Markets Shed Early Gains

Fri, 6 Nov 11:30 am

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After opening on a firm note, the Indian Markets shed some of their gains and are presently trading near the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks from the software sector leading the gains and pharma sector leading losses.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up 21 points (up 0.1%) and the NSE- Nifty is trading up 15 points (up 0.2%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down 0.1%while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down 0.2%. The rupee is trading at 65.79 to the US$.

According to a leading financial daily, mid-tier IT firm Mindtree has been named as a Top 10 Outsourcing Service Provider in the Americas and EMEA regions. This status was awarded by Information Services Group (ISG) a leading technology insights, market intelligence and advisory services company.

According to the ISG Global Outsourcing Index, the company was among the leading providers in the breakthrough category for both the regions based on annual contract value won over the last 12 months. This is the third consecutive time that Mindtree has featured in the breakthrough category.

On a separate note, the company had recently acquired two companies namely Bluefin Solutions and Relational Solutions Inc. These were acquired as a part of the company's effort to shore up its digital business for a combined value of nearly US$ 75 million.

Furthermore, the company has posted 7% YoY rise in its net profit to Rs 1,469 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Mindtree is a global information technology consulting firm specializing in corporate IT services and solutions. It provides services such as Application Maintenance Services, Business Intelligence, Mainframe and System, Infrastructure Management and Technical Support, etc.

Presently the stock of Mindtree is trading down by 0.6%.

Most of the banking stocks are trading firm with Oriental Bank and Central Bank leading the gainers. India's second-biggest state-run lender by assets Bank of Baroda has reported results for its second quarter ended September 30, 2015.

The bank has reported 88% fall in its net profit at Rs 1,244 million for the quarter on a YoY basis. This nosedive in its net profit was due to a sharp rise in its bad loans during the quarter. It was reported that the bank made a provision of Rs 18 billion for bad loans during the quarter as against Rs 6 billion in the preceding quarter.

Total income, however, increased by 4% to Rs 123 billion for the quarter under review on a YoY basis. Net Interest Income (NII) fell 4.6% YoY. Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) soared 37% sequentially to Rs 237 billion.

Many PSU banks, at present, are stressed due to the increasing amount of bad loans. The government too is concerned about it. In a recent move, the government is looking for various options to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank. One of the recent editions of Daily Reckoning by Vivek Kaul explains the present situations in the sector and shares some views on the matter. You can read it here