Infy Holds Markets, Day Ends Positive

The Indian markets had a good trading day, as the markets held most of the morning gains. The markets showed some strength today, as investors saw some buying opportunity in the beaten-down scrip, Infosys. The broader indices closed higher by almost 0.5% today. Among the sectoral indices, only FMCG and Auto closed lower, marginally in the red zone. IT, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas took the lead, closing up by more than 1%.

Other Asian markets also ended higher, with Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai up in the range of 0.7%-1.7%.

The European markets are currently in the positive territory, with CAC, DAX and FTSE trading higher in the range of 0.3%-0.9%. They have extended some of their morning gains, as investors are speculating on some kind of positives from the markets. Bloomberg reports said that the stocks rose for a second day in succession to their highest level in 3.5 months as companies reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading up 55 points or 0.42% at 12915, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, most of the stocks ended in the same way as they were trading in the earlier part of the day. There was not much movement in the scrips. Investors saw a buying opportunity in Infosys, which had been beaten down heavily in the past few trading sessions. The stock was the leading Index gainer, higher b almost 3.08% at Rs 2242.85. Metals stocks like Sterlite Industries and Hindalco also closed up by 2.42% and 1.5% respectively. Further, stocks like BHEL, Tata Power and RIL closed higher more than 1% each, while others like Sun Pharma, NTPC, Coal India, etc. ended the day with marginal gains.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki was the worst performer among the index stocks. The scrip plunged 8.74% to Rs 1117 after media reports of clashes between workers and the managerial staff at the company's Manesar plant, which brought work to a halt. The incident comes within a year of the workers’ settlement with the management. Other stocks like Bharti Airtel, ITC, ONGC, etc. are trading lower in the negative territory.

Hero MotoCorp and Dr Reddy’s Labs closed their day in the negative territory, down by 1.37% and 0.98% respectively after they announced their Jun 2012 quarter numbers. 

Hero MotoCorp posted a net profit of Rs 6154.60 million for the quarter compared to Rs 5578.90 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. Its total income has increased from Rs 57755.10 million for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2011 to Rs 63517.10 million for the quarter that just elapsed.

Dr Reddy’s Labs posted a net profit of Rs 1776.60 million compared to Rs. 4540.50 million for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2011, and its total income increased to Rs 18349.40 million from Rs 17525.00 million for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2011.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was positive for the day. Out of the 3281 stocks traded on the BSE, 1691 advanced, 1450 declined and 140 remained unchanged.

For tomorrow, watch out for stocks like Asian Paints, Crompton Greaves, Hindustan Zinc, Indiabulls Financial Services, JSW Energy, Karnataka Bank, RIL, Praj Industries, UltraTech Cement, United Phosphorus, as the companies are going to announce their Jun quarter numbers. One could see some volatility in the above mentioned share price in tomorrow’s trade.