Indian stock markets negated early gains and slipped into negative territory in the last two trading hours. Only capital goods and FMCG are trading in the green. Realty and banking indices are the biggest losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading down 67 points and NSE-Nifty is trading down 24 points. BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap are trading down by 0.42% and 0.11% respectively. The rupee is trading at 52.9 to the US dollar.
Auto stocks are mostly trading negative with only Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra trading in the green. According to an Internal Planning Commission note, personal cars account for a paltry 0.6% of the diesel consumed in the country. The note adds that the biggest diesel guzzlers are goods vehicles (37.9% share), agriculture (18.8% share), power (6.8% share), buses (6% share) and railways (3.7%). As per the note, the share of transport sector (private and public) fell by 3% to 56% in the last two years backed by growing fuel efficiency of diesel engines. The car industry has been voicing concerns against the hike in excise duty on diesel cars. Reportedly, the Government is mulling the excise duty hike to offset subsidy of lower price of diesel fuel.
Energy sector stocks are trading mixed with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and Gujarat State Petronet Ltd leading the pack of gainers and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Essar Oil are trading the weakest. As per a leading financial daily, the Government has decided to control natural gas marketing charges levied by gas distribution companies. The decision follows the complaints filed by customers, particularly fertilizer units regarding arbitrarily fixed marketing charges by gas suppliers. The Government expects this to protect the interests of domestic consumers at times when gas supplies are in short supply. According to the current system, the marketing margins are negotiated between buyers and sellers as per terms and conditions of Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA). Any decision to regulate marketing charges will be negative for operators like Gas authority or india limited (GAIL) and Reliance Industries.
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