stock markets continue trading subdued in afternoon trade ahead of June CPI data

STOCK MARKET NEWS - Benchmark indices continued trading subdued but in green in the afternoon trade with Nifty above the 9,800-mark ahead of June CPI data, to be announce later in the day. Investors expected the inflation to be at record low, which will put pressure on RBI to cut rates in the coming monetary policy review meet.

Asian Markets were also trading mixed amind political controvery surrounding Donald Trump after  emails disclosed by President Donald Trump's eldest son cited Russian support for his father's 2016 election campaign. Street also watched out for US Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimoney to get clues on timeline of further rate hikes by Fed.

At 2:12 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,789, up 42 points while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,809 up 23 points

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap index rose 0.4% each.

"The overall trend is still positive in the short term wherein 9,900 levels is an immediate target in the short term whereas above 10,000 levels in the medium term. On the lower side, 9,740 is an immediate support and below that 9,710. The momentum indicator MACD is well in the buy mode on the daily charts which is very supportive and bullish in the short term," said Anand Rathi Technicals in a note.

ONGC, HUL, Tata Motors and RIL contributed the most to BSE Sensex while TCS, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and HeroMoto Corp shed the most on the index.

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IT shares gain; TCS, HCL Tech near 52-week high

MARKET NEWS - http://www.business-standard.com/marketsShares of information technology (IT) companies were in focus with the Nifty IT and S&P BSE IT index gaining more than 2% in an otherwise range-bound market.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Elxsi, Hexaware Technologies and Tech Mahindra were up in the range of 2% to 6%.

At 09:59 am; Nifty IT (10,895) and S&P BSE IT index (10,510) were up 2.2%, as compared to a marginal 0.08% decline in the benchmark indices.

In the past one month, the IT indices have outperformed the market by gaining 8% against 5% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex and 4.2% gain in Nifty 50 index.

TCS has rallied 4% to Rs 2,707 on the BSE in intra-day trade, quoting close to its 52-week high of Rs 2,740 touched on August 12, 2016. HCL Technologies was also up 3.3% at Rs 887, trading closer to its 52-week high of Rs 890 hit on March this year.

TCS’ buyback offer of about 56 million equity shares, which ended on May 31, received an overwhelming response. The offer was subscribed by 221% or 124 million shares. The company had fixed the buyback at price of Rs 2,850 a share.

HCL Tech buyback offer will commence from June 12 and will close on June 23, 2017. The company intends to buy back 35 million equity shares at Rs 1,000 a piece.

“The Buyback is being proposed by the Company to return surplus funds to the equity shareholders, which are over and above its ordinary capital requirements and in excess of any current investment plans. It expected to contribute to the overall enhancement of the equity shareholders’ value, and result in an increase in the return on equity of the Company,” HCL Tech said in a statement.

Tata Elxsi has surged 7% to Rs 1,598, extending its Monday’s 10% rally on the BSE, after the company announced the licensing of its advanced autonomous vehicle middleware platform “Autonomai” to one of the world’s top 5 automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) for their driverless car R&D.

"The Autonomai platform provides carmakers and Tier 1 automotive suppliers with a comprehensive and modular solution covering perception, GNC and drive-by-wire systems, to quickly build, test and deploy autonomous vehicles,” Tata Elxsi, a Tata Group company said in a press release.

Get rid of 3-month notice period: Techies ask govt to ease quitting process

Latest News - The government should make it easier for IT professionals, who are expecting single-digit hikes in the coming financial year, to exit their jobs, an online petition signed by over 28,000 professionals has demanded, reported The Economic Times on Thursday.  

Their complaint? The three-month non-negotiable notice period that most IT firms hold their employees to. According to the report, the petition said, "It is unrealistic for anyone to plan that far ahead for their future actions and resign in advance not knowing state of the issue in next three months." The petition has been addressed to the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment.

Speaking to the financial daily, an IT professional, who did not want to be named, said that no company would be willing to wait for three months while their new employee serves out his or her period at their old firm. Further, the report said that Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Capgemini, Accenture and IBM had a three-month notice period in place.

Growing pains

Indian companies are likely to provide single digit increments to their employees in 2017, across industries, an Aon Hewitt survey said recently. “The survey projects a drop in pay increases to an average of 9.5 per cent across industries. While it’s a marginal decrease from the 2016 (10.5 per cent) spends, it reflects maturity that India Inc has displayed amid global and Indian economic and political events. This includes recent changes in the US government and the much-talked demonetisation,” the report said. Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health business of Aon plc, conducted its 21st annual survey after speaking to more than 1,000 companies. (Read more)