Indian equity markets trade in the green

Tue, 22 Jan 11:30 am

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Indian equity markets have continued in green during the previous two hours of trade. The most noticeable upward movement continue to be witnessed in the oil and gas sector while the software sector is facing the maximum selling pressure.

BSE-Sensex is up by 41 points and NSE-Nifty is up by 14 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading higher by 0.32% and 0.28% respectively. The rupee is trading at 53.49 to the US dollar.

Engineering stocks are trading on a mixed note with Shanthi Gears and Finolex Cables leading the gains while Sanghvi Movers and Opto Circuits are facing maximum selling pressures. According to a leading financial daily, Opto Circuits, which is engaged into medical device making plunged to a 44 month low on Monday after the Company informed BSE on Friday about the resignation of its Company Secretary more than two months after his departure. That renewed concerns over issues of corporate governance and financial management. Further, post the suspension of credit rating by ICRA for Opto's credit line worth Rs 538 crore on account of non disclosure of requisite information, Opto Circuits informed BSE that it appointed CRISIL to rate its credit facility in August last year. However, the Company again failed to inform BSE that the mandate was concluded after the agency's draft rating was rejected. There are fundamental problems with regard to the debt pile up in the Company as well, which resulted because of 11 acquisitions between 2001 and 2010. The Company stands on a net debt of Rs 11 bn.

Finance stocks are also trading on a mixed note with Bajaj Finserv and Prime Securities leading the gains while Tata Investment Corporation and Mahindra Finance lead the losses. HDFC, the country's biggest mortgage lender posted a 16% net profit growth for the October to December quarter. That was largely driven by the individual home loan segment as the Company reported a 31% loan demand in that segment. The loan book grew by 25% to Rs 1.61 lakh crores and 68% of the loan book caters to the individual segment. Net Interest Income climbed up by 18% to Rs 47.8 bn. The Net Interest Income margin stood at 4.1% for the nine month period ending December 2012. The Company also managed to bring down its Non Performing Loans for 32 quarters in a row to 0.75% of the total loan portfolio. The Company further stated that it would take a call on excess provisioning in the fourth quarter given the new regulatory requirement of maintaining provisions on standard assets as well.