After opening the day on a firm note, the Indian Indices lost initial gains and slipped into the red. Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks from the pharma, engineering and telecom sectors leading the losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading down by 320 points (1.2%) and the NSE-Nifty is trading down by 102 points (1.3%). The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading down by 1.8% and 3.3% respectively. At the time of writing, the rupee stood at 66.67 to the US dollar.
As per the recent report regarding the SBI Composite Index (an economic indicator launched by SBI to track manufacturing activity in the country), the manufacturing activity for August 2015 has increased to 53.1 from 49.7 in the previous month, while the monthly index improved to 52.2 in August from 46.7 in July. This suggests moderate growth both a month on month and year on year basis. The SBI research report further suggests that mining and electricity are acting as a drag on the economic activity. On the other hand, the pick up in economic momentum is supported by positive trends in capital goods sector. One of the positive development is the order inflow of four major companies namely BHEL, L&T, ABB and Thermax. Furthermore, the medium & small companies in capital goods are making some in-roads in topline growth.
Stocks in the energy sector are trading mixed with Petronet LNG leading the gains and MRPL bearing maximum loss. As per an article in Economic Times, ONGC's overseas investment arm ONGC Videsh has submitted a revised proposal for seeking the development rights of Iran's giant gas field Farzad B. This was promoted by the company as the agreement signed last month between Iran and six world powers has cleared the way for an easing of sanctions. The said gas field is estimated to hold initial in-place reserves of 12.5 trillion cubic feet with a lifetime of 30 years. Scrip of ONGC is presently trading down by around 0.7%.
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