Share price of selected Chennai-based auto companies fell after flood crippled normal life in the city. (Express Photo)

Share price of selected Chennai-based auto companies fell after flood crippled normal life in the city. Heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu have battered one of the country’s largest auto manufacturing hubs and forced plants to shut for the second time in less than a month. According to market experts, heavy rainfall will impact domestic and export sales of Chennai-based companies.

At 12.28 pm, shares of TVS Motor Company and Ashok Leyland were trading 3.80 per cent and 0.91 per cent down at Rs 292.45 and Rs 92.50, respectively.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, president, Destimoney Securities said, “Chennai flood will impact domestic and export sales TVS Motor company the most.”

In auto component makers, shares of Sundaram-Clayton, a Chennai based TVS Group company, were trading 3.70 per cent down at Rs 2,119 apiece. The BSE Auto index was marginally down 0.06 per cent at 18,842.59.

TVS Motor Company on Monday reported 2.43 per cent increase in total sales at 2,25,401 units in November. In a statement TVS Motor said, “Incessant rains for the past three weeks in Chennai have had an adverse effect on company’s production during this period. The company suffered sales loss of approximately 15,000 units due to inclement weather”.

Alkem Laboratories IPO, which will close on December 10, would be made through an offer of sale of up to 1.28 crore equity shares representing 10.75 per cent stake by the promoters. (Graphic: Sanjay Tambe)

Pharma firm, Alkem Laboratories has fixed the price band between Rs 1,020 and Rs 1,050 for its initial public offer (IPO), which will hit the capital markets on December 8.

The IPO, which will close on December 10, would be made through an offer of sale of up to 1.28 crore equity shares representing 10.75 per cent stake by the promoters.

The company has fixed the price band from Rs 1,020 to Rs 1,050 per equity share. At the lower price band, it would raise Rs 1,300 crore and would garner Rs 1,350 crore at the upper price band.

Alkem Laboratories plans to expand its footprint globally. It had a portfolio of 705 brands in the domestic market as on September 30.

“We have total of 16 manufacturing facilities, of which 14 facilities at five locations in India and two in the US. Five of the facilities are USFDA approved, mainly catering to sales in US markets,” Alkem Labs joint Managing Director Sandeep Singh said.

“Our most significant therapeutic areas in domestic market are anti-infectives, gastro-intestinal, pain and analgesics, and vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

“These therapeutic areas accounted for 80.7 per cent of our total sales in the domestic market for fiscal year 2015,” Alkem Labs CEO Prabhat Agarwal said.

“We have four research and development facilities, two in India and two in the United States. We employed 480 scientists in research and development functions and our expenditure on R&D amounted to 4.5 per cent of our net revenues from operations for fiscal year 2015”, Agarwal said.

“Having established ourselves in the Indian pharma market, we have expanded internationally through both organic growth and certain strategic acquisitions in the US, which is our key focus market,” Singh said.

In the US, we have filed 69 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), of which 21 have received final approval and three have received tentative approval and 45 are pending, he added.

For growth in the future, we are open to acquisitions, if we get favourable opportunities, Singh said.

The global coordinators and book running lead managers to the issue are Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India, Axis Capital, J P Morgan India and Edelweiss Financial Services.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened in green on Wednesday. Sensex opened 69.98 points up at 26,239.39, while Nifty opened 21.80 points up at 7,976.70.

11.48 am: Eicher Motors on Tuesday announced its motorcycle division Royal Enfield entry and future plans for the Thai market at the Thailand International Motor Expo 2015, as a part of its growth strategy and focused international thrust of leading and expanding the global mid-sized motorcycle segment (250-750cc). Royal Enfield displayed its entire range of evocative motorcycles at the Thailand International Motor Expo, which includes the iconic Bullet 500cc, the retro-street models – Classic 500cc and Classic Chrome, and the Continental GT (535cc) cafe racer. Along-with the motorcycles, the brand also introduced its latest gear and accessories collection for the Thailand market. The company on Tuesday also reported 48 per cent jump in total motorcycles sales to 40,769 units in November as against 27,542 units sold in the same month last year. The share price of Eicher Motors was up 0.59 per cent at Rs 16,327.

