Sensex, Nifty hit record highs; TCS, Infosys, Wipro gain

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty on Friday hit a new high for the second consecutive day on hopes that further reforms by the government may attract more investment from foreign as well as domestic institutional investors. This is the fourth consecutive day of gains for the benchmark indices.

Investors also think that reforms will help narrow fiscal deficit.

In morning trade, the 30-share benchmark S&P BSE Sensex touched an all-time high of 27,581.68, up 0.86% or 235.35 points, while the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE’s) broader 50-share CNX Nifty hit a lifetime high of 8,241.50, up 0.89% or 72.3 points.

The gainers included Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), which rose 1.5% to Rs.2,597, Infosys Ltd, which added 1.5% to Rs.4,005 and Wipro Ltd, which advanced 1.2% to Rs.566.

Among the losers, Bharti Airtel Ltd fell 1.5% to Rs.401.50 as its Africa operations continued to be a source of worry for investors, Mint reported. For the quarter ended September, the company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of Rs.1,631 crore for the region, as much as 8% lower than estimates of a number of institutional brokerages. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) fell 0.8% to Rs.725.95.

Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, IT was the top gainer, up 1.4%, followed by Teck and capital goods which were up 1% each. Oil and gas was up 0.8%, while realty and healthcare were up 0.7% each. The metal, Bankex and power indices were up 0.6% each. Consumer durables was the top sectoral loser down, 1.7%.

Titan Co. Ltd fell 4.7% to Rs.400.20. The company’s reported net profit for the September quarter rose 28.6% to Rs.239.98 crore, helped by a one-time sales gain related to the closure of a gold buying scheme.

Thermax Ltd rose 5.7% to Rs.931.70 after the company got an order worth Rs.321 to build and commission a captive power plant in Africa.

At 9.58pm, the Sensex was trading higher by 0.81%, or 222.85 points, at 27,569.18 points, while the Nifty was trading up 0.80%, or 65.25 points, at 8,234.45 points.

On Thursday, the government announced austerity measures such as curbs on first class flights, foreign travel and hosting conferences, and a 10% cut in the non-plan expenditure amid rising expenses and declining revenue. These measures might help the government meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to economists.

On Thursday, Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service reversed its India outlook, saying it may upgrade the country’s sovereign rating if inflation stays under control in the long term and the recent measures to boost growth and attract investments are implemented properly.

Moody’s Investors Service Inc. said steps such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign, infrastructure initiatives, improvements on monetary policy framework, and banking sector reforms were all “incremental, rather than radical” measures.

But Moody’s said it wanted to see “sustained improvement” in the reform momentum for “over at least the next two years” to have an actual impact on India’s credit ratings.

Advanta Ltd, Gail India Ltd, IDBI Bank Ltd, ITC Ltd, JSW Energy Ltd, KEC International Ltd, Karnataka Bank Ltd, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, NMDC Ltd, NTPC Ltd, Power Finance Corp. Ltd, PVR Ltd, Sterlite Technologies Ltd, Suzlon Energy Ltd, Union Bank of India, and Whirlpool of India Ltd will announce their September quarter earnings on Friday.

Since the beginning of this year, the Sensex has gained 29.61%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $13.41 billion from local equity markets.

US markets ended higher after the economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter, ahead of analysts’ expectations as businesses became more willing to invest, reported Financial Times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.3%, S&P 500 advanced 0.6% and Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%.

Asian markets were trading higher following a rally in US equities after better-than-expected GDP growth supporting the Federal Reserve’s decision to end the quantitative easing programme. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.7%.