Auto stocks in demand

Intraday recovery witnessed in early afternoon trade proved short lived, with key benchmark indices drifting lower in afternoon trade. At 13:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was off 63.45 points or 0.25% at 25,759.54. The 50-unit CNX Nifty was down 17.30 points or 0.22% at 7,828.65. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,374 shares rose and 1,060 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.28%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.55%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

In overseas stock markets, European stocks edged lower in early trade. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 Average dropped 2.76% as trading on the Japanese bourses resumed after a three-day holiday. There was no big move on either side in other Asian markets. US stocks fell yesterday, 23 September 2015, dragged down by economic reports portraying US factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis.

Closer home, auto stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Bajaj Auto (up 1.48%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.04%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.5%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.39%) edged higher. Hero MotoCorp (down 0.6%), Tata Motors (down 0.87%) and Eicher Motors (down 1.42%) edged lower.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) rose 1.54% at Rs 4,570. The company announced after market hours yesterday, 23 September 2015, that the sales of its vehicles equipped with auto gear shift (AGS) have crossed 50,000 units. AGS vehicles are popular across the country particularly in markets like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, MSIL said in a statement.

FMCG stocks were mixed. GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (up 2.64%), Marico (up 1.97%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.94%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.87%), Britannia Industries (up 0.4%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (up 0.04%) edged higher. Hindustan Unilever (down 0.88%), Nestle India (down 0.86%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.76%), Dabur India (down 0.42%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.26%) and Bajaj Corp (down 0.13%) edged lower.

Lupin surged 3.17% at Rs 1,982.25 on media reports that the company has increased the price of its generic diabetes drug Fortamet by three times for 500 mg and 1000 mg variants in the US market. Despite the price hike, Lupin's drug is still 15% cheaper than its innovator, reports suggested. Shares of Lupin had risen 2.83% to settle at Rs 1,921.30 yesterday, 23 September 2015.

HCL Technologies rose 1.34% at Rs 940 after the company announced the launch of a new Digital Service Exchange platform enabled by ServiceNow software. This platform provides Service Integration and Management (SIAM) capabilities to enterprises allowing them to request and receive business services efficiently across their organizations. The announcement was made during market hours today, 24 September 2015.

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) rose 1.22% at Rs 269.15 after the company announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) and Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTRANSCO) for extending financial assistance. The financial assistance of Rs 3000 crore will be extended by REC to APGENCO for the proposed 500 megawatts (MW) solar power generation project in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. REC will also extend assistance to APTRANSCO of Rs 6000 crore for various transmission and system improvement projects coming up in the capital region of Andhra Pradesh.

Ashoka Buildcon rose 1.7% at Rs 167.20 after the company said it has received letter of award worth Rs 414 crore from from Mumbai-JNPT Port Road, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of National Highways Authority of India in respect of the project involving construction of highway on engineering procurement and construction (EPC) basis. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 24 September 2015.

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