IT rally powers market rebound

Mumbai: Stock markets bounced back on Friday after two days of sharp decline, with the benchmark Sensex rallying 879 points and the Nifty ending above 22,500, led by a rally in TCS, other IT stocks and easing crude oil prices. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 879.09 points, or 1.23 per cent, to settle at 72,472.33. During the day, it surged 1,075.96 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 72,669.20.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 288.65 points, or 1.30 per cent, to end at 22,520.45. From the 30 Sensex firms, ITC climbed 4.78 per cent, followed by Tata Consultancy Services which jumped 4.23 per cent. Tata Consultancy Services reported a 15 per cent jump in net profit for the July-September quarter to Rs 13,884 crore and pointed to continued growth momentum going forward.

Adani Ports, Infosys, HCL Tech, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC Bank were also among the major gainers. Reliance Industries was the only laggard from the blue-chip pack. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.32 per cent to USD 102.9 per barrel.

” IT stocks outperformed on the back of a strong start to the Q2 earnings season and rising confidence in AI-driven revenue opportunities,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said. Sentiment was aided by easing geopolitical concerns following indications that any potential US military action against Iran is unlikely before the mid-term elections, helping crude prices moderate, he added.

A pullback in crude oil prices provided much-needed macroeconomic relief, easing some of the inflation concerns that had weighed on markets in the previous session. A total of 2,516 stocks advanced, while 1,867 declined and 227 remained unchanged on the BSE.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark index jumped 562.63 points, or 0.78 per cent, and the Nifty was up 98.5 points, or 0.43 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 12,943.58 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.