SENSEX, NIFTY50 surge for second straight session led by gains in IT shares

The Indian equity benchmarks surged for a second straight session on Friday, October 16, as sentiment stable tracking a decline in crude oil and positive trend in other global markets. The SENSEX rose as much as 463 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,150 led by gains in index heavyweights like Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finance.

The SENSEX ended 414 points higher at 74,729 and NIFTY50 index advanced 149 points to close at 23,146.

Brent crude futures fell nearly 1% to $104.92 per barrel but were headed for weekly gains on uncertainty over Middle East supplies.

Asian markets ended higher on Friday as buying resumed in AI related stocks after a selloff in the previous session. Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.66%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.52% and South Korea's KOSPI index climbed 2.05%.

Back home, eight of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY IT index's 3.92% gain. NIFTY IT index rose for a fourth straight session and in the last four sessions, the measure has surged a whopping 12.6%.

IT stocks came under buying interest after HCL Technologies, TCS and Tech Mahindra posted better than anticipated September quarter earnings.

NIFTY Auto, Media, Metal, PSU Bank, Bank, Financial Services and Private Bank indices also closed higher.

On the other hand, realty, healthcare, consumer durables, oil & gas and pharma shares faced selling pressure.

Broader markets underperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.11% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index slipped 0.01%.

Among the individual shares, YES Bank shares fell for a second straight session after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the lender’s ₹8,415 crore Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) bond write-off raised fresh concerns over its capital position and future profitability.

Tech Mahindra was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 8.48% to close at ₹1,790 after its net profit in second quarter of current financial year advanced 33% to ₹1,585.6 crore as strong volume growth, cost savings and rupee depreciation lifted operating profit.

The company's board recommended a 1:1 bonus issue, under which shareholders will get one bonus share for every share held, as the company marks its 40th anniversary.

TCS, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, JSW Steel and Grasim Industries also rose between 1.2% and 4.9%.

On the flip side, IndiGo, BSE, Max Healthcare, Tata Consumer Products, Jio Financial Services, ONGC, Bharat Electronics, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Tata Steel and Shriram Finance were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.