Markets open on a volatile note

Mon, 16 Aug 09:30 am

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The Indian markets have started today’s session on a volatile note. The benchmark indices opened below the breakeven mark but soon moved into the positive territory. Other key Asian markets are in the red with Japan (down 0.9%) leading the pack of losers. The US markets closed lower by 0.2% last Friday.

Currently in India, heavyweights from the BSE-Sensex are trading strong with FMCG and banking majors finding investors’ favour. The BSE-Sensex is trading higher by around 1 point, while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 2 points. Buying interest is also being witnessed among mid and small cap stocks as the BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.94 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks have opened the day on a positive note. Gainers here include Maruti Suzuki and TVS Motor. As per a leading business daily, M&M plans to scale up its production capacity by over 60% in two years. It will set up a 100,000 capacity unit with an investment of at least R 6 bn. The company sells tractors under the Mahindra and Swaraj brands. It currently produces 100,000 units of the Mahindra brand a year at Rudrapur, Kandivli, Nagpur and Jaipur plants and 60,000 units of Swaraj at its Mohali unit. The new unit may come up in Tamil Nadu by 2012. The new plant is likely to manufacture tractors having capacity between 30 and 50 horsepower. This capacity addition is in an effort to cash in on the growing rural demand. M&M has become the world’s number-one tractor company and enjoys a 42% share of the Indian tractor market.

Steel stocks have opened the day on a strong note. Gainers here include Tata Steel and SAIL. As per a leading business daily, Tata Steel plans to expand its domestic manufacturing capacity three-fold. The company currently manufactures 7 m tonnes of steel per annum (mtpa). It will go up to 21 mtpa following the expansion of its Jamshedpur plant and completion of its Orissa and Chattisgarh’s greenfield units. The expansion project at Jamshedpur is for 3 mpta. The company is also setting up a 6 mtpa greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa and 5 mtpa greenfield integrated steel plant at Bastar in Chhattisgarh. The Jamshedpur expansion is likely to be completed by 2012. The Orissa project is likely to be commissioned by 2014. The company has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 45 bn in FY11 and Rs 70 bn in FY12.