Infosys Profit Beat Powers Sensex, Nifty To Close At Record Highs

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes closed at record highs on Monday powered by surge in Infosys which rose after beating profit estimates in December quarter on Friday. The Sensex surged as much as 300 points to hit a record high of 41,899.63 and Nifty 50 index surged 81 points to hit an all-time high of 12,337.75. Infosys surged as much as 5.3 per cent after its net profit which came in at Rs 4,457 crore surpassed average analysts' estimate of Rs 4,206 crore, according to Refinitiv data, news agency Reuters reported.

The Sensex rose 260 points or 0.62 per cent to close at an all-time high of 41,860 and Nifty 50 index advanced 73 points or 0.6 per cent to end at record high of 12,330.

The Bengaluru-based IT services company also raised its revenue guidance in constant currency terms for the ongoing financial year to range of 10-10.5 per cent from 9-10 per cent guided earlier. The results were declared after market hours on Friday.

In a related development, Infosys' audit committee absolved its CEO Salil Parekh from charges of financial impropriety and executive misconduct that were alleged by an anonymous whistleblower complaint.

Surge in Infosys shares contributed over 100 points towards gain in the Sensex.

All the 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Realty index's 2.1 per cent gain. Nifty IT, FMCG, Metal and Media indexes also rose between 0.8-1.7 per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.8 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced nearly 1 per cent.

Infosys was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 4.65 per cent to close at Rs 772.50. IndusInd Bank, Coal India, GAIL India, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Britannia Industries, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Yes Bank, UPL, Bharti Infratel, TCS, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Adani Ports were among the laggards.