After trading in the positive territory during post noon trading session, the Indian equity markets held on to their ground and ended the day in the green. While the BSE-Sensex today closed higher by 242 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by 81 points. Even Midcaps and Smallcaps followed broader market trend and closed with marginal gains. While the BSE Mid Cap index increased by 0.9%, the BSE Small Cap index recorded gains of 1.1%. IT and consumer durable stocks were the biggest gainers today. Surprisingly, rate sensitive stocks also gained ground ahead of RBI's policy tomorrow.
As regards global markets, Asian indices closed on a mixed note today. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.09 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Energy stocks closed the day on a strong note. HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) were the biggest gainers while Petronet LNG closed in the red. In a step that would move India a step closer towards complete de-regulation, government is all set to exempt diesel from regulatory controls sometime later this year. After government brought in partial de-regulation by allowing companies to raise prices on monthly basis the under recoveries have reduced. Now, the under recovery in diesel stands at just Rs 1.33 per litre. Falling under recoveries is not just good news for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) but also for upstream players and government as their share of losses also go down. However, if international crude prices turn volatile, or Rupee suddenly loses ground thereby making imports costlier, governments plan for full deregulation may well take a backseat.
Auto stocks have closed the day on a strong note. Except for Eicher Motors all the stocks ended the day on a positive note. As per a leading business daily, two wheeler major Bajaj Auto has reported sales figures for the month of July 2014. During the month, the company sold 319,292 units, an increase of 13% YoY. Out of total volumes, motorcycles accounted 267,841 units while the balance (51,451) was contributed by three wheelers. Exports were up by 54% YoY by the launch of models in Egypt which happens to be Bajaj's second largest foreign market after Sri Lanka.
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