Sensex above 15000 led by IT post TCS nos; banks, RIL rally
20 Jul 2009
The markets staged a spectacular performance and maintained their uptrend on the back of institutional buying. Last week, the benchmark indices had rallied 9%. Steep rise in technology stocks post TCS Q1FY10 earnings, buying in rate sensitives and oil & gas exploration companies' shares pushed the Nifty above the 4500 mark and the Sensex above the 15,000 mark.
Nearly 1-3.5% rally in Asian markets and over 1.5% gains in European markets were also supportive to our indices in today's trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 15,191.01, up 446.09 points or 3.03% over previous close and the 50-share NSE Nifty surged 2.91% or 127.30 points, to settle at 4502.25. The Nifty July futures ended with 3 points premium (provisional figures).
Today's star was the TCS, which shot up 13% on good earnings. Its Q1 net profit was up 15.65% at Rs 1520 crore and net sales went up just 0.5% to Rs 7,207 crore, QoQ (US GAAP). Commenting on the TCS's performance and the road ahead, the company's management said the environment is yet to stabilise. The IT major sees reductions in business from telecom majors in the United Kingdom. But the management was quick to add that the deal pipeline is healthy. ''Margin improvement is sustainable and there is still room for offshore leverage, but one must be prepared for pricing pressures in offshore.''
The BSE IT Index was up 7.26%, posted biggest daily percentage gain since May 18, 2009. TCS shot up 15.34% and closed above the Rs 500 mark for the first time since May 30, 2008. Its market cap also crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark during the day, which was higher than ICICI bank, ITC and L&T.
Among the other technology stocks, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Wipro, Infosys and Satyam were up 5.7-9.2%.
Another buzzing stock was heavyweight Reliance Industries. RIL-RNRL gas case hearing was scheduled today. The Supreme Court (SC) declared that RIL-RNRL gas case next hearing will be on September 1, 2009. SC will hear all parties on the next date. Then the role of government and third parties will be decided after the next hearing.
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