Debt crisis spooks markets

Wed, 5 May 01:30 pm

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The Indian indices continued to languish in the red during the previous two hours of trade as fears of the debt crisis in Europe dragged global markets lower. Strong selling is seen in stocks in the metal, realty and consumer durable space. Stocks from healthcare and IT are trading in the green albeit marginally.

BSE-Sensex is trading lower by 191 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 66 points below the dotted line. BSE-Midcap Index is trading lower by 1% while BSE-Smallcap index is down by 1.3% from yesterday's closing. The rupee is trading at 44.90 to the US dollar.

As if the personal care segment was not competitive enough already, a leading financial daily has reported that this segment is about to see a flurry of activity. ITC and Dabur India have chalked out new strategies to take on competition and increase market share. While ITC has plans of extending its manufacturing capacities, investing in research and development, launching new products and have a broad based media campaign, Dabur has drawn up a three prong strategy. Under this the company will increase its distribution network to reach the rural markets. For this, Dabur intends to leverage its manufacturing facilities at Baddi and Uttarakhand. The company also intends to increase its brand building spending through mass market advertising and consumer promotion to drive up volumes. Furthermore, Dabur plans to launch new innovative products to support its growth. With aggressive plans for growth by the two FMCG heavyweights, we can expect other players in this segment like HUL to be affected.

Maharashtra Seamless released its FY10 results. The topline fell by 22% as a result of lower average realization. This was a result of falling raw material costs which was passed on to customers in the form of lower prices. However, operating margins expanded by 8.4% on account of reduced costs of raw material. This resulted in the company's bottomline growing by 9.1% YoY. Net profits were further boosted by lower interest outgo. However, a fall in other income capped the company's bottomline growth. The company during the year benefited from the anti dumping duty imposed on Chinese seamless pipe manufacturers in US and Europe. Going forward, the company is set to benefit from improved demand outlook and also from increase in exploration and production activity on account of recovery in crude oil prices.