Sensex continues to slide

Tue, 18 Oct 01:30 pm

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Indian stock market indices continued to slide in the last two hours of trade. All sectoral indices are trading in the red. IT and realty stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure.

The BSE-Sensex is down by 329 points, while the NSE-Nifty is down by 101 points. BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are down by 1.41% and 1.29% respectively. The rupee is trading at 49.18 to the US dollar.

Software stocks are trading weak. TCS and HCL Tech are the biggest losers. TCS has announced its results for the second quarter of financial year 2011-2012 (2QFY12). The company has reported net sales growth of 7.7% QoQ in 2QFY12, largely driven by growth in volumes. For the half year ended September 2011 (1HFY12), sales grew by 28.1% Year-0n-Year (YoY).The operating margins increased by 0.9% QoQ to 27.1% during the quarter as compared to 26.2% seen during the previous quarter (ending June 2011). This was mainly due to lower cost of sales (as a percentage of sales). However for 1HFY12, margins declined by 1.1% YoY as compared to the same period last year. Higher operating margins led to a 2.5% QoQ growth in net profits. For 1HFY12, net income increased by 20.8% YoY. The company has added a net of around 12,580 employees during the quarter. The current attrition rate has been reported at 13.7%, lower than the 14.8% seen during the previous quarter (1QFY12).It has also added 35 new clients during the quarter and proposed an interim dividend of Rs 3 per share (yield of 0.3%).

Oil and gas stocks are trading mixed with MRPL and Gujarat State Petronet leading the pack of losers and Gujarat Gas and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited ( HPCL) trading the strongest. As per a leading financial daily, post frequent increases in compressed natural gas (CNG) prices, the Environment Protection Control Agency (EPCA) has asked Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) to desist from further price hikes. As per the officials, this has been done to ensure that CNG doesn't lose out to diesel with no significant differences in their prices (Rs 32 per kilo for CNG versus Rs 41.29 per litre for diesel). Already, diesel vehicles account for 50% of all personal car sales in the city causing huge air pollution. People prefer diesel over CNG since it has been in existence since quite long now and ensures better engine performance. If the price hikes in CNG continue, it will lose its only advantage over diesel (i.e, the cheaper fuel). While the company has cited various reasons for hiking prices like appreciation of dollar against the rupee, increased power tariff and other operational constraints, EPCA has stated that it should not pass inefficiency costs to the consumers. Besides, with more expansion of infrastructure, it will get its business from the city and passing of capital costs to consumers should be avoided.