The Indian stock market gained on account of buying interest in heavyweights during the last two hours of trade. Stocks from the banking, realty and software sectors are leading the pack of gainers while those from healthcare and FMCG space are trading weak.
The BSE-Sensex is trading up by 98 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 26 points above yesterday's closing. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading up by 0.7% and 0.8% respectively. The rupee is trading at 48.92 to the US dollar.
Engineering stocks have been trading mixed with Blue Star, Tata Robins Fraser TRF Ltd and Voltas leading the pack of gainers. However, Welspun Corp, Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (EMCO Ltd) and Siemens are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, Larsen and Toubro(L&T) is mulling over an investment worth Rs 5 bn in its wholly-owned subsidiary, L&T General Insurance, in next 3-4 years to support future growth prospects of the company. The latter started its operation last year with an initial investment of Rs 1.75 bn. It has set for itself a target of collecting a premium of Rs 10 bn in its first five years of operations and a breakeven time period of 5 to 7 years. It will fund the amounts required from the internal accruals of the holding company. Currently, L&T General Insurance has four micro-insurance products in its portfolio. It is further expected to come up with three to four new products every quarter as part of its business expansion plan. However, the stock of the company is trading in the red.
Realty stocks have been trading mixed as well with Welspun Projects, PVP Ventures, Atlanta Ltd leading the pack of gainers. However, D.S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd and Iragavarapu Venkata Reddy Construction Limited (IVRCL Ltd) are trading weak. As per a leading news channel, DLF that was recently slapped with a penalty of Rs 6.3 bn by Competition Commission of India for abuse of its dominant market position in the country's real estate business has come across another blow. It has scrapped its first residential project in Goa worth Rs 5 bn. According to sources, it has refunded 289 customers at 6%-7% simple interest. The project had been on hold following a high court order that directed the company not to fell trees or level hills for construction purposes. However, the stock of the company is trading firm.
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