A bout of volatility was witnessed in initial trade as key benchmark indices pared gains after a firm start triggered by higher Asian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 42.74 points or 0.2%, off close to 45 points from the day's high and up about 30 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.
HCL Technologies rose after the company reported good Q2 result before trading hours. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), AXIS Bank and Bajaj Auto, all, edged higher ahead of Q3 results.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds were net buyers of Indian stocks on Wednesday, 15 January 2014. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 713.29 crore on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 9:35 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 42.74 points or 0.2% to 21,332.23. The index rose 89.80 points at the day's high of 21,379.29 in early trade. The index gained 13.47 points at the day's low of 21,302.96 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 17.45 points or 0.28% to 6,338.35. The index hit a high of 6,346.50 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,325.60 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 791 shares gained and 457 shares fell. A total of 55 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 stocks rose and rest fell. Coal India (up 2.6%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.34%) and Bhel (up 1.14%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
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AXIS Bank gained 0.75% ahead of its Q3 results today, 16 January 2014.
Bajaj Auto rose 0.31% ahead of its Q3 results today, 16 January 2014.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 0.33% ahead of its Q3 results today, 16 January 2014.
HCL Technologies rose 2.25% after the company reported good Q2 result before trading hours. The company's consolidated net profit rose 5.7% to Rs 1496 crore on 2.8% increase in revenue to Rs 8184 crore in Q2 December 2013 over Q1 September 2013. The results are as per US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP).
Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 1.6% to Rs 2126 crore in Q2 December 2013 over Q1 September 2013. EBITDA margin declined to 26% in Q2 December 2013, from 26.3% in Q1 September 2013.
HCL Technologies' consolidated net profit as per US GAAP rose 7.1% to $241.6 million on 4% growth in revenue at $1.3213 billion in Q2 December 2013 over Q1 September 2013. EBITDA rose 2.8% to $343.3 million in Q2 December 2013 over Q1 September 2013. EBITDA margin edged lower to 26% in Q2 December 2013, from 26.3% in Q1 September 2013.
Commenting on the company's Q2 performance, Shiv Nadar, Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Technologies said: "As a company HCL has always differentiated itself on two key pillars -- corporate excellence and governance, and trust through transparency and flexibility. Our sustained efforts in these areas continue to be recognized".
Anant Gupta, President & CEO, HCL Technologies said: "HCL continues its profitable growth trajectory with yet another stellar quarter of 4% QoQ revenues growth and 39.1% YoY net income growth. The company also crossed many milestones during the quarter, with our calendar year 2013 revenues crossing the $5 billion landmark. In addition Infrastructure Services, Europe geography and Manufacturing vertical each crossed $1.5 billion in revenues. This quarter we also made significant progress in the execution of our Digital System Integration Services strategy by signing new engagements and establishing dedicated Centers of Excellence to further strengthen our thought leadership and thrust on Gen 2 Outsourcing".
Anil Chanana, CFO, HCL Technologies said: "We continue to deliver superior performance. The operating efficiencies, the scale of business in our Run-the-Business offering and the optimization of G&A spend helped in pushing the net income margin to another high of 18.3% this quarter. The asset light model reflected by our Fixed asset turnover at 10x of revenues, and efficient working capital management, continued to keep the return on equity at a historic high of 35% and operating cash flows in excess of 100% of net income".
The Reserve Bank of India's Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 is scheduled on 28 January 2014. The Reserve Bank of India kept its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged after its last policy review in December and said at that time that it expected inflation to ease in the following months.
Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday, 16 January 2014, as better-than-projected bank earnings boosted investor confidence and drove US stock gauges to record highs on Wednesday, 15 January 2014. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were up 0.04% to 0.58%. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia and Singapore fell 0.05% to 0.32%.
In US, the S&P 500 closed at a record high Wednesday, narrowly beating its previous peak reached on Dec. 31, as investors took upbeat manufacturing data, Bank of America Corp. earnings, and Apple Inc.'s China deal as signs economic growth was on solid ground.
The Federal Reserve said "moderate" growth across most of the US last month was buoyed by gains in holiday spending by consumers, an improving labor market and strength in manufacturing. "The economic outlook is positive in most districts, with some reports citing expectations of 'more of the same' and some expecting a pickup in growth," the Fed said yesterday in its Beige Book business survey, based on reports gathered on or before 6 January 2014.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index jumped to 12.51 in January from an upwardly revised 2.22 in December.
The US producer price index rose 0.4% in December, the biggest increase since June, recovering from a 0.1% decline in November and was 1.2% higher from a year earlier. Core PPI was up 0.3% in December and rose 1.4% on a year-over year basis, compared to expectations for a monthly increase of 0.1% and an annual gain of 1.3%.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day monetary policy meeting on 28 and 29 January 2014. By a 9-to-1 vote, the Fed on 18 December 2013 decided to trim its asset-purchase program by $10 billion to $75 billion per month starting in January 2014.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said yesterday that momentum in the world economy in the second half of last year should continue in 2014. The Washington-based fund plans to raise its forecast for global growth when it releases a report later this month.
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