Asian markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.18% while the Hang Seng is up 0.83%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.36%. Stock markets in the US & Europe ended their previous session on a firm note.
Meanwhile, Indian share markets have opened the trading day marginally higher. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 114 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 39 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both have opened the day up by 0.4%. The rupee is trading at 68.06 to the US$. All sectoral indices have opened the day in green with metal, banking and capital goods stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.
According to an article in The Economic Times, National Aluminium Company (NALCO) has inaugurated a Research & Technology Centre at Bhubaneswar in order to boost its research initiatives, including development of new products and alloys.
The new research and technology centre would further increase its efforts to meet the R&D requirements in future. The waste utilization, maximizing productivity, reduction of specific consumption and development of new products and alloys are the key research areas that will complement the new business plan being put together by the company.
Notably, NALCO has already registered 29 patents of which five have been commercialized. To ensure sustainability, the company has taken various R&D initiatives. It has entered into an R&D co-operation agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan for development of technology which aims to reduce energy consumption at the smelter by about 5%. An R &D agreement was also signed with Chalieco, China.
Domestically, the aluminium industry faced difficulties in the form of cheap imports from China and other countries. However, the recent rebound in prices internationally provides some hope for the industry. With demand expected to pick up from China, which is one of the largest users of both industrial and precious metals in the near future, prices would likely strengthen further and stabilize.
