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Auto, metal stocks boost markets
Thu, 3 Oct 11:30 am

After a firm start, the Indian stock markets have extended gains. The momentum has been led by Metals Auto and IT indices.

The BSE-Sensex is up by 255 points while the NSE-Nifty is trading up 86 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1.08% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.9% The Rupee is trading at 61.9 to the US Dollar.

Most of the Auto stocks are trading positive today after they reported better than expected monthly sales numbers for September 2013. Bajaj Auto has posted 2.1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in total sales driven by 10.2% Y-o-Y growth in exports. While on month-on-month (MoM) basis, total sales grew by 17.8% for the company. The growth was led by the inventory build-up in anticipation of demand uptick as the festival season is round the corner.Hero Motor Corp reported 15.8% Y-o-Y growth in total sales during the September month. On the other hand, Tata Motors reported weak numbers as its total vehicle sales declined by 33.4% Y-o-Y.

Most Mining stocks are trading higher today. National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Sesa Sterlite are among the top gainers. According to a leading business daily the London based Vedanta group is preparing to buy out the Indian government's residual stake in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and Bharat Aluminum company (BALCO). The government currently holds 29.5% stake in Hindustan Zinc and 49% in Balco. It is looking at exiting from the two companies by December. The sale would fetch close to Rs 200 bn for the government. The secretary of the department of economic affairs, Arvind Mayaram, had said earlier that there were no legal impediments for the stake sale.Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal who holds 64.92% stake in Hindustan Zinc through Sesa Sterlite (earlier known as Sterlite Industries) has met government officials to discuss the stake sale. He said that the price and the exact date for the sale will be decided within a few weeks. The proposal has now been sent to the ministry of mines for the final clearance.

Hindustan Zinc had reported a net profit of Rs 16.6 bn on revenues of Rs 29.4 bn for the quarter ended June 2013 as against a net profit of Rs 15.8 bn on revenues of Rs 27.1 bn in the year ago period. Hindustan Zinc is trading up 1.2%.

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