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Sensex Opens Firm; Healthcare & Metal Stocks Gain
Fri, 23 Feb 09:30 am

Asian stocks are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.17% while the Hang Seng is up 0.95%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.4%. Meanwhile, The Dow and S&P 500 advanced on Thursday to halt a two-session losing skid, buoyed by gains in industrial and energy shares as US Treasury yields eased, while the Nasdaq lost ground for a third straight session.

Back home, India share markets opened the day on a positive note. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 106 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 18 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both opened the day up by 0.3%.

All sectoral indices have opened the day in green with metal stocks and healthcare stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. The rupee is trading at 65.05 to the US$.

In the news from the economy. Ahead of the release of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data by Central Statistics Office, the State Bank of India (SBI) Research in its latest report said that Indian economy is likely to grow in the range of 6.5-7% during the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2017-18.

As per the report, the country's economy in fourth quarter of FY18 may grow by 7%. Besides, the country's GDP grew by 6.3% in Q2 FY18, up from 5.7% in the Q1 FY18.

The report also expects that manufacturing Gross Value Added (GVA) would be in the range of 8-10% for the Q3 FY18, if the current trend persists for remaining companies also. It added that a synchronised global growth coupled with an uptick in commodity cycle will also help sectors like metals, textiles and sugar.

However, the report warned that the recent developments in the financial markets may restrict the further growth of the Indian economy.

Besides, the financial markets have been impacted following a Rs 114 billion fraud at India's second largest bank Punjab National Bank (PNB).

The recent PNB scam has put the Public-sector banks (PSB's) in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. That's the last thing these banks needed after the crisis they've had in the past few years.

Scandals Have Hit This Terrible Trio Hard


Speaking of scandals, here's a look at the kind of price correction we have seen in the stocks of these three companies - all of them making headlines for the wrong reasons! It's quite a fall from their 52-week highs.

Moving on to the news from . As per an article in a leading financial daily, ITC merged its tobacco leaf and agri-business divisions to scale it up, considering the critical back-end support the combination could provide to the conglomerate's expansion in the FMCG sector.

It is particularly looking for expansion in packaged food, where it has ambitions to become the country's largest.

The agri-business division now has two strategic business units (SBUs) - one is tobacco leaf business and the other focussing on agribusiness.

Reportedly, the integration of the two units would help the company sharpen competencies and leverage them across value chains.

Apart from the back-end support and agri exports (ITC is the country's second largest exporter for agri-products and largest for tobacco leaf), the unit had recently entered into the frozen prawns and onions businesses.

It is also drafting plans to enter fruits, vegetables and other perishables segment in fresh, frozen and dehydrated forms. For this, ITC is investing to create climate-controlled infrastructure for an efficient supply-chain across the country.

ITC share price opened the day up by 0.3%.

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