Indian share markets open strong

Thu, 5 Dec 09:30 am

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   Pre-Open   

   11:30 am   

   01:30 pm   

   Closing   

Barring Malaysia (up 0.2%), the major Asian stock markets have opened the day in the red with stock markets in Indonesia (down 1.1%) and Singapore (down 1.0%) leading the losses. The Indian equity market indices have opened the day on a firm note. All sectoral indices have opened in the green with the stocks in the capital goods and banking space leading the gains.

The Sensex today is up by around 405 points (2.0%), while the NSE-Nifty is up by around 121 points (2.0%). Mid and small cap stocks have also opened in the green with the BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices up by around 1.1% and 0.85% respectively. The rupee is currently trading at Rs 61.78 to the US dollar.

Steel stocks have opened the day mainly in the green with Tayo Rolls Ltd and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd leading the gains. However, Tata Sponge Ltd and Maharashtra Seamless Ltd were facing selling pressure. As per a leading financial daily, the leading steel manufacturers JSW Steel, Essar Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will not be changing the prices for their products for the current month owing to the continuing subdued demand. However, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd has hiked the prices of its products by upto Rs 1,000 per tonne. As per the officials from JSW Steel and Essar Steel, the prices for December have been rolled over due to weak demand as the confidence on demand push during the festive season has faded. As per the official figures, the steel demand in the first eight months of the current fiscal year is up just by 0.7% year on year. The industry sources believe that outlook is not so bright even for the remaining months of the current fiscal year unless the sector gets a boost from some major policy decisions. As of now, the ex-factory prices of long products are hovering in the range of Rs 34,000-36,000 per tonne, while prices of flat products are at about Rs 37,500 and Rs 42,500 per tonne.

Mining stocks have opened on a mixed note with Gujarat NRE Coke and Sesa Sterlite Ltd leading the gains. However, Ashapura Minechem Ltd and Manganese Ore (India) Ltd were facing selling pressure. As per a leading financial daily, Coal India Ltd (CIL) has signed fuel supply agreements (FSAs) for capacity of 71,500 MW out of total 78,000 MW. Coal India has recently tweaked the provision regarding the settlement of disputes in the model fuel supply agreements for the existing and new state-owned power utilities. According to the new FSA, the company will supply 65% of the contracted amount from domestic sources. The rest 15% will be sourced through imports with pass-on pricing model.