The key Asian equity markets have opened the day on a firm note with markets in Hong Kong (up 0.8%), Japan (up 0.8%) and South Korea (up 1.4%) leading the gains in the region. However, markets in Singapore opened weak (down 0.5%). The Indian share market indices have also opened the day on a positive note. All sectoral stocks have opened in the green led by auto and Realty sector.
The Sensex today is up by around 82 points (0.5%) and the NSE-Nifty is up by around 24 points (0.5%). The Mid and Small cap stocks are trading in the green with the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 0.4% and 0.3% respectively. The rupee is trading at Rs 55.17 to the US dollar.
The stocks in the Auto sector have opened mainly in green led by Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and Bajaj Auto Ltd. M&M has announced its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012-13 (1QFY13). The company has reported a 39.3% year on year (YoY) growth in the topline. The sales from the automotive segment were up by 49.3% YoY while farm equipment segment sales registered a growth of 7.7% YoY. Despite a challenging demand environment and increase in raw material costs, the company managed to improve operational efficiency during the quarter. The operating margins for the quarter stood at 11.8%. The company's bottomline was up 20.0% YoY during the quarter. On a consolidated basis, the growth in the bottomline and topline stood at 25.9% YoY and 35.3% YoY respectively. As per the management, the growth was on account of good volumes in the automotive segment and effective cost control.
The stocks in the Power sector have opened mainly in green led by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and PTC India Ltd. Tata Power has announced its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012-13 (1QFY13). The company posted a 25% year on year (YoY) growth in the topline during the quarter. However, its bottomline registered a decline of 66% YoY due to high interest costs and depreciation expenses (due to commissioning of Mundra and Maithon units) and high foreign exchange losses. As per the management, the lower realizations during the quarter were due to global economic slowdown and higher cost of production of coal. The company has plans to expand overseas as the domestic power sector is facing tough times. It aims to expand its capacity to 25,000 megawatts by 2017 (current capacity at 6,099 megawatt).
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