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Lackluster Day of Trading
Wed, 27 Jan Closing

The Indian markets had a rather volatile trading session today as the indices oscillated to either side of yesterday's close. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by about 6 points, while the NSE Nifty ended higher by about 2 points. Stocks from the capital goods and oil & gas spaces were the least preferred today, while those from the power and realty spaces were in demand. The S&P BSE Mid Cap and the S&P BSE Small Cap indices finished marginally in the green with both the indices up by 0.1%.

Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.72% and the Hang Seng rose 1.02%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.52%. European markets are lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 0.86% while London's FTSE 100 is off 0.68% and France's CAC 40 is lower by 0.40%. The rupee was trading at 67.98 against the US$ in the afternoon session.

Buying activity was witnessed across majority of the automobile stocks with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland leading the pack of gains. According to a leading financial daily, India's most valued two- and three-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto will launch a 150-cc motorcycle on February 1 christened 'V'. It is built from the metal used in the country's most celebrated aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961 as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy.

This will be the eighth product by Bajaj Auto this financial year and the first in 2016. 'V' is a new brand by the company supplementing five of its other brands in production. To be positioned in the executive segment of the motorcycle market, the company is hoping to ride on 'V' to boost sales volumes. Bajaj hopes to triple its sales in the segment from 20,000 a month to around 70,000. The company's revenues grew by 2% YoY during the second quarter of financial year 2015-2016, while net profits were up by 58% YoY (Subscription Required).

2015 has been a year of mixed fortunes for the Indian automobile industry. After a long period of slowdown, automobile companies were showing some signs of recovery during the festive season, supported by new launches and a double digit growth in the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment. However, the trend came to an unexpected standstill in the previous month as the Supreme Court banned the registration of diesel cars (Subscription Required) with an engine capacity of over 2000 cubic centimeters (cc) from January to March 2016. Post the ruling, the stock prices of automakers with a substantial share of luxury and diesel vehicles in their product portfolio have taken a hit.

Majority of the stocks across the banking sector also flourished in green with Union Bank and Canara Bank leading the gainers. According to a leading financial daily, Axis Bank's funded exposure to highly leveraged groups has been stable at around 8% (of total advances of Rs 3153.67 billion) in the third quarter ended December 31, 2015. The company's funded exposure to these groups is well distributed, with the largest group exposure being around 1.5%. Reportedly, around 70% of the net increase in funded exposure to these groups since March 31, 2014, has been to entities rated 'A' and above as on December 31, 2015. Another 25% is through fresh disbursements on projects sanctioned before March 31, 2014.

Projects under implementation are typically rated 'BBB'. According to the reports, the bank said no sector has contributed in excess of 20% of the net increase during this period. The top four sectors in terms of incremental disbursements are petroleum products, cement, power generation, and other metal & metal products. At present, 62% of outstanding corporate loans are to companies rated 'A' and above. Axis Bank finished the trading day down by 1.2% on the BSE.

Narendra Modi has become synonymous with the India story over the past couple years. The Sensex stood at 24,693, and oil prices were still above the century mark at US$ 104 per barrel. A year later, on 23 May 2015, the Sensex was close to 28,000, and the rupee had weakened to Rs 63.5 per US dollar. However, ever since the Modi government came into power, oil prices have crashed more than 40%; the index now trades at 24,492, which is lower by about 14%.

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