Market Hits New High on Robust Tax Data

Mumbai: Market rallied more than one per cent on better than expected  earnings by IT companies Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys as well as a stronger rupee and robust direct tax collection data.

The Sensex closed 1.18 per cent or 847.27 points up at 72,568.45 while Nifty-50 gained 247.35 points or 1.14 per cent to close at 21,894.55.

The Nifty-50 index made a new high of 21,928, the Sensex also made a new  high of 72,720.96.

However, the rally in the broader market lagged far behind with BSE mid-cap index up 0.36 per cent and BSE small-cap index 0.41 per cent.

“A sharp rally in IT stocks coupled with rupee slipping below 83-mark propelled the benchmark indices to fresh highs even as both TCS and Infosys reported muted Q3 earnings. The earnings were mostly in line with expectations considering weak IT spending by major global clients in view of challenging macro headwinds,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (rese-arch), Mehta Equities.

“Investors are hoping that likely rate cuts by the Fed later this year would improve the scenario for the IT sector,” said Tapse.

Infosys gained over 8 per cent intraday, while TCS gained more than 4 per cent on intraday.

“In the coming week the market will take cues from Q3 results and inflation data. Apart from big companies  several midcap comapnies to announce their Q3 results next week,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.