Sensex, Nifty trade with modest gains; breadth strong

Key indices are trading with modest gains in early trade amid mild volatility. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 106.32 points or 0.17% at 61,256.59. The Nifty 50 index was up 27.30 points or 0.15% at 18,239.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 0.24%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,559 shares rose and 1,024 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,001.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,332.01 crore in the Indian equity market on 12 January, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TCS rose 0.67%. The IT major`s consolidated net profit rose 1.51% to Rs 9,769 crore on 4.31% increase in net sales to Rs 48,885 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the IT major`s net profit rose 12.27% and net sales rose 16.35% in Q3 FY22. Constant currency revenue grew 15.4% YoY. Operating margin fell 1.6% YoY to 25% in Q3 FY22. The board recommended to buyback upto four crore equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 18,000 crore, being 1.08% of the total paid-up equity share capital, at Rs 4,500 per share. The buyback price is 16.66% premium to Wednesday`s closing price. The board recommended a third interim dividend of Rs 7 per share.

Infosys gained 1% to Rs 1,896.35. The IT major`s consolidated net profit rose 7.1% to Rs 5,809 crore on a 7.7% increase in revenues to Rs 31,867 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. On a year-on-year basis, Infosys` net profit and revenue in Q3 FY22 increased 11.8% and 22.9%, respectively. In dollar terms, the company reported revenues of $4,250 million, registering a growth of 20.9% YoY for the quarter ended 31 December 2021. Revenues in constant currency terms grew by 21.5% YoY and 7% QoQ. Operating margin for the quarter stood at 23.5%, a decline of 1.9% YoY and 0.1% QoQ. Infosys has revised upwards its revenue guidance for FY22 to 19.5%-20%. Margin guidance is retained at 22%-24%.

Wipro slumped 5%.The IT company reported a 1.3% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,970 crore on a 3.3% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 20,313.6 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. In dollar terms, Wipro`s gross revenue was $2.7 billion in the third quarter of financial year ended 2022. The IT services segment revenue stood at $2,639.7 million, an increase of 2.3% QoQ and 27.5% YoY. IT services operating margin for the quarter was at 17.6%, a decrease of 19 basis points quarter on quarter. Wipro said it expects revenue from its IT services business to be in the range of $2,692 million to $2,745 million. This translates to a sequential growth of 2% to 4%.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday as Wall Street saw gains despite a red-hot inflation report that set market expectations for rate hikes.

U.S. stocks moved slightly higher Wednesday after a key inflation report showed a historic gain but largely matched expectations.

December reading for the consumer price index, a gauge of prices across a broad spectrum of goods, showed a gain of 7% year over year. That is the biggest jump since 1982, but was in line with expectations.

Investors are keeping an eye on Covid developments, as the World Health Organization reported a record 15 million new Covid-19 cases globally for a single week, as omicron rapidly replaces delta as the dominant variant across the globe. The World Health Organization warned that omicron cases are �off the charts.�

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