Stock in Action: December 17, 2012

Infosys has reportedly settled a lawsuit filed by former employee Satya Dev Tripuraneni. According to the company, the lawsuit filed against it has been withdrawn following successful mediation. An amicable settlement has been reached without any admission of liability. On the back of this news one may see volatility with a positive bias in the share price of Infosys in today's trading session.

Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, has launched the recommended public offer to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of OctoPlus NV, a service-based specialty pharmaceutical company. It has done so at an offer price of Euro 0.52 (cum dividend) per share. The company acquired OctoPlus in an all cash deal valued at Euro 27.39 million. OctoPlus is a Dutch pharma company focused on the development and manufacturing of improved injectable pharmaceuticals based on proprietary drug delivery technologies. The DRL stock is likely to be in the news today and witness action following this news.

Business Standard has reported that the boards of Holcim controlled ACC and Ambuja Cements have increased the payment of technology and knowhow fees to its parent firm. Accordingly, one per cent of the net annual sales of the company, will be payable to the parent with effect from January 1, 2013. The proposal will be presented to the members of the company for their consideration at the Annual General Meeting. As on 30^th September 2012, Holcim held 50.67 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 50.30 per cent in ACC. On the back of this news one may see volatility in the share price of ACC and Ambuja Cement in today's trading session.

Workers of Hero MotoCorp at its Gurgaon plant are demanding a three-to-four times increase in their wages. According to media reports, the workers are not ready to settle for any hike less than the one demanded because the process of wage increase happens once in three years. On the other hand it is believed that the management is unwilling to give into the demands as it sets precedent for the staff at other plants of the company at Haridwar and Dharuhera. The demand for a hike comes in the backdrop of Maruti Suzuki India getting into a historical settlement with its workers in September. On the back of this news one may see volatility with a negative bias in the share price of Hero Motocorp in today's trading session.

ICICI Bank last week opened 101 rural branches across six states as part of its financial inclusion plan that aims at providing banking services in unbanked villages. These 'Gramin' branches will offer all the basic banking services such as savings bank account, fixed and recurring deposit, remittances, Kisan Credit Card, credit cards and tractor loans. The country's largest private sector bank, also opened close to 2 million 'no frills' savings accounts this year taking the total number to around 12 million, which is a key part of the financial inclusion strategy. On the back of this news one may see volatilaity with a positive bias in the share price of ICICI bank in today's trading session.