Sensex Continues To Trade Strong; Nestle Gains 5%

Indian share markets continue to trade on a strong note during the noon session amid firm global markets. Gains are largely seen in metal stocks, software stocks and bank stocks. Meanwhile, pharma stocks are witnessing majority of the selling activity.

The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 258 points and the NSE Nifty is trading up by 82 points. Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.1% & the BSE Small Cap index is down by 0.4%. The rupee is trading at 64.12 to the US$.

As per an article in The Livemint, Gitanjali Gems share price plunged 19% after the company came under scanner of various investigating agencies following the Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) declaration of nearly Rs 114 billion fraud.

Some of other jewelry stocks also witnessed similar fate with PC Jeweller share price declining 5%, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri share price 1.6% and Thangamayil Jewellery share price 4.4%.

PNB on Wednesday disclosed that it has detected some fraudulent transactions with financial implication of US$1.77 billion and the matter has been referred to law enforcement agencies for the recovery.

PNB share price continued to decline (down 5.6%).

Moving on to news from airline stocks. Jet Airways share price was trading down by 5.2% after the company reported a 45.9% drop in standalone net profit to Rs 1.65 billion in the December quarter from a year earlier, hit by a sharp jump in fuel expense.

Net profit fell despite a 10.43% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 60.86 billion during the third quarter when both domestic and international traffic showed growth.

As per an article in the Livemint, the airline’s fuel expenses rose nearly 29% to Rs 18.4 billion as an increase in oil prices in world markets hit the aviation sector.

Meanwhile, India’s aviation industry is on a high-growth trajectory. India’s domestic air traffic has seen a prolific growth of 20-25% during 2015 and 2016. And in 2017, it tapered to 17.4%. However, for the first time, domestic air traffic crossed an important landmark of 100 million passengers in a calendar year.