Tata shares under severe pressure

Most Tata-promoted stocks were under severe pressure on Thursday with index heavyweights Tata Motors and Tata Steel taking a beating.


The country's largest commercial vehicle maker, Tata Motors, has decided to shut production at its Jamshedpur facility for medium and heavy vehicles for three days beginning Thursday to tide over plummeting demand which had an impact on the auto company's shares. Tata Motors shares slumped 7.45 per cent.

According to media reports, the block closure at Jamshedpur from November 6 to November 8 is to match the production with demand of vehicles produced at the Jamshedpur plant to avoid build-up of inventory either in the company or with the dealers.

Tata Steel extended losses for the second straight day and was trading 7.65 per cent lower after ArcelorMittal's guidance for the current quarter painted a bleaker picture than expected and market participants forecast dismal Corus earnings for the quarter to September 30, 2008.

Slowing global demand has compelled Tata Steel to cut steel production at its Corus units in the UK and the Netherlands. Corus decided to reduce its crude steel production over the next three months by up to 20 per cent or around 1 million tonne, to mitigate the effects of the softening near-term steel demand outlook.

Among other Tata stocks, Tata Power shed 6.76 per cent and Tata Communications lost 3.97 per cent.

Source: EconomicTimes