Indian stock markets extend gains

Tue, 19 Jul 11:30 am

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Indian stock market indices have been trading firm over the last two hours of trade on buying interest in the index heavyweights. All sectoral indices except auto and realty are trading in the positive.

The BSE-Sensex is up by 50 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 14 points above previous closing. BSE-Midcap and BSE-Small cap indices are up by 0.4% and 0.7% respectively. The rupee is trading at 44.56 to the US dollar.

Pharma stocks are trading firm led by Biocon and Sun Pharma. As per a leading daily, pharmaceutical company Lupin is considering to sell its unit that markets medicines India. The founding shareholders are already on the lookout for buyers who might be interested. The Indian business is said to be worth US$ 1 bn. Lupin is the fifth largest supplier of generics drugs in the US (based on prescriptions). It is also the world's largest maker of drugs to fight tuberculosis. India's pharma market is expected to expand by about 14.5 per cent annually to US$ 55 bn by the year 2020 from US$ 12.6 bn in 2009. Sales at Lupin's domestic unit rose by 17% YoY to Rs 15.5 bn in the year ended March 31, 2011. The company is focusing more on treatments for chronic diseases and less on acute conditions.

Power stocks are trading strong led by with NTPC and Torrent Power. As per a leading financial daily, Coal India is working on a mining model which will obviate the need to acquire land to some extent. It is to be noted that the land acquisition is the most contentious issue facing the sector today. A similar model has already been adopted by China. The company has undertaken joint development of some underground mines of one of its subsidiaries, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), with foreign mining companies. If it is successful, the mine developer and operator (MDO) model would be applied to other mining subsidiaries of Coal India as well. The model will help to tap resources that lie deep underground which often remain unexploited due to the high costs. However, it eliminates the need to buy land. The company carried out underground mining in its existing opencast mines by outsourcing mining to those who have the technology. Under this initiative, BCCL has recently awarded contracts to four parties, all of which are foreign mining companies. Under this model, the contractors will supply assured quantities of coal every year, failing which a penalty clause will get triggered. The company would be investing in developing the mines, but the contractors would look after all operations.