FIRST TRADE: Sensex rises 350 pts, Nifty around 19,480; TCS up over 1%, HCL Tech slips 1%

Stock market today: The domestic equity market was on solid footing on Thursday in the opening deals. The S&P BSE Sensex traded at 65,756.30 levels, up 362 points, or 0.55 per cent while the NSE's Nifty was trading at 19,484.75, up 0.52 per cent. Among buzzing stocks, TCS (up over 1 per cent) was among the top gainers on the Sensex. On the other hand, HCL Tech was the biggest loser (down over 1 per cent). Both IT companies released their June quarter numbers yesterday.

"Markets may see a flat opening, but positive cues from Asian indices and overnight US markets could lift the sentiment later in the day. The moderating US CPI inflation data would cheer investors worldwide, as this may prompt the Federal Reserve to soften its hawkish stance during its rate-setting meeting on July 26. On the domestic front, the trading theme will revolve around HDFC stock’s 45-year-old journey that ends today following an all-stock reverse merger with subsidiary HDFC Bank. In the IT space, both TCS and HCL Tech stocks will be in focus following their Q2 result announcements yesterday. Technically, if the current optimism continues, Nifty may gear up for a definite break of the 19500 mark," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Among other individual stocks, Wipro was trading flat with a positive bias at Rs 393.10, up 0.38 per cent. The company is slated to announce its Q1 results today. Besides, Godrej Properties was trading over a per cent higher. JSW Steel was trading over 1 per cent higher at Rs 813.05 on the BSE. The company entered the Sensex pack today post the reverse merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC Ltd. 

Broader market indices 

The S&P BSE MidCap index was up 0.41 per cent at 29,409.59 levels, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index was up 0.70 per cent.