TCS shares jumped on strong Q4 earnings while Infosys saw a sharp fall
Indian shares edged higher today as TCS boosted the indexes after reporting a strong quarterly performance. The Street cheered TCS earnings with shares rising 5%. Banking stocks also saw some buying. The Sensex ended 138 points higher at 38,905 while Nifty edged higher to 11,690, up 0.40%.
The Meteorological Department today forecast near-normal monsoon for this year, raising expectations of higher farm and economic growth.
Analysts say that in the near term, the Indian markets will be driven by corporate earnings while the outcome of the elections will also be another trigger.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Motors climbed 7%, leading the gains in percentage terms. Other top gainers included Coal India, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank.
Infosys saw its shares fall 3% after it failed to impress investors with its operating margin forecast for fiscal 2020.
On the IPO front, Metropolis Healthcare had a strong listing at ₹962/share compared to the issue price of ₹880/share.
Centrum has revised Infosys ratings to "Add", from "Buy"
Domestic brokerage Centrum has revised Infosys ratings to "Add", from "Buy" earlier. "Infosys’ Q4FY19 results delivered a steep miss on EBIT margin. The company has also lowered EBIT margin guidance band to 21-23% for FY20. We trim EPS estimates by 4.0/3.8% for FY20E/FY21E owing to the EBIT margin downgrade," it said in a note.
Centrum believes that the open-market buyback could act as a medium-term support for Infosys shares. Infosys initiated buyback from March 20, 2019, after receiving all requisite approvals. Out of total buyback size of ₹8,260 crore, the company has bought back shares worth ₹1,546 crore so far.
Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) shares surge
Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam or RVNL today surged as much as 6% to ₹20.90, extending their gains to 10% in three days. RVNL shares got listed on Thursday.
SpiceJet to launch new international flights from Mumbai, shares surge
SpiceJet will connect Mumbai to a host of international destinations with direct non-stop flights to Hong Kong, Jeddah, Dubai, Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Bangkok and Kathmandu. The new international flights will commence from May-end. Shares surged 7% to ₹117.
Metropolis Healthcare lists at 9% premium to issue price
Shares of Metropolis Healthcare made a strong stock market debut on Monday. The diagnostics chain listed on the stock exchanges at ₹960, up 9.1% from its issue price of ₹880 per share. The ₹1,204-crore initial public offering (IPO), with a price band of ₹877-880, was subscribed 5.84 times during the share sale, from 3-5 April. It is an offer for sale and the company will not receive any funds raised from the issue.
Rupee trades flat at 69.19 a dollar
The Indian rupee on Monday was trading little changed against the US dollar, tracking mixed Asian currencies following a report that said the US has softened some of its demands for a trade deal with China.
At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 69.19 a dollar, down 0.01% from its previous close of 69.18. The home currency opened at 69.11 a dollar.
Infosys shares fall sharply on Q4 results, TCS shares jump
IT major Infosys reported a mix bag of fourth quarter numbers, with margins coming in below expectations even as revenue came in-line. Infosys also reported strong large deal wins during the quarter which came in more than $1.5 billion. Infosys’ guidance for this fiscal starting April 1, 2019, came in below the Street’s estimates. Infosys shares fell nearly 4% to ₹719 in early trade while shares of TCS, which also reported Q4 earnings on Friday, rose 3% ₹2,076. In comparison, the stock market index Sensex was trading 0.24% higher. Read more here.
Asian shares near 9-month highs
Asian shares neared nine-month highs on Monday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hoped U.S.-China trade talks were approaching a final lap, while strong Chinese export and bank loan data boosted confidence in the global economy.
The consequent improvement in risk appetite resulted in the dollar easing against other major currencies.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.6 percent to its highest since late July. Chinese shares led the growth with the blue-chip CSI300 index rising 2.2 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2 percent while South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei also joined the party, gaining 1.4 percent to the highest since early December.
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