IT stocks in heavy demand; TCS jumps over 5 pc

Among other frontline stocks, Tech Mahindra rallied 4.51 per cent, Infosys climbed 4.40 per cent, HCL Technologies gained 3.80 per cent and Wipro advanced 2.69 per cent

New Delhi: IT stocks were in heavy demand on Friday, rallying smartly, helping the benchmark equity indices reach their fresh record high levels.

Shares of market heavyweight Tata Consultancy Services jumped 5.13 per cent on the BSE.

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Among other frontline stocks, Tech Mahindra rallied 4.51 per cent, Infosys climbed 4.40 per cent, HCL Technologies gained 3.80 per cent and Wipro advanced 2.69 per cent.

Shares of Subex zoomed 19.97 per cent, Mphasis Ltd rallied 7.58 per cent, Nucleus Software Exports advanced 7.42 per cent, Sasken Technologies jumped 6.55 per cent and Zensar Technologies went up by 4.43 per cent.

“The controlled inflation in the US has instilled optimism among investors that a 25 bps rate hike would be adequate to stabilise the US economy. This improved prospect has contributed to the strong buying of Indian IT stocks,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Tracking the heavy buying in software & consulting firms, the BSE IT index climbed 4.30 per cent to settle at 31,296.36.

Rally in the IT frontline stocks drove the equity markets higher, with the BSE Sensex climbing 502.01 points or 0.77 per cent to settle at its new record closing high of 66,060.90. The NSE Nifty jumped 150.75 points or 0.78 per cent to end at its new record high of 19,564.50.

“Spectacular rally in IT stocks following better-than-expected earnings from select frontline technology companies triggered late upsurge, which propelled the Sensex to close above the 66k mark,” Amol Athawale, Vice President – Technical Research at Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services had climbed almost 3 per cent on Thursday after the company reported a 16.83 per cent increase in its June quarter net profit to Rs 11,074 crore.

HCL Technologies on Wednesday reported a 7.6 per cent year-on-year rise in its June quarter net profit on the back of new order wins.

Wipro on Thursday posted a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,870 crore for the June quarter but the IT company missed analysts’ estimates as reduced discretionary spending by clients impacted its financial performance.