India’s stock market rose today, supported by a surge in IT stocks after Infosys Ltd. raised its full-year revenue growth outlook.
At 10:20 am, the Nifty 50 rose 0.64% to 25,830.95, while the 30-share Sensex added 0.73% to 83,995.35. Fourteen of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively.
The Nifty IT index was up 3% with all 10 constituents in the green, with Wipro Ltd. climbing 3% ahead of its quarterly results later in the day.
Infosys, India’s No. 2 software services exporter, jumped 5%, its biggest intraday percentage rise in four months. That, after the IT bellwether unexpectedly raised its revenue forecast to 3%-3.5% from 2%-3% and signalled a healthy demand outlook, citing steady discretionary tech spending and renewed momentum in its core financial services business.
“Markets have received a boost from Infosys’ results and commentary,” Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at WealthMills Securities, told Reuters. “With IT company valuations at attractive levels, there is buying interest and short-covering in the sector.”
While the earnings season has started on a decent note with no major negative surprises so far, markets are struggling to sustain higher levels due to sustained foreign outflows and global trade and geopolitical headwinds, Bathini said.
Stocks in Focus
- ICICI Prudential AMC Ltd. gained 6.3% after posting a 45% jump in Q3 profit.
- Groww Ltd. jumped 7.2% after posting robust Q3 results that showed market-share gains across categories.
- L&T Technology Services Ltd. fell 3.7% after missing analysts’ expectations for quarterly profit and revenue growth.
- Cipla Ltd. fell 2.4% after BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley flagged risks to its near-term earnings due to US headwinds.