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Sensex Ends the Week on a Flat Note; Tata Stocks Surge
Fri, 7 Oct Closing

Indian share markets finished below the dotted line for the third consecutive session amid mixed global markets. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 45 points, while the NSE Nifty finished down by 12 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished flat. Stocks from the oil & gas and IT sectors witnessed maximum selling activity.

Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.21%, while the Hang Seng led the Nikkei 225 lower. They fell 0.42% and 0.23% respectively. European markets are trading mixed today. The FTSE 100 is up 1.08%, while the CAC 40 gains 0.04%. The DAX is off 0.19%.

The rupee was trading at 66.79 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 50.08 at the time of writing.

Shares of Tata Steel surged 4.4% in today's trade after the company reported 12% rise in sales to 2.62 million tonne (mt) in the second quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to 2.33 mt sold in previous corresponding period. During April to September period of the current fiscal, the company's sales increased by 6% to 4.77 MT from 4.48 MT during the same period last year.

Furthermore, crude steel production rose by 12% to 2.81 MT in the September quarter from 2.51 MT during the same period in 2015-16. In the first six months, output was up by 10% to 5.34 MT from 4.85 MT in the year-ago period. Saleable steel production was higher by 13% to 2.73 MT in the July-September quarter of 2016-17 from 2.41 MT during the same quarter in 2015-16. In the first six months of this fiscal, saleable steel production rose by 9% to 5.06 MT from 4.64 MT during the same period in 2015-16.

In another development, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is reportedly planning to invest Rs 2.55 billion in order to expand capacity of its flagship Bolani iron ore mines in Odisha. The company will augment the capacity of Bolani mines to 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa) by 2020 from five mtpa. This is part of the company's larger plan to secure raw material supplies from its captive mines to cater to its steel capacity expansion.

The current iron ore requirement of SAIL owned steel units is 29.15 mtpa but this is expected to shoot up (Subscription Required) to 39 mtpa as the steel maker eyes hot metal output of 23.46 mtpa. Bolani mines form the crucial captive operations of SAIL as it feeds iron ore to the plants at Rourkela, Durgapur, Bokaro and Burnpur.

Share price of SAIL finished the day up 4.4% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from stocks in automobile sector. Tata Motors' subsidiary -- Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has reported its best ever September retail sales of 61,047 vehicles, up 28% compared to September 2015. The month's performance has been driven by strong sales of the Land Rover Discovery, Discovery Sport, the Range Rover Evoque and the Jaguar F-PACE, as well as solid sales in China.

Jaguar Land Rover delivered solid retail sales growth across all key regions year on year, with China up 50%, Europe up 32%, UK up 30%, North America up 23% and other overseas markets up by 3%. Jaguar Land Rover sold 434,025 vehicles in the first nine months of 2016, 24% up on the same period in the prior year.

Jaguar recorded its best September ever, with retail sales reaching 17,640 vehicles, up 70% on the previous year, reflecting the strong launch of the F-PACE as well as continued solid sales of the XE. Calendar year-to-date sales for Jaguar were 103,366, up 72% year-on-year.

Land Rover strengthened its position as a world-leading manufacturer of all-terrain SUVs, with its strongest ever September sales of 43,407 vehicles, up 17% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, JLR is all set to launch the first SUV from Jaguar stable -- Jaguar F-PACE -- on October 20. The Jaguar F-PACE will be available in India in two options of 2-litre and 3-litre diesel engines. It comes in four derivatives which are priced at Rs 6.8 million, Rs 7.4 million, Rs 10.2 million and Rs 11.3 million.

Stock price of Tata Motors finished up 2.6% on the BSE.

Automobile stocks finished on a positive note with Escorts Ltd and Tata Motors DVR leading the gains.

Sector Focus: Automobile & Steel Sector

Keywords: BSE Sensex, BSE, NSE Nifty, NSE, Indian stock markets, BSE Midcap, BSE Smallcap, Rupee Dollar exchange rate, Indian equity market indices, Sensex today, Automobile & Steel Sector, tata motors, SAIL, tata steel.

Description: Indian markets finished on a flat note with Sensex finishing lower by 45 points, while Nifty finished lower by 12 points.

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