Indian share markets continued to trade in the positive during the last two hours of trade after opening on a firm note earlier today. Sectoral indices traded mixed with banks and PSU stocks being the top gainers and energy and power stocks being the top losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading higher by 12 points and NSE-Nifty is trading flat at the moment. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading up by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively. The rupee is trading at 55.16 to the US dollar.
Pharma stocks are trading in the green led by IPCA Labs and Glenmark Pharma. As per a leading daily, pharmaceutical company Cipla has expressed its desire to buy 51% stake in its South African distributor, Cipla Medpro. Cipla Medpro is South Africa's fastest growing pharma company. Cipla has agreed to pay Rand (the South African currency) 8.55 a share to its distributor thereby valuing the deal at Rs 12.1 bn. However, this does not include the maximum dividend of Rand 0.10 a share that Cipla Medpro is expected to give shareholders at the end of the current financial year. Cipla has stated that the discussion will depend on due diligence, execution of definitive documentation, applicable board, regulatory and other approvals.
Automobile stocks are trading strong led by Ashok Leyland and Escorts. According to a leading financial daily, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) launched the SsangYong Rexton which is a luxurious premium global sports utility vehicle (SUV). With this, M&M has entered the premium SUV segment. We may note here that SUV demand is increasing in India and growth in this segment is expected to be 50% this year as compared to 30% in the last year. The reason for growing demand is attributed to global exposure of Indians and SUVs becoming more affordable. Rexton is being manufactured and assembled at Mahindra's Chakan plant near Pune.
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