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from Expert Zone:
India Markets Weekahead – Company results key for market direction
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
Infosys stumped Indian markets again but for a change -- positively. Recent management comments had built expectations of underperformance which led to cautious to negative views on the stock. Institutional investors were light on Infosys whereas the more adventurous speculators were short. And we were all caught on the wrong foot when the company declared a revenue growth as well as a net profit much better than consensus expectations.
The question is whether one should buy Infosys after this 17 percent surge? I would continue to be cautious as I believe the knee-jerk reaction is overdone. Does a better performance put Infosys back in line with the guidance given at the beginning of the year? Not really. Could this be a one-quarter wonder? It’s possible and I would await another quarter for confirmation.
The consensus on the street was that markets could be heading for new highs soon and this possibly was the biggest risk they have been facing in the short term. If not for Infosys, the markets may have broken important support levels on Friday. Unlike the underlying confidence in the past few weeks, the markets have displayed weakness in the last few days closing about a percent lower at 5952.
from The Great Debate:
The frugal revolution
General Electric’s healthcare laboratory in Bangalore contains some of the company’s most sophisticated products—from giant body scanners that can accommodate the bulkiest American football players to state-of-the-art intensive-care units that can nurse the tiniest premature babies. But the device that has captured the heart of the center’s boss, Ashish Shah, is much less fancy: a handheld electrocardiogram called the Mac 400.
The device is a masterpiece of simplification. The multiple buttons on conventional ECGs have been reduced to just four. The bulky printer has been replaced by one of those tiny gadgets used in portable ticket machines. The whole thing is small enough to fit into a small backpack and can run on batteries as well as on the mains. This miracle of compression sells for $800, instead of $2,000 for a conventional ECG, and has reduced the cost of an electrocardiogram to just $1 per patient.
from Money on the markets:
TCS shares touch record high
Shares in TCS gained nearly 5.5 percent on Tuesday after the firm had reported a good set of quarterly numbers on Monday evening after market hours.
TCS led the gains in the benchmark Sensex and rose to a record high after it beat street estimates and said it expected strong demand for outsourcing.
from Money on the markets:
Good day for technology counters
Technology shares rose on Wednesday as Indian firms cheered robust results and guidance from U.S. peer Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Cognizant on Tuesday reported a profit that topped market estimates for the sixth straight quarter, helped by a surge in discretionary projects, and also raised its 2010 revenue outlook.
from Money on the markets:
Outsourcers slide on rising rupee
Shares in top IT firms plunged on concerns the rising rupee would squeeze margins in the export-driven sector.
IT bellwether Infosys dropped 2.5 percent, while Wipro and TCS fell 4.2 and 3.3 percent respectively.
from Money on the markets:
TCS gains 3.9 percent
Shares in India's top IT services firm by sales gained nearly 4 percent in a broader market that ended 0.96 percent up at 16,853.
The stock which carries over 2 percent weightage in the main index, closed at 610 rupees with volumes of 0.58 million.
from Money on the markets:
Solid earnings for IT companies
The infotech index rallied 2.8 percent on Thursday with stocks such as Patni Computer, TCS, Wipro and Infosys posting decent gains.
Patni Computer, the top gainer in the index, rose over 12 percent after the company announced a 14 percent rise in Q1 profits. A company official said it will seek acquisitions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific to help lower its dependence on the United States.
from Money on the markets:
ICICI Bank leads Sensex decline
The BSE Sensex ended 0.85 percent down on Tuesday, as investors saw an opportunity to book profits after the market rallied 13.4 percent over the past five sessions.
The 30-share sensitive index swung from an intra-day high of 15,234 to an intra-day low of 14,955 and closed 128 points lower at 15,062.
from Money on the markets:
TCS leads Sensex over 15,000
The BSE Sensex extended gains on Monday to cross the 15,000 mark as hopes of recovery in corporate earnings boosted confidence worldwide.
The 30-share sensitive index swung from an intra-day low of 14,854 to an intra-day high of 15,209 and closed 446 points higher at 15,191. The fifty-share Nifty ended 2.91 percent higher at 4502.
from Money on the markets:
Sensex gains in choppy trade; stress test results eyed
The BSE Sensex closed 1.37 percent higher on Thursday, tracking a rally in global markets on ebbing concerns about the health of the financial sector and the global economy.
Trade was volatile and the benchmark closed 164.19 points higher at 12,116.94, while the Nifty ended 1.62 percent higher at 3,683.90.
