Today's Market Movers

IRB Infra's decision to allot preference shares to a subsidiary of Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial SA and an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC at a steep 28 per cent discount did not go down well with investors. The scrip hit a 10 per cent lower circuit limit at Rs 265 for the day. Analysts, however, believe the development would tackle the twin issues of leverage and growth capital. Post infusion, the net debt to equity ratio at the consolidated level will fall to 1.2 times from 2.1 times while the growth capital earmarked at Rs 1,500 crore will help IRB win larger projects with potential assets, they said.

Axis Bank's stock was the worst Sensex performer for the day, falling 6.52 per cent to Rs 787.35 on BSE. Axis Bank's Q2 credit growth at 10 per cent lagged peers like ICICI (up 17 per cent), HDFC Bank (up 15 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 15 per cent). That did not go down with investors, as they sent the stock tumbling below Rs 800 mark. This is even as lower provisioning helped the private lender log an 86 per cent YoY surge in the September quarter profit. Analysts, however, are positive on the stock with price targets suggesting up to 30 per cent potential upside.