After starting out on a robust note, the benchmark indices in the Indian stock market today succumbed to selling pressure backed by global economic concerns. Worries over Greece's worsening debt position and its impact on the Eurozone dragged major indices across Asia lower. The BSE-Sensex finally closed lower by around 34 points (down 0.2%) while the losses on NSE-Nifty stood at around 6 points. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices, however, bucked the trend, ending marginally in the positive.
Almost all the major Asian indices, except the Japanese Nikkei closed the day in the red while Europe is also trading in the negative territory currently. The rupee was trading at Rs 47.5 to the dollar at the time of writing.
As per a business daily, pharma major Wockhardt has received shareholder approval to transfer and sell the Mother and Child Care (MCC) business and Nutriuno business (collectively the nutrition business) to G&K Baby Care. The latter is an affiliate of the Danone Group. At the end of June 2011, Wockhardt's debt level stood at Rs 35 bn making its debt to equity ratio exorbitantly high. The company restructured its debt obligation with secured lenders and is now expected to pay its debt starting 2015. The sale of business to Danone itself is expected to fetch the company cash to the tune of Rs 13 bn. Wockhardt clocked a 14.3% YoY growth in sales during 1QFY12. This was led by a phenomenal growth of 131% YoY in the US market.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has bagged multi-year deal worth US$ 50 m from Australia's largest telecommunications company Telstra. The deal is for outsourcing parts of its finance, accounting and voice-related back-office processes. TCS will take over 100 back positions from Telstra. Telstra has been steadily increasing back-office sourcing from offshore firms in both India and the Philippines largely due to the scarcity of qualified technology professionals in Australia. Telstra's focus on off-shoring back-office work could open the Australian market for Indian vendors, especially at a time when global telecom giants such as BT and AT&T have curtailed tech spending. Telecom, retail and manufacturing were the key verticals that boosted TCS' revenue growth in 1QFY12.
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