Key benchmark indices held firm in mid-morning trade with the sentiment getting a boost by IT major TCS' strong Q1 results. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 74.26 points or 0.37%, up 52.15 points from the day's low and off 36.22 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
Auto stocks were mostly higher. Power equipment major Bhel extended intraday fall. State-run UCO Bank fell after announcing Q1 June 2013 result. IT major TCS hit record high after reporting good Q1 results after trading hours on Thursday, 18 July 2013. Bajaj Corp gained, with the stock recovering from an initial steep slide triggered by an Offer for Sale for 9.75% stake announced by a promoter of the company after trading hours on Thursday, 18 July 2013.
Key benchmark indices pared initial gains triggered by good Q1 result from IT major TCS. Key benchmark indices extended gains in morning trade. The Sensex hit over 7-week high. The CNX Nifty hit 7-week high. Key benchmark indices held firm in mid-morning trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 178.30 crore on Thursday, 18 July 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 11:21 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 74.26 points or 0.37% to 20,202.67. The index jumped 110.48 points at the day's high of 20,238.89 in morning trade, its highest level since 30 May 2013. The index rose 22.11 points at the day's low of 20,150.52 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 6.10 points or 0.1% to 6,044.15. The index hit a high of 6,066.85 in intraday trade, its highest level since 31 May 2013. The index hit a low of 6,035.60 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 882 shares gained and 788 shares fell. A total of 95 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 586 crore by 11:20 IST compared to Rs 403 crore by 10:20 IST.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks declined and rest of them gained.
Auto stocks were mostly higher. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.78%.
Tata Motors advanced 2.05%. Tata Motors Group's global wholesales in June 2013, including Jaguar Land Rover, were 84,458 units. Global wholesales of all commercial vehicles -- Tata, Tata Daewoo and the Tata Hispano Carrocera range -- were 41,577 units in June 2013. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in June 2013 were 42,881 units. Global wholesales of Tata passenger vehicles in June 2013 were 12,345 units. Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 30,536 vehicles. Jaguar wholesales for the month were 6,182 vehicles while Land Rover wholesales for the month were 24,354 vehicles. Tata Motors announced the data on global wholesales after market hours on Monday, 15 July 2013.
Maruti Suzuki India fell 0.58%.
Two wheeler stocks were mixed. Bajaj Auto declined 1.41% ahead of its Q1 June 2013 results today, 19 July 2013.
Hero MotoCorp rose 1.51%.
UCO Bank fell 3.56%. The state-run bank during market hours today reported 41.01% rise in net profit to Rs 511.11 crore on 5.93% rise in total income to Rs 4668.81 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.
IT major TCS jumped 5.23% to Rs 1,747 after striking a record high of Rs 1,753.90 in intraday trade today, 19 July 2013. The company reported good Q1 results after trading hours on Thursday, 18 July 2013. TCS' net profit rose 5.9% to Rs 3831 crore on 9.5% growth in revenue to Rs 17987 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q4 March 2013. Operating profit rose 12% to Rs 4847 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q4 March 2013.
TCS said growth in Q1 June 2013 was seen across all industry segments, led by life sciences, retail, telecom and BFSI. There was balanced growth across IT and other service lines led by Assurance, EiS, Global Consulting and Asset Leveraged Solutions. Major markets grew smartly led by USA, Europe and UK alongside growth in emerging markets like Latin America and Asia Pacific, TCS said in a statement. The company added two new $100 million clients in Q1 June 2013.
During the quarter, TCS closed the acquisition of Alti, one of the top 5 system integrators of SAP solutions in France with several top French corporations in the banking, financial services, luxury, manufacturing and utilities sectors as its key customers.
TCS said it continued to hire employees to support business growth. There was a total gross addition of 10,611 people and net addition of 1,390 people in Q1 June 2013, taking the total employee strength to 277,586 on a consolidated basis. The utilization rate (excluding trainees) was at 82.7% and that including trainees was 72.5%. The attrition rate (LTM) dropped further sequentially to 10.52% including BPO. The attrition rate in IT was at 9.55%, while BPO attrition was higher at 15.77%.
