Senesx rises; IT stocks drive gains

By Jessica Kuruthukulangara

REUTERS - Indian shares rose on Wednesday, as IT stocks such as Infosys Ltd and private lenders such as ICICI Bank Ltd rallied amid broader value buying in the market.

Sentiment remains buoyant as investors expect corporate results to improve, especially since numbers during the same period last year were impacted by a ban on high-value currency notes.

"Markets are hitting newer highs by the week, so people latch on to that opportunity. There is some stability in the market with a little bit of buying," said Hitesh Agarwal, EVP and Head - Retail Research, Religare Securities Ltd.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.27 percent at 10,729.00 as of 0555 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.29 percent higher at 34,873.21.

 

Infosys led gains on the Nifty, surging as much as 3.5 percent in its eighth session of gains. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd rose 2.6 percent to hit a record high.

The Nifty IT index climbed as much as 1.8 percent.

"Value-buying along with the sharp fall in the rupee yesterday is helping support IT stocks. Rupee weakening is always good for IT companies as they are exposed to the United States for revenues," Agarwal said.

Private lenders also rose, with ICICI Bank gaining as much as 3 percent and Axis Bank Ltd up 2 percent.

The Nifty private bank index rose 0.7 percent to notch up another peak this week.

Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd slid as much as 5.8 percent to its lowest level since April 21, 2016 after posting a 45 percent drop in December-quarter consolidated net profit.

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)