Indian stock market indices have shed their gains over the last two hours of trade and are currently trading flat. Metal and Capital Goods witnessed maximum selling pressure while IT and Banking stocks witnessed maximum buying interest.
The BSE-Sensex is down by 36 points, while the NSE-Nifty is down by 11 points. However, BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are up by 0.18% and 0.38% respectively. The rupee is trading at 48.96 to the US dollar.
Steel stocks are trading in the red. Natinal Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) and Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) are the biggest gainers while Jindal Steel and Maharashtra Seamless are the biggest losers. According to a leading financial daily, world's seventh largest steel maker Tata Steel is planning to cut steel production further in Europe in the next few months if steel orders continue to weaken. The company has already steel production by 5% in the first half of the year and is currently operating at 85 to 90% capacity. In September, Tata Steel's European unit shut down one of its four blast furnaces in United Kingdom. The company is also planning to invest USD $3.15 bn in Europe to expand operations. Tata Steel Europe is currently the second largest steel producer in Europe with an annual capacity of 18 m tonne.
Telecom stocks are trading weak. Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel are the biggest losers According to a leading financial daily, Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla Group company has opposed the Rs 500 m penalty imposed on it by the government. The Department of Telecom (DoT) while checking the networks of Idea in Andhra Pradesh found suppression of actual customer database and subsequently imposed a penalty on the company. The company has appealed in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that the DoT passed the order without even giving a mandatory notice and a chance to clarify its position over the allegations. The DoT had neither issued a show cause notice nor launched an enquiry in to the matter. As per the Telecom Enforcement and Resource Monitoring (TERM), vigilance cell of DoT, the company had violated license conditions and various instructions issued by DoT in respect of verification and re-verification of existing subscribers.
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