Benchmarks resume upward march as IT stocks rally; RIL tanks post AGM

Equity indices regained footing on Thursday after a day's pause as robust buying in IT counters more than made up for a fall in market major Reliance Industries.

A rebounding rupee and positive global cues further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 392.92 points or 0.75 per cent higher at 52,699. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 103.50 points or 0.66 per cent to 15,790.45.

Technology shares led the rally, a day after the government liberalised guidelines for voice-based BPOs to cement India's position as a preferred global outsourcing hub.

Infosys topped the Sensex gainers' chart with a leap of 3.75 per cent, followed by TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, L&T and Nestle India.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries was the top drag on the index, slumping 2.35 per cent, after its Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced massive capex plans in green energy and other sectors at its annual general meeting.

Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, SBI, HDFC and Dr Reddy's were among the other laggards, shedding up to 0.99 per cent.

"Supported by positive global equities and strong buying interest in IT stocks, the domestic market sparked a rally today. Total FDI inflow in April rose 38 per cent YoY, led by a 60 per cent YoY rise in equity inflow reassuring continued liquidity support in the Indian market.

"Global investors have digested the comments from Fed officials and are looking ahead to key data releases like US jobless claims and Bank of England's decision on interest rates," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said the benchmark equity indices rose on the monthly F&O expiry day led by buying in IT stocks.

"Volumes on the NSE were the lowest on an F&O expiry day in six months, suggesting light positions being carried in the F&O segment awaiting higher volatility," he added.

BSE IT, teck, bankex, metal, capital goods and finance indices ended up to 2.92 per cent higher, while energy, oil and gas, power, utilities and telecom indices fell as much as 2.15 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmark and ended up to 0.51 per cent lower.

S&P Global Ratings on Thursday cut India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5 per cent, from 11 per cent earlier, and warned of the risk to the outlook from further waves of COVID pandemic.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with gains. Equities in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.16 per cent higher at USD 75.31 per barrel.

The rupee gained for the second straight day and closed 9 paise higher at 74.18 against the US dollar.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,156.53 crore, as per exchange data. PTI ANS