Indian stock markets bullish

Fri, 29 May 01:30 pm

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After opening the day on a positive note, the Indian indices stood firm in the post noon trading session. Most sectoral indices are trading in the green with stocks from the Auto and Pharma sectors leading the gainers. However consumer durables stocks are trading weak.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up 156 points (up 0.6%) and the NSE-Nifty is trading up 57 points (up 0.7%). The S&P BSE Midcap index is trading up 1.1% and the S&P BSE Smallcap index is trading up 0.7%. Gold prices, per 10 grams, are trading at Rs 26,842 levels and silver price, per kilogram, are trading at Rs 38,345 levels. Crude oil is trading at Rs 3,745 per barrel. The rupee is trading at 63.73 to the US dollar.

Majority of the Steel stocks are trading positively today with Tayo Rolls and Maharashtra Seamless being the leading gainers. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the leading steel-making company in India, has decided to join hands with Korean major Posco for setting up a 1.5 mtpa (million tonne per annum) steel plant at Bokaro at a likely investment of Rs 60 bn to cater to the growing demand from the automotive sector. The proposed new joint venture would use Posco's patented Finex technology and would be the first plant to be set up on the Finex technology outside Korea, where Posco has a 1.5 mtpa capacity. SAIL has been scouting for partners to exploit the opportunities to produce high-grade automotive steel and has signed a similar pact earlier this week with world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal with the objective of setting up a 1.5 mtpa steel plant at Rourkela in Odisha at an investment of Rs 50 bn. Currently the stock of SAIL is trading flat.

Stocks in the mining sector are trading mixed today with Coal India and MOIL witnessing maximum buying interest. As per a leading financial daily, Coal India Ltd is all set to invest Rs 50 bn in the railways to procure wagons for speedy transportation of coal by signing a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Railway Board. The investment will ensure a guaranteed supply of wagons for early coal evacuation from Odisha and Chhattisgarh. On the other hand, with the help of better e-auction volumes, Coal India has also reported an increase in production to 152 million tonnes as compared to 143 million tonnes a year ago which led to improved profitability. The company's production for the March quarter rose by 3.7% while consolidated sales were up by 4% YoY (year-on-year). Stock of Coal India is currently trading up about 2%.