11.37 am: Share price of TAKE Solutions gained over 2 per cent after the company launched PVIndia, a unique pharmacovigilance peer network, organised and managed by one of TAKE’s Life Sciences division, Navitas. At the time when the pharma industry is facing business challenges and the government of India citing delayed regulatory approvals as a primary concern, it is imperative for Pharma companies to arrive at solutions to tackle these problems. The scrip was trading 2.07 per cent up at Rs 204.95. Sensex was down 87 points at 26,082.

11.27 am: Sensex was trading 116.60 points down at 26,052.81. Nifty was trading 37.90 points down at 7,917.00. BSE Bankex was down 1.06 per cent

10.44 am: Sensex was down 102 points at 26066.51. Nifty was down 31.10 points at 7,923. Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) Farm Equipment Sector (FES), a part of the $16.9 billion Mahindra Group, reported its sales numbers for November 2015. Domestic sales in November 2015 stood at 20,819 units, up by 47 per cent as against 14,207 units during November 2014. The company’s total tractor sales (domestic + exports) during November 2015 stood at 21,717 units, up by 42 per cent as against 15,333 units for the same period last year. Exports for the month stood at 898 units, registering a fall of 20 per cent. Shares of M&M were trading 0.17 per cent up at Rs 1,372.

10.16 am: Debt-ridden, troubled auto component manufacturer Amtek Auto, which is looking at deleveraging to raise funds to reduce its debt, is likely to prune its workforce by combining several of its operations. The company has total workforce of 16,000 in India, which includes employees at its various subsidiary firms. Shares of Amtek Auto were trading 1.31 per cent up at Rs 42.65.

10.07 am: The rupee edged higher by three paise to 66.46 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on continued selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Sensex was marginally 21 points at 26,190.

9.44 am: Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner by output, has reported provisional production of 47.47 million tonnes in November 2015, as against target of 49.67 million tonnes. The company’s total off-take for the month of November stood at 45.33 million tonnes as against a target of 46.16 million tonnes. Also, the proposed sale of another 10 per cent government stake in Coal India (CIL), on which the Centre’s FY16 non-tax revenue hinges a lot on, is unlikely before April. Despite the Cabinet clearing the stake sale last month, reflecting the government’s keenness to push it through in FY16, a lack of appetite among potential investors as well as objections raised by some existing stakeholders in the world’s largest coal miner could upset the plan, sources familiar with the matter told FE. The share price of Coal India was up 0.81 per cent at Rs 344.25. Sensex was up 26 points at 26,195.

9.27 am: Sensex was up 33.56 points at 26,202. Nifty was up 5.80 points at 7960.70. Tata Motors continued to witness strong year-on-year growth in the M&HCV segment in November 2015, with a growth of 21 per cent. However, total sale of Tata Motors passenger and commercial vehicles (including exports) were at 38,918 vehicles, lower by 7 per cent, over 41,720 vehicles, sold in November 2014. The domestic sale of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for November 2015 were at 35,345 nos. lower by 6 per cent over 37,427 vehicles sold in November 2014. Shares of Tata Motors were trading 0.73 per cent down at Rs 414.35.

9.20 am: Tree House shares again hit upper circuit on Wednesday after the company updated BSE that it has successfully received all amounts related to preschools and franchise operations that were outstanding as on 30 September 2015. The company also clarified that there was an error with respect to the promoters’ pledge of shares reported by BSE on their website. On November 20, it had been communicated to BSE that promoters have pledged 2,50,000 shares in one of the promoters’ accounts which was erroneously mentioned as 25,00,000 shares by BSE. This has created unnecessary confusion and concerns among investors. The share price of the company climbed 9.98 per cent to Rs 184 on Wednesday.

9.15 am: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened in green on Wednesday. Sensex opened 69.98 points up at 26,239.39, while Nifty opened 21.80 points up at 7,976.70.

