SENSEX, NIFTY edge higher; NIFTY IT index surges 3% led by Coforge's over 9% gain

The Indian equity benchmarks edged higher on Tuesday, July 28, defying weak cues from Asian markets powered by gains in information technology (IT) shares after Coforge surprised the Street by announcing better-than-anticipated June quarter earnings. Softening crude prices in global markets also added to the positive sentiment ahead of monthly expiry of July futures and option contracts.

The SENSEX rose as much as 153 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,041 led by gains in Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, ITC, Eternal and Larsen & Toubro.

As of 9:27 am, the SENSEX was up 46 points at 76,881 and NIFTY50 index advanced 6 points to 24,001.

Asian markets were trading sharply lower as a selloff in chipmakers deepened after investors grew cautious about intensifying competition from China and sharp decline in SK Hynix's US listed shares.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 4.5%, South Korea's KOSPI dropped 9.4%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.12%.

Brent crude futures fell as much as 1.5% to an intraday low of $84.58 after reports suggested that mediators achieved progress in getting the US and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said on Monday, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions.

Back home, eight of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading lower led by the NIFTY PSU Bank index's 0.8% fall. NIFTY Bank, Metal, Private Bank, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, and Auto indices also fell between 0.3% and 0.6%.

On the other hand, NIFTY IT index surged 3% after Coforge's management said, "Our Q1 performance, with 21.1% sequential growth and 33.3% YoY growth in US dollar terms, reflects the strength of our differentiated capabilities and an execution intensity that is uniquely our own. The confluence of our next twelve-month signed order book of $2.23 billion, an exceptionally strong large deal pipeline, and differentiated capabilities with 86% of our revenues coming from AI-led engineering, data, and cloud services has set us up to be the industry growth leader for the third year running."

FMCG, pharma, realty and healthcare shares were also witnessing buying interest.

Broader markets were trading on a subdued note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index was trading on a flat note while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index declined 0.3%.

Among the individual shares, Coforge jumped as much as 9.34% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,670 after the company said that 86% of its revenues are coming from AI-led engineering, data, and cloud services.

TCS was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 3.3% to ₹2,371. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Cipla, HCL Technologies, Nestle, Eternal, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro also rose between 1% and 3%.

On the flip side, Bharat Electronics was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.6% to ₹393 after its first quarter earnings failed to impress investors.

Coal India, NTPC, Power Grid, Tata Motors PV, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,747 shares were declining while 1,062 were advancing on the NSE.