Sensex off highs, up 150pts, Nifty holds 18,150; TaMo gains 2%

Equities started higher on Tuesday as firm global sentiment swept the domestic markets. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced over 300 points, or 0.5 per cent, to quote at 61,251 levels in early deals. The Nifty50, meanwhile, topped the 18,200-mark, rising 80 points or 0.5 per cent.

Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tech M, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Bajaj Finserv were the large-caps that lifted the frontline indices in early deals, even as Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Nestle India, and Sun Pharma tried to limit gains.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices surged up to 0.2 per cent.

Individually, Zensar Technologies surged 5 per cent after the company posted net profit of Rs. 76.5 crores for the period ended December 31, 2022 as against net profit of Rs. 56.8 crores for the period ended September 30, 2022. The company’s revenue, however dipped marginally to Rs 1,223.5 crore.

Those of Tata Communications, on the flipside, declined over 3 per cent as the company’s net slipped 7.3 per cent to Rs 208.95 crore in Q3FY23 from Rs 225.51 crore in Q3FY22. Total income, however, was up 12.5 per cent YoY at Rs 1,918.86 crore.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT and PSU Bank indices (up 0.5 per cent each) were the star performers, followed by Nifty Bank index (up 0.4 per cent). On the downside, the Nifty Realty index fell 0.2 per cent.

Q3 earnings today

Close to 80 companies are scheduled to report their December quarter results today including Cartrade Tech, Colgate Palmolive, HDFC AMC, Maruti Suzuki India, SBI Card, and TVS Motor Company.

India’s largest domestic passenger vehicle maker – Maruti Suzuki – may see sequential decline in net profit and revenue due to moderation in sales volume in Q3. The net profit is expected to increase up to 92 per cent YoY, but decline up to 7.7 per cent per cent QoQ, in the range of Rs 1,794.4 crore to Rs 1,940 crore.