RBI rate cut boosts bank stocks

Tue, 8 Oct 11:30 am

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After a positive start, the Indian stock markets are trading firm in the morning session. The up move is largely due to gains seen in the banking stocks and engineering stocks. Banking stocks have been in favour today due to the cut in short term lending rates.

The BSE-Sensex is up 180 points and the NSE-Nifty is trading up 50 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up 0.6% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading up 0.7%. The Rupee is trading at 61.64 to the US dollar.

Most of the IT stocks are trading lower today. HCL tech and Tech Mahindra are among the top losers. Indian mid-tier IT company MindTree has announced that it has taken a big step forward in its endeavor to establish itself as a premier service provider in the rapidly growing area of cloud computing. MindTree has been selected by Microsoft Corporation as a partner in its elite program 'Windows Azure'. Windows Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform that enables companies to quickly build, deploy, and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers. Companies can build applications using any language, tool, or framework and then seamlessly integrate those public cloud applications in to their current IT environment. The platform used by corporations all over the world and has been appreciated for its efficiency, speed and ease of use. The Microsoft partnership will position Mindtree as a leading systems integrator for the Windows Azure Platform. MindTree is trading down 2% today.

Engineering stocks are trading mixed today. Sanghvi Movers and Punj Lloyd are leading the gainers; while Finolex Cables and Bharat Earth Movers are leading the losers. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is trading up by 3% today. The company has secured orders worth Rs27 bn in hydrocarbon and construction segments. In hydrocarbon, the company has received two EPC orders. The first order is received from Takreer - a subsidiary of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). This is an EPC project for a new Aviation Fuel Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The project is scheduled to be completed in 30 months. Another order has been received from Dolphin Energy Ltd in Qatar for third party gas interconnecting facilities in Ras Laffan. The execution period for the project is about 20 months. In addition, L&T's construction division has won orders worth Rs16.1 bn across Buildings & Factories, Metallurgical & Material Handling and Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D) segments.

L&T's announced order inflow in 2QFY14 has been approximately Rs 249 bn. In FY14 so far, including the above orders, the company has achieved an order inflow of about Rs 528 bn. This indicates that L&T is well on track to meet its full year guidance of an order inflow of about Rs 900-1000 bn.