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Small Caps buck the trend
Thu, 8 Nov 11:30 am

Indian equity markets continue to trade weak over the last two hours of trade. Auto and consumer durables stocks witnessed maximum buying interest while capital goods and IT stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure.

The Sensex today is down by 52 points, while the NSE-Nifty today is down by 22 points. BSE Mid Cap index is down by 0.09% while the BSE Small Cap index is up by 0.09%. The rupee is trading at 54.45 to the US dollar.

Hotel stocks are trading in the red led by Oriental Hotels and Hotel Leela Venture. Indian Hotel Company Limited (IHCL) has announced results for the quarter ended September 2012. Net sales for 2QFY13 increased by 6% YoY. This is despite the first two quarters usually being the leanest period for the industry. Operating margins saw a decline of 5.5% YoY. This has been due to increase in overall costs which saw a rise of 12.5% YoY. Operating profits declined by 47.6% YoY. The company posted a net loss as compared to a net profit for the same period last year. This was due to surging operating costs and high tax provisions and the global economic uncertainty which curbed spending on travel. On a consolidated basis, for the half year ended September 2012, the company reported a 14.5% YoY increase in net sales and a wider net loss of Rs 909 m as compared to a net loss of Rs 703 m in the same period last year.

Pharma stocks are trading in the green led by Biocon Limited and Indoco Remedies. As per a leading daily, the cabinet will discuss the new pharma policy, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy today. The policy is aimed at capping the prices of 348 essential medicines. This will likely decrease the prices of various expensive drugs. However, prices of a few low-priced medicines may increase. The prices of these 348 essential medicines will be capped at the weighted average of all drugs in a particular segment with more than 1% market share. After the cabinet clears this new policy, the Department of Pharmaceuticals will have to notify this before the Supreme Court's next hearing on the matter on November 27, 2012.

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