Maruti has been down in the red since opening today morning. It was the top loser till some time but now top third loser; some recovery. The stock price intra day fell 3.4% to 3450 and is now ruling at Rs.3470 levels.

The big worry on the counter today is the appreciating Japanese Yen against the US dollar. Today, Yen hit a fresh 17-month high vis-s-vis the US dollar at Rs.108.80, down from Rs.121.68 at the end of January. The anxiety here is that every 10% appreciation in the yen leads to a shaving-off of almost 200 bps from the company’s margins.

Maruti has raw material imports  and royalty paid to Suzuki at 5% of sales, all in yen. Thus the worry.