Market benchmarks rebound after two-day slump as Infosys rallies
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back on Friday after a two-day decline, supported by buying in market heavyweights Infosys, HDFC Bank and TCS shares, shrugging off US tariff woes amid mixed global trends.
However, a depreciating rupee, spike in international crude prices and unrelenting foreign fund outflows capped the gains, traders said. In a choppy session, 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. In a holiday-shortened week, the BSE benchmark dipped 5.89 points, and the Nifty went up by 11.05 points. “Market sentiment was supported by earnings-related optimism, though mixed global cues continued to cap aggressive positioning. The earnings upgrade from Infosys helped improve risk appetite and brought some stability after recent uncertainty. “At the same time, concerns around a weaker rupee and ongoing global trade-related issues remained on participants’ radar.
Overall participation stayed selective and stock-specific, reflecting continued caution amid geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties,” Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. 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 INR 45,479 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from INR 41,764 crore in the year-ago period.
It 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.
“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.
On the geopolitical front, tensions between the US and Iran eased slightly after reports that the US informed Tehran it would not imminently attack, following diplomatic pressure.
Market sentiment was also supported by comments from the Commerce Secretary on January 15 that the first tranche of the India-US trade deal is close to finalisation, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.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 IT sector was the standout performer, gaining 2.9 per cent, driven by a strong rally in Infosys, which surged nearly 5 per cent after reporting robust quarterly earnings and raising its full-year revenue growth guidance.
On the other hand, pharmaceutical stocks fell 1.3 per cent, and the metal index slipped due to profit booking after recent gains.The BSE midcap gauge went up by 0.15 per cent, while the smallcap index dipped 0.45 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT jumped 3.41 per cent, IT (3.39 per cent), bankex (1.16 per cent), PSU Bank (1.12 per cent) and oil & gas (0.43 per cent).However, consumer durables declined 1.37 per cent, capital goods (1.23 per cent), power (1.13 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.80 per cent). Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth INR 4,781.24 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth INR 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.The rupee tumbled for the third straight session and lost 50 paise to settle near its lowest level at 90.84 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday 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.The price action suggests that despite short-term relief rallies, buyers are still hesitant, and the index may continue to remain volatile unless sustained buying emerges above key resistance levels, said Sudeep Shah, Head — Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities.
