IT stocks gain on rupee fall

Information technologies (IT) stocks were in limelight today, gaining nearly three per cent, as the stronger the dollar boosts the sales of software firms in rupee terms.

Shares of Wipro rose by 2.03 per cent, while TCS gained 1.82 per cent and Infosys climbed 1.32 per cent on the BSE. HCL Tech went up by 2.83 per cent and Hexaware Technologies rose by 1.31 per cent.

Led by the gains in these stocks, the BSE IT index ended at 10,948.77, up 1.78 per cent. Washing out overnight gains, the rupee today closed 15 paise lower at 63.82 against the dollar on fresh demand for the greenback from importers amidst a firm American currency in the overseas market.

Fall in rupee versus the dollar is broadly seen as positive for export-focussed sectors like the Indian IT space. Analysts said large IT companies benefit from a weaker rupee, as it positively impacts their profit margins. Big IT companies earn a major chunk of their revenues in dollars from US clients.