Markets open flat with positive bias

Fri, 26 Aug 09:30 am

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Asian stock markets have opened the day on a weak note. Stock markets in Hong Kong (down 0.1%), South Korea (down 0.1%), Indonesia (down 1.1%), Nikkei (down 0.1%), and China (down 0.7%) are trading in the red. The Indian stock markets have opened the day on a flat note with a positive. Pharma stocks and software stocks are trading firm. However, stocks in the Realty space are in the red.

The BSE- Sensex is trading higher by around 22 points and the NSE- Nifty is up by around 1 point. However, midcap and small cap stocks are trading in the red, with both the BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices down by 0.3% and 0.2 respectively. The rupee is trading at 46.04 to the US dollar.

Pharma stocks have opened the day on a positive note with Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy leading the gains. However, Cipla is trading in the red. Pharma major, Cipla clarified that the takeover rumors floating in the market are speculative in nature and that the company has not been approached by anyone to be bought. The company has stated that the rumors of selling out are baseless. While talking about their future plans, the management said that currently Cipla has a strong field force of 7,000 medical representatives. To leverage this, they would look for marketing alliances with international companies looking to sell their products in India. The company would like to have tie-ups in the segments where Cipla is traditionally weak. This would include products in the diabetes category. The company is also looking to introduce 4 bio-similar products in next 4 years.

Power stocks have opened the day on weak note with Adani Power, JSW Energy and Suzlon Energy leading the losses. Earlier this week, the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) passed an order to close down 22 mines operated by Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India (CIL). According to JSPCB's allegations, these mines were being run without proper environmental clearances. As a result of this, CIL which accounts for over 80% of India's coal production, is set to lose about 40,000 tonnes (equivalent to 12 m tonnes annual) of coal production every day. However, the state-owned firm has it is yet to receive a closure order. Even then, it wouldn't have any major impact on the company's coal production. With a total of 80 mines, BCCL accounts for about 7% of CIL's production capacity of 461 mt. The Jharkhand government's order covers 22 of those 80 mines.