Realty, power stocks weigh on markets

Tue, 15 Nov 01:30 pm

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The Indian stock markets continued to trade near the dotted line during the last two hours of trade, and now are trading in the red. Except for the healthcare, all sectoral indices are trading in the red. Stocks from the realty, power and FMCG durables are leading the pack of losers.

The BSE-Sensex is trading down by 36 points while NSE-Nifty is trading 19 points below yesterday's closing. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading down by 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. The rupee is trading at 50.63 to the US dollar.

Power stocks have been trading mixed with Reliance Power, National Hydel Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) leading the pack of gainers. However, CESC Ltd, Tata Power and GVK Power are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, Tata Power has reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. The company has reported a 13.2% YoY rise in the bottomline. The total income is also up 24.6% YoY. However, on a consolidated basis, the Group posted a net loss of Rs 12.2 bn versus a net profit of Rs 6.7 bn in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The company's results took a beating on account of provisioning of Rs 14.6 bn toward impairment charges and forex losses related to its upcoming Mundra Ultra Mega Power projects (UMPP). Besides, the company's profitability was hit by a differential cost of Rs 50.4 crore in connection to its 1,050-MW Maithon project.

However, the total income was up 10.3% YoY. The group's wholly owned subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL) is implementing the 4,000 MW Mundra project. The quarterly loss was due to provision made for impairment of Rs 8.2 bn and forex loss of Rs 6.4 bn incurred by CGP.

Energy stocks have been trading mixed as well with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gujarat Gas and Essar Oil leading the pack of gainers. However, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Indraprastha Gas and Cairn India are trading weak. As per a leading financial daily, ONGC plans to invest Rs 22 bn to increase output from its ageing fields located in Ankleshwar and Gandhar in Gujarat. These oil fields account for 25% of onshore production of the country. The investment will be done in phases over the next few years. The company is deploying latest technologies in collaboration with the global players to achieve its goal and is focusing on step up production from Andhra Pradesh on East coast. As per the sources, the output is expected to touch 25 million metric cubic meters per day (mmcd) by 2016-17 and 100 mmcd by 2030.