INDIA STOCKS — Indian shares recover from muted start; IT leads gains
(Updates for morning trade) By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M Oct 16 (Reuters) — Indian shares recovered from a muted start on Friday, led by IT firms after Tech Mahindra's upbeat quarterly earnings, while concerns over persistently high oil prices as well as US inflation kept a lid on gains. On Friday, the Nifty 50 rose 0.62% to 23,140.75, while the BSE Sensex edged 0.58% higher to 74,744.79 as of 10:30 a.m. IST. They logged their biggest single-session jump in four months in the previous session on a selloff in the global AI trade as domestic stocks benefited from value buying and on earnings-driven moves. "Markets are witnessing a sharp rebound, supported by a resurgence in IT stocks following strong quarterly results, even as other Asian markets plunged on a sell-off in AI-linked stocks," said Ankur Punj, managing director of Equirus Wealth. Higher crude prices and rising US producer prices are keeping global risk sentiment cautious, while domestic investors monitored a steady flow of quarterly earnings in an increasingly stock-specific market, two analysts said. Brent crude hovered around $105 per barrel on Friday. Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader
(Updates for morning trade) By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M Oct 16 (Reuters) — Indian shares recovered from a muted start on Friday, led by IT firms after Tech Mahindra's upbeat quarterly earnings, while concerns over persistently high oil prices as well as US inflation kept a lid on gains. On Friday, the Nifty 50 rose 0.62% to 23,140.75, while the BSE Sensex edged 0.58% higher to 74,744.79 as of 10:30 a.m. IST. They logged their biggest single-session jump in four months in the previous session on a selloff in the global AI trade as domestic stocks benefited from value buying and on earnings-driven moves.
"Markets are witnessing a sharp rebound, supported by a resurgence in IT stocks following strong quarterly results, even as other Asian markets plunged on a sell-off in AI-linked stocks," said Ankur Punj, managing director of Equirus Wealth. Higher crude prices and rising US producer prices are keeping global risk sentiment cautious, while domestic investors monitored a steady flow of quarterly earnings in an increasingly stock-specific market, two analysts said. Brent crude hovered around $105 per barrel on Friday. Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged gains.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps, which declined in the early session, traded flat. The IT index jumped 3%, led by 7.1% rise in Tech Mahindra after the software company beat second-quarter revenue expectations, aided by robust deal wins. Wipro gained 5.7% after the IT firm posted a September quarter revenue beat and on signs that delayed large deals could support growth in the coming quarters. Persistent Systems fell 3%.
The firm's operating profit margins for the second-quarter "surprised negatively, due to higher amortisation costs," said Investec analysts, retaining "sell" rating. Reliance fell 0.3% after climbing 3.4% in the previous session, after Jio Platforms IPO pricing announcement. HDFC Life fell 2% despite quarterly profit rise, with some brokerages flagging that the subdued near-term outlook due to the proposed distribution reforms overpowered the in-line September quarter earnings. (Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman) ((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;)