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Auto Stocks Lead the Gains
Tue, 12 Apr 01:30 pm

After opening the day on a flattish note, the Indian indices moved higher during the post noon trading session. Sectoral indices are trading firm with stocks from the auto, consumer durables and healthcare sectors leading the gains.

The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 116 points (up 0.5%) while the NSE Nifty is up 33 points (0.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up 1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.9%. Gold prices, per 10 grams, are trading at Rs 29,407 levels. Silver price, per kilogram is trading at Rs 37,850 levels. Crude oil is trading at Rs 2,686 per barrel. The rupee is trading at 66.44 to the US$.

Stocks in the energy space are trading on a mixed note with Petronet LNG and GAIL leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, Cairn India has reported an 8% YoY fall in oil and gas production for the fourth quarter ended March 2016. The company produced 17.93 million barrels of oil equivalent as compared to 19.4 barrels of oil equivalent in the same quarter last year.

The company's production for FY16 also fell 4% YoY. During the year, the company produced 74.56 million barrels of oil equivalent as compared to 77.26 million barrels of oil equivalent in the previous fiscal. Gross production from Rajasthan declined by 4% compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014-15. The fall came in mainly on the back of the natural decline and under-performance of the Bhagyam reservoir.

Bhagyam is one of Cairn's largest discoveries in Rajasthan. The Mangala reservoir is its largest discovery in the state. The company's average gross production on a daily basis was 9% during the fourth quarter at 197,039 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Average daily gross production from Rajasthan was 4% lower at 167,650 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

These low oil production levels could mean increased dependence on imports of oil & gas in the coming days. The other major concern for India can be the increased oil imports from Iran in the recent times. According to Reuters data, India's Iran oil imports topped 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March. This was recorded as the highest in at least five years.

All of this comes at a time when India has resumed its unrestricted import of oil from Iran with international nuclear sanctions on Iran being lifted in the last financial year. As per sources, it was reported that Tehran is targeting India, besides its traditional European partners as one of its top destinations. Further, Tehran is not considering increasing its oil exports to China, South Korea or Japan due to the dampened demand witnessed there.

One should keep in mind that the increasing import dependence does not bode well for India in the longer term. This is because the increasing oil imports will add constant pressure on the Indian rupee and could have major implications in terms of managing trade balances. Having said that, we believe that India now needs to focus on becoming self-reliant as far as its energy needs are concerned.

To keep a regular tab on the movements in crude oil prices, you can read weekly updates from the Daily Profit Hunter team here. Their roundup tracks the developments in the global economy as well as currency and commodity markets.

Cairn India is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in India. The stock is trading up by 0.8%.

Moving on from news in the energy space to the engineering space, it was reported that <>Blue Star is planning to set up two units at an investment of Rs 2 billion in Jammu and Andhra Pradesh. With the help of these two units, the company is looking forward to manufacture air conditioners, deep freezers and water coolers.

The development comes in line with the company's plan to increase its capacity levels and expand its presence in related new product categories. Earlier, the company had announced that it is setting up green-field plants for AC (air conditioners) and commercial freezers in Jammu and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. The new facilities will add about 10 lakh units of capacity by 2020 to the company's existing 3.5 lakh units capacity per annum.

The company had sold 3.1 lakh room ACs last fiscal. The company is targeting 12% growth in room AC sales in the current fiscal.

On a separate note, the company is planning to enter the water purifier business later this year. For this, it will initially offer residential water purifiers and will gradually enhance its range to cover commercial water purification systems.

Blue Star's cooling products segment continues to perform well owing to the company's growing range of products, enhanced distribution and strong brand. The company is further planning to broaden its product line in related areas such as air coolers and air purifiers. To know our view on the stock of the company, you can read the entire result analysis report here (subscription required).

Blue Star is India's leading central air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration company. Presently the stock of the company is trading down by around 0.2% on the BSE.

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