Mid and small caps remain in favour

Wed, 18 Aug 11:30 am

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After starting today's session on a positive note Indian indices are trading firm. Other key Asian markets are trading mixed with Nikkei (up 0.4%) in the green and Hang Seng (down 0.1%) in the red. Currently heavyweights in the Sensex are trading flat with stocks from health care and metals space leading the gainers. However, stocks from consumer goods and consumer durables space are facing the brunt of profit booking.

Currently, the BSE-Sensex is trading up by around 61 points, while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 20 points. Strong buying interest is also witnessed amongst the mid and small cap stocks as the BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.9% and 1% respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.67 to the US dollar.

Media stocks are trading mixed with Jagran Prakashan and Entertainment Network leading the gains. However, NDTV and HT Media are in the red. Deccan Chronicle announced its 1QFY11 results recently. Net sales increased 7% YoY during 1QFY11. This was mainly due to growth in revenues from advertising. Though the volumes of ad space are yet to pick up, it was the increase in realisations that boosted revenues from advertising. The company expects that its advertising revenues will see a healthy growth going forward on account of the rising circulation of its daily newspapers. Operating margins expanded to 51.7% during the quarter, from 48.9% in 1QFY10 due to fall in raw material cost. However, employee cost and other expenditure increased during the quarter. On the back of the expansion in operating margins, higher other income and a lower effective tax rate, Deccan Chronicle's net profits increased by over 18% YoY during the quarter.

Telecom stocks are mainly trading negative with Idea Cellular and RCom leading the declines. Bharti Airtel announced that it plans to invest US$ 10 m in its newly acquired entity in Seychelles. This investment will be phased over the next three years. The company has a major 57% share of the mobile market in Seychelles.

The company will also participate in the Seychelles East Africa submarine cable (SEAS) project. This project is a 2,000 km submarine cable between Seychelles and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). This will help connect Seychelles to the rest of the world and the global economy. This project costs US $34 m and is expected to improve services offered to large enterprises. This will help enlarge the portfolio of services that Telecom Seychelles offers. It currently provides new generation 3G mobile technology and integrated wireline services. Post the acquisition of Telecom Seychelles, Bharti Airtel's African expansion now includes 16 countries. Its overall presence now encompasses 19 countries.