The Sensex has rebounded more than 400 points from the lows of the day due to strength in index heavyweights such as TCS and Reliance Industries, and trimming of losses among the information technology stocks. At 12:20 pm, the Sensex recovered 416 points from intra-day lows and was trading at 49,598.35, higher by 100.93 points or 0.20 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 14,585.80, up 20 points or 0.15 per cent. The broader markets were also moving in tandem, with the BSE Midcap index gaining 0.2 per cent at 19,128.28 and BSE Midcap index adding 0.16 per cent at 18,881.46.
On the earnings front, Infosys reported a 16.6 per cent rise in the October-December quarter profit and raised its annual revenue growth forecast, in results announcement post market hours on Wednesday. The Bengaluru-based company’s consolidated net profit climbed to Rs 5,197 crore from Rs 4,457 crore a year earlier, beating street estimates.
Wipro reported nearly 21 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,967 crore for the quarter ended December. Revenue rose 1.3 per cent to Rs 15,670 crore. In dollar terms, the revenues grew 3.9 per cent to $2.07 billion from the preceding three months.
UPL, IndusInd Bank, GAIL and Britannia had gained 1.1 to 4.1 per cent each to top the gainer’s list on the BSE. Index bellweather stocks such as TCS, Reliance Industries and L&T were the other significant gainers among BSE stocks.
On the other hand, select information technology stocks continued to trade in the red, albeit off the lows of the day, post the results announcements by Infosys and Wipro. HCL Tech, which is due to announce its December quarter numbers on Friday, shed 2.7 per cent at Rs 1,028 on the BSE, while Infosys and Wipro lost around 1 per cent each post their Q3 numbers. Infosys had corrected by more than 5 per cent and Wipro had shaved off over 6 per cent in early trading. Tech Mahindra was also trading lower by more than 1 per cent on the BSE.