Key benchmark indices witnessed divergent trend in afternoon trade. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 24.62 points or 0.07% at 37,710.99. The Nifty 50 index fell 8.20 points or 0.07% at 11,181.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.42%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.71%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 701 shares rose and 1,596 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories fell 2.45%. The consolidated net profit rose 42.09% to Rs 676.50 crore on 13.42% increase in total income to Rs 4,304.60 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 July 2019.
In a separate announcement, the company announced that the board of directors has approved an amalgamation of Dr. Reddy's Holdings (DRHL) an entity held by the promoter group, which holds 24.88% equity shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), into the company. The scheme would lead to simplification of the shareholding structure and reduction of shareholding tiers. The promoter group cumulatively will continue to hold the same number of shares in the company, pre and post the amalgamation.
The company has also announced the appointment of Erez Israeli as the chief executive officer (CEO) - key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company with effect from 1 August 2019.
Infosys rose 0.33%. The IT major announced that Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait has partnered with EdgeVerve Systems, a subsidiary of Infosys to steer its automation journey using AssistEdge Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 July 2019.
In a separate announcement yesterday, Infosys announced the launch of its Cyber Defence Center in Bucharest, Romania. The Defence Center is an expansion of services delivered through the Infosys Digital Innovation Center which opened in Bucharest earlier this year.
Bharti Airtel was up 2.37%. The telecom major announced after market hours yesterday, 29 July 2019, that it has designed and implemented a future ready state wide area network (SWAN) for the Government of Uttar Pradesh as part of Government of India's e-Governance initiative.
A foreign brokerage has upgraded the Bharti Airtel stock to buy and also raised the target to Rs 400 from Rs 360 per share. The brokerage cited favourable risk-reward with tariff hike adding the upside optionality, as reasons for upgrade. However, it feels that post the rights issue/Africa IPO, the company's balance sheet has strengthened.
Coal India was down by 0.05% at Rs 205.30 after hitting a 52-week intraday low. The company said that the President of lndia acting through Ministry of Coal has sold 10.49 crore equity shares of Coal lndia at a value of Rs 2,247.49 crore which is 1.7% of total equity share capital of the company. Post buyback, holding of President of lndia is 69.26 % of equity share capital of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 July 2019.
Coffee Day Enterprises was locked in a lower circuit of 20% to Rs 154.05. The company's owner V.G.Siddhartha was reported missing from close to Mangaluru on Tuesday. According to media reports, Siddhartha has been missing since Monday night. He left in his car towards Mangaluru last night, stopped midway at Ullal bridge, and went missing thereafter. There have been reports of Siddhartha having thrown himself off a bridge into Nethravati River.
Bank of India (down 5.88%), United Bank of India (down 0.21%), Axis Bank (down 1.27%), Hero MotoCorp (down 3.28%) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.98%), will announce their Q1 June 2019 results today.
Indiabulls Housing Finance (up 2.20%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.72%), Eicher Motors (up 1.35%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.08%) and Bajaj Finserv (up 0.98%), advanced.
Grasim Industries (down 3.59%), Hero MotoCorp (down 3.30%), Bharati Infratel (down 3.29%), Yes Bank (down 2.48%) and Britannia Industries (down 1.71%), declined.
Overseas, most European shares trading lower. Most Asian stocks were trading higher as investors await developments from U.S.-China trade talks this week in Shanghai as well as monetary policy decisions from major central banks.
The Bank of Japan policy board, on Tuesday, voted 7-2 to maintain interest rate at -0.1% on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the bank. The Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy, as widely expected, and lowered its inflation forecast.
The bank said it will purchase government bonds so that the yield of 10-year JGBs will remain at around zero percent. Further, the bank will purchase JGBs in a flexible manner so that their outstanding amount will increase at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion.
US stocks finished mixed Monday, with declines in financials and communication-discretionary sectors preventing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq from scoring fresh record closes.
Investors are watching for signs of progress toward a trade deal, but expectations for a breakthrough are low. Face-to-face trade talks between China and U.S. officials are reportedly set to resume Tuesday in Shanghai, marking the first such meeting on tariffs since President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 gathering in Osaka, Japan, in June.
The US Fed will kick off its two-day policy meeting later today, where it is widely anticipated to cut benchmark rates by at least 25 basis points to combat headwinds from the China-U.S. trade dispute and signs of slowing economic growth outside of the U.S.
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