IT stocks hogged the limelight on Tuesday even as the domestic equity indices ended the day lower for the second consecutive trading session tracking losses in the Asian markets. Defying weak market sentiments, IT stocks surged higher after Infosys Technologies gave a higher earnings guidance in dollar terms while announcing its March quarter results. The BSE IT Index rose over 3% in a weak market which saw the BSE Sensex ending the day lower by 31 points, or 0.17%, at 17,822 points.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty ended the trading session at 5,323, down 0.31%, or 17 points.
Infosys shares gained 3.69% or Rs 99 on BSE, while TCS and Wipro climbed 2.80% and 2.45% respectively, to remain the top gainers among the Sensex constituents. Mirae Asset Global head-equity Gopal Agarwal said that the markets are trying to consolidate at these higher levels and need a strong trigger to climb further. ?Going forward, the domestic market will be watching closely the current earnings season for a potential earnings upgrade for the year ending March 2011. Further it will also take cues from RBI’s borrowing policy and the 3G auction programme to assess whether it will help government meets its target and reduce its high fiscal deficit,” he said.
Despite markets closing with minimal losses, foreign institutional investors (FII) continued to buy in the Indian market. According to the provisional figures furnished by the BSE, FIIs were net buyers at over Rs 120 crore on Tuesday.
Most Asian markets ended the day in red as investors booked profit after the recent surge in the markets. Among the BSE sectoral indices only, IT, Teck and Power sector ended the day in green while remaining closed with losses.
