Realty stocks lead markets higher

Wed, 6 Oct 09:30 am

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The Indian markets have started today's session on a positive note. The benchmark indices opened above the breakeven mark and have stayed in the positive territory. Other key Asian markets are in the green with Hong Kong (up 1.3%) leading the pack of gainers. The US markets ended higher by 1.8% yesterday.

Currently in India, heavyweights from the BSE-Sensex are trading strong with real estate majors attracting investors' interest. The BSE-Sensex is trading higher by around 194 points, while the NSE-Nifty is trading up by around 57 points. Buying interest is also being witnessed among mid and small cap stocks as the BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.9% and 1% respectively. The rupee is trading at 44.34 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks have opened the day on a strong note. Gainers here include TVS Motor and M&M. As per a leading business daily, Tata Motors has moved to an end booking system in certain states for the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano. The company has started open sales of the car in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka which makes it possible for people to purchase the car directly from dealers instead of booking it. So far, it was available only through a booking mode due to expected huge demand and limited production capacity at its Pantnagar plant in Himachal Pradesh. The company was also forced to move the main Nano plant from Singur, West Bengal to Sanand, Gujarat. The Sanand plant started commercial production this June. By December, the plant intends to reach a production of 20,000 units per month.

Energy stocks have opened the day on a strong note. Gainers here include Reliance Industries and Indraprastha Gas. As per a leading business daily, the government plans to relax the bidding norms for upcoming oil and gas blocks auctions under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp-IX). The new norms are likely to give companies more time to undertake exploration by extending the initial exploration phase from four years to five years. They will also allow companies that have surrendered blocks to bid for them again. There will also be the flexibility of drilling the committed number of wells during the entire exploration phase. These measures come after the previous round of auctioning failed to generate much interest. Nelp-IX is expected to be launched by October 15.