Mumbai: Equity Indices Hit Record Highs Amid IT Stock Surge

Mumbai: The equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, reached fresh record highs on Friday, driven by robust buying in IT stocks following Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) strong quarterly earnings announcement.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 996.17 points, achieving an all-time high of 80,893.51, while the NSE Nifty rose by 276.25 points to a lifetime peak of 24,592.20.

TCS, India’s largest IT services firm, saw its shares climb nearly 6% after reporting an 8.7% growth in net profit for the June quarter, totaling Rs 12,040 crore. Other significant gainers within the Sensex included Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Finance.

Conversely, Maruti, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, and ITC were among the laggards in the index.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, commented, “The positive domestic cues stem from better-than-expected numbers from TCS, along with encouraging management commentary that is likely to uplift other IT stocks.”

In the broader Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong reported gains, while Seoul and Tokyo traded lower. Meanwhile, US markets concluded mostly lower on Thursday.

On the commodities front, global oil benchmark Brent crude increased by 0.59%, reaching USD 85.90 per barrel.

Despite this rally, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,137.01 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

After an impressive start, the BSE benchmark experienced a slight retreat, closing lower by 27.43 points (0.03%) at 79,897.34, while the NSE Nifty dipped by 8.50 points (0.03%) to settle at 24,315.95.

Investors remain optimistic as market sentiment continues to be buoyed by positive corporate earnings and economic indicators.