Participants favour IT stocks today

Fri, 9 Jan Closing

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The Indian markets ended the day on a positive note as buying activity picked up in the final hour of trade. The BSE-Sensex ended higher by about 183 points or 0.7%, while the NSE-Nifty ended higher by about 50 points or 0.6%. Buying was witnessed in stocks from the information technology and energy spaces while those from the power and realty spaces led pack the losers. Mid and ended the day on a flat note with their respective indices closing higher by about 0.1% each.

Asian stock markets ended the day on a firm note, while stocks in Europe were trading mixed. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.4 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Information technology stocks ended the day on a firm note today led by Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Hexaware Technologies. Gains across stocks were on the back of IT major Infosys announcing a good set of results for the quarter ended December 2014. The company reported a 3% QoQ growth in revenues and a 5% QoQ rise in profits during the quarter. For the nine month period, revenues and profits were up by 7% YoY and 21% YoY respectively. Growth during the quarter was led by an over 4% growth in volumes, the highest quarterly growth witnessed in three years. The company's operating margins stood at 26.7%, higher by about 0.6% on a QoQ basis. For 9mFY15, the company's margins stood at 26% as compared to 23% in corresponding figure last year. Infosys ended the day with gains of about 5%.

Auto stocks ended the day on a mixed note with Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra leading the gains while Ashok Leyland and Bajaj Auto were the least favoured. As reported by the Economic Times, auto major Tata Motors is hoping to see double digit growth in FY16. The company expects its new launches - especially compact car Bolt - to lead the sales growth in the coming year. The company is believed to be all the more upbeat on the back of good response of its sedan Zest, which has been received well. As per the company's management, the model had bookings of 5,000 units last month. Further, it believes that the company will beat the industry's expected double digit growth in the coming year. Given factors such as lower fuel prices, coupled with expectation of interest rates coming down coupled with positive sentiments, the auto industry is expected to see a bounce back after a lull period witnessed in past few years. However, with competition heating up in the passenger car segment, it will be interesting to see how things play out.