IT stocks lift Sensex 414 points, Nifty ends above 23,100 as Tech Mahindra jumps 8%

Indian shares rose for a second straight session on Friday as information technology stocks rallied on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results.

The BSE Sensex closed 413.66 points, or 0.56 per cent, higher at 74,729.27. The NSE Nifty 50 gained 148.80 points, or 0.65 per cent, to end at 23,146.15. The gains followed a much larger rebound on Thursday, when the Sensex climbed more than 1,500 points.

Technology leads

Tech Mahindra was the biggest gainer among benchmark stocks, rising about 8.5 per cent after reporting a jump of nearly 33 per cent in September-quarter consolidated net profit to about Rs 1,586 crore. TCS and Infosys each gained close to 5 per cent, and the Nifty IT index rose about 4 per cent. Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the top gainers.

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, was among the main laggards. FMCG, oil and gas and pharmaceutical stocks also ended lower.

Market analysts quoted by the Free Press Journal said strong IT earnings and encouraging management commentary drove buying, with positive Asian and European markets adding support.

Narrow rally

The advance was led by large companies, with mid-cap and small-cap indices broadly flat, according to HDFC Sky's market report.

Investors also welcomed a change by market regulator SEBI, which dropped a proposed closing-auction method for settling expiring derivatives. Settlement will instead use the volume-weighted average price from the final 30 minutes of regular trading.

HDFC Sky's report also pointed to lower US Treasury yields, which eased pressure on riskier assets, and said the session extended Thursday's recovery from a global sell-off in AI-linked technology shares.

Risks remain

Brent crude remained above $105 a barrel, a concern for India's import bill and inflation.

Investors will next watch more September-quarter earnings, global bond yields and oil prices when trading resumes on Monday. For retail investors, the session was a reminder that index gains can mask uneven performance, with a handful of heavyweight technology stocks doing most of the lifting.