After opening weak, the Indian Indices have slipped further into the red during the morning session. All sectoral indices are witnessing selling pressure. Capital goods and energy stocks are leading the losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading down 262 points. The NSE-Nifty is trading down 77 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down 0.8% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down 1%. The rupee is trading at 62.22 to the US dollar.
Power stocks are trading negative with the losers being led by PTC India and Reliance Infra. As per a leading financial daily, coal shortages at power plants in the country have begun to ease. Thermal power plants with less than 7 days of coal stocks fell to 50 in number during the week gone by. This is down from nearly 61 during the early part of November, and to some extent averts a power crisis that could have happened in the country if coal stocks would have fallen further. However, the average stock of coal still remains low compared to the 15 to 30 days that the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) sets as an operating norm for power plants.
Software stocks are trading mixed today. While Tech Mahindra is leading the gainers; Infosys is leading the losers. India's fourth largest software firm HCL Technologies, has won a large software contract. The company has signed a 30 month agreement with WGL Holdings, a unit of Washington Gas, to modernize its legacy billing and customer care software. WGL Holdings distributes natural gas to about 1.1 million customers in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia in the US. HCL Tech has considerable experience in SAP CRM and billing software although it is not as strong as other leading Indian IT firms in the energy vertical. The size of the contract was not disclosed. HCL Tech was trading down 1.6% at the time of writing.
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