Positive market breadth; Infosys up over 1%

The market barometers were hovering near the day's high in early afternoon trade. At 12:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 198.43 points or 0.51% at 39,162.27. The Nifty 50 index was up 52.90 points or 0.46% at 11,641.25.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.57%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1163 shares rose and 1036 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

On the derivatives front, the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.96% to 16.48. The Nifty October 2019 futures were trading at 11,669.20, a premium of 27.95 points compared with the spot at 11,641.25.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 31 October 2019 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 26.37 lakh contracts at the 12,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 28.50 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price. The option chain indicates that Nifty will stay between 11,000 and 12,000 in October expiry.

On the equity front, the Nifty IT index was up 0.98%. It reversed yesterday's 4.68% fall triggered by a steep selloff in sector heavyweight Infosys.

IT major Infosys was up 1.35%, reversing yesterday's 16.21% slump triggered by an anonymous whistleblowers accusing the chief executive officer (CEO) Salil Parekh and chief financial officer (CFO) Nilanjan Roy of "unethical practices".

At present, the Infosys audit committee is looking into the letter sent by the anonymous whistleblowers, said the company's chairman Nandan Nilekani in a statement to the stock exchanges. The company will provide a detailed summary of the investigation report at an appropriate time.

Further media reports suggested that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may seek clarification from Infosys' management on charges level levelled by the whistle-blower.

Meanwhile, HCL Technologies (up 2.78%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.19%), MphasiS (up 2.05%), TCS (up 0.81%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.73%) and Wipro (up 0.28%) edged higher.

Persistent Systems (down 2.06%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.42%) and MindTree (down1.04%) edged lower.

The Indian rupee edged slightly higher against the dollar in early afternoon trade on Wednesday, 23 October 2019. In the spot currency market, the Indian unit was last seen trading at 70.9375. The Indian rupee on Tuesday had closed at 70.94 against the US dollar.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 0.65% to Rs 1432.50. The company announced that L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly owned subsidiary of L&T, has been awarded a mega project by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). The engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract is for setting up a residue upgradation facility (RUF), EPCC-03 Package for Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project (VRMP) at HPCL's Vizag Refinery. The 'mega' order has a valuation of more than 7000 crore. The announcement was made during market hours today, 23 October 2019.

Axis Bank rose 1.09% to Rs 720.50. The bank reported a net loss of Rs 112.08 crore in Q2 September 2019 compared with a net profit of Rs 789.61 crore in Q2 September 2018. Total income rose 21.14% to Rs 19,333.57 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 22 October 2019.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 29,071.39 crore as on 30 September 2019 as against Rs 29,404.90 crore as on 30 June 2019 and Rs 30,938.33 crore as on 30 September 2018.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company rose 0.75% to Rs 483.90. on a consolidated basis, the life insurance company's net profit rose 0.5% to Rs 301.84 crore on a 6.2% decline in total income to Rs 8415.30 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 22 October 2019.

Sharda Cropchem fell 4.67% to Rs 275.45. On a consolidated basis, the chemical company reported a net loss of Rs 5.61 crore in Q2 September 2019 over a net profit of Rs 16.19 crore in Q2 September 2018. Net sales rose 4.9% to Rs 324.15 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 22 October 2019.

Coromandel International rose 7.51% to Rs 450. On a consolidated basis, the fertilizer manufacturing company's net profit rose 33.2% to Rs 503.90 crore on a 3% fall in net sales to Rs 4857.98 crore in 2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 22 October 2019.

In a separate announcement, the company informed that its board has approved the draft scheme of amalgamation of its wholly owned subsidiaries, viz., Dare Investments (DIL) and Liberty Pesticides and Fertilizers (LPFL) with Coromandel International (CIL). The scheme would be subject to the requisite statutory / regulatory approvals.

Shares of Coromandel International have gained 10.86% to in five trading sessions to its current market price of Rs 450 from a recent closing low of Rs 405.90 on 15 October 2019.

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