SENSEX, NIFTY50 edge higher led by gains in IT heavyweights HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Thursday, October 29, led by gains in heavyweights like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Adani Ports. The SENSEX rose as much as 150 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 25,742.

As of 9:22 am, the SENSEX was up 61 points at 73,259 and NIFTY50 index rose 10 points to 22,709.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.32%, China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.62%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.2% and South Korea's KOSPI index dropped 2.13%.

Hefty cash burn from Alphabet sent its shares 10% lower in after-hours trading, wiping nearly $400 billion off its market value. That drove Nasdaq futures 1% lower. Microsoft, by contrast, beat forecasts with better-than-expected cash flows that lifted its shares by 3%, the report added.

Overnight, Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19%, S&P 500 index gained 0.28% and Nasdaq rose 0.27%.

Brent crude futures declined marginally and was trading close to $115 per barrel as hopes for peace talks took the edge off renewed concerns over Middle East supply disruptions from escalating regional conflict.

Back home, buying interest was visible across board as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading higher led by the NIFTY Media index's 1.1% gain, NIFTY IT, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and Bank indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.7%.

On the other hand, select auto and real estate shares were facing selling pressure.

Broader markets were witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.36% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.34%.

Among the individual shares, Birlasoft surged 10% after its net profit in September quarter rose 38% to ₹160 crore.

The company signed deals of TCV $116 million during the quarter with new deal wins TCV of $47 million and renewals of $69 million.

Jupiter Wagons surged 8% after it secured order for 2,583 BOXNHL and BOXNS wagons worth ₹1,140 crore from the Ministry of Railways.

Adani Ports was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.53% to ₹1,805. Power Grid, Adani Enterprises, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BSE, TCS and Dr Reddy's Labs also rose between 0.85% and 1.53%.

On the flip side, Trent, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Nestle India, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Tata Consumer Products, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors and Larsen & Toubro were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,719 shares were advancing while 1,246 were declining on the NSE.