A dull start to the week

Mon, 2 Feb Closing

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   Pre-Open   

   09:30 am   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

After witnessing a good amount of volatility during the second half, the markets ended the day with losses, with the BSE-Sensex ending lower by about 61 points or 0.2%, while the NSE-Nifty closed lower by about 12 points or 0.1%. Barring stocks from the FMCG, metals and oil and gas spaces, gains were seen across the board with engineering stocks being the most favoured. Midcaps and smallcaps closed the day on a firm note, with their respective indices up by about 0.6% and 1.1% respectively.

Asian stocks ended the day on a mixed note; stocks in Europe were trading mixed at the time of writing. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.88 to the dollar.

Auto stocks ended the day on a weak note with Mahindra & Mahindra and Escorts leading the pack of losers. Maruti Suzuki released its sales data for the month of January 2015 recently. The company reported a growth of 14% YoY during the month, from a year ago, with volumes coming in at 116,606 units. Domestic volumes grew by 9% YoY to 105,559 units. As per the company, volume growth was led by sales from the compact segment (includes vehicles such as Swift, Celerio) which formed about 43% of the total domestic volumes sales for the month. However, as reported by the Business Line, the company's mini car segment continued to decline in terms of volumes - sales volumes for the segment were down by 7% YoY during the month. Further, two particular models - Dzire Tour and Ciaz - saw strong growth in volumes with the former‘s sales rising by a third during the month. Sales volumes of Ciaz stood at 6,005 units. The stock of Maruti Suzuki ended the day higher by about 0.7%.

The stock of two-wheeler manufacturers ended the day on a weak note as well with TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto being the top losers. The stock of Bajaj Auto was under pressure today with the same ending the day lower by about 1.7%. This was largely due to the company announcing not so favourable sales volumes for the month of January 2015. As reported, sales volume dipped by 9% YoY as compared to a year ago. The company sold about 289,000 units (two and three wheelers) as compared to about 318,000 units a year ago. Sales of motorcycles particularly were poor with the same declining by 12% YoY, to about 247,000 units. Sales of CVs however sales grew by 14% YoY to about 42,000 units. Further, the company's export volumes stood at 143,000 units, up 4% YoY. Bajaj Auto has been under pressure of late as it has been losing market share (currently about 16% to 17%) in the two-wheeler space. The company is however looking at regaining some share by launching new products this year. As per reports, 6 new launches are expected in the next six months.