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Monday April 4, 12:30 PM
Recovery in motion...
By Equitymaster.com
The indices are back in the positive, backed by buying in key banks, and the domestic pharma sector. Engineering, software and cement are also in the positive. However, energy, auto, steel and telecom are largely driving the indices down. The mood continues to be one of caution.
The BSE Sensex is trading at 6,631 (up 26 points) and the NSE Nifty is trading at 2,073 (up 5 points). The rupee is trading at 43.76 to the dollar.
Most domestic pharma companies are in the positive led by optimism of lower taxes owing to the implementation of VAT. However, investors' should keep in mind that the March and possibly the June quarter may show some negative impact of revenues owing to VAT concerns at the trader level. Incidentally, Biocon has announced that it will consider its FY05 results and dividend recommendation on April 20. The stock is up over 3%. However, Ranbaxy is lacklustre today. It may be because market participants are still to get over the fact that an injunction has been issued against Ranbaxy and Teva by the US courts against marketing of the generic version of Lipitor, a key brand of Pfizer (PFIZ.BO, news) . And also, Ranbaxy has decided to pay up £4.5 m (pounds) to NHS UK against a full and final settlement towards anti-competitive claims against it made between the years 1996 to 2000. MNC pharma majors are also lacklustre today.
Infosys has announced that the global credit ratings provider Standard & Poor's (S&P) has assigned the company a credit rating higher than the agency's sovereign rating on India. Infosys has obtained 'BBB' local currency and 'BBB-' foreign currency rating from S&P's ratings services. Infosys is the first company in India to obtain a credit rating higher than India's sovereign rating (BB+/Stable/B). According to S&P, this reflects the company's very conservative financial profile and policy, which feature ample liquidity, strong operating cash flow, and a debt-free balance sheet. The stable outlook on Infosys' ratings takes into account S&P's expectation that the company will maintain its competitive position and strong financial profile, and that the company will manage the expansion risks inherent in its growing global operations. The rating further highlights Infosys and its bigger peers strengths and gives credence to our bias towards the large players in the Indian IT sector. Infy, Wipro (WIPRd.BO, news) and Satyam are marginally up. TCS is marginally in the negative.
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