Markets remain under pressure

Fri, 26 Sep 11:30 am

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   09:30 am   

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After opening weak, Indian Indices have continued to witness selling pressure and are trading below the dotted line during the morning trading session. consumer durables stocks are leading the losers while pharma stocks are trading in the green.

The BSE-Sensex is trading down 55 points. The NSE-Nifty is trading down 18 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down 0.2% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading flat. The rupee is trading at 61.02 to the US dollar.

Telecom stocks are trading mixed today. While Tata Teleservices is leading the gainers; Idea Cellular is leading the losers. Just a few days after the telecom regulator TRAI critsized the government regarding its telecom M&A norms, the regulator has found fault in the government's broadband policy. The National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) policy which is already running three years behind schedule, aims to build a pan-India network for high speed internet. The government is looking to fast-track this project and has floated a consultation paper on the issue. However, it has decided to award the projects only to PSUs and this has been severely criticized by the regulator. Private companies like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular already have excellent networks which the government can use to rapidly roll out the project in a cost effective manner. By awarding the projects only to PSUs, the government will deprive private telcos of the chance to participate in this lucrative project.

Automobile stocks are trading mixed today. Ashok Leyland and Mahindra and Mahindra are among leading gainers while Mahindra scooters and Force motors are leading losers in the pack. As per the financial daily, India's one of the leading automobile manufacturer M&M has launched a new version of its successful sports vehicle utility (SUV) Scorpio. The company has made this launch 12 years after its first model was rolled out. The new generation Scorpio, which comes with numerous add-on features, is priced between Rs7.98 lakh and Rs 11.46 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). Not only in India, the Scorpio brand has a good market share, but also in international markets Vis Chile, Peru and South Africa; Scorpio has established its brand. The first version of Scorpio was launched in 2002, since then the company has sold over 4.5 lakh units. The launch of new version is intended to sustain the rising competition. Various automobile companies have geared up with the new launches in order to increase their market shares. M&M was trading up by 1.3% at the time of writing.