Indian shares retreated from record highs, dragged lower by technology stocks after the U.S. announced a slew of measures to crack down on H1-B visa programme.
#BQMarketsNow | Sensex pares gains after hitting 30,000 in opening trade. Hindalco and RIL rise.https://t.co/iIRfCyBTqF pic.twitter.com/djnPIg10mu
Here are the stocks moving the market this morning:
IT Shares Swing
Shares of IT companies swung between gains and losses after industry body NASSCOM said that America's latest memo on H-B1 visas will have little impact on Indian firms.
Indian IT companies have already started applying for visas for higher level professionals, NASSCOM said in a statement according to the Press Trust of India.
Software exporters TCS, Infosys and Wipro are expected to continue with skilled talent with the latest clarification of the H-B1 visa.
- HCL Tech (-0.8 percent)
- TCS (-0.3 percent)
- Tech Mahindra (-0.1 percent)
Also Read: H-1B Visa Overhaul Could Actually Benefit Big Tech Companies
Infosys: Company Justifies Rao's Pay Hike
The company fell 1.1 percent to Rs 997 after another row around salary of a top excuetive erupted at the country's second largest software exporter.
The Bengaluru-based firm justified the pay hike it its chief operating officer saying that the increase was only by 1.4 percent during the financial year. The salary hike is meant to retain key talent and boost competitiveness, the company added, replying to co-founder Narayan Murthy's questions.
This was the second time Murthy questioned an executive salary hike in the last two months.
Get Up To Speed
Murthy Questions Pay Hike To Infosys' Chief Operating Officer
Infosys Justifies Pravin Rao's Compensation, Says Only 1.4% Hike In FY18SBI, ICICI Bank: Fall On UP Loan Waiver
Shares of the lenders fell after the Uttar Pradesh government said that it would finance farm loan waivers worth more than Rs 36,000 crore through ‘Kisan Rahat Bonds'.
Around 2.15 crore farmers stand to benefit from this move, said U.P. Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh in a phone interview to BloombergQuint. The UP government's decision will only increase the pressure on other state governments to follow suit including the state of Maharashtra where the BJP government has announced welfare schemes for the farmers in the state, but stopped short of announcing a loan waiver in its Budget.
- State Bank of India (-1.2 percent to Rs 289)
- ICICI Bank (-1.1 percent to Rs 283)
- Bharat Finacial Inclusion (-4 percent to Rs 785)
- Satin Creditcare (-3.5 percent to Rs 351)
Also Read: SBI Chief Warns Against Farm Loan Waivers
Dr. Reddy's Laboratory: Receives Observations
The drug maker fell 2.6 percent to Rs 2,673 after its Srikakulam facility received two observations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The company will address the observations, it said in a notification to the exchanges. The reason for the observations was not mentioned.
Cipla: Receives Final Nod For HIV-1 Drug
The drugmaker rose 1.9 percent to Rs 603 after it received the final nod for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for HIV-1 infection.
Abacavir and Lamivudine tablets are generic equivalents of Epzicom which treats the viral disease.
Epzicom registered sales worth Rs 225.3 crore ($34.6 million) in U.S. in the 12 months before February. The product is meant for the American market and will me release there shortly, the company said in an exchange filing.
Mahindra & Mahindra: Incurrs Loss On Heavy Discounts
The automobile company fell 0.9 percent to Rs 1,275 after it sold BS-III inventory worth Rs 1,000 crore at heavy discounts.
"The company and industry has incurred a loss because of heavy discounted sale that it had to do on March 30 and March 31.
This came after the Supreme Court announced a ban on the sale and registeration of non BS-IV compliant vehicles from April 1, 2017.
Mahindra & Mahindra was offering discounts up to 15 percent on some of its vehicles. The company still has 18,000 BS-III vehicles which may be exported or converted into BS-IV vehicles.
Aditya Birla Nuvo: RBI Grants Payments License
The company jumped 1.5 percent to Rs 1,541 after it was granted the license to launch Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank, by the Reserve Bank of India.
Aditya Birla Nuvo will hold a majority stake of 51 percent in the new payments bank company, according to its exchange filing.
Quess Corp: CFO Quits
Shares of the company rose 1.3 percent to Rs 715 after its Chief Financial Officer, Balasubramanian S, resigned due to “personal reasons”. The resignation came into effect from the closing hour on April 4, 2017, the company said in a notification to the exchanges.
Balasubramanian has been replaced by Subrata Nag, who was the Executive and wholetime Director of Quess Corp. Nag has previously been the the CFO of the company as well, the company added.KEC International: Bags Multiple Projects
The company rose 4.6 percent to Rs 220 after it bagged projects worth Rs 1,781 crore from its various business segments.
The engineering-procurement-construction company secured orders worth Rs 1,702 from its transmission and distribution business. It also acquired a Rs 79 crore project from its cables and sonar business, the company said in a statement to the exchanges.
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