After trading in the positive territory during the post noon trading session, the Indian equity markets held their ground and closed in the green. While the BSE Sensex today closed higher by 78 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by 18 points. However, Midcaps and Smallcaps bucked broader market trend and closed flat. The BSE Mid Cap index closed lower by 0.3%, while the BSE Small Cap index closed higher by 0.1%. Oil & gas and capital goods stocks were the biggest gainers today.
As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today. The Hang Seng composite index was the biggest loser. The rupee was trading at Rs 60.55 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Auto stocks ended the day on a weak note today. Maharashtra Scooters and Tube Investments were the top losers. Maruti Suzuki stated that it plans to sell 3 m cars annually. For that it is looking to double the number of models to 25 and aims to enter the SUV and LCV segments. The company will soon be launching an SUV which shall compete against Renault Duster. In 2016, it plans to launch another SUV to challenge Ford Ecosport. Both the planned SUVs will be available petrol, diesel and CNG segments. This year, till date the company has a market share of 44.4%. It would be interesting to see how its market share rises once it launches the new SUVs.
Energy stocks closed on a strong note today. Essar Oil and BPCL were the biggest gainers today. Leading downstream player IOC stated that its turnover is all set to cross the 5 lakh crore mark for the first time in this fiscal. In 2014, the company maintained its position as market leader with sales of 75.5 MT. However, its diesel sales declined. In the current fiscal, its revenues could decline due to a fall in crude prices though it has guided for a higher growth. Thus, it remains to be seen if the company indeed achieves its target and is able to attract investor interest in the near future.
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