Domestic equity barometers continued to trade higher in early afternoon trade. IT shares bounced after declining in the past two sessions. At 12:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 139.05 points or 0.34% at 40,697.54. The Nifty 50 index added 39.55 points or 0.33% at 11,936.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.67% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.70%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1551 shares rose and 873 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 1.19% to 22.3650. The Nifty October 2020 futures were trading at 11,933.85, at a discount of 2.15 points compared with the spot at 11,936.
The Nifty option chain for 29 October 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 43.82 lakh contracts at the 12,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 40.64 lakh contracts was seen at 10,500 strike price.
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Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index rose 0.71% to 21,565.65. The index slipped 1.3% in the past two sessions.
Info Edge India (up 3.77%), Mphasis (up 2.53%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 1.21%) and TCS (up 1%) advanced while HCL Tech (down 0.59%) and Infosys (down 0.26%) lagged behind.
Tech Mahindra rose 1.08% to Rs 847.15. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, Tech Mahindra (Americas), Inc. has agreed to acquire 6.03% equity shares in VitalTech Holdings, Inc. for a total cash consideration of $3 million.
VitalTech Holdings is an IT services firm in the healthcare sector, headquartered in Plano, Texas (USA). It is engaged in the business of cloud-based Telehealth and remote patient monitoring platform development and services. This deal is expected to strengthen Tech Mahindra's existing healthcare IT services business and also enable its healthcare customers in digital transformation.
Coforge fell 1.06% to Rs 2430. The IT firm reported a 47.40% growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 122.20 crore on a 9.14% increase in net sales to Rs 1,153.70 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q1 June 2020. EBITDA jumped 20.2% to Rs 217.20 crore in Q2FY21 as against Rs 180.60 crore in Q1FY21. EBITDA margin improved to 18.8% in Q2FY21 from 17.1% in Q1FY21. Consolidated PAT margin stood at 10.5% in Q2FY21 over 7.6% in Q1FY21. The company recorded $201 million order intake in the quarter leading to $489 million of firm business executable over next twelve months.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Delta Corp rose 2.88% to Rs 112.35 after the company said that its subsidiary, Delta Pleasure Cruise Company, will acquire up to 45% stake in Waterways Shipyard for consideration not exceeding Rs 15.50 crore.
"Given the significance of marine vessels to the Company's casino business, this investment is expected to bring strategic benefits and a long term partner to support Delta Group's vessel building and maintenance requirements, the company said.
Bharti Infratel added 0.66% to Rs 197.35. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit dropped 24% to Rs 733 crore on 5.9% increase in net sales to Rs 1,766.40 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. EBITDA declined 3% year-on-year to Rs 1,836 crore, representing an operating margin of 49.7%. The operating free cash flow was at Rs 1,035 crore during the quarter, slipping 4% as against Rs 1,080 crore in Q2FY20.
Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals jumped 8.45% to Rs 310.65 after the FMEG company posted a 27.8% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 141.68 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 110.88 crore in Q2 September 2019. Consolidated net sales for Q2 September 2020 stood at Rs 1,213 crore, rising 12.8% as against Rs 1,075.79 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA margin grew to 15.8% in Q2 September 2020 from 12% in Q2 September 2019.
Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL) jumped 6.98% to Rs 164.10 after the company said its board approved raising Rs 1500 crore through preferential issue of equity shares to Flipkart Group at Rs 205 per share. With this infusion, Flipkart Group will own 7.8% equity stake in ABFRL on a fully diluted basis.
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