Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka bought 10 per cent of the blue chip shares granted to him as restricted stock option units.

Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka bought 10 per cent of the blue chip shares granted to him as restricted stock option units, the global software major said on Wednesday.

In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the company said the 10 per cent or 2,279 shares Sikka bought were equivalent to 9,116 shares post-two bonus issues, granted to all investors last fiscal (2014-15).

“In accordance with the first restricted stock units granted on August 21, 2014 to Vishal Sikka, he has exercised the option to buy 10 percent of them, numbering 2,279 shares, which are equivalent to 9,116 shares post-bonus issues,” company secretary A.G.S. Manikantha said in the filing.

The IT outsourcing firm also granted 124,061 shares, valued at Rs.5 on par, to its first non-founder chief executive on June 23 as restricted stock units in accordance with provisions of the 2011 plan for its board members.

The company’s scrip closed on Wednesday at Rs 1,065.35 on the BSE, which is 21.15 points less than Tuesday’s closing rate 1086.50 after opening at Rs 1,099 and touching a low of Rs.1,059 during the intra-day trading.

The 48-year-old Sikka is paid an annual salary of $5.08 million, with $2-million stock option. The package includes $900,000 base salary and $4.18 million as variable pay per annum.

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said it has removed Hathway Cable & Datacom from its caution list and foreign investors can now buy more shares in the company. (Photo: Reuters image for representation only)

Hathway Cable & Datacom shares gained as much as 16 per cent in the morning trade on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced removal of restrictions placed on purchase of shares of the company by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPI) with immediate effect.

The investments can go up to 74% (revised from earlier limit of 49% stipulated under Foreign Direct Investment policy) of the company’s paid up capital through GDR/ADR/FDI under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) in primary market and stock exchanges.

At 11.34 am, shares of Hathway Cable & Datacom were trading 8.91 per cent higher at Rs 44. It opened at Rs 45 and touched a high and low of Rs 46.90 and Rs 43.70, respectively. The BSE Sensex was up 300 points at 25,999.58.

On the NSE, the scrip was trading 9.23 per cent higher at Rs 43.80. The NSE Nifty was up 1.20 per cent at 7,885.20.

According to the BSE data, at present, FIIs hold 14.54 per cent stake in the company. On BSE, so far 10,10,000 shares were exchanged hands as against average daily volume of 28,000 shares in the past two weeks.

RBI regularly prevents FIIs from buying shares in companies if they approach the limit stipulated by regulations and then re-adjusts once foreign ownership falls below the prescribed level.

(With inputs from Reuters)

This month, the share price of Bharti Airtel plunged around 19 per cent to Rs 339.75 on August 26. The scrip was trading at 418.95 on August 3. (PTI)

Bharti Airtel shares jumped over 2 per cent in the early trade on Thursday after the company announced on Wednesday (post market hours) that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Augere Wireless Broadband India (Augere), which holds 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in the telecom circles of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

At 9.32 am, shares of Bharti Airtel were trading 2.02 per cent higher at Rs 346.60. It opened at Rs 349.85 and touched a high and low of Rs 349.85 and Rs 344.15, respectively, in trade so far. The BSE Sensex was up over 1 per cent at 26,000.

For the quarter ended June 2015, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,541.50 crore, up 52.26 per cent, against Rs 1,012.40 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

This month, the share price of the company plunged around 19 per cent to Rs 339.75 on August 26. The scrip was trading at 418.95 on August 3.

A research report by Sharekhan on August 24 said, “Bharti Airtel has been hit by a triple whammy of depreciating rupee (60 per cent debt in foreign currency), possible aggressive launch of services by Reliance Jio and declining crude miring outlook for its African business. On the positive side, its Indian business is witnessing positive momentum with several levers to sustain and possibly improve margins over the next few years. The policy changes related to spectrum sharing are also positive.”

The brokerage house revised the target price for Bharti Airtel stocks from Rs 450 earlier to Rs 380.

Stocks of Bharti Airtel will be in focus as the company has acquired wireless broadband firm Augere’s India operations, a move that will help the firm to augment its 4G presence in the country.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened over 1 per cent up on Thursday following strong global cues.

Alex Mathews, head research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said “Short covering is expected on Thursday due to August F&O expiry.”

Below are the stocks that are likely to be in focus today

Larsen & Toubro: The company on Wednesday announced that its power transmission and distribution business has bagged orders worth Rs 864 crore from Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation ‘KAHRAMAA’.The company further said the order is ongoing Qatar Electricity Transmission network expansion plan – phase XII.

