Markets end on a firm note

Fri, 23 Oct Closing

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   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

The Indian stock markets ended the day on a positive note. The BSE-Sensex closed up by 183 points (0.7%) while NSE-Nifty closed higher by about 44 points (0.5%). However, it seemed that mid and smallcaps stocks were no in favour as the S&P BSE Midcap index closed lower by 0.3%, while S&P BSE Smallcap index ended down by 0.4%. Among sectoral indices, banking and healthcare stocks were leading the gains, while capital goods and auto stocks were least favoured. At the time of writing, the rupee was trading at 64.89 to the US$.

Asian markets finished in green at the most recent closing prices. Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite gained 2.1% and 1.3% respectively. European markets have started their day on an encouraging note. The DAX and CAC 40 are trading higher by 2.1% and 1.8% respectively. The rupee was trading at 64.9 against the US$ in the afternoon session.

Idea Cellular reported its numbers for the quarter ended September 2015. The revenues of the company grew by 14.8% to Rs 86.9 bn on a YoY basis. Growth came in from the non-voice services' segment. However, company witnessed a decline in voice usage. It stated that the voice minutes usage declined by 3.2% YoY to 189.5 billion on a sequential basis.

Further, pressure was also seen on the 'mobile data' segment front. The company witnessed pressure on realizations; there was an 11.7% drop in average price realization in the data business. It is expected that the launch of Reliance Jio's services will further add to the pressure.

Idea has written to investors, stating that there would be pressure on the mobile data realization rate as the competition intensifies. However, net profits of the company grew by 7% to Rs 8 bn on a YoY basis. The stock of the company ended the day on a dismal note (down 7.3%) on the BSE.

As per a leading economic daily, Cairn India has declared its results for the second quarter ended September30, 2015. The company profits plunged by 70.5% for the concerned period on a YoY basis. This drab outcome was on the back of dipping oil prices which have touched their lowest levels in about six years.

As reported, the company sold oil at an average price of US$ 43.7 per barrel during the quarter. The same came in lower by 53% as against US$ 92.1 a year ago. As a result of which, the company's revenue fell 44% YoY at Rs 22.42 billion in the concerned quarter.

As regards the lower crude oil price environment, the company said that it is actively engaging with the government along with other industry players on various strategic issues. Some of those include a revision of the cess charged on oil production to be in-line with crude prices, PSC Extension policy and fair price realization of domestically produced hydrocarbons. The stock ended higher by 2.7% today.