Markets down on weak global cues

Tue, 15 Mar 09:30 am

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In a sharp contrast to the proceeds in yesterday's session, the Indian stock market indices have opened well below the dotted line today. Selling pressure in heavyweights across the board has prevented the benchmark indices from moving towards the dotted line. Stocks from the banking, auto and metals sectors are facing the maximum brunt of profit booking. The Indian equities had defied weakness in global markets and shrugged off concerns over the impact of crisis in Japan in yesterday's session. While the crisis is not expected to hurt the Indian economy directly, the continued inflow of negative news seems to have finally taken its toll on India, dampening investor sentiment.

The BSE-Sensex is down by 462 points (2.5%) while NSE-Nifty is trading 130 points below the dotted line. Both BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices are down by 2.3% and 2.4% respectively. The rupee is trading at 45.33 to the US dollar.

As per a business daily, India's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki, has inked an MoU with professional engineering society, Society of Automotive Engineers, to promote and help young automobile engineers in conceiving, designing and fabricating Formula-1 style sports cars. A total of 44 teams comprising 1,100 aspiring engineers across the country will participate in a contest originated through US-based SAE International to design Formula 1 cars. This is an attempt by Maruti Suzuki to expand its in-house dedicated engineering capability as the company increases its product portfolio. The company has also cited plans to add around 500 engineers in FY12 to its existing engineering strength of 1000 engineers. The company plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to 1.7-m cars annually.

PTC India Financial Services, a non-banking financial institution promoted by Power Trading Corporation (PTC), plans to raise nearly Rs 4.4 bn through public issue of 156 m shares. The issue comprises of a fresh issue of 127 m equity shares by the company and an offer for sale of 29 m shares by Macquarie India Holdings. The price band has been fixed at Rs 26 to Rs 28 per share. PTC Financial Services was promoted to make investments in companies engaged in power generation, equipment supply and fuel source projects. The company is currently focused primarily on power generation projects in India, but also provides fee based syndication and advisory services as well as carbon credit financing against certified emissions reduction (CER).

Post IPO, PTC India's stake in the subsidiary would come down to 60%. The company intends to use the net proceeds to augment its capital base to meet the future capital requirements arising out of growth in its assets, primarily its loan and investment portfolio.