India reflects strong Asia

Wed, 6 Jan 09:30 am

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The Indian markets have started on a strong note today. Benchmark indices opened above the breakeven mark and have managed to stay in the positive territory since then. Other Asian markets are also trading in the positive currently. The US markets closed lower by 0.1% yesterday.

Heavyweights from the BSE-Sensex are trading a mixed bag with metal and energy stocks leading the pack of gainers. However, select auto and banking majors are in the red. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by around 50 points, while the NSE Nifty is up by around 15 points. Buying interest is also being witnessed among mid and small cap stocks as the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.5% and 0.6% respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.15 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks have opened the day on a mixed note. Gainers here include M&M and Tata Motors. However, Maruti Suzuki is in the red. As per a leading business daily, the company is planning to increase its total production by 50% to 1.5 m units in five years. As part of the strategy, it will double the annual production capacity at its Manesar plant to 600,000 units. The capacity at its older Gurgaon plant will also be increased. The intention behind the production hike is to defend its 50% market share in India, which is now being eyed by leading global auto companies. In fact as many as six international giants - Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan - are set to launch their small cars in India. Clearly, this is one industry to watch out for in the days ahead.

Software stocks have opened the day on a mixed note. Gainers here include Satyam and Tech Mahindra. However, Wipro is in the red. As per reports, India plans to raise the share of nuclear power from the current level of 4% of its total power generation to 9% in the next 25 years. That is expected to throw up information technology contracts to the tune of US$ 3 bn to US$ 7 bn. The nuclear effort will create an additional 15 gigawatts of power, which translates into a requirement of as much as 226 m engineering hours. About 75% of this will be in the non-nuclear engineering segment including information technology. Little wonder, Indian IT companies are keen on bagging the deals. As per a leading business daily, companies such as TCS, Satyam and Cranes Software have shown interest in bidding for these contracts.