 "Markets come off day's highs; TCS up 5%")
Markets have come off their day's highs in late noon trades on Monday, amid weak global cuse, as investors booked profits in bank and capital goods shares.
At 2:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 94 points at 21,158 after hitting an intra-day high of 21,209 and the 50-share Nifty was up 28 points at 6,289 after touching a high of 6,305.
After weakness in early trades the rupee firmed up against the US dollar. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.55 compared with previous close of Rs 61.54 per dollar.
Shares in Europe opened lower tracking losses of their Asian peers after China's fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) GDP came in marginally lower at 7.7% compared with 7.8% in the previous quarter.
The BSE IT index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on the BSE up 2.4%. However, Bankex, Capital Goods indices came off their day's highs.
IT shares have remained in demand with eight IT exporters reporting a combined 37% year-on-year growth in net profit and 27% net sales growth. Their core operating margin (excluding the impact of other income), at 28% of net sales, was at a three-year high - 60 basis points higher on sequential basis and 170 basis points more when compared with the same period last year.
Wipro was up 3.5% after rising nearly 5%. The company announced strong growth in earnings for October-December 2013 (Q3), for a second quarter in a row, reaffirming belief that it was on a revival track. Among other IT majors TCS was up nearly 5% and Infosys was trading with marginal gains.
ITC was up 1.2% after it posted a year-on-year rise of 16% in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2013 at Rs 2,385 crore, while net sales came in 13.1% higher on year-on-year (y-o-y) basis at Rs 8,623 crore. Nirmal Bang Securities has revised its target price on ITC upwards to Rs 394 from Rs 370 earlier based on sum-of-the-parts (FY15E), citing attractive valuations.
Bank shares such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI which had firmed also trimmed some of their gains.
Auto majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were up 1% each.
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries extended losses and was down nearly 2% on concerns that net profit would have been lower-than-estimated without sharp growth in other income. The company’s net profit stayed flat both sequentially and annually at Rs 5,511 crore during the October-December quarter of FY14 compared with Rs 5,502 crore year ago quarter. RIL’s other income stood at Rs 6,900 crore, up 32 per cent against Rs 5,755 crore in the corresponding previous quarter.
Among other shares, Indoco Remedies has moved higher by 11% at Rs 123 in early morning deals, bouncing back 26% from intra-day low, on back of heavy volumes on the bourses after the company said that it has not received any warning letter from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.6-0.7% each.
Market breadth was nearly neutral with 1,286 gainers and 1,228 losers on the BSE.
At 2:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 94 points at 21,158 after hitting an intra-day high of 21,209 and the 50-share Nifty was up 28 points at 6,289 after touching a high of 6,305.
After weakness in early trades the rupee firmed up against the US dollar. The rupee was trading at Rs 61.55 compared with previous close of Rs 61.54 per dollar.
More From This Section
Shares in China eased as investors turned cautious amid liquidity concerns even as fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) GDP which came in at 7.7% was tad higher than expectations of 7.6%. Meanwhile, industrial production in December which was lower-than-expected at 9.7% compared to December 2012 also weighed on market sentiment. The Shanghai Composite ended down 0.7%. Hang Seng ended down 0.9%. Japanese shares also ended weak with the benchmark Nikkei closing 0.6% lower and Straits Times ended down 0.4%.
Shares in Europe opened lower tracking losses of their Asian peers after China's fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) GDP came in marginally lower at 7.7% compared with 7.8% in the previous quarter.
The BSE IT index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on the BSE up 2.4%. However, Bankex, Capital Goods indices came off their day's highs.
IT shares have remained in demand with eight IT exporters reporting a combined 37% year-on-year growth in net profit and 27% net sales growth. Their core operating margin (excluding the impact of other income), at 28% of net sales, was at a three-year high - 60 basis points higher on sequential basis and 170 basis points more when compared with the same period last year.
Wipro was up 3.5% after rising nearly 5%. The company announced strong growth in earnings for October-December 2013 (Q3), for a second quarter in a row, reaffirming belief that it was on a revival track. Among other IT majors TCS was up nearly 5% and Infosys was trading with marginal gains.
ITC was up 1.2% after it posted a year-on-year rise of 16% in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2013 at Rs 2,385 crore, while net sales came in 13.1% higher on year-on-year (y-o-y) basis at Rs 8,623 crore. Nirmal Bang Securities has revised its target price on ITC upwards to Rs 394 from Rs 370 earlier based on sum-of-the-parts (FY15E), citing attractive valuations.
Bank shares such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI which had firmed also trimmed some of their gains.
Auto majors Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were up 1% each.
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries extended losses and was down nearly 2% on concerns that net profit would have been lower-than-estimated without sharp growth in other income. The company’s net profit stayed flat both sequentially and annually at Rs 5,511 crore during the October-December quarter of FY14 compared with Rs 5,502 crore year ago quarter. RIL’s other income stood at Rs 6,900 crore, up 32 per cent against Rs 5,755 crore in the corresponding previous quarter.
Among other shares, Indoco Remedies has moved higher by 11% at Rs 123 in early morning deals, bouncing back 26% from intra-day low, on back of heavy volumes on the bourses after the company said that it has not received any warning letter from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 0.6-0.7% each.
Market breadth was nearly neutral with 1,286 gainers and 1,228 losers on the BSE.