After trading in the negative territory during post noon trading session, the Indian equity markets lost further ground and closed the day in the red. While the BSE Sensex today closed lower by 130 points, the NSE-Nifty closed lower by 44 points. Even Midcaps and Smallcaps closed weak today. Both BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index closed lower by 0.63% and 0.65% respectively. Metal stocks were the biggest losers today.
As regards global markets, Asian pack closed mixed today. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.93 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Engineering stocks ended the day on a weak note. Sanghvi Movers and Jain Irrigation were the biggest losers. However, AIA Engineering closed the day with healthy gains. Engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) along with a Japanese firm, Sojitz Corp has won a railway electrification contract valued at approximately Rs 26.3 bn. The project involves electrification of a 915 km route on the western dedicated freight corridor and is one of the largest projects awarded till date. The project is expected to begin in 2014 and shall have 16 traction substations. This is the second project which L&T has won along with Sojitz Corp. Earlier both these companies had also jointly won a civil and track work contract.
Cement stocks ended the day on a weak note. India Cements was the biggest loser while Chettinad Cement and Mangalam Cement were the only stocks to close in the green. Mangalam Cement is trading close to its 52 week high of about Rs 340 per share after it witnessed some fund buying. Management stated that the company's capacity has increased by 60% which shall aid in margin improvement. Further, an increase in prices is also likely to boost margins. Prices have already increased by Rs 4-5 per bag in the region where the company operates. Categorically Mangalam is looking to improve its EBITDA from Rs 390/ ton to Rs 700/ ton going ahead.
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