Realty stocks lead markets higher

Fri, 17 Sep 09:30 am

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The Indian markets have started today's session on a positive note. The benchmark indices opened above the breakeven mark and stayed in the positive territory. Other key Asian markets are in the green with Indonesia (up 0.9%) leading the pack of gainers. The US markets ended higher by 0.2% yesterday.

Currently in India, heavyweights from the BSE-Sensex are trading strong with realty majors attracting investors' interest. The BSE-Sensex is trading higher by around 175 points, while the NSE-Nifty is up by about 50 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 1% and 0.9% respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.14 to the US dollar.

Energy stocks have opened the day on a strong note. Gainers here include Gujarat Gas and Cairn India. As per a leading business daily, Reliance Industries is considering investing in a Chesapeake Energy Corp shale gas asset. Chesapeake, which has about 600,000 acres in the Eagle Ford shale in south Texas, has confirmed that it is negotiating joint ventures with a few parties. Earlier this year, Reliance Industries paid a total of US$ 3 bn to buy shale-gas assets from Atlas Energy in April in the Marcellus shale gas areas in central and northeast Pennsylvania and from Pioneer Natural Resources in June in the Eagle Ford shale formation. Global giants like Royal Dutch Shell and BP are also keen on shale gas on the back of its growing share in the US energy basket.

Power stocks have opened the day on a positive note. Gainers here include Tata Power and NTPC. As per a leading business daily, the government has finalised a gas allocation policy for the power sector. Under the policy, 42% of the domestic gas would be reserved for government controlled companies. Besides, power plants located in special economic zones and the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor would get 4% each. The remaining 50% gas would be given to the private sector, out of which 40% would be for independent power producers. Interestingly, no power plant will be assured gas for its entire capacity. Domestic supplies will provide 60% of the plant's requirements. The plant would need to be located near a gas pipeline. To eliminate subjectivity in allocation, the policy lays down a weight system under which a maximum of 30 points have been allotted for progress on land acquisition, 20 points for coal shortage, 20 points for using sea water and 10 points of having environmental clearance.