Market drifts lower in early trade

Volatility ruled the roost in early trade as the key benchmark indices regained positive zone after a lower opening only to once again sink in the red. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was currently down 23.54 points or 0.08% at 27,892.34. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose ahead of its Q2 September 2014 result today, 7 November 2014. Axis Bank rose after the bank yesterday, 6 November 2014 said that it has allotted Senior Notes aggregating to $20,000,000 under the MTN Programme through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch. IT stocks edged higher after Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation which provides information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services on Wednesday, 5 November 2014, raised its guidance for 2014 revenue and non-GAAP EPS after announcing Q3 September 2014 results.

Most Asian stocks rose today, 7 November 2014 after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to take more easing steps to spark growth in the euro zone.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1030.85 crore on Wednesday, 5 October 2014, provisional data released by the stock exchanges showed. Stock market had remained shut on Thursday, 6 November 2014, on account of Gurunanak Jayanti.

At 9:25 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 23.54 points or 0.08% at 27,892.34. The index gained 65.05 points at the day's high of 27,980.93 in early trade. The index fell 38.70 points at the day's low of 26,187.81 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty was down 0.50 points or 0.01% at 8,337.80. The index hit a high of 8,360.35 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 8,331.25 in intraday trade.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 910 shares gained and 649 shares fell. A total of 58 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 3.46 points or 0.03% at 9,968.07. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 18.29 points or 0.16% at 11,179.27. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 338 crore by 09:25 IST.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 18 stocks gained and rest of them declined.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.07% ahead of its Q2 September 2014 result today, 7 November 2014.

Axis Bank rose 0.9%. The Bank yesterday, 6 November 2014 said that it has allotted Senior Notes aggregating to $20,000,000 under the MTN Programme through its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch.

IT stocks edged higher after Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation which provides information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services on Wednesday, 5 November 2014, raised its guidance for 2014 revenue and non-GAAP EPS after announcing Q3 September 2014 results.

Infosys rose 0.82%. Infosys yesterday, 6 November 2014 announced a strategic engineering partnership with DreamWorks Animation. The two companies intend to work together to further develop DreamWorks' technologies to bring them to wider use. Infosys will deploy its global talent pool available across cloud, big data, Java and open source capabilities to develop next generation solutions based on the DreamWorks technology.

Infosys also said yesterday, 6 November 2014, a major recruitment drive in the US to support the growth of its business and enhance its capabilities. The company plans to hire 1,500 professionals for consulting, sales and delivery during the current financial year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015). In addition, it will hire close to 600 Bachelors and Masters graduates from US Universities over the next twelve months.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (up 0.08%), HCL Technologies (up 0.31%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.42%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.29%), Hexaware Technologies (up 1.32%) and MphasiS (up 0.43%) gained.

Wipro shed 0.13%.

Cognizant now expects non-GAAP diluted EPS of least $2.57 in 2014. At the time of announcement of second quarter June 2014 results in August this year, Cognizant had forecast 2014 non-GAAP diluted EPS of at least $2.54.

Cognizant's revenue jumped 11.9% to $2.58 billion in Q3 September 2014 over Q3 September 2013. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share stood at $0.66 in Q3 September 2014, compared to $0.59 in Q3 September 2013. Non-GAAP operating margin was 19.5% in Q3 September 2014, within the company's target range of 19-20%.

Bharti Airtel shed 0.35%. Bharti Airtel after market hours on Wednesday, 5 November 2014 in a clarification with regard to news item titled Bharti Airtel Calls off Rs 700 cr Deal with Loop" said that under the agreements executed with Loop Mobile (Loop), the transaction was conditional upon DoT approvals which even as of today has not been received. In this regard the company has been in discussions with Loop, Bharti Airtel said. Loop had late last evening sent the company an email noting that DoT approvals had not yet been received and had also noted that it was way beyond the time envisaged for securing such approval, Bharti Airtel said.

In light of this update and the fact that Loop's mobile license is to expire at the end of this month, Bharti Airtel has decided to terminate the discussions with regard to the transaction for acquiring subscribers of Loop, the company said. A formal communication to this effect has been released to Loop at 5:19 PM IST on 5 November 2014, Bharti Airtel said.

Bharti Airtel further said that other than the agreements that were mentioned in the press release of 18 February 2014, no further agreements have been entered into between the parties, though there would be some correspondence as is normal in such transactions, Bharti Airtel said.

The Ministry of Urban Development yesterday, 6 November 2014, said that Singapore has shown keen interest in partnering with India in the urban development sector, including development of a new smart satellite city and a new capital for the state of Andhra Pradesh. Top leadership of Singapore conveyed their areas of interest during the extensive talks that the Minister of Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu held with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former Prime Minister and Emeritus Minister Goh Chok Tong in separate meetings in Singapore yesterday, 6 November 2014.

Revising its forecast downwards, Paris-based think tank Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) yesterday, 6 November 2014 projected a 5.4% growth for the Indian economy this year as global recovery continues at a moderate pace. Earlier in September 2014, it had projected a 5.7% growth rate for India. Growth will strengthen in India as investment picks up, from a 5.4% rate in 2014 to 6.4% in 2015 and 6.6% in 2016, according to the advanced G-20 release of the OECD's latest Economic Outlook.

Global GDP growth is projected to reach a 3.3% in 2014 before accelerating to 3.7% in 2015 and 3.9% in 2016, according to the Outlook.

Most Asian stocks rose today, 7 November 2014 after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to take more easing steps to spark growth in the euro zone. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea rose by 0.05% to 0.59%. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong and Indonesia fell 0.05% to 0.27%.

China's central bank vowed to lower funding costs for corporate borrowers amid increasing pressure on the nation's slowing economy. In a report published yesterday, 6 November 2014 on third-quarter monetary policy, the People's Bank of China also confirmed it had already conducted two rounds of liquidity injections into the country's banking system in September and October totaling 769.5 billion yuan ($125.9 billion) in a bid to guide interest rates lower and support economic growth. A report on the central bank's website indicated that the central bank had pumped the funds with a tenor of 3 months at an interest rate of 3.5% into the country's state, midsize and smaller lenders.

US stocks edged higher on Thursday, 6 November 2014 with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting fresh record closing highs on an indication that the European Central Bank would take more policy action if needed to boost a struggling euro zone economy.

In economic news, the number of Americans applying for new jobless benefits lingered below 300,000 for the eighth straight week amid the lowest level of layoffs in years. US productivity in the third quarter grew at a 2% annual pace, preliminary data show, marking the fourth sizable increase in the past five quarters.

The European Central Bank, left interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting yesterday, 6 November 2014. The ECB's key lending rate, known as the refi rate, was left at 0.05%, while the rate the ECB pays on deposits held at the central bank remains at minus-0.2%.

ECB President Mario Draghi said policy makers will be ready to implement further measures if needed as he signaled officials may cut growth forecasts next month. Speaking at a press conference in Frankfurt yesterday, 6 November 2014, Draghi said that the Governing Council is unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate.

The Bank of England yesterday, 6 November 2014 held the size of its bond-buying program steady and left its key lending rate at a record low of 0.5%, where it has stood since March 2009. The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee maintained its asset purchases, the centerpiece of its quantitative-easing strategy, at 375 billion pounds ($599 billion). The minutes from the November meeting will be published on Nov. 19.

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