After trading firmly in the positive for most of the session, the benchmark indices lost momentum towards the end. Led by profit booking in banking and auto sectors, the Sensex came off the day's highs, and finally settled 14 points higher whereas the Nifty closed flat. Also, the BSE Midcap and the Smallcap indices both lost investor favour and were down 0.4% and 0.9% respectively. Metal stocks evinced the maximum investor interest.
Asian indices closed mixed today whereas Europe is trading mostly in the green currently. The rupee was trading at a value of 44.99 to the dollar at the time of writing.
Car prices are set to soon get more expensive. India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki is looking at raising vehicle prices to counter rising input costs and the impact of a stronger yen. Prices of commodities have been surging across the board. Prices of key vehicle components have been increasing rapidly. Prices of rubber have pretty much doubled while those of copper and steel have seen a 12-15% increase in prices. The Japanese Yen has also been appreciating against the dollar. Maruti had earlier managed to counter the price hikes by improving internal efficiency. But, since all of these factors have been persisting for some time now, Maruti has decided that it will have to pass on these increased costs to its customers.
Mid-size medical equipment manufacturer, Opto Circuits announced the completion of the acquisition US-based Cardiac Science Corporation today. The US firm is now a wholly-owned (100%) subsidiary of Opto Circuits. The company had earlier announced during its quarterly results that it would acquire the company for around US$ 85 m (about Rs 3.8 bn). The offer works out to around US$ 2.3 share and will be entirely paid in cash. This acquisition will help Opto to expand its presence in the non-invasive diagnostic monitoring space. It will also be able to enter the high growth automated external defibrillation market. The stock however closed 1.3% lower today.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Banks, autos weigh heavy on indices". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!