ETMarkets After Hours: IT stocks gain ahead of TCS results; airlines fly high

NEW DELHI: After rallying for six straight sessions, the domestic equity market took a breather on Wednesday with both the headline indices, Sensex and Nifty, ending in the red. The Nifty50 ended 5 per cent lower at 10,632 with 33 out of 50 constituents ending in the red and 17 in the green. The S&P BSE Sensex, ended flat with a negative bias at 34,433, down 10 points.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said investors turned little nervous ahead of the earnings season while, outperformance of IT index on account of relief in US H1B visa norms and expectation of positive outlook helped to recoup the losses."

"Though the market trend is positive, we are bound to see volatility in the short term. Caution before the final budget outcome, rise in CPI inflation and spike in oil prices may impact premium valuation," he said.


Here's a look at the top stocks/sectors that made headlines on Dalal Street:

Apollo Micro IPO fully subscribed on Day 1
The initial public offering (IPO) by Apollo Micro Systems (AMSL) saw 1.63 times subscription on Day 1 of the bidding process on Wednesday. According to data available with NSE, the issue received bids for 56,13,200 shares by 4.00 pm against the issue size of 41,44,955 shares. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 270-275 per share for its offering, which will remain open for bidding till Friday. The proceeds of the Rs 156 crore issue will be used to meet additional working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Infinite Computer log big gains
Shares of Infinite Computer extended their rally into the second day after the company informed the bourses that its board will meet on Friday to consider the proposal of voluntary delisting. The company soared nearly 20 per cent in the previous trading session. The stock settled at Rs 368 apiece, up 10 per cent, on BSE.

Aviation stocks fly high
Aviation stocks flew high after AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes tweeted about the Malaysia-based carrier's plans to list its India unit. While shares of Jet Airways traded at the kissing distance of its seven-year high during the day, InterGlobe Aviation ended up 1 per cent higher. Spicejet, though, ended 2 per cent lower.

Spurt in open interest
Shares of NIIT Tech witnessed the biggest spurt in open interest at 42 per cent, followed by Jet Airways (33.66 per cent) and Berger Paints (31 per cent).

IT stocks gain ahead of TCS numbers
Shares of IT companies ended higher ahead of the kickstart of Q3 earnings season. While TCS gained over 3 per cent to settle at 2,807 on BSE, Infosys ended 1 per cent higher. Shares of Wipro closed at 326 apiece, up 2.66 per cent on BSE.

Retail stocks mixed
Retail stocks ended mixed after the Cabinet approved 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in single-brand retail via automatic route. Shares of V2 Retail ended nearly 1 per cent higher at 487 apiece while those of Future Retail ended 2 per cent lower at Rs 555. Provogue (India) ended 5 per cent higher at Rs 8 apiece.