Third consecutive day of losses

Thu, 4 Aug Closing

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Showing no signs of revival from concerns of slowing growth rates and clouded global economic outlook the indices in Indian stock market ended below the breakeven for the third consecutive session today. After a brief stint in the positive territory, the relentless selling pressure led the indices to languish in the red for the rest of the session. There was no respite in the final trading hour as well and the indices closed well below the dotted line. While the BSE-Sensex closed lower by around 247 points (down 1.4%), the NSE-Nifty closed lower by around 73 points (down 1.4%). The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Small cap were not spared either as they as they closed lower by 0.6% each. Stocks from FMCG, auto and metal sectors led the pack of losers.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed weak today while European indices have also opened in the red. The rupee was trading at Rs 44.32 to the dollar at the time of writing.

As per a business daily, drugmaker Piramal Healthcare expects its contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) business to grow by 20% YoY in FY12. The drugmaker company also expects its over-the-counter (OTC) business to grow 45-50% this fiscal year. The company's net sales had decreased by 40.6% YoY in 4QFY11 (30% down YoY in FY11) due to the sale of domestic formulation business to Abbott in May 2010. Later the company also sold its diagnostics business to Religare SRL. Out of the remaining business, the pharma solutions business witnessed 37% growth in sales YoY due to increased customers, while the critical care segment grew by 31.2% on account of new products introduction and increased market share of existing products. Also, the pharma solutions business and the critical care businesses are expected to grow well.

KSB Pumps announced results for the first quarter of financial year 2011-12. The company has reported a 23% growth in topline and 27% YoY fall in net profits for the quarter ended June 2011. This was driven by both its major segments viz. pumps and valves. These managed to grow by 20% and 43% respectively on a YoY basis. The overall growth during the quarter was slightly higher than that witnessed in the first quarter of FY11. Also the fact that it came in an even more challenging environment makes it noteworthy. As far as margins are concerned, they took a knock of a huge 7% over the same quarter last year. This was mainly on account of raw materials expenses that shot up 40% YoY. On account of lack of pricing power, the company was able to pass on very little of this increase and hence, the huge fall in margins. On a segmental basis, the pumps division suffered huge margin erosion to the tune of nearly 8%. At 1.2%, the fall in margin of the valves division was comparatively less.