The hour-long auspicious Muhurat trading session ended on a flat note today. While the BSE-Sensex closed lower by about 11 points, the NSE- Nifty ended lower by about 12 points. Stocks from consumer durables and pharma spaces were the most in demand. Meanwhile, BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap gathered steam with both indices ending higher by 0.5% and 1% respectively.
Gold price were trading down by Rs 25 to Rs 30,050 per 10grams on the eve of Diwali.
According to an article in The Livemint, State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank announced a rate cut of 0.15% and 0.10% in their lending rates respectively under a new system of computation. Under the revised rates, the one-year MCLR which determined a slew of products including home loans for SBI stands at 8.90%, while the same for ICICI Bank are at 8.95%.
The announcements come after repeated displeasure shown by the RBI for not passing on the benefits of cuts to borrowers and give a boost to the sagging economic growth. They also come ahead of the crucial "busy season" in the second half of the fiscal which sees a spurt in loan demand.
The MCLR was introduced from April this year as a transparent and effective alternative by the RBI, after banks refused to pass on the benefits of its rate cuts to the borrowers.
In another development, State Bank of India has sought approval from government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase the issued capital by raising additional equity share capital up to Rs 56.81 billion by way of preferential issue to the government.
Share Price of SBI and ICICI Bank finished the muhurat trading down by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
Moving on to news from stocks in automobile sector. According to an article in The Economic Times, Royal Enfield will be investing Rs 6 billion in its two wheeler business for FY-17. It is to be noted that Royal Enfield is the flagship company of Eicher Motors.
As per the reports, the investment will be made in the upcoming third plant in Vallam Vadagal on outskirts of Chennai, the investment in UK tech centre and new products. Come FY-19, Royal Enfield will have a capacity of 900,000 units. The company will be launching one major product and few variants for the next couple of years to sustain the excitement in the brand.
The September ending Q2, the company reported the best ever total income at Rs 19.81 billion, registering a growth of 35%, with consolidated profit after tax of Rs 4.13 billion and highest ever EBIDTA margin of 30.9%.
Royal Enfield has a share of over 95% in 250 cc market. As per the company's MD, the company does not see a major competition from large foreign brands as they sell very limited volumes.
On the global expansion of Royal Enfield brand, the company will be expanding its footprint both in developed markets as well as emerging market (Subscription Required). The company plans to set up about 15-20 new stores in Europe next year and it will be looking at building its presence in markets of Colombia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Automobile stocks finished on a firm note with Tube Investments and Force Motors leading the gains.
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