Money on the markets

BSE IT index gains 3.15 pct

IT stocks posted smart gains on Wednesday as IT cos’ stocks gained on expectations of strong quarterly earnings.

Oracle Financial Services Software ended 4.6 percent higher as the top gainer in the index.

Infosys Technologies, which will unveil its results on Friday, gained 2.5 percent. Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro gained 4.6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.

Top IT services firms are set to ring in robust quarterly profits aided by strong demand from western clients, but a rising rupee is seen crimping profit margins in the second half.

Would you invest in this sector currently?

Infosys shares hit record high

Shares in Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest outsourcer, rose as much as nearly 2 percent to a record high of 2,882 rupees on Friday on optimism about quarterly earnings next week.

The company unveils its quarterly earnings on June 13. Its earnings are often dubbed as a trendsetter for sectoral peers.

India’s leading information technology exporters should report robust quarterly sales, thanks to improving demand from their mainstay financial clients, but Europe’s debt crisis and rising salaries could cap their outlook.

Macquarie expects Infosys to raise fiscal year 2011 U.S. dollar revenue growth guidance to 17-19 percent from 16-18 percent.

Would you invest in Infosys ahead of its earnings?

IT counters post decent gains

The BSE IT Index gained 1.7 percent on Tuesday as expectations of revenue growth for the June quarter pushed up export-focused outsourcing firms.

All stocks in the IT index, except Mphasis, closed in positive territory, with Rolta India leading the list of gainers with a jump of 4.1 percent.

Biggies Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys rose 2.5 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, helping the Sensex in its 173-points rise.

Kotak Securities has said it expects 5.2 – 6.7 percent constant currency revenue growth for the tier-1 IT companies for the June quarter.

Do you think IT stocks will continue to rise from here?

Strengthening rupee hurts IT counters

Hurt by an appreciating rupee, the BSE IT index slipped 1.7 percent on Monday and ended as the worst sectoral performer among indices. The benchmark Sensex however ended 66 points higher on hopes of good earnings.

Top sectoral losers NIIT and Mphasis ended down 3.7 percent and nearly 3 percent respectively.

Bigger players too had a bad day, with stocks like Infosys and TCS slipping 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

D H Pai Panandiker, president of RPG Foundation, is of the view that the rupee will harden further to 42 versus the dollar if the Reserve Bank does not intervene.

The BSE IT index has gained 4.7 percent this month. In the current scenario, will you buy or sell stocks in this sector?

Good day for IT stocks

The BSE IT index gained over 1 percent on Monday and ended as the top sectoral gainer in a Mumbai market that rose 45 points.

Shares in Infosys gained 1.5 percent to 2,568 rupees and was the top contributor to the benchmarks rise.

Among the sectoral components, NIIT Tech rose 2.2 percent and TCS closed 0.7 percent higher.

Export-driven outsourcers led the rise on hopes for better order flow from the United States, their biggest market, as a surprise discount rate hike by the Federal Reserve last week indicated a recovery was underway.

India’s export-driven IT sector has sought an extension of a key tax benefit scheme to beyond its 2011 deadline in the budget.

Would you invest in this sector before the Budget?

Firm rupee hurts IT stocks

Shares of technology firms struggled on Thursday with the sectoral index falling 2.2 percent, as a firmer rupee dented sentiments.

The index ended as the top loser among sectors. Shares in Mphasis ended with losses of 3.2 percent.

Bigger players like TCS, Infosys and Wipro slipped over 2 percent. Only two stocks in the index, Patni and Financial Technologies, closed in the green.

The rupee climbed to 15-month highs on Thursday as foreign banks sold dollars following the U.S. unit’s broad weakness globally.

Would you take advantage of this fall and invest in this sector?

Satyam jumps, decent gains for other IT stocks

Shares in Mahindra Satyam gained 6.1 percent on Tuesday to close at 106.05 rupees. IT stocks in general posted decent gains, boosting the BSE IT Index 0.4 percent.

Shares in Mahindra Satyam have notched good gains, rising over 8 percent this year. Its shares had hit a low of 11.5 rupees almost a year ago after the then chief, R Raju, had confessed that the company’s profits had been overstated for years.

Other stocks like Financial Technologies gained 4 percent while Aptech ended 2.5 percent higher. Wipro gained 1.6 percent and Infosys ended marginally in the green.

What’s your favourite bet in this sector currently?

Lacklustre day for IT stocks

The BSE IT index was the only sectoral index to close in the red on Monday, in a broader market that ended 183 points up.

Top IT firms Infosys Technologies and TCS were among the top Sensex losers, falling 0.83 percent and 0.63 percent respectively. Patni Computer dropped over 3 percent.

Financial Technologies, however, bucked the trend and rose 3.5 percent, leading the gainers in the IT index.

The infotech index has gained nearly 7 percent this month, and top counters like Infosys have added over 6 percent during the same period.

What is your favourite pick in this sector at this stage?

IT space struggles but Satyam soars

Shares in Mahindra Satyam closed nearly 8 percent higher on Thursday, bucking the trend as the overall IT space remained weak.

The BSE IT index closed 1.4 percent lower, with stocks such as Infosys and TCS ending down over 1.5 percent. Outsourcers like Infosys which get most of their revenue in dollars, felt the heat as the rupee climbed to a near 13-month high.

Satyam shares closed at 116.6 rupees with volumes of over 12 million shares on the BSE, its highest single-day volume since Sept 2.

Satyam shares have generated huge returns for investors this year. It has swung from a low of 20.3 rupees on January 15, after Ramalinga Raju disclosed that the company’s profits had been falsely inflated for years, to 123.25 rupees on September 1, translating to a return of over 500 percent.

Would you invest in Satyam shares which is seeing a rally now?

Good day for IT stocks, Aptech shines

Technology stocks traded firm on Tuesday in an otherwise weak market, with the BSE IT index rising nearly 2 percent as the rupee weakened.

Thirteen of the 15-stock BSE IT index closed in the green, with Aptech leading the pack with a 16.5 percent jump.

Investors in Aptech have been lucky as the stock has generated huge returns in the past. Since April, it has jumped a whopping 206 percent.

In June, the company offloaded its 50 percent stake in its China joint venture. The company’s Q1 net jumped on this one-time gain.

The IT index has been on a roll this year, gaining over 80 percent since April and 26 percent since July. This is far higher than the return of the Sensex or Nifty index.

Would you invest in Aptech or any other IT stock at this juncture?