Sensex today: TCS investors richer by 7% in a day; Infosys up 4%; index ends flat

Sensex today: The benchmark indices slipped on Friday as minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting stoked expectations of an interest rate hike, with losses in banking stocks and metals overshadowing gains in information technology stocks. Index heavyweight Tata Consultancy Services kept extending gains with the stock hitting an intraday high of Rs 3421.25, up 7.2 per cent, following a robust earnings in March quarter of financial year 2017-18. The stock settled at Rs 3412, up 6.9 per cent on the BSE.
The Sensex ended at 34,415, down 11.71 points, while broader Nifty50 closed at 10,564, down 1.25 points. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.4 per cent while BSE Smallcap index remained unchanged.
Back home, sentiment took a hit as RBI sounded more hawkish in minutes of meeting released on Thursday. RBI could take a more hawkish tone starting as early as June despite easing inflation, minutes of the monetary policy committee's (MPC) meeting that took place this month showed. The RBI's MPC members flagged several concerns, including an increase in minimum support prices for farmers and high and volatile crude oil prices.
Overseas, World stocks dipped on Friday but were set for a second week of gains after a strong start to the global corporate earnings season, while a rally in commodity prices fizzled out. The MSCI All-Country World Index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was down 0.3 per cent. Shares in Europe were down 0.2 per cent, but remain up half a per cent on the week and set for their fourth straight week of gains.
Earlier in Asia, shares slipped as a warning from the world’s largest contract chipmaker slugged the tech sector. Stocks in South Korea took a 0.5 per cent dip. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 1.1 per cent, again led by a 1.6 per cent fall in technology.
Japan's Nikkei eased 0.1 percent as the drop is tech outweigh the gains in energy and financials.
Sensex today: The benchmark indices slipped on Friday as minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting stoked expectations of an interest rate hike, with losses in banking stocks and metals overshadowing gains in information technology stocks. Index heavyweight Tata Consultancy Services kept extending gains with the stock hitting an intraday high of Rs 3421.25, up 7.2 per cent, following a robust earnings in March quarter of financial year 2017-18. The stock settled at Rs 3412, up 6.9 per cent on the BSE.
The Sensex ended at 34,415, down 11.71 points, while broader Nifty50 closed at 10,564, down 1.25 points. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.4 per cent while BSE Smallcap index remained unchanged.
Back home, sentiment took a hit as RBI sounded more hawkish in minutes of meeting released on Thursday. RBI could take a more hawkish tone starting as early as June despite easing inflation, minutes of the monetary policy committee's (MPC) meeting that took place this month showed. The RBI's MPC members flagged several concerns, including an increase in minimum support prices for farmers and high and volatile crude oil prices.
Overseas, World stocks dipped on Friday but were set for a second week of gains after a strong start to the global corporate earnings season, while a rally in commodity prices fizzled out. The MSCI All-Country World Index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was down 0.3 per cent. Shares in Europe were down 0.2 per cent, but remain up half a per cent on the week and set for their fourth straight week of gains.
Earlier in Asia, shares slipped as a warning from the world’s largest contract chipmaker slugged the tech sector. Stocks in South Korea took a 0.5 per cent dip. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 1.1 per cent, again led by a 1.6 per cent fall in technology.
Japan's Nikkei eased 0.1 percent as the drop is tech outweigh the gains in energy and financials.
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Rupee outlook by Sharekhan
Indian Rupee is expected to trade with negative bias on the back of strong Dollar and worries over global trade war. Traders are worried that surging crude oil prices increase risk of widening of current account deficit and inflation. Widening of trade deficit accompanied by portfolio outflows will hurt Rupee. Indian Central Bank monetary policy meeting minutes signaled interest rate increase is more probable than a cut. USD INR April expected to trade in a range between 65.60 on lower side to 65.95 on higher side with upward trend.
TCS Q4 results 2018 impact: Share price spikes 5% to record high
TCS Q4 results 2018 impact: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) share price surged over 5 per cent to record high on Friday after country's largest software exporter on Thursday reported a 4.4 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,904 crore for the March 2018 quarter and its board recommended a 1:1 bonus share issue, along with Rs 29 per share dividend.
The TCS share price rose as much as 5.2 per cent to Rs 3,357 on the BSE. Volumes doubled as over 3 lakh shares exchanged hands on the counter against two-week average of 1.5 lakh shares on the BSE. Global brokerage CLSA maintained Buy on the stock, hiking the target price to Rs 3700 from Rs 3250 earlier. This entails over 10 per cent upside on TCS from Friday's intraday high level.
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FAST MONEY: Exide Industries, Hindalco among key intraday trading calls
Hindalco (Sell)
Target: Rs 259
Stoploss: Rs 267
- Profit-booking possible in Hindalco
- Aluminium prices slipped 2%
Reserve Bank may shift to a hawkish monetary stance in June, as per the indications provided in the minutes of the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya favoured withdrawal of monetary accommodation in the next policy review meeting scheduled on June 4-5. The minutes of the April MPC meeting released by the RBI today said that Executive Director Michael Debabrata Patra voted for an increase of 25 basis points in April itself, though the majority view of maintaining status quo prevailed. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, had left the benchmark repo rate unchanged for the third time in a row after deliberations on April 4-5, citing inflationary concerns.
Wall Street on Thursday
Wall Street’s three major indexes closed lower on Thursday, with tobacco stocks leading a tumble in consumer staples while concerns about smartphone demand hurt the technology sector and rising bond yields and earnings helped financials rebound. The market pared some losses late in the session after Bloomberg reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told President Donald Trump last week he is not a target of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The report cited two unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.18 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 24,664.89, the S&P 500 lost 15.51 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,693.13 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 57.18 points, or 0.78 percent, to 7,238.06.
Source: Reuters
The benchmark indices settled higher on Thursday on the back of gains in metal stocks as global aluminium prices soared, while the country’s biggest software services exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose ahead of its March quarter results. The Sensex ended at 34,427, up 95.61 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 10,565, up 39.10 points.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.6 per cent each. Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive. On the BSE, 1,360 stocks rallied, 1,294 stocks declined, while 163 stocks remained unchanged.