Indian markets trade flat

Mon, 21 Oct 11:30 am

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After opening positively, the Indian Indices are trading flat in the morning session amid outperformance from mid and small cap stocks. The selling pressure has been largely focused in FMCG and IT stocks.

The BSE-Sensex is up 10 points and the NSE-Nifty is trading up 8 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up 0.9% and the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up 1.1%. The Rupee is trading at 61.38 to the US Dollar.

Most Automobile stocks are trading positive today. Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki are among the stocks leading the gainers. India's leading motorbike manufacturer Bajaj Auto has said that it has been ranked sixth among the top ten motorbike companies in Africa. The company has sold more than 6, 00,000 units in the continent already this year. The company's top selling brand in Africa is the ‘Boxer' which commands a market share of 90% in Uganda, 40% in Nigeria, 35% in Angola and 30% in Kenya. The company said that the key factor in its success in Africa has been its ability to cater to the service and spare parts requirements of its customers in these countries. The company also announced that it is entering the market in Ghana. For this it has tied up with SOMOCO, a subsidiary of an Indian conglomerate in Ghana, to distribute its products.

Bajaj Auto also exported 1.5 million vehicles in FY13, including two and three-wheelers. It produced 3.83 million motorbikes during the year and over 515,000 three-wheelers. Bajaj Auto is trading up 0.6% today.

Energy stocks are trading mixed today. Jindal Drill and Indraprastha Gas are leading the gainers; while Petronet LNG and Essar Oil are leading the losers. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is trading flat today. ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas subsidiary of ONGC and Oil India will equally split the 10% stake which they acquired in a Mozambique gas field from Videocon Group. The stake was acquired for US$ 2.5bn in June 2013. This stake was to be split in the ratio of 60:40 with OVL getting the larger share. However, in August 2013, OVL on its own bought US energy giant Anadarko Petroleum's 10% stake in the same block for US$2.6 bn. Hence, now the share will be split equally.

The block is estimated to hold around 35-65 Trillion Cubic Feet (Tcf) of gas reserves. The resource accrual from this acquisition for 20% interest would be around 10 Tcf, which is about 20% of India's current proven gas reserves. This acquisition will immensely help OVL and Oil India to meet their need for energy as gas in this block will be turned into LNG for selling in markets like India.