Markets trade on a choppy note

Wed, 14 Oct 11:30 am

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   09:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

After opening the day flat, the benchmark <>Indian Indices continued to trade near the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks from the <>consumer durables and <>metal sector leading the gainers. On the other hand, <>IT and <>auto stocks are witnessing maximum selling pressure.

The <>BSE-Sensex is trading down 15 points (down 0.05%) and the <>NSE-Nifty is trading down 11 points (down 0.1%). The <>S&P BSE Midcap index is trading down by 0.1% while the <>S&P BSE Smallcap index is trading up 0.5%. The rupee is trading at 65.14 to the US$.

The domestic copper industry is witnessing times of trouble due to the surge in cheaper imports. Concerned about this, India's three copper majors - Hindalco Industries, Vedanta Ltd and Hindustan Copper Ltd have warned the government about the imminent shutdown faced by the industry. As per an article in Economic Times, the surge in cheaper imports from Japan and Asean countries could also jeopardize the government led 'Make in India' initiative.

Presently the industry is operating at 75% of its capacity. Added to that, it has cautioned about further cuts in production that could impact nearly 10,000 jobs. The blame for this entire turmoil is placed on the free trade agreements (FTAs) that would allow an influx of duty-free copper by 2021, thus making the entire sector unviable.

There have been many proposals to bring some relief in this sector. Top executives from the copper industry are proposing a hike in import duties on refined copper products from 5% to 7.5% and doing away with the 2.5% import duty on raw copper concentrate.

<>banking stocks are trading on a mixed note with Vijaya Bank and United Bank of India leading the gains. As per a leading financial daily, market leader State Bank of India (SBI) has received Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) in principle approval to set up an subsidiary that will manage the real estate of the bank. This new subsidiary will not house any real estate that owned by bank. As stated, its role would be to frame and implement a uniform policy for all the real estate properties owned or rented by the bank.

Apart from the huge corporate office located in Nariman Point, Mumbai, the bank has over several zonal offices and local offices as well as 16,000 branches across India, which prompted it to initiate this move. The subsidiary will also enable the bank to standardise branch layout and develop a centralized sourcing of various funds.

In its first quarter results for financial year 2015-16, SBI reported a rise in its net interest income and eth profitability by 3.6% and 10.3% respectively on a YoY basis. Madhu Gupta, Managing Editor, Research Pro has presented her views in the latest research update on the bank (subscription required). Presently the stock of SBI is trading up by 0.9% on the BSE.