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Indian Indices Witness Selling, Key Q2FY20 Results, and Top Cues in Focus Today
Wed, 23 Oct Pre-Open

India share markets ended their day deep in the red yesterday.

At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 334 points (down 0.9%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 72 points (down 0.6%).

The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day up 0.5%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note. Stocks in the IT sector and telecom sector witnessing most of the selling pressure, while healthcare stocks were trading in the green.

Speaking of Indian stock markets, the markets have been witnessing volatility of late.

Amid such volatile times, Richa Agarwal reveals her investing strategy in the video below.

She also talks about the type of small cap stocks she is looking at during such times.

Tune in to find out more...

Infosys Accused for Unethical Practices

From the IT sector, Infosys share price will be in focus today. The stock of the company registered its biggest fall in over six years yesterday after a letter by anonymous employees surfaced, accusing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices for several quarters.

The letter accused CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy of 'wilful misstatement' and 'accounting irregularities' to make the company's performance look good.

The employees said they have email and voice recordings of these issues to prove their claim which they intend to submit during the course of investigation.

In a clarification to exchanges, Infosys said the whistleblower complaint has been placed before the audit committee as per the company's practice, and it would be dealt with in accordance with the company's whistleblower policy.

Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani, in his statement, said the company was made aware of another letter (dated October 3) that was purportedly written to the office of whistleblower protection program, Washington DC. This letter referred to the September 20, 2019, complaint and to emails and voice recordings in support of the allegations.

How this development pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

Forex Reserves Touch a New Life-Time High

As per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the forex kitty continued to climb north, swelling by US$1.9 billion to a new life-time high of US$ 439.7 billion, in the week to October 11.

The forex reserves had increased by a higher US$4.2 billion to a new high of US$437.8 billion in the previous reporting week.

For the week under review, the foreign currency assets, which are the biggest part of the reserves, increased by US$ 2.3 billion to US$407.88 billion, the RBI said.

Expressed in US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and the yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Further, the value of the gold reserves dipped by US$399 million to US$26.8 billion for the week.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose US$2 million to US$1.4 billion during the week.

The country's reserve position with the Fund also increased by US$7 million to US$3.6 billion, the data showed.

Key September Quarter Results Announcements

Bharti Infratel share price reported a 61% year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit in the second quarter of FY20. The rise here was seen on the back of a change in accounting standard which lowered operating costs, and a higher net finance income.

India's sole listed telecom tower company's consolidated net profit for the July-September period came in at Rs 9.6 billion.

Quarterly consolidated revenue, though, fell 1% YoY to Rs 36.3 billion.

The company's consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortisation (Ebitda) rose 25% YoY.

Operating free cash flow rose 8% YoY to Rs 10.8 billion, which was lower than the Rs 12 billion it clocked in the previous quarter.

Without the adoption the Ind AS 116 accounting standard, the company's revenue would be down 3% YoY, Ebitda would be lower by 1% and operating free cash flows would have fallen 1% as well.

The company reported 159 net on-quarter additions in co-locations, taking the total count to 1,73,406 as of September-end. The company though lost a whopping 1,106 co-locations on year.

The company's tower base rose 1,298 YoY and 789 sequentially to 93,421 in the fiscal second quarter.

Bharti Infratel's tower base includes units by virtue of its 42% stake in Indus Towers.

It would be interesting to see how these numbers move in the coming quarters. We will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

From the cement sector, Shree Cement's second quarter earnings beat analyst expectations.

On a YoY basis, the cement maker reported an over six-fold jump in profit to Rs 3.09 billion, driven by healthy operating income and low base.

Revenue rose 5.2% YoY to Rs 30 billion in the quarter-ended September, with volume growth at 1% YoY.

At the operating level, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 63% YoY. This was seen on the back of higher realisations and lower input cost.

Power sales volumes were under pressure during the quarter due to excess rainfall, with power sales plunging 20% YoY.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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