Sensex up 100 points, Nifty above 10,700; Infosys top gainer

The domestic market extended gains in the noon deals on Wednesday after the government lowered the additional borrowing requirement for the fiscal year 2018 to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 50,000 crore estimated earlier, a move which would help contain fiscal deficit within the budgeted target.

Reacting to the development, the Nifty50 reclaimed its crucial 10,700 mark, while the Sensex was trading over 100 points higher.  

At 12:02 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was quoting 34,891, up 120 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,731, up 31 points. 

Last month, after consultation with the RBI the government had said that it would make additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal through dated securities. However, there will be no change in the net borrowings as envisaged in the Budget for 2017-18.

Among individual stocks, Infosys, Axis Bank and Adani Ports were the leading gainers on the BSE, while Wipro, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp shed the most. 

IT stocks hogged limelight. The leading IT companies like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra registered gains of as much as 3 per cent on the BSE.

Infosys surged 3.30 per cent to touch a 52-week high of Rs 1,160, registering a surge in its shares price for the eighth consecutive session.

TCS hit a new high of Rs 2925, and HCL Technologies also touched its 52-week high of Rs 962.70.

Among other stocks, MCX slipped over 5 per cent after the leading commodity exchange posted a 35.61% fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 18.77 crore for the December quarter over the previous quarter ended September 30, 2017, on lower volumes in the bullion segment.

Overseas, Asian stocks stepped back from a record high as the region’s resource shares were hit by falling oil and commodity prices while digital currencies tumbled on worries about tighter regulations.