Monday August 20, 10:30 AM
Strong opening.. |
|
By Equitymaster.com
After a week of subdued performance, the markets have opened on a strong note today, following their other Asian peers. Currently, not even a single stock on the Nifty is trading in the red, indicating optimism among investors. Banking, engineering and telecom stocks are leading the pack of gainers.
The BSE Sensex is trading at 14,548 (up 406 points) while the NSE Nifty is trading at 4,224 (up 116 points). The rupee is trading at 41.08 to the dollar.
As per a leading business daily, ITC (ITCd.BO, news) has acquired Technico of Australia from KK Birla group. The acquisition was done through the investment arm of ITC, Russell Credit. Technico is engaged in potato seeds and supply chain management. The turnover of Technico along with its subsidiaries is about Rs 4 bn to Rs 5 bn. The deal size is not known. Technico has a major market share in US$ 100 bn potato chain management market in the US. Technico has subsidiaries in India, Canada, China and United States along with Australia. The move is positive for ITC as it would boost its agri business. The agri division recorded a turnover of Rs 36 bn and is now one of the fastest-growing division of the tobacco major. This would also provide the high yielding potato seeds and would serve as the backward integration for its potato chips and finger snacks segment. The stock is up 3%, while
Britannia is up 1%.
In the US markets, the reduction in the discount rate by 0.5% to 5.75% by central bank led to easing of worries over the credit and mortgage markets. All the three indices, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the tech-laden NASDAQ ended 2% higher last Friday. Though the fed funds rate has been unchanged, the move to cut the discount rate came as good news. Oil prices rose to US$ 71.98 per barrel. As regards global markets, following the US counterparts, the European indices too ended in the positive last Friday, while the Asian indices also opened in the green today.
|
