Indian equity benchmarks closed higher on Tuesday, led by strong gains in information technology stocks. The Sensex rose 454 points or 0.63% to end at 72,186, while the Nifty settled 157 points or 0.72% higher at 21,929.
The rally was driven by buying in IT majors like HCL Technologies, TCS, Infosys and Wipro. HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping 4.40%. TCS, Infosys and Wipro climbed 3.93%, 2.45% and 2.06% respectively.
Gains in Reliance Industries, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Titan and Mahindra & Mahindra also supported the indices. On the flipside, Power Grid, Britannia, IndusInd Bank and Grasim were among the laggards.
Sectorally, the Nifty IT index rallied nearly 3%, making it the best performing sectoral index for the day. Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil & Gas also closed higher by over 1% each. However, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services settled with cuts.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose around 0.7% each.
Globally, Asian markets ended mixed as investors assessed the outlook for interest rates and China’s recovery. European stocks were trading higher in early deals.
Meanwhile, Paytm shares settled 3.26% higher at Rs 453 after the company’s loan disbursals in January 2023 climbed 150% year-on-year to Rs 3,665 crore.
Yes Bank jumped 11.62% to Rs 25 after the private lender posted a net profit of Rs 153 crore in the December quarter compared to a loss of Rs 148 crore last year.
Bharti Airtel closed 3.89% higher at Rs 742 after reporting a 91% surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,588 crore for the third quarter ended December 2022.
Overall, market breadth favoured advances with 2,305 stocks closing higher against 1,027 declines on the BSE.