Oil & Gas powers market

Thu, 22 Apr 11:30 am

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

In the last 2 hours of trade the markets crossed the dotted line as buyers returned to the markets. Heavy buying activity was witnessed as market sentiments improved. Stocks in the oil & gas and FMCG space are witnessing buyer interest while investors are seen booking profits on stocks in the power and realty space.

BSE-Sensex is trading higher by 114 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 31 points above the dotted line. BSE-Midcap Index is up by 0.4% while the BSE-Smallcap index is trading 0.8% above yesterday's closing. The rupee is trading at 44.46 to the US dollar

As per a leading daily, Exide is facing labor problems which are affecting its production. As a result of a go-slow agitation by workers at Exide's Bawal unit, production has fallen to a fourth of its installed capacity. The Bawal unit in Haryana has an installed capacity of 16,000 units per day and supplies batteries to Hero Honda Motors and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). As per the company's management, the go-slow agitation which has been declared illegal by the state government has been due to outside instigation. This is in spite of the company signing a three year agreement with the workers. As per reports Hero Honda's dispatches is suffering due to this agitation. The company has between 5,000 and 8,000 vehicles which need to be fitted with batteries before being dispatched to its dealers. Bawal is home to several auto part makers. In the past this region has witnessed a lot of labor agitation which has resulted in slow production and also closing of factories.

As per a leading financial daily, the EIH Ltd. owned Oberoi Mumbai Hotel is reopening after 17 months spent for reconstruction. EIH has spent close to Rs 1.7 bn on repairs of the hotel which was closed after the 26th November terrorist attack. The hotel was insured for a year for loss of revenue and reconstruction and so far the company has received Rs 620 m from the insurance company. The number of rooms in the hotel has been brought down from 327 to 287 while the number of suites has been increased from 22 to 73. The restaurants have also been reconstructed and the hotel is scheduled to reopen on the 24th of this month. It should be noted that Oberoi Mumbai is an important property for the company as a large portion of its revenues are derived from its Trident, Mumbai and Oberoi, Mumbai properties. We believe that the reopening of this property is going to be a positive for the company, more so as we are seeing an increase in foreign traffic as the effects of the economic slowdown recede.