Shares of Jyoti Structures will remain in focus on Wednesday as lenders to the loss-making Jyoti Structures have decided to convert Rs 307.6 crore of loans into shares at a value of Rs 26.90 apiece, a premium to the current market price, sources told FE. The move is part of a strategic debt restructuring (SDR), a scheme outlined by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier this year. The stock closed at Rs 17.70 on Tuesday on the BSE, down 6.84% from its previous close. Shares of Jyoti Structures was trading over 8 per cent up in the early trade.

Tata Motors will also remain in focus after the company on Monday reported 6.71 per cent decline in sales at 38,918 units in November compared to 41,720 vehicles in the same month last year.

The US markets coming out of the consolidation mood rallied on Tuesday, despite the Institute for Supply Management showing an unexpected contraction in US manufacturing activity. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, with some of the indices trading in red on speculation that the Federal Reserve will take a gradual approach to raising interest rates. The Dow and S&P 500 both gained about 1 per cent on Tuesday thanks to a rebound in health and consumer shares.

Back home, domestic equity markets managed to end the Tuesday’s session with marginal gains amid slew of economic data announcements. Markets kick-started the session with a decent gains and traded in narrow range as sentiment got a boost after India’s economy grew by 7.4 per cent in the second quarter (July-September), outpacing China to become the fastest growing major economy. Some support also came in with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that GDP in the current fiscal will be better than the growth rate recorded in the last financial year and improve further in subsequent years.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its fifth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy review kept the key policy rate unchanged but affirmed the central bank’s commitment to ease it as and when room is available, saying inflation is likely to perform better than expected. However, markets pared most of their initial gains after India’s manufacturing sector grew at its weakest pace in over two years in November as demand and output continued to soften.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 23.74 points or 0.09 per cent to 26169.41, while the CNX Nifty50 index added 19.65 points or 0.25 per cent to 7,954.90.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty are likely to open on a flat to cautious note on Wednesday tracking SGX Nifty and Asian markets. (Reuters)

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty are likely to open on a flat to cautious note on Wednesday tracking SGX Nifty and Asian markets.

At 8.31 am (IST), SGX Nifty was up 10 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 7,995.

Asian stocks stuttered in early trade on Wednesday after downbeat US manufacturing data raised concerns about the health of the world’s biggest economy, while the dollar retreated from 8-1/2-month highs.

Data released Tuesday showed the US manufacturing sector contracted last month to its weakest level since June 2009, while construction spending rose in October to the highest level since December 2007. The mixed data prompted markets to question whether the US economy was ready for an interest rate hike that could come as early as this month.

The Dow and S&P 500 both gained about 1 per cent on Tuesday thanks to a rebound in health and consumer shares.

Back home, Sensex closed 23.74 points up at 26,169.41, while Nifty closed 19.65 points up at 7954.90 on Tuesday.

Shares of Wockhardt will remain in focus on Wednesday as its Chikalthana plant at Aurangabad in Maharashtra has received a good manufacturing practice (GMP) certificate from the UK health regulator after an inspection.

Tata Motors will also remain in focus after the company on Monday reported 6.71 per cent decline in sales at 38,918 units in November compared to 41,720 vehicles in the same month last year.

(With inputs from agencies)

French insurer AXA has increased its stake in life and general insurance joint ventures with Bharti Enterprises in India from 26% to 49% for an undisclosed amount, the company said in a release. In the last few months, several foreign players have hiked their stake in their insurance business with Indian partner.

“This transaction confirms AXA’s long-term commitment towards the Indian insurance market and is another step in our development in Asia. India is one of the most dynamic insurance markets in the world…,” said Jean-Louis Laurent Josi, CEO of AXA Asia.

In FY15, Bharti AXA Life recorded Rs 4.7 billion of new business collected premiums, achieving a yearly growth of 28% on average over the past 3 years. In the same fiscal year, Bharti AXA GI recorded R14.6 billion of gross direct premiums, achieving a growth of 18% on average over the past 3 years. In May 2015, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had cleared  AXA’s proposal to increase its stake in both the joint ventures.