Positive cues from global markets, hopes of RBI cutting interest rates and attractive valuations in select stocks all culminated in Indian stock markets witnessing renewed buying interest across sectors in today's session. After a buoyant start, there were no signs of let up in investor appetite even as the day progressed. As a consequence, while the Sensex closed higher by around 434 points (up 2.7%), Nifty gained 134 points. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices too gained around 1.3% each. Not a single stock on the BSE Sensex ended lower today, while those from auto, banking and commodity sectors emerged as to gainers.
Most Asian indices closed higher today with Europe too opening on a positive note. The rupee was trading at Rs 55.37 to the dollar at the time of writing.
As per a business daily, CV major Ashok Leyland has bagged an order worth US$ 6 m for 50 Vestibule buses from the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC). The company has bagged order under the Indian line of credit (LoC) scheme offered for the improvement of urban transportation in Bangladesh country. This also marks the company's first order for such buses from an overseas market. Last year, the company had bagged the single largest order for 290 double-decker buses worth US$ 23.3 m from the country which was one of the contributing factors in boosting the company's exports to a new high of 12,852 vehicles reflecting a growth of 25% YoY.
Meanwhile cigarette major, ITC may hike the prices of some food products as the rupee's plunge to a record low, is threatening to eat into the margins of the company. Although ITC's foods business is juvenile than many other established players around and less margin fetching than its tobacco business, but it has crossed Rs 30 bn mark in terms of turnover. The depreciation of the Indian currency has prevented the company's ace rivals, like Britannia Industries and other makers of processed foods from benefiting from an 11% drop in prices of edible oil, being imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. Emerging as the worst performer amongst the other Asian currency, the rupee weakened 23% against the dollar in the past year.
