Markets rally on IT Stock gains; rupee remains flat against dollar

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Equity benchmark indices rose in early trading on Friday, supported by buying in IT companies following Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) June quarter earnings report. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 226.11 points to 80,123.45, while the NSE Nifty advanced 82.1 points to 24,398.05.

TCS shares rose over 2 per cent as the IT company reported an 8.7 per cent increase in net profit for the June quarter, reaching Rs 12,040 crore. Other notable gainers included Infosys, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies. In contrast, Maruti, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, and ITC were among the laggards, reported PTI.

"The positive domestic cue is the better-than-expected numbers from TCS and positive management commentary, which can lift most IT stocks," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist of Geojit Financial Services per the agency report.

According to the PTI report, in Asian markets, Hong Kong rose, while Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai fell. On Thursday, US markets ended mainly lower. Brent crude, the global oil standard, gained 0.25 per cent to USD 85.59 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold securities worth Rs 1,137.01 crore on Thursday, per exchange data. Despite early advances, the BSE benchmark closed 27.43 points lower at 79,897.34, while the NSE Nifty dropped 8.50 points to 24,315.95.

Rupee Trades Flat

The rupee was unchanged at 83.53 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, despite rising crude oil prices and gains in domestic markets. The rupee opened flat at 83.53 on the interbank foreign currency market, moving in a narrow range of 83.50 to 83.54 in morning trade. By 9:35 a.m., the rupee stayed stable at 83.53 against the US dollar, stated another report by PTI.

According to the report, forex traders remarked that the impact of higher crude oil prices was offset by overnight losses in the US dollar index and early gains in domestic equity markets. The US dollar index fell on Thursday as lower US inflation statistics raised the prospect of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in September. Meanwhile, the dollar index traded at 0.05 per cent lower at 104.49.