NIFTY50, SENSEX rise after weak open as investors focus on mixed global cues; HCL Tech, TCS, other IT stocks lead gainers

The Indian equity market indices surged after opening flat on Tuesday, October 13, as investors focused on the buying momentum in the heavyweight IT stocks post HCL Tech’s Q2 earnings amid mixed global market cues.

Despite the intraday gains in the early hours, investors remained cautious of crude oil prices near $106 per barrel amid the latest escalations in the West Asia conflict, with Iran reviewing its proposal to provide a response to the United States.

At the 9:15 am opening bell, NSE data showed that the benchmark NIFTY50 index opened flat at 22,364.15 levels on Tuesday’s market, in comparison to 22,363.35 points at the previous equity market close.

The BSE SENSEX opened 0.04% or 27 points higher at 71,951.73 levels on October 13, compared to the previous market close of 71,924.68 points after the trading session on Monday.

As of 9:29 am (IST), the NIFTY50 index was trading 0.47% higher at around 22,470 points, while the SENSEX was up 0.53% at around 72,310 levels during the early market session on Tuesday.

Before the opening bell, the GIFT NIFTY futures at Gandhinagar were trading 0.08% higher at 22,439.50 points, indicating a flat but positive open as investors focused on the pullback in US Treasury yields amid the Q2 earnings season.

Key factors impacting stock market today

Equity market investors were reacting to Tuesday’s market based on the mixed global market cues while witnessing momentum from the healthy earnings report from HCL Tech in the September quarter of FY27.

In the Q2 earnings, HCL Tech recorded an 11% sequential growth in its consolidated net profits to ₹5,132 crore, with the company’s revenues rising 3% QoQ to ₹35,620 crore. In constant currency, HCL Tech’s revenues surged 2% QoQ to $3,724 million.

The IT services company recorded a margin growth of 131 basis points on a sequential basis to 18.2%, from 16.3% in the previous quarter. The company also recorded advanced artificial intelligence (AI) revenue of $219 million in constant currency terms.

While the sentiment among IT stocks supported the benchmark indices, the oil prices and developments in West Asia maintained investors’ caution, while a pullback in US Treasury yields added some comfort.

Crude oil prices (Brent) remained elevated, hovering in the range of $105-106 per barrel on Tuesday’s market amid fears of another supply chain disruption post the recent missile attacks in Saudi Arabia.

US President Donald Trump criticised the Houthis in Yemen for “misbehaving very badly” in a series of attacks that claimed the lives of at least 20 people, while injuring hundreds of others at Riyadh’s King Khalid International and Dammam’s King Fahd International.

On the West Asia front, latest media reports suggest that Iran is still reviewing a US response to its proposal to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, and the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, told Reuters that the country will reply to America via intermediaries when their review is over.

US Treasury yields witnessed a pullback to 5.19% levels on Monday, which added to the sentiment for emerging market bets amid the dynamic geopolitical conflict.

Top gainers & losers

Stocks like TCS up 4.3%, HCL Tech up 3.9%, Tech Mahindra up 2.2%, Nestle India up 2.1%, and Infosys up 1.9% were the top five gainers during the morning market hours on Tuesday, October 13.

While others like NTPC down 0.81%, Max Healthcare down 0.69%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down 0.47%, Power Grid Corp. down 0.38%, and Tata Motors PV down 0.37% were among the top laggards as of morning deals.

Out of the 50 stocks listed under NIFTY50, 42 stocks were trading in the green zone, while 8 stocks were down in the negative territory as of 9:45 am (IST), on October 13.