The Indian stock market witnessed a strong rally on Tuesday, as the Sensex surged 600 points and the Nifty reclaimed the 19,600 level. The market sentiment was boosted by positive global cues, as the US Federal Reserve signaled a cautious approach to tapering its bond-buying program and inflation worries eased. The Asian markets also traded higher, following the gains on Wall Street overnight.
The Sensex closed at 58,723.20, up 599.64 points or 1.03%, while the Nifty settled at 19,608.05, up 165.10 points or 0.85%. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with the Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Realty leading the gains. The Nifty Bank index jumped 2.23%, as IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were among the top performers. The Nifty Financial Services index rose 1.97%, as Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC contributed to the rally. The Nifty Realty index soared 3.37%, as Godrej Properties, DLF and Oberoi Realty were in high demand.
Earnings season kicks off with TCS
The second-quarter earnings season kicked off with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reporting its results after market hours on Monday. The IT giant posted a 16.8% year-on-year growth in net profit at Rs 9,624 crore, beating analysts’ estimates. The revenue grew 18.2% year-on-year to Rs 45,896 crore, while the operating margin expanded to 26.8% from 26.6% in the previous quarter.
The TCS stock rose 1.15% to Rs 3,635.45 on Tuesday, as investors cheered the strong performance and outlook of the company. The management said that it expects to sustain the double-digit revenue growth momentum in the medium term, driven by robust demand across geographies and verticals. The company also announced a dividend of Rs 7 per share.
The other IT majors Infosys and HCL Technologies will report their results on Wednesday, while Wipro will announce its earnings on Thursday.
Zomato shares zoom after stellar debut
Zomato, the online food delivery platform, made a stellar debut on the stock market on Tuesday, as its shares zoomed over 65% from the issue price of Rs 76. The stock listed at Rs 115 on the BSE and Rs 116 on the NSE, a premium of over 51%. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 138.90 on the BSE and Rs 138 on the NSE, before closing at Rs 125.85 and Rs 125.30 respectively.
The Zomato IPO was a huge success, as it was subscribed over 38 times by investors across categories. The company raised Rs 9,375 crore through the public issue, making it the second-largest IPO in India after Coal India’s Rs 15,200 crore offer in 2010. Zomato is also the first Indian unicorn to go public, paving the way for other startups to tap the capital market.
Zomato’s market capitalization stood at Rs 98,733 crore at the end of Tuesday’s trade, making it more valuable than some of the established companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindalco.
