INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares rise, led by IT gains after strong HCLTech earnings

By Reuters News
A man walks past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

By Vivek Kumar M

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Indian equities rose in early trade on Tuesday, as better-than-expected earnings from software exporter HCLTech spurred investors to pick up beaten-down IT stocks with the central bank's support for the domestic currency also easing sentiment.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI and the BSE Sensex .BSESN rose 0.9% each to 22,562.1 and 72,564.62, respectively, as of 10:16 a.m. IST. The Indian rupee extended its recovery to 95.25 per dollar after the Reserve Bank of India announced more measures to alleviate ‌pressure on the currency.

Information technology stocks .NIFTYIT gained 3.4%, led by HCLTech's 5.4% jump on strong quarterly results, supported by an improvement in profitability metrics.

India's largest IT company Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, which reported its quarterly earnings on Thursday, also jumped 5.4%.

"The quarterly numbers reported by Accenture, TCS, and HCLTech indicate that the worst of earnings growth concerns for IT companies might be behind us. This is triggering a value buying opportunity in the sector," said Dharmesh Kant, head of equity research at Cholamandalam Securities.

The Nifty IT index is down 23% year-to-date due to moderating earnings growth amid AI disruption to traditional software services business.

Meanwhile, reports emerged of rapid tech advances by Chinese chip firm ChangXin Memory Technologies, leading to a global sell-off in chipmakers. The tech-heavy South Korean KOSPI .KS11 slid 6%, dragging an index of Asian stocks excluding Japan .MISX00000PUS down more than 2%. MKTS/GLOB

Back home, investors are keenly watching the central bank's rate hike trajectory, after India's retail inflation accelerated to a higher-than-expected 5.54% in September.

While Brent crude futures were down over 1% on the day, prices have persistently stayed above the $100 per barrel level, fanning inflation worries amid a weak monsoon.

Fourteen of the 16 major sub-indexes rose. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 were down 0.7%, after a 1.4% jump in the previous session, while mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 rose 0.4%.

Bandhan Bank BANH.NS jumped 7.7% after The Economic Times reported that Abu Dhabi funds were among those in early stages of discussion to buy a stake in promoter Bandhan Financial Services.

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