Infosys says some promoters may participate in its share buyback

Some promoters of Infosys Ltd may participate in the company's share buyback exercise, the company said in an exchange filing Monday. On Aug 19, the Bengaluru-based information technology major had announced that it would buy back 113.04 mln shares, or 4.9% of the total share capital, at 1,150 rupees apiece, aggregating 130 bln rupees. As at the end of June, promoters and the promoter group held 12.75% stake in the company, while mutual funds had 9.4% shareholding. The 1,150-rupees-pershare buyback price is at a premium of 22.2% to Monday's closing price for the company's stock. Shares of Infosys ended up 3.2% at 941 rupees on the National Stock Exchange.

Infosys jumps 3%, takes Nifty 50 past 9900-mark:

Appointment of former chief executive officer Nandan Nilekani as the non-executive chairman at Infosys helped its shares rise over 4% intraday, also helping the Nifty 50 cross the 9900-points mark for the first time since Aug 17. Not only did Infosys rise for the fourth session in a row, its shares crossed the 950-rupee mark for the first time since Aug 18, when Vishal Sikka resigned as the chief executive officer of the information technology major.

Appointment of Nilekani spurred buying in shares of Infosys as he is, among other things, expected to aid the process of finding a new chief executive officer. "Nilekani enjoys confidence and respect of employees and investors ... Infosys will significantly benefit from his pragmatic approach, ability to keep the team together and depth of technology," Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report.

Most brokerages shared this optimism, and upgraded shares of Infosys after its recent downgrade, which also supported gains in its shares. CLSA Asia Pacific Markets upgraded shares of Infosys to "buy" from "underperform" earlier, and raised target price by nearly 14% to 1,070 rupees. Apart from Infosys, India and China's agreement on "expeditious disengagement" of border personnel at Doklam aided sentiment. The easing of military tension between the neighbours saw benchmark indices end in the green for the fourth consecutive session. Nifty 50 ended at 9912.80, up 55.75 points or 0.6% from the previous close, while Sensex closed at 31750.82, up 154.76 points or 0.5% from Thursday.

In shares of Infosys as he is, among other things, expected to aid the process of finding a new chief executive officer. "Nilekani enjoys confidence and respect of employees and investors ... Infosys will significantly benefit from his pragmatic approach, ability to keep the team together and depth of technology," Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report.

Most brokerages shared this optimism, and upgraded shares of Infosys after its recent downgrade, which also supported gains in its shares. CLSA Asia Pacific Markets upgraded shares of Infosys to "buy" from "underperform" earlier, and raised target price by nearly 14% to 1,070 rupees. Apart from Infosys, India and China's agreement on "expeditious disengagement" of border personnel at Doklam aided sentiment.

The easing of military tension between the neighbours saw benchmark indices end in the green for the fourth consecutive session. Nifty 50 ended at 9912.80, up 55.75 points or 0.6% from the previous close, while Sensex closed at 31750.82, up 154.76 points or 0.5% from Thursday.