INTELLECTUAL TRADING

The auto sector has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First, notebandi proved to be a roadblock. Now, the Supreme Court's ruling banning the sale and registration of BS III-compliant vehicles from April 1 has again caught automobile manufacturers off-guard. What are Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms? BS norms are emission standards instituted by the government of India to regulate auto-induced air pollution. These norms are based on the European standards and were first introduced in 2000. They apply to all vehicles - two wheelers and three wheelers, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles. In February 2016, The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a notification declaring any vehicle to be sold from 1 April 2017 should be BS IV compliant. The transition from BS III to BS IV will reduce emissions 50%. Of course, it will also increase the cost of vehicles. But there was some confusion on the applicability on production and registration of such vehic

Some sectors, such as FMCG and leisure, rely heavily on sales to consumers, while other industry sectors such as chemicals and environmental services target industrial buyers. For yet other sectors, like defense and aerospace, the government is a major customer. These differences matter when it comes to gauging the effects of different economic indicators, such as consumer confidence, durable goods order position, or the budget deficit on different sectors.  Some sectors, such as retailing for one, are labor intensive, others like utilities are capital intensive, and some like transportation are very fuel intensive. These differences likewise matter when it comes to assessing how different kinds of macro-economic shocks like wage inflation, interest rate spikes, and energy price shocks can impact individual stock price movements.  Some cyclical sectors, such as autos and paper, are closely tied to changes in the business cycle and are the first to tank during a recession.

Here are the companies in which domestic mutual funds and insurance companies have significantly changed their holdings over the last quarter