SENSEX surges over 750 points, NIFTY50 trades above 25,800; here are key factors behind the rise

The Indian equity benchmarks were on track to post the best single-day gains of 2026 on Friday, January 16, with SENSEX rising as much as 752 points and the NIFTY50 index touching an intraday high of 25,873. The strong up move in the benchmarks came on the back of stronger than expected December quarter earnings reported by IT heavyweight Infosys post market hours on Wednesday.

Infosys, the country's second largest information technology (IT) company, was the biggest points contributor to the SENSEX as its stocks surged as much as 5.35% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,685.50 on Wednesday after raised its revenue growth guidance to 3%-3.5% for the current financial year from its earlier growth guidance of 2%-3%.

Infosys alone contributed over 250 points towards gain in the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

Infosys reported net profit of ₹6,654 crore in the third quarter of current financial year (Q3FY26), marking a decline of 2.2% from ₹6,806 crore in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, Infosys net profit declined 9.6% from ₹7,364 crore in the previous quarter.

The decline in profit came on the back of one-time adjustment of ₹1,289 crore for implementation of new labour codes which were announced by the government in November last year.

The Bengaluru-based company's revenue from operations jumped 9% annually to ₹45,479 crore from ₹41,764 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially its revenue rose 2.2% from ₹44,490 crore. In constant currency terms revenue rose 1.7% annually and 0.6% sequentially.

Gains in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Tech Mahindra also supported up move in Friday's session.

Global market update

Overnight, US markets climbed on Thursday, rebounding from back-to-back losses as chip and bank stocks rallied.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 292.81 points, or 0.60%, to 49,442.44, boosted by gains in Goldman Sachs and Nvidia. The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to 6,944.47, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.25% to 23,530.02.

Chip plays led the market after Taiwan Semiconductor delivered another record quarter, saying it expects to boost capital spending in 2026 to between $52 billion and $56 billion — an outlook signalling confidence in the artificial intelligence buildout from the world’s largest contract chipmaker. The stock jumped more than 4%, CNBC reported.

Sectoral landscape

Buying was visible across the board as 11 of fifteen major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the NIFTY IT index's 2.95% gain. NIFTY PSU Bank, Bank, Financial Services, Auto, Auto, Realty, Oil & Gas and Metal indices also rose between 0.3%-1.3%.

On the flipside, select media, pharma, healthcare and consumer durable shares were facing a mild selling pressure.

The broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.63% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.21%.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Infosys was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index. It was followed by Tech Mahindra, Shriram Finance, Wipro, TCS, Tata Motors PV and HCL Technologies.

On the other hand, Cipla, Eternal, Sun Pharma, HDFC Life and Bharat Electronics were among the top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,180 shares were advancing while 1,745 were declining on the BSE.