Indices close on a positive note

Thu, 25 Oct Closing

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Indian equity markets began the day's proceedings on a cautious note and barely managed to stay afloat in the morning session. However, buying across index heavyweights intensified post noon thereby enabling the indices to notch gains although trading thereon remained largely rangebound. The momentum was maintained in the final trading hour too leading the indices close above the dotted line. While the Sensex today closed higher by 49 points (up 0.3%), the NSE-Nifty today closed higher by 14 points (up 0.2%). The BSE Mid Cap closed marginally into the positive while the BSE Small Cap closed marginally lower. Gains were largely seen in banking and auto stocks.

As regards global markets, Asian indices closed mixed today while European indices have also opened on a mixed note. The rupee was trading at Rs 53.75 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Most private banking stocks close firm today with the key gainers being Yes Bank and Axis Bank. Yes Bank declared results for the second quarter ended September 2012. Net interest income grew 35% YoY in 1HFY13 on the back of 23% YoY growth in advances. Other income grew by 49% YoY in 1HFY13 due to robust growth in fee income. Net interest margin remained stable at 2.9% due to rise in proportion of CASA deposits. Bottomline grew 32% YoY in 1HFY13 thanks to write back of provisioning and higher operating leverage. Due to addition to franchise (95 branches and 414 ATMs added in last 12 months) as well as employee base, Yes Bank's cost to income ratio moved up to 40% in 1HFY13 from 36% in 1HFY12. Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was comfortable at 17.5% (Tier 1- 9.5%), gross NPA stood at 0.24% (specific NPA coverage 80%). However, the management did not rule out possibility of slippages from the restructured loan book (0.46% of gross advances).

Auto stocks closed mixed today. While Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Hero Motocorp found favour, Tata Motors and TVS Motors closed in the red. Hero Motocorp also announced results for the second quarter ended September 2012. Volumes dipped by 14% YoY during the quarter. This was largely attributed to the general slowdown in the market and production related adjustments that the company had undertaken in the months of August and September 2012. As a result, sales fell by 11% YoY. Operating costs too increased at a faster pace than sales as a result of which operating margins shrunk by 1.8% to 13.9% in 2QFY13. Poor performance at the operating level was reflected in the bottomline too which fell by 27% YoY during the quarter. For the half year period, total sales and net profits fell by 1% YoY and 9% YoY respectively.