Indian share markets remained range-bound and hovered above the dotted line in the last two trading hours. The sectoral indices are trading mixed with FMCG and Consumer durables being the biggest gainers and capital goods and IT being the biggest losers.
The BSE-Sensex is trading up 23 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up 3 points. Both BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading 0.1% up. The rupee is trading at 55.9 to the US dollar.
Majority of FMCG stocks are trading positive with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Gillette India being the biggest gainers. FMCG major HUL announced its results for the quarter ended June 2012. The company reported a robust 14% topline growth for the quarter. The growth was aided by 19% growth in the domestic consumer business with underlying volume growth of 9%. Barring beverages, all the product segments reported double-digit growth during the quarter. The largest segment soaps & detergents grew by 24% whereas the second-largest personal care segment clocked growth of 17% largely driven by volumes. The company has managed to improve operating margin by 170 basis points to 15.2% on the back of lower raw material costs and other expenses (as a proportion to sales). Earnings surged by 112% mainly on account of profit of Rs 6 bn from sale of property and gains of Rs 1.8 bn from disposal of investments. Excluding the impact of extraordinary income, net profit was up by 27.8%.
Most of the large IT stocks are trading in red with Wipro and Info Edge being the biggest losers. IT major Wipro announced its results recently. The company reported a consolidated gross revenue growth of 6.8% QoQ during the quarter ended June 2012. In terms of US dollar, the IT services revenues (78% of total Revenue) witnessed a decline of 1.4% QoQ. Wipro's operating margins declined by 0.6% to 18.8%, mainly due to higher selling & marketing expenses (as percentage of sales). However, despite lower margins, net profits grew by 6.7% QoQ. This was mainly on account of higher exchange gains as well as slightly lower effective tax rate, which offset the negative effects of higher finance expenses during the quarter. The headcount in IT services business increased by 2,632 (on net basis) during 1QFY13. Attrition declined to 15.6% as compared to 17.5% for the previous quarter (4QFY12). The gross employee utilization rate stood at 68.3% during the quarter as compared to 67.4% seen in the preceding quarter (4QFY12).
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
What else is happening in the markets today? Dig in...
In this edition if Momentum Moves, I'll show you why the Nifty is weak and could head to 14,000. On the other hand, smallcaps are looking good.
Indian share markets end deep in the red with the Sensex down by 1,939 points and the Nifty ending down by 568 points.
ONGC share price is trading down by 7% and its current market price is Rs 118. The BSE OIL & GAS is down by 4.0%. The top gainers in the BSE OIL & GAS Index is CASTROL INDIA (up 1.3%). The top losers are ONGC (down 7.1%) and GAIL (down 6.3%).
ULTRATECH CEMENT share price is trading down by 5% and its current market price is Rs 6,487. The BSE 500 is down by 3.4%. The top gainers in the BSE 500 Index are SOUTH IND.BANK (up 10.4%) and JAGRAN PRAKASHAN (up 10.0%). The top losers are ULTRATECH CEMENT (down 5.0%) and BAJAJ FINSERV (down 6.3%).
JAGRAN PRAKASHAN share price is trading up by 10% and its current market price is Rs 60. The BSE 500 is down by 3.2%. The top gainers in the BSE 500 Index are JAGRAN PRAKASHAN (up 10.1%) and RCF (up 11.0%). The top losers are MAHINDRA CIE AUTO. and AJANTA PHARMA (down 0.1%).
UPL share price is trading down by 5% and its current market price is Rs 589. The BSE 500 is down by 3.2%. The top gainers in the BSE 500 Index are RCF (up 11.0%) and SOUTH IND.BANK (up 10.4%). The top losers are UPL (down 5.4%) and BAJAJ FINSERV (down 6.2%).
View More Indian Share Market NewsLast time the smallcap index crossed 19k a big correction followed. Here's what makes it different this time.
A look at what India's top equity mutual funds bought and sold in January 2021.
Do you enjoy reading Tesla and Bitcoin stories? Here's a not so famous small-cap stock to profit from the rise of EVs.
In this video, I'll show you how to get started on the path to daily trading profits.
More
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Indian share markets plateau off". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!