Cairn India: The company is set to expand its crude oil and natural gas carrying capacity by laying a new gas pipeline from its Barmer (Rajasthan) field with an investment outlay of Rs 1,400 crore. Moreover, crude oil output would be expanded from 200,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day) to 300,000 bopd and natural gas carrying capacity from 6.3 mmscfd (million standard cubic feet per day) to 40 mmscfd, they said.

Monnet Ispat: The company has agreed ‘in-principle’ to sell its stake in Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel to Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL). Bhushan Steel had informed the BSE on Monday that it is in talks with Monnet Ispat and Energy to acquire the company’s stake in Orissa Sponge Iron and Steel.

Mahindra and Mahindra: The auto major plans to invest Rs 700 crore in commercial vehicle (CV) vertical as it aims to become a full range player in the segment in the next two years.

IOC: Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Rating said on Wednesday that government’s 10 per cent stake sale in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will not have any impact on the company’s ratings.

Vedanta: Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta has decided to close down its one million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district due to non-availability of bauxite ore and falling global metal prices.

Bharti Airtel: The company has acquired wireless broadband firm Augere’s India operations, a move that will help the firm to augment its 4G presence in the country.

Sun TV: The company on Wednesday said that it has partnered with HOOQ, Asia’s biggest premium video-on-demand service in a multi-year deal.

Once again, Indian markets witnessed selling pressure in the last one hour of trade, losing more than 200 points. (PTI)

World stock markets endured another volatile session on Wednesday with fresh losses in Asian and European equities, and foreign funds continued to pull money out of emerging market (EM) stocks after China’s efforts to shore up its economy failed to halt a rout in equity markets. However, futures market indicated a rebound in US shares, and the Dow opened with a 600-point gain.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold $355 million of equity in the cash segment, the sixth consecutive session of selling, provisional stock exchange data showed. Foreign funds have pulled out $2 billion so far this month, the worst month of foreign money flows in four years. In August 2011, FPIs had sold $2.16 billion of Indian equities.

Once again, Indian markets witnessed selling pressure in the last one hour of trade, losing more than 200 points.

The Sensex subsequently settled down 317.72 points or 1.22% at 2,5714.66. The Nifty ended below its crucial psychological level of 7,800. The 50-share benchmark lost 88.85 points or 1.13% to end at 7,791.85.

Bloomberg data showed about 350 stocks in the BSE 500 universe fell below their 200-day daily moving average (DMA), a measure to gauge the strength of the long-term trend. Stocks like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ITC, Coal India, Sun Pharma, SBI and HUL, among many others, have fallen below their long-term moving trends. Also, 149 stocks hit fresh 52-week lows in the last three sessions, including Tata Motors, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and NTPC.

The rupee below the 66 to the dollar mark with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly absent from the market.

The Indian unit ended at 66.1438 against Tuesday’s close of 66.10.

A note from Nomura Financial Advisories & Securities researchers led by Prabhat Awasthi said the severe bout of global risk aversion, triggered by the yuan’s devaluation a couple of weeks ago, has significantly affected global commodity prices, equities and EM currencies, and India has not been an exception.

“While it can be argued that markets are responding to renewed global growth concerns, the fall in markets has been rather indiscriminate across sectors,” observed Awasthi in his note to investors on Wednesday morning, adding that the steep fall in the markets provides an opportunity to invest in stocks that appear attractive.

“We note that following recent price correction, the Sensex P/E multiple has corrected to 14.8x one-year forward earnings, which is at a 10% discount to its five-year average,” Awasthi added.

On the other hand, many other market participants continue to remain cautious and are suggesting investors hold on to cash, and alternatively invest in hybrid products instead of bottom fishing.

Experts said the situation in China lacks clarity and while India remains a relative outperfomer to its peers, the relative trade will not hold importance if China’s problems balloons into a global crises of sort.

Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisory, said the world has been ignoring the impact of China’s fall. “It has already played out in commodities markets and now its the turn of equity markets,” Holland said.

The Sensex has lost more than 11% so far this month. In contrast, the Shanghai Composite has lost 22%, while stock indices in commodity-dependent economies like Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia have declined 16-18%.

Yet again, market breadth remained weak. Eighteen out of 30 Sensex companies ended in the red. In the broader markets, 1368 stocks declined against 1,297 advances. Nine of 11 sectoral averages ended negative with banking, healthcare and technology shares among top losers.

Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities, said the street continues to raise question marks on the rebound in equity markets even as China’s rate cut late on Tuesday induced initial gains. “Theoretically speaking, a hard landing of the Chinese economy should not impact the US as much. But there is no arguing with the markets. The markets perhaps believe that the Chinese slowdown will impact the rest of the world so much that it would indirectly affect the US economy much more than what is apparent on the surface,” said Relli.