Indian stock markets open in green

Mon, 25 Jun 09:30 am

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   Pre-Open   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

Most of the Asian equity markets have opened the day on a negative note. The markets in Hong Kong (up 0.4%) and Malaysia (up 0.3%) are trading in green while indices in China (down 0.6%), South Korea (down 1.5%) and Taiwan (down 0.5%) are leading the losses in the region. The Indian stock market indices have opened the day on a positive note. All sectoral indices were trading in the green with realty and banking sector witnessing maximum gains.

The Sensex today is up by around 119 points (0.7%) and the NSE-Nifty is up by around 30 points (0.6%). Both Mid cap and Small Cap stocks are trading in the green as well with the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index up by around 0.8% and 0.6% respectively. The rupee is trading at Rs 56.61 to the US dollar.

Barring Essar Oil, all Oil and Gas stocks have opened in green led by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) and Cairn India Ltd.As per a leading financial daily, Oil and Natural Gas (ONGC) is planning to sell its overseas investment arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) next year to raise funds for aggressive foreign acquisitions. The company has in its Perspective Plan 2030 set a target production of 20 million tons (MT) and 60 MT of oil and oil equivalent gas by 2017 and 2030 respectively for OVL's overseas properties (versus a current production of over 9 MT). However, acquiring exploration and production assets will need a lot of capital which parent ONGC cannot afford alone. Hence, in order to meet the fund requirement, the company may go for an initial public offering (IPO) of at least 10 per cent equity shares. As per industry sources, the IPO is likely only after 2013. The stock was trading in the green.

Mining stocks have opened the day in green led by Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Gujarat NRE Coke. As per a leading financial daily, Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Maha-Genco) has alleged CIL of abusing its dominant and monopolistic position with regards to coal production and supply. Maha - Genco has challenged CIL at Competition Commission of India (CCI) and asked for an investigation. In its petition, Maha Genco has submitted that CIL abuses its dominant position by consistently supplying inferior-quality coal .It has made CIL and its subsidiary, Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) respondents in its petition. Maha Genco has also complained regarding the absence of proper protocol for joint sampling of coal that affects the quantity and quality of coal. It has requested that CIL and WCL should be asked to install adequate number of auger sampling machines to ensure adequate mechanization of the collection and sampling.