TCS replaces Infosys as traders' bellwether

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd is supplanting rival Infosys Ltd as traders' bellwether for the Indian earnings season, sending the cost of options on the nation's biggest software company near a three-month high.

While Infosys has traditionally been the first major Indian firm to report quarterly results, TCS is announcing earnings before its competitor on Thursday. That's spurring traders to shift their wagers, with open interest on TCS options climbing to more than twice the level of Infosys. Implied volatility on the contracts, the key gauge of prices, rose to the highest since Jan 13 this week.

Kim Eng Securities Pvt and QF Assets Ltd are recommending wagers on TCS that benefit from rising volatility as analysts predict the weakest quarterly earnings growth in six years. Shares of the Mumbai-based company have posted an average one-day move of 3.4 percent after results since its 2004 initial public offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.