Sensex, Nifty bounce back after 3-day fall on easing inflation; metal, IT shares shine

Benchmark Sensex and Nifty bounced back on Friday after a three-day decline following buying in index major Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services amid a firm trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 303.15 points or 0.51% to settle at 60,261.18. During the day, it jumped 460.23 points or 0.76% to 60,418.26.

The broader NSE Nifty rose by 98.40 points or 0.55% to end at 17,956.60.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank and Maruti were among the major winners.

Titan, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, ITC and Asian Paints were among the major laggards.

HCL Technologies and Infosys recovered from early losses to end in green.

Infosys on Thursday reported a better-than-expected 13.4% rise in profit for the December quarter and raised its annual sales forecast on a strong deal pipeline even as it warned of “constraints” in certain verticals amid slowing global economy.

HCL Tech reported a 19% increase in the consolidated net income to ₹4,096 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022, driven by growth in services revenue.

“Easing inflation and brighter Q3 numbers projected by the second set of IT majors are outweighing the cautiousness of the market. CPI in India and U.S. cooled off, thereby bolstering expectations of a less aggressive policy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green, while Tokyo settled lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading higher in mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended in the positive territory on Thursday.

In a double delight, retail inflation in December eased to a one-year low of 5.72% – staying below the upper tolerance limit for two months in a row, while factory output in November rose sharply to 7.1% on the back of healthy growth in manufacturing.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.38% to $84.35 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth ₹1,662.63 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.