After Market: TCS, Infosys fall ahead of Q2 earnings; Airtel, Vodafone surge on Jio’s charge on voice calls

Value buying in banking names such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI lifted domestic indices and halted a six-day losing streak on Wednesday.

However, despite the rally in its peers, YES Bank slumped over 5 per cent after it denied reports of Microsoft being in talks to buy a stake. IT stocks were also among losers ahead of bellwether TCS and Infosys’ Q2 earnings.

Bounceback from lower levels and an increase in dearness allowance by the Centre also helped Sensex surge 646 points to 38,177. The 50-share Nifty climbed 187 points to 11,313.

"The 5 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance puts more money in the hands of over one crore government employees and pushed several heavyweight stocks higher in trade today," S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said.

Here is a lowdown on the key movers and shakers of Wednesday’s session:

YES Bank tanks
YES Bank erased almost all gains of Monday’s session and closed 5.3 per cent down to Rs 43.20 after it denied reports of Microsoft in talks of investing in the lender. The lender in a regulatory filing said it was “not aware of the source, which resulted in the news item and as a matter of policy, the bank would not like to comment on such article.”

On Monday, a media report claimed that Microsoft is among three investors, which are in talks for a stake in YES Bank.

IndusInd Bank surges ahead of Q2
IndusInd Bank jumped 5.5 per cent on BSE ahead of its September quarter earnings scheduled on Thursday. Brokerages expect IndusInd Bank to register robust growth in September quarter profits, supported by surge in net interest income (NII), loan growth and pre-provisioning operating profit (PPOP). The reduction in corporate tax rate is also positive for the bank.

Bank, financial services rally
Overall, bank and financial services rallied as a pack shrugging off a lull of six days during which Nifty Bank ended in the red in five sessions. Nifty Bank was up 3.7 per cent, led by IndusInd Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank (both up 5 per cent). Except YES Bank, all constituent in the index registered gains.

Nifty Financial Services, a broader index comprising banks and financial services stocks, climbed 3 per cent led by gains in Shriram Transport Finance (up 6 per cent), Bajaj Finance (up 3 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank (up 3.5 per cent each).

IT pack sole loser
Nifty IT bucked the overall trend and ended in the red on losses in Tata Elxsi (down 6 per cent), HCL Tech (up 2.2 per cent) and TCS (down 1.3 per cent). Infosys and TCS are scheduled to post their earnings in the next couple of days. Infosys was also down 0.7 per cent at Rs 784.

Just Dial and Mindtree were major gainers on the index 4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. Overall, Nifty IT index shed 0.8 per cent.

Telecom stocks soar
BSE Telecom advanced 5 per cent amid reports that Reliance Jio's customers will have to pay 6 paise per minute for calling other companies' customers. Bharti Airtel (up 5.2 per cent) and Vodafone Idea (up 14 per cent) were lead gainers. Other constituents also registered gains with RCom up 4 per cent and Bharti Infratel rising 5.4 per cent.

Sensex movers
Banks and financials contributed 545 points in Sensex’s 646-point rally. Three top private banks — HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank — alone contributed 354 points.

ITC and IT majors TCS and Infosys were the biggest drags on the index.

45 stocks blink ‘sell’
As many as 45 stocks crossed below the signal line on Wednesday, signalling bearish trend. They included Titan, Adani Ports, Castrol India L&T, Godrej Consumer, etc. The MACD is one of the technical indicators used to spot trends, though it is seldom used as a standalone indicator.

23 stocks ‘overbought’
As many as 23 stocks entered the ‘overbought’ territory in the Relative Strength Index (RSI). They included Siemens, IndiaMart, Religare Enterprises, Berger Paints, etc. The momentum oscillator measures speed and change in price movement. If a stock crosses 70 on the index, it is generally considered overbought.