Key benchmark indices edged lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 66.71 points or 0.34%, off close to 70 points from the day's high and up about 5 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative.
IT major Wipro rose after the company issued upbeat revenue guidance for Q2 September 2013 at the time of announcing Q1 June 2013 results after trading hours on Friday, 26 July 2013. Reliance Industries (RIL) and ONGC, both, edged higher after the two companies entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of sharing RIL's infrastructure facility in the East Coast. Jaiprakash Associates declined ahead of its Q1 results today, 29 July 2013.
At 9:35 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 66.71 points or 0.34% to 19.681.48. The index declined 72.92 points at the day's low of 19,675.27 in early trade. The index rose 2.84 points at the day's high of 19,751.03 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 22.15 points or 0.38% to 5,864.05. The index hit a low of 5,863.80 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 5,886 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 526 shares declined and 396 shares rose. A total of 29 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 stocks fell and rest of them rose. Hindustan Unilever (down 3.73%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.02%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.51%), edged lower.
Jaiprakash Associates declined 4.55% ahead of its Q1 results today, 29 July 2013.
Cement major UltraTech Cement fell 0.23% ahead of its Q1 results today, 29 July 2013.
IDFC shed 0.04% ahead of its Q1 results today, 29 July 2013.
Sesa Goa declined 0.46% ahead of its Q1 results today, 29 July 2013.
Reliance Industries (RIL) and ONGC, both, edged higher after the two companies entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the possibility of sharing RIL's infrastructure facility in the East Coast. RIL was up 0.26% and ONGC was up 1.02%. The MoU aims at working out the modalities for sharing of infrastructure, identifying additional requirements as well as firming up the commercial terms. This shall not only minimise ONGC's initial capital expenditure but also expedite its field development, resulting in early monetization of its deep water fields adjacent to the fields of RIL. The companies intend to enter into a definitive agreement after concluding a joint study which will be spread over the next nine months, RIL said in a statement.
Wipro rose 3.94% after the company issued upbeat revenue guidance for Q2 September 2013 at the time of announcing Q1 June 2013 results after trading hours on Friday, 26 July 2013. Wipro expects 1.99% to 3.88% growth in revenue from IT services business at between $1.62 billion to $1.65 billion in Q2 September 2013 over Q1 June 2013.
The company's consolidated net profit rose 3% to Rs 1623.30 crore on 1% growth in revenue to Rs 9734.60 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q4 March 2013. The results are as per International Financial Reporting Standards. The results are after adjusting for the spinoff of its non-technology businesses, completed in April.
IT services revenue rose 0.2% to $1.58 billion in Q1 June 2013 over Q4 March 2013. Non-GAAP constant currency IT services revenue in dollar terms was $1.60 billion, which was within the company's guidance range of $1.575 billion to $1.61 billion.
Wipro said that the pricing environment was largely stable during the quarter, and the growth was largely volume led. Effective from 1 June 2013, Wipro gave annual wage hike of between 6-8% for offshore employees and 2-3% for onsite employees.
Wipro added 28 new customers in Q1 June 2013.
Commenting on the first quarter results, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said: "We are seeing higher confidence among our clients on the backdrop of positive macroeconomic developments, particularly in the US."
T K Kurien, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of Wipro said: "We are seeing a pickup in large deal closures which has reflected in strong order book in the current quarter. Our clients look to technology to pursue growth and profitability and increase organizational agility."
Suresh Senapaty, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said: "Our investments in client mining have shown benefits with strong growth in our top clients. We have given wage hikes for both onsite and offshore employees effective June 2013, which has impacted our operating margins in the quarter."
TCS declined 0.42% as the stock turned ex-dividend today, 29 July 2013, for interim dividend of Rs 4 per share for the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013).
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was up 1.57% at Rs 567.65. The stock turned ex-bonus today, 29 July 2013 for 1:1 bonus issue.
Dr Reddys Laboratories shed 0.96%. The company announced on Saturday, 27 July 2013, that it has launched a drug for the treatment of dementia of the Alzheimer's type. The drug is a therapeutic equivalent generic version of ARICEPT. ARICEPT had US sales of approximately $92.6 million for twelve months ended May 2013, according to IMS Health data.
Lupin declined 0.38% as the stock turned ex-dividend today, 29 July 2013, for dividend of Rs 4 per share for the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013).
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will meet the captains of Indian industry today, 29 July 2013, to review steps to revive the economy. The discussion will cover measures to correct the Current Account Deficit, measures to revive industrial growth, depreciation of the rupee and its impact on trade and industry, skill development and ways of accelerating it and development of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC), and the Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC).
Asian stocks retreated Monday, with Japanese equities skidding as a firm yen further dragged on the nation's exporters, while Chinese shares lost ground amid economic worries. Key benchmark indices in South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan were off 0.26% to 1.35%
Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks retreated amid lingering economic worries, with sentiment weighed by official data released over the weekend showing profits at Chinese industrial firms slowed in June. The Shanghai Composite index was off 1.57%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was off 0.58%. Data released over the weekend by the National Bureau of Statistics showed profits at industrial companies rose 6.3% in June from the year-earlier month, slowing sharply from a 15.5% increase in May, according to reports.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average was off 2.22%. The benchmark had retreated 3% on Friday, 26 July 2013.
Japanese retail sales rose 1.6% from a year earlier in June, figures today showed, which was below the market expectations.
US stocks inched higher on Friday, 26 July 2013, to end the week virtually flat, as investors digested earnings reports and prepared for a busy economic calendar in the week ahead.
On the economic front, US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose at the end of this month, according to the Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday (30 July 2013) and Wednesday (31 July 2013), after which it will release a statement on central bank policy. In his two-day testimony to Congress, which concluded on 18 July 2013, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said plans to taper asset purchases were not on a preset path and stressed intentions to be very responsive to data. Additionally, Bernanke said recent data have been "mixed" and it was "way too early" to make a judgment on when the central bank will slow down the pace of its asset purchases. 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.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) will announce their policy decisions on Thursday, 1 August 2013.
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