Commenting on the Q1 performance, TCS Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director N Chandrasekaran said: "We have delivered another solid quarter, driven by the highest volume growth in the past seven quarters. It has been an all-round performance with strong revenue growth across markets led by the US. Our investments in Europe continue to gain strong traction with customers and helped us deliver industry-leading growth this quarter. Strong momentum in our business, the right cost structure, a customer-centric approach and our increasing investments in new digital solutions and services positions us well to post another year of strong business growth".
TCS Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Gopinathan said: "The current environment demands an agile operating model that can capture diverse growth opportunities. We continue to execute to plan and invest for growth, while maintaining stability in our margin profile".
Power equipment major Bhel dropped 4.61% to Rs 180.20, with the stock extending intraday fall. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.
VA Tech Wabag rose 2.43% after a joint venture of the company bagged an order worth Rs 344 crore in Philippines. The new order was announced before market hours today, 19 July 2013.
VA Tech Wabag in partnership with JV ANGELES Construction Corporation, Philippines secured an order worth Rs 344 crore from Manila Water Company, Philippines. VA Tech Wabag is the lead partner and the project is funded by World Bank.
Commenting on the new order, Mr. Coleridge Shelley, Country Head, WABAG Philippines said, "This order is of huge importance to us since this is the largest STP order from Philippines. I am delighted to announce that with this order intake and the earlier order for water treatment plant at Putatan for Rs 125 crore, WABAG is now a leading player in water and waste market in Philippines".
Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries fell 2.13%. The company has fixed 30 July 2013 as record date for 1:1 bonus shares.
Bajaj Corp rose 3.93% to Rs 254 in volatile trade. The stock rose as much as 7.02% at the day's high of Rs 261.55. The stock fell as much as 10.7% at the day's low of Rs 218.25. Bids were received for a total of 1.28 lakh shares at an indicative price of Rs 203.45 per share for the Offer for Sale (OFS) of the company's shares till 09:55 IST, as per data from the stock exchanges. The company's promoter, SKB Roop Commercial LLP, is selling 1.43 crore shares of Bajaj Corp, constituting 9.75% of the equity share capital of Bajaj Corp, through Offer for Sale (OFS) via the stock exchanges mechanism today, 19 July 2013. The floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 200 per share.
Asian markets were mostly lower as fund managers shift money from Asia to the US amid concerns that growth is slowing in China and Japan's economic reforms may be losing steam. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong fell 0.06% to 1.59%. Key benchmark indices in South Korea and Indonesia were up 0.07% to 0.25%.
Japanese shares beat a sharp retreat after opening comfortably higher, with a wave of selling ahead of weekend elections in the country. The Nikkei 225 Average was off 1.54%. The volatility in Tokyo came ahead of the country's upper house elections this weekend, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to easily clinch a majority. The LDP already has a majority in the lower house of the parliament, and a majority in the upper chamber of the Diet is widely expected to strengthen Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government in its attempt to revive the Japanese economy.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 46 points at the opening bell on Friday, 19 July 2013. US stocks rose on Thursday, 18 July 2013, after the second day of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and some upbeat earnings results, including from Morgan Stanley. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reached record closing highs, with sentiment also boosted by Moody's Investors Service lifting its outlook on US credit ratings to stable and reaffirming the country's AAA sovereign rating.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spent a second day on Capitol Hill on Thursday, discussing the outlook and Fed rate policy with the Senate Banking Committee. Bernanke said yesterday it was "way too early to make any judgment" about starting tapering in September. Tighter financial conditions as a result of rising yields over the past two months are "unwelcome," Bernanke said in response to a question from the Senate Banking Committee following his testimony yesterday. The Fed currently buys $85 billion a month in government and mortgage bonds in an effort to keep interest rates low and stimulate economic growth.
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