Banks & metal stocks drag down markets

Tue, 7 Oct 11:30 am

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After opening weak, Indian Indices have slipped lower during the morning trading session. Apart from the auto and IT indices, all sectoral indices are trading in the red. Heavy selling pressure is being seen in banking and metal stocks.

The BSE-Sensex is trading down 135 points. The NSE-Nifty is trading down 48 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down 0.2% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading flat. The rupee is trading at 61.35 to the US dollar.

Most software stocks are trading strong today. HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are among the stocks that are leading the gainers. As per a leading financial daily, India's second largest IT firm Infosys, has launched a new banking software. The software called Infosys Transaction Reconciliation Solution (ITRS) will help banks in automating and simplifying their daily transaction and reconciliation processes. The software is capable of processing up to 50 m transactions per hour and can reduce the time required for such tasks by 15-50%. The software will help banks cut costs and improve efficiency by automating their reconciliation process in a centralized manner and by reducing the need for manual interventions. Infosys was trading up 0.3% at the time of writing.

Majority of the automobile stocks are trading in green with Ashok Leyland and Escorts Ltd being among the leading gainers in the pack. As per the financial daily, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M)'s two wheeler subsidiary Mahindra two wheeler Ltd, has made binding offer to acquire 51% stake in PSA Peugeot Citoen's business. Peugeot motorcycles are a part of Euro 54 bn PSA group based in France. The deal will involve infusion of 15 million Euros (US$ 18.9 m) into Peugeot Motorcycles to finance projects. No further transaction details were given by company. Reportedly, the scooter business of PSA has been loss making for over a decade. In 2013, it sold 79,000 vehicles which was a gain of 8.2%. The unit employs nearly 500 people in France and 300 people at a joint venture in China. Also in Europe, Peugeot has been facing stiff competition from the European scooter leader Piaggio. In 2012, PSA closed an engine plant for the scooter business concentrating production at a factory in Mandeure in eastern France. Over and above, the transaction between the two companies is, subject to Works Council consultation. This is as part of the employee dialogue process and anti-trust law as it would involve infusion of Euro 15 m into PMTC and further sale of shares by PSA.