm

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Indian indices breached the dotted line to trade in the green on buying interest in heavy weights during the last two hours of trade. Stocks from the oil & gas and FMCG space are trading firm, while stocks from the IT and metal space are trading weak.

The BSE-Sensex is up by 85 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 29 points above the dotted line. BSE-Midcap index is up by 0.1% while BSE-Smallcap index is trading higher by 0.2%. The rupee is trading at 46.58 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks are trading mixed with Escorts and TVS Motors trading firm while Ashok Leyland and Bajaj Auto are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland (ALL) has increased the prices of its vehicles by about 3% with immediate effect. This move comes as a result of rising input cost mainly for steel, tyres and casting. It is also due to the sharp increase in demand over the last few months. It may be noted that the commercial vehicle industry has grown over 40% YTD. The hike which translates in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 is the third price increase in the last 6 months as a result of input cost pressure. While the company is evaluating whether further price increases are necessary, a fourth rise nevertheless is awaited in October when the CV industry move up the emission norms from BS-II now to BS-III. This is expected to see about 1% increase in price. With rising raw material costs, the CV industry has very little option but to increase prices to protect its margins. With rising demand so far this has been possible. However, demand is expected to slow down in the third and fourth quarter as the low base effect eases out.

IT stocks are trading mixed with Mphasis and Oracle trading firm while Wipro and TCS are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, rising attrition among project managers with experience between 3 - 8 years is becoming a major worry for IT majors like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. The attrition level of 40% of these managers who handle critical delivery teams for top customers is threatening to disrupt ongoing operations. While customers want commitment about retention of these project managers, MNCs like Accenture and Cognizant are wooing these managers at an increment of 40%. In fact the project managers who leave the companies also try and poach engineering staff from their former employers. While the IT industry is set to grow at double digits, attrition amongst staff is turning out to be a major concern.