Sensex jumps nearly 700 points as IT stocks rally

The Sensex surged nearly 700 points and the Nifty gained almost 200 points in early trade, driven by strong buying in IT stocks after Tata Consultancy Services reported higher quarterly profit. Positive global cues also supported investor sentiment

Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Friday, driven by a rally in IT stocks after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported an increase in its June-quarter net profit and guided towards an improvement in demand in the ongoing quarter.

A positive trend in global markets also lifted domestic equities during early trading.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 694.83 points to 77,423.82 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 195.95 points to 24,154.85.

From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and Asian Paints were among the major gainers.

TCS traded nearly 2 per cent higher after the country’s largest IT services company on Thursday reported a 4.61 per cent increase in its June-quarter net profit to Rs 13,349 crore and said demand, which had been affected by the West Asia crisis, was expected to improve during the ongoing quarter.

Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi jumped more than 4 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index traded 1.91 per cent higher, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index gained 0.76 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.73 per cent.

US markets ended higher on Thursday.

“Tensions in West Asia continue without any clarity on a resolution to the geopolitical crisis. However, interestingly, markets are largely ignoring these negative developments,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Global stock markets have completely ignored the renewed tensions, he said.

“This confident message from the market is significant. But investors have to be cautious, warranting close monitoring of the developments,” Vijayakumar added.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.33 per cent higher at USD 76.55 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 532.86 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the Sensex climbed 238.22 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 76,741.82. The Nifty gained 80.75 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end at 23,962.80.