After opening the day on a flat note, Indian share markets ended the day marginally higher. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex finished higher by 70 points. While, the NSE Nifty finished higher by 23 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Midcap Index ended up by 0.3% while S&P BSE Small Cap Index ended up by 0.4% respectively.

Sectoral indices ended the day on a mixed note with realty stocks and information technology stocks leading the gainers. While, energy stocks and consumer durables stocks ended the day in red.

Overseas, Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.15% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.10%. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.33%. European markets are mixed. The CAC 40 is higher by 0.03%, while the DAX is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.13% and 0.12% respectively.

The rupee was trading at Rs 63.74 against the US$ in the afternoon session.

In the latest development, India's securities regulator has banned the global accountancy firm PwC from auditing listed companies in the country for two years, after it failed to spot a US$1.7 billion fraud at the defunct Satyam Computer Services.

Reportedly, PwC had neglected to check "glaring anomalies" in the financial details reported by Satyam, whose downfall followed one of the worst financial scandals in Indian corporate history.

For about five years beginning in 2003, Satyam inflated its revenue by accounting for 7,561 fake invoices. The fraud persisted in part because PwC, Satyam's auditor, did not independently check the veracity of the monthly bank statements.

As well as the auditing suspension, the regulator ordered PwC to disgorge wrongful gains of about Rs 130 million.

The order comes nine years after the scam at Satyam Computer Services first came to light and after two failed attempts by PwC to settle the case through the consent mechanism.

One shall note that, Satyam was sold in 2012 to rival Tech Mahindra, which dropped the company's brand. Mr. Raju received a seven-year jail sentence in April 2015, one of four Satyam executives to be convicted in connection with the fraud.

In another development, credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that Indian tyre industry revenues is likely to grow by 8% during the current financial year (FY18), on the back of favorable demand prospects along with price hikes between January-May 2017.

As per the report, the industry is expected to witness growth in volumes as well at the rate of 8% to record 1,805 lakh tyres during FY18, despite the weak volumes in Q1 and part of Q2 during GST roll-out.

In the terms of tonnage, tyre demand is estimated to grow by 7% during the current financial year, on the back of increased T&B replacement demand.

The rating agency also pegged growth rate of 8.5% and 7% to the unit and tonnage, respectively for the next fiscal year.

Besides, ICRA estimated that the tyre industry will grow at the rate of 10% during FY18-22 and during the same period, the industry will fund their heavy capex with the help of past three years' significant accruals.

It further noted that the industry will continue adding capacity over next five years, owing to the large cash balances, strong accrual position and favourable demand. As per report, capex investments are likely to continue with planned Rs 250 billion of investments spread across the next five years.

Meanwhile, government has successfully divested 2.52% of paid-up capital in National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for an amount of around Rs 12 billion (Rs 9.8 billion from non-retail investors and around Rs 2.3 billion from retail investors) through Offer for sale (OFS) mechanism.

With this transaction, the Government of India shareholding in NMDC has come down from 74.9% to 72.4%.

One shall note that, the government has already raised Rs 538.3 billion through disinvestment in public sector firms this fiscal by listing public sector insurers and exchange traded fund.

For the current fiscal year, it has set a target of raising Rs 725 billion via disinvestment, which includes Rs 465 billion through minority stake sales, Rs 150 billion from strategic sale and another Rs 110 billion from listing of insurance firms.

Higher Revenue from Disinvestment?

It will be interesting to see how the government approaches disinvestment in the coming months.

Speaking of disinvestment, a lot of PSUs have had history of bad management by the government and have reached a point of no return when it comes to profitability. The accumulated losses of sick public sector enterprises as of 31 March 2014, stood at Rs 1.04 trillion.

And here's a note from Profit Hunter:

The Q3FY18 results seasons are on. And two major results in the IT sector, TCS and INFY, are being scheduled in the next 24 hours. Today, INFY is up 2% with healthy volumes ahead of its quaterly results.

We have reviewed INFY quite a few times in the past. And we have been telling that the stock is trading in a broad range of 900 -1,020 since October 2016. The 1,020 level acted as a strong resistance while 900 level acted as a strong support for the stock.

Few days back, the stock broke above the 1,020 resistance level. This indicates strength in the counter. It slipped back into the range but recovered strongly and now it is trading at a new 52-week high. Stocks usually tend to outperform after they achieve a new 52-week high.

Tomorrow, INFY will be announcing it Q3FY18 results. So will the quaterly result add to the rally or will it be a hindrance. Let's wait and watch...

INFY at a New 52-week High

(Click on image to enlarge)