Sensex and Nifty ended higher on Thursday tracking rally in IT stocks amid Q1 earnings season. Barring weakness from Asian equities, Sensex closed 419 points higher at 36,471 and Nifty gained 121 points to 10,739.
On Wednesday, Sensex ended 18 points higher at 36,051 and Nifty closed 10 points higher at 10,618.
Sectorally, all indices were trading in green, barring media and realty. IT sector was trading 3% higher, followed by 1.5% rise in pharma and auto stocks. Infosys, BPCL, M&M, Cipla and Britannia were among the top gainers on NSE, while Bharti Infratel, Tech Mahindra, ITC, ZEe Entertainment and Indian Oil were among the top laggards.
The Nifty IT index was up nearly 4% in early trade as an upbeat earning by Infosys lifted IT stocks and capped losses. Infosys Ltd surged over 9% after it reported a better-than-expected first quarter profit on Wednesday evening and reinstated its full-year revenue growth guidance.
Commenting on the rally, Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said,"IT stocks on the back strong earnings from Infosys which was later supported by some recovery in banking names in the last hour of the trade. The earnings announcements will induce stock-specific volatility."
Markets in Asia and Europe traded mostly in red, contrary to upbeat session on Wall Street as investors turned cautious given rising coronavirus cases and percolating tensions between the US and China.
Meanwhile, companies set to announce their earnings are Balkrishna Industries, Britannia Industries, Granules India and ICICI General Insurance.
On the currency front, Indian rupee ended marginally lower at 75.19, as against the last close of 75.15 per dollar.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"In spite of negative global cues, Indian benchmark indices gained strength as the day went on, powered by the IT index and Infosys in particular. Infosys reported better than expected numbers and was backed by good deal wins and decent outlook. Ground realities remained little changed, as the virus infections and geo political tensions created uncertainty on the global economic recovery."
Coronavirus has infected 136.96 lakh people worldwide and killed 5.86 lakh so far. Coronavirus cases touched 968,876 mark as of Thursday morning in India