DLF Shares Drop, HCL Technologies Gains as India’s Sensex Index Fluctuate
India’s stocks fluctuated. DLF Ltd. declined after its quarterly earnings fell short of analysts’ estimates. HCL Technologies Ltd. surged after profit increased. DLF, the nation’s biggest developer, retreated 1 percent after it reported first-quarter profit of 4.11 billion rupees ($88 million), below the 4.55 billion rupee average estimate of 19 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. HCL Technologies, a software maker, rose the most in three months after its fourth-quarter net income climbed 23 percent. According to The Arun Kejriwal there is no positive driver for the markets at the moment , the Mumbai-based director of Kejriwal Research & Investment Services Pvt. (We are seeing stock-specific action. The real estate sector is going through tough times. Demand hasn’t picked up as much the companies would have liked and buyers are keeping away as prices have risen.)The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, was little changed at 17,950.46 at 9:54 a.m. in Mumbai after swinging between gains and losses at least eight times. The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.1 percent to 5,394.40. The BSE 200 Index gained 0.1 percent to 2,289.94. The gauges may be more volatile today as futures contracts roll over from July to August.DLF lost 1 percent to 308.95 rupees. Shares of DLF have declined 15 percent this year and 22 percent in the past year. HCL Technologies jumped 3.9 percent to 387 rupees after reporting fourth-quarter net income of 2.38 billion rupees. The company returned to profit a year earlier after a quarterly loss in 2008. Dabur India Ltd., a maker of products ranging from shampoos to beverages, lost 2.1 percent to 195.7 rupees after being cut to “add” from “buy” by Arnab Mitra, an analyst at IIFL Ltd., who said gains may be limited in the next 12 months. Overseas funds bought a net 815 million rupees ($17.4 million) of Indian equities on July 27, raising total investments in stocks this year to 426 billion rupees, according to the nation’s market regulator. Inflows from overseas reached a record 834.2 billion rupees in 2009, exceeding the high set two years ago in local currency terms, as the biggest advance in 18 years lured foreign funds. They sold a record 529.9 billion rupees of shares in 2008, triggering a record annual decline.
source: bloomberg.com
