The BSE Sensex traded near the day’s high in the post noon session. At 12.32 pm, it traded 104 points or 0.6% higher at 17,200 while the broader Nifty index advanced 23 points to 5,223.
The IT index on the BSE soared 4.5%, entirely on account of the outperformance in TCS (11.7%), which reported strong numbers yesterday. TCS, India’s biggest software services exporter, was the top Nifty gainer and contributed 90 index points to the Sensex.
IT stocks have been under pressure since Infosys said it expected 8-10% growth for FY13. However, TCS said it will beat the higher end of IT lobby Nasscom’s guidance of 14%.
HCL Tech (4.7%), which reported higher than expected profits last week and Wipro (2.9%), which reports earnings tomorrow – were among the top Nifty gainers. Infosys (1.3%) shares also gained.
Telecom stocks recovered from the day’s low. Bharti Airtel (-3.1%), India’s biggest wireless firm and Reliance Communications (-1.2%) saw some recovery. Telecom stocks saw a selloff for the second straight day on the back of Trai’s recommendations on spectrum auction. Idea Cellular (-4%) was among the most traded stock today.
On the Nifty, 32 of the 50 stocks traded higher. Ambuja Cements (-3.1%) was the top loser.
Asian stocks also traded off the day’s low. Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.8%.
The market breadth was positive with 52% stocks rising on the broader BSE 500 index.
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