A lackluster day of trading

Fri, 20 Aug Closing

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   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

The Indian indices languished in the red throughout the day to close in the red. Although the indices did manage to move above the dotted line in the early session, this proved short lived as a fresh bout of profit booking took toll. While the BSE Sensex closed lower by around 53 points (down 0.3%), the NSE Nifty lost around 10 points (down 0.2%). While the BSE Midcap closed lower by 0.1%, BSE Smallcap bucked the trend to close higher by 0.1%. Gains were seen in healthcare and metals stocks, while banking and IT stocks were at the receiving end.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have opened in the red. The rupee was trading at Rs 46.64 to the dollar at the time of writing.

BILT announced its fourth quarter and full year results as of June ended 2010. For the fourth quarter, the company posted a robust 49% YoY growth in sales largely led by the commissioning of fresh production capacity at Ballarpur and Bhigwan. This percolated down to the bottomline which grew by an impressive 86% YoY. For the full year, sales and net profits grew by 34% YoY and 28% YoY respectively. Further, the company is acquiring the Bangalore-based company Premier Tissues for an enterprise value of Rs 750 m. This move is expected to boost BILT's existing tissue paper business. It must be noted that BILT already has its own brand in the tissue paper market called 'Etiquette'. The tissue paper market is currently quite small in comparison to other segments of the paper industry. But it is growing faster than the overall industry due to higher demand from changing consumer lifestyle. The stock closed lower today.

Pharma stocks closed mixed today. While Ranbaxy, Cipla and Sun Pharma found favour, Dr.Reddy's and Piramal Healthcare closed in the red. Pharma major Sun Pharma has received approval from the US FDA to market a generic version of 'Venlafaxine Hydrochloride' Extended Release tablets. These tablets are equivalent to Osmotica's tablets and include 3 strengths. Sun Pharma will receive 180-day exclusivity for the product. 'Venlafaxine Hydrochloride' tablets are indicated for the management of major depressive disorders. This comes as a positive for the company which has been struggling to bolster its US business which received a setback with Caraco running into trouble with the US FDA. Although Sun Pharma reported strong revenues in 1QFY11, the same was largely due to the one-time sales of the product 'Eloxatin', whose production was stopped at the end of June on account of an unfavourable court judgement.

As per a leading business daily, Titan Industries is investing Rs 1.7 bn to open 150 new stores across various formats by the end of this fiscal. Most of the investment will be in the large format jewellery stores for the 'Tanishq' brand. It must be noted that Titan reported a very strong performance in 1QFY11. Sales grew by 42% YoY led by watches and jewellery which grew by 22% YoY and 50% YoY respectively. Titan now boasts of a chain of 568 stores (combined for watches and jewellery). The stock closed lower by 1% today.