Indian equity markets continued to trade strong over the last two hours of trade. metal and consumer durables stocks witnessed maximum buying interest, while FMCG and Oil and gas stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure.
The Sensex today is up by 41 points, while the NSE-Nifty today is up by 12 points. BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are up by 0.82% and 0.71% respectively. The rupee is trading at 54.50 to the US dollar.
Steel stocks are trading strong led by Jindal Steel and JSW Steel. According to a leading financial daily, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is planning to sign the final pact with Japan's Kobe Steel next week for a joint venture which will set up a facility to produce iron nuggets. The company is planning to invest Rs 15 bn towards the joint venture. This will be a 50-50 joint venture. The joint venture would use Iron Making Technology Mark-3 (ITmk3) for producing iron nuggets from iron ore fines and non-coking coal to use in steel-making electric arc furnaces (EAFS). The technology would be provided by Kobe Steel. A detailed project report is being jointly prepared by the two companies for setting up the 0.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) facility at SAIL's Alloy Steel Plant (ASP) in Durgapur.
Auto stocks are trading in the green led by Ashok Leyland and Maruti Suzuki. According to a leading financial daily, Indian carmakers have cut on their production (especially of petrol vehicles to reduce inventory) but are still going ahead with new launches. All the automobile companies are lining up new models in an effort to boost sales in a slowing economy. India's largest automobile company, Maruti Suzuki decided to shut down its plant recently for over a week. However, its multipurpose vehicle Ertiga was still launched. Tata Motors is likely to launch the latest version of Safari Storme and a CNG Nano. The production however has been curtailed. As per the car manufacturers, the idea is to generate interest for newer models or upgraded vehicles.
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