Indian stocks gain amid IT boost, hit record high in session

Indian shares edged up on Tuesday, with information technology shares driving most of the gains amid expectations of strong corporate earnings for the September quarter.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.4 per cent at 18,542, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.38 per cent to 61,997.66 by 0530 GMT. Earlier in the session, the NSE hit a record high of 18,604.45.

“Investors are focusing on positive events like the upcoming festival demand and earnings growth. Fundamentally, the support is coming from the monetary policy and slowdown in inflation,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

India’s central bank said on Monday policy support is needed for longer for a sustained recovery in Asia’s third largest economy from a coronavirus-induced slowdown, even as demand has picked up.

“There are expectations the second quarter numbers will be better than previous quarter,” Nair said.

The Nifty IT index (.NIFTYIT) rose 2.8 per cent and was the top gainer among the sub-indexes.

Shares of information technology services provider Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LRTI.NS) surged 14 per cent after reporting strong September-quarter results.

Consumer giant Hindustan Unilever is among a slew of companies that will report earnings later in the day.