Sensex and Nifty rise driven by Infosys revenue growth guidance. IT sector outperforms. Trade agreement nears finalization.
After two days of losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 187.64 points, or 0.23 per cent, to settle at 83,570.35. During the day, it jumped 752.26 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 84,134.97.
The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 28.75 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 25,694.35.
From the 30-Sensex firms, Infosys jumped 5.67 per cent after the Bengaluru-headquartered firm saw its revenue from operations grow by 8.9 per cent to Rs 45,479 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 41,764 crore in the year-ago period.
The company has raised its revenue growth guidance for FY26 to 3-3.5 per cent in constant currency from 2-3 per cent earlier.
Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement and HDFC Bank were also among the gainers.
In contrast, Eternal, Asian Paints, Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma and Maruti were among the laggards.
India and the US are “very near” to finalising the trade agreement, and it would be announced when both sides are ready, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Thursday.
The negotiating teams of both sides are discussing virtually all pending issues, he said.
“The equity markets witnessed positive momentum during the session, driven by better Q3 results from IT and mid-segment banking stocks. However, profit-booking towards the close capped the rally, resulting only in marginal gains for the market.
“The IT sector outperformed, supported by an upward revision in revenue growth projections from a leading industry bellwether, coupled with expectations of increased technology spending,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,781.24 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 5,217.28 crore, according to exchange data.
Stock markets were closed on Thursday on account of the Maharashtra civic polls.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index settled higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended lower.
European markets were trading lower. US markets ended higher on Thursday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.05 per cent to USD 64.43 per barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex dropped 244.98 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 83,382.71. The Nifty declined 66.70 points or 0.26 per cent to 25,665.60.
