Mid, Small caps buck trend

Thu, 13 Aug Closing

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The Indian equity markets ended the trading day just above the dotted line after maintaining positive momentum amid optimistic global markets. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 38 points, while NSE-Nifty closed higher by 7 points. Meanwhile, midcaps and smallcaps bucked this trend and finished the day in the red. The BSE Mid Cap was down by 0.2%, while BSE Small Cap was down by 0.9%. Sectoral indices closed on a mixed note. Gains were seen in healthcare and banking stocks, while realty and metal stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure.

Asian markets finished broadly higher today with shares in China leading the region. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.76% while Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 0.99% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 0.43%. European markets are mixed today. The rupee was trading at 64.92 against the US$.

According to a leading economic daily, the state government has joined hands with NTPC to develop a 375 mw solar power park in Jalon district at an estimated cost of Rs 30 bn. The state government plans to hand over about 750 hectares to NTPC on a nominal rent for developing the solar park in a phased manner. The project is part of the state-run company's plans to set up 10,000 mw of renewable energy projects by 2020. The government has appointed NTPC to act as the nodal agency for implementing 15,000 mw of solar projects under the National Solar Mission Phase II Batch II in three tranches - 3000 mw in 2014-17, 5000 mw in 2015-18 and 7000 mw in 2016-19. NTPC is also planning to set up solar projects in Madhya Pradesh (750 mw), Rajasthan (1000 mw) and Telangana (500 mw).

Heavy selling activity was witnessed across the steel stocks. Tata Steel and Tayo Rolls were the leading losers. According to a leading financial daily, steel giant SAIL is planning to buy a 51% stake in Odisha government-run pig iron producer IDCOL Kalinga Iron Works (IKIWL). The latter is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa (IDCOL). IDCOL has submitted a proposal offering 51% of its share to SAIL. This proposal is presently under SAIL's consideration. The company produces foundry grade pig iron with installed capacity of 180,000 tonnes having four low shaft blast furnaces and is supplemented with the captive power plant of 16 MW capacity. It also manufactures cast iron pipes with an installed capacity of 31,200 tonnes per annum.