After a volatile day of trading, the Indian stock markets ended the day slightly high. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed 4 points higher while NSE Nifty closed higher by 3 points. The S&P BSE Midcap closed up 0.2% while the S&P BSE Small Cap closed lower 0.1%.
European markets dropped sharply heading towards their biggest weekly drop in one month. Shares in France led the declines. The CAC 40 is trading low at 1.3% while the FTSE and DAX are trading down by 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.
Asian markets closed lower on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.50%, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell by 0.25%. The Nikkei 225 lost more than 5% for the week, weighing much on the market. The rupee rallied against the US$ in the afternoon session trading at 66.52.
Dabur India shares went up more than 2.0% in intraday trading today after approval for the company to spend Rs 2.5 billion for setting up a new manufacturing plant at Tezpur, Assam.
Marico Ltd and Bata India led the gains for FMCG.
The FMCG sector has been volatile over the past twelve months attributed to the valuation changes the industry has faced recently. Much of the shift in valuation has resulted from declining rural consumption, volume growth dropping to single digit levels, and the increasing competition.
Market leaders have also taken a hit and as these and many other elements have brought about a change in valuations of FMCG companies.
Energy Sector
According to the Economic Times, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is investing Rs 450 billion to expand its refining capacity to meet the rising demand in fuel consumption.
IOC plans to increase its capacity by a quarter in brownfield expansion, debottlenecking and fuel quality upgrade projects for an estimated period of five to seven years. This means IOC will have 20 million tons Capacity from against their current 15 million ton.
India’s fuel consumption expanded by 11% in 2015-16 and is forecasted to continue rising more than 7% in 2016/2017 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, IOC is also said to be preparing for a future where car batteries will be an alternative to replace car fuel tanks. The company is also investing in research and development to realize its objectives and plans.
Today’s gainers included Vedanta Ltd., Zee Entertainment, Kotak Mah. Bank, Lupin Ltd., and Tata Power.
Top losers: Idea Cellular, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Bank of Baroda, and SBI.