Mid and small Caps out of favour

Mon, 14 Nov 01:30 pm

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The Indian stock market continued to trade in the green on account of buying interest in heavyweights during the last two hours of trade. Stocks from the software, healthcare and banking sectors are leading the pack of gainers while those from realty, metal and auto are trading weak.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up by 66 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 24 points above Friday's closing. However, the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading down by 0.7% each. The rupee is trading at 50.11 to the US dollar.

Public Sector Unit stocks have been trading mixed with Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Indian Bank and Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) leading the pack of gainers. However, United Bank of India, UCO Bank and Andhra Bank are trading weak. Coal India Ltd. has reported the results for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. The company has reported the bottomline at Rs 10.8 bn and topline at 14 bn for the quarter (on a standalone basis). On a consolidated basis, the group has reported topline and bottomline at Rs 149 bn and Rs 25.9 bn respectively. Despite a higher than expected sales, the price increase in February failed to improve profitability of the company. The company has been unable to meet rising power demand in the country from power and steel projects. It is likely to restructure coal prices from January as it is going to follow the pricing based on the Gross Calorific Value (GCV) method against fixed pricing for seven grades of coal. However, the coal for e-auction (around 25-30% of the company's revenue) will be sold at market determined prices. The stock of the company is trading weak.

Pharma stocks have been trading mixed as well with Torrent Pharma, Wockhardt and Sun Pharma leading the pack of gainers. However, Aurobindo Pharma, Dishman Pharma and Natco Pharma are trading weak. Wockhardt has reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 (2QFY12). The consolidated net sales registered a growth of 18% year on year (YoY). As per the management, the company is focused on developing high-technology solutions like patented extended release products. Wockhardt USA sales growth was up 49%. The market share of its prime products improved during the quarter. There were three abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) filings and four approvals for the quarter. The company's India business was up 13.5%, capturing a market share of 2.03% as compared to 1.94% last year. The company also performed well in the European market. The standalone net profit of the company for the quarter stood at Rs 538 m versus a loss of Rs 679 m in the corresponding period last fiscal.