Asian markets are mixed today. The Hang Seng is lower by 0.91% while the Nikkei 225 is even. European markets finished broadly lower with shares in Germany leading the region. Meanwhile, share markets in India have opened the trading day on a flattish note with a positive bias ahead of the Budget announcement. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 58 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 13 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index have opened the day up by 0.4% & 0.3% respectively.

The rupee is trading at 67.81 to the US$. Barring information technology stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day in green. Realty and consumer durables stocks are among the top gainers on the BSE.

Power stocks have opened the day on a mixed note. Jaiprakash Power and KSK Energy are the most active stocks in this space. According to an article in The Economic Times, Rural Electrification Corp (REC) has signed a loan agreement with Tamil Nadu’s power generation and transmission utilities for financial assistance of Rs 68.9 billion.

Reportedly, the pact has been signed with Tangedco and Tantransco in Chennai for implementation of 800 Megawatt supercritical thermal power plant, renovation and modernisation of existing thermal power plants and establishment of new 765 KiloVolt, 400 KV substations in and around Chennai.

Further, it will also support in other renewable energy, energy conservation, smart grid and automation power projects in Tamil Nadu.

In the meanwhile, REC has also inked three pacts to extend financial assistance of around Rs 600 billion to Andhra Pradesh recently. The financial assistance comprises Rs 400 billion to Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp, Rs 100 billion to Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh and Rs 100 billion to AP DISCOMSs.

Apart from financial assistance, power utilities have agreed for availing Consultancy and Management Services from wholly owned subsidiaries of REC for their various projects for next 5 years, the reports noted. To know more about the company’s financial performance, subscribers can access to REC’s latest result analysis (subscription required) and REC stock analysis on our website.