Sensex, Nifty hit record high on buying in IT stocks after TCS earnings

Mumbai, July 12 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty hit their fresh record high levels on Friday amid heavy buying in IT stocks after TCS announced its June quarter earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 996.17 points to hit all-time high of 80,893.51. The NSE Nifty jumped 276.25 points to a new lifetime peak of 24,592.20.

Among the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services climbed nearly 6 per cent after the country's largest IT services player reported 8.7 per cent growth for the June quarter net profit at Rs 12,040 crore.

Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the other major gainers.

Maruti, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and ITC were among the laggards.

"The positive domestic cue is the better-than-expected numbers from TCS and positive management commentary which can lift most IT stocks," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted higher while Seoul and Tokyo traded lower.

US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.59 per cent to USD 85.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,137.01 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Retreating from early highs, the BSE benchmark closed lower by 27.43 points or 0.03 per cent at 79,897.34 on Thursday. The NSE Nifty edged down 8.50 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 24,315.95.