Indian share markets firm up

Fri, 6 Sep 01:30 pm

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As buying picked up in index heavyweights, Indian share markets continued to soar higher in the post-noon trading session. Barring consumer durables and auto, all the sectoral indices are trading in the green with capital goods, power and pharma stocks being the biggest gainers.

BSE-Sensex is up 203 points and NSE-Nifty is trading up by 57 points. BSE Mid Cap is trading up 0.3% and BSE Small Cap index is trading up 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 65.8 to the US dollar.

Majority of the automobile stocks are trading in the red, with Hero Motocorp and Mahindra & Mahindra being amongst the major losers. However, Escorts and Force Motors are among the few stocks trading in the green. As per a leading financial daily, rising fuel prices has led to shifting consumer preference from mid-size and executive sedans to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles. As per data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association (SIAM), the cumulative sales of mid-sized and executive sedans fell by 22% YoY to 61,451 units during the period April-July 2013. During the same period, passenger car sales fell by 10% YoY. The sale of Hyundai's Verna and Nissan's Sunny have been adversely impacted as buyers switch to premium hatchbacks, smaller sedans and compact sports utility vehicles. Companies such as Maruti Suzuki and Honda have benefitted as their respective compact sedans Dezire and Amaze are witnessing higher demand. Maruti Suzuki's stock is currently trading down marginally.

Most of the Indian pharma stocks are trading in the green with Wockhardt Ltd and Dishman Pharma among the top gainers.  As per the financial daily, Ranbaxy Laboratories is looking forward to expand its drug portfolio in Russian markets. The company had recently announced that it has completed 20 years in Russian market and was among few Indian companies to enter this market. Reportedly, the company is mulling to add the products from the portfolio of its parent company Daichii Sankyo. Over the years, Ranbaxy has established itself as a preferred generic pharmaceutical company in Russia. For the coming years company intends to market innovative products from its parent's company drugs basket. Currently company has approx 15.4% market share in the Russian market. Ranbaxy operates in 56 regions in Russia and has built strong equity with its customers. The company has a portfolio of products in various therapies such as anti-infective, cold, pain management, cardiovascular, diabetology, central nervous system, urology and dermatology segments. Ranbaxy was trading up by 1.5% at the time of writing.

Another development in the pharma space was observed in Wockhardt Ltd. As per the financial daily, Wockhardt promoters have bought shares worth Rs 100 m in last couple of days and have increased their stake by 0.20%. Khorakiwala Holdings & Investments Pvt Ltd has bought 211,094 equity shares of Wockhardt via market purchase in past trading sessions. The stock is trading up by 10%.