Auto stocks recover some of lost ground

Auto stocks today recovered some of the lost ground on value buying, a day after recording losses following the Supreme Court's order banning sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1.
Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra ended 0.96 per cent higher, Hero MotoCorp gained 0.26 per cent and Maruti Suzuki advanced 0.22 per cent on BSE.
On the other hand, Ashok Leyland lost 0.95 per cent, Bajaj Auto fell by 0.37 per cent and Tata Motors by 0.15 per cent.
The BSE auto index rose by 0.19 per cent to end at 21,963.98.
In the previous session, these stocks had lost up to 3 per cent.

"Auto sector which took a beating recovered moderately, as the impact on SC ban order on BS III sale will be varied across auto companies," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
Two-wheeler majors Hero MotoCorp, HMSI, Bajaj Auto and Suzuki Motorcycle are offering discounts of up to Rs 22,000 on BS-III models to liquidate stocks.
Observing yesterday that health of the people is "far, far more important" than the commercial interests of the manufacturers, the Supreme Court said that automobile firms have declined to take "sufficient pro-active steps" despite being fully aware that they would be required to manufacture only BS-IV compliant vehicles from April 1, 2017.