Indian share markets extend losses

Mon, 30 Sep 11:30 am

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After a weak opening, the Indian stock markets have further weakened in the last two hours of trade. All sectoral indices are trading lower today except the IT index.

The BSE-Sensex is down 217 points while the NSE-Nifty is trading down by 66 points. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading down by 0.51% and 0.28% respectively. The Rupee is trading at 62.8 to the US Dollar.

Aluminium stocks are trading positive today. Sterlite and Nalco are leading the gainers. Nalco's chairman and managing director Ansuman Das unveiled a new diversification and expansion plan for the company in its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last week. Nalco plans to invest more than Rs 330 bn in sectors such as energy and power to boost its productivity and profitability in next three to four years.

Nalco is planning to set up a Rs 55 bn alumina refinery in Gujarat with 1 million tonne per annum (mtpa) capacity. It is also planning a Rs 164.5 bn smelter of 0.5 mtpa capacity and will also set up a power plant of 1,260 MW in Odisha's Sundargarh. Also, the company is foraying into nuclear and renewable energy. Nalco under its joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is setting up nuclear power plants in Gujarat. The company will also be setting up its second wind power plant in Rajasthan with an investment of Rs 2.83bn. Nalco is trading up 0.5% today.

Most IT stocks are trading higher today. HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra are among the top gainers. India's leading IT training company NIIT Ltd has formed a partnership with a TATA group led consortium, Neotel telecom, in South Africa, to provide IT skills training. The partnership was first announced at the recent BRICS summit in Durban and was officially launched at Neotel's headquarters in Johannesburg. Along with the infrastructure, NIIT will provide the content and training skills needed for the venture. The programme will be launched initially in the Gauteng province, the economic hub of South Africa, and expanded to the rest of the country after assessment and any corrective changes that might be necessary.

Neotel has an extensive broadband network across South Africa which NIIT will leverage to deliver its IT training. NIIT's vice president and head of its South African branch, Rakesh Misri, said the new partnership was part of the company's plan of developing people across the globe. For NIIT, Africa is an important geography for growth as it currently derives most of its revenues from India, Europe and the US. The rest of the world contributed only 22% of revenues in 1QFY14 and did not see any growth in the quarter. NIIT is trading up 1.3% today.