India Stocks Soar on Infosys Earnings, Global Sentiment

Sensex, India’s leading stock index, jumped 422 points Wednesday after software services giant Infosys released strong 1st quarter earnings. The 2.6% gain sent the 30-share index to 16,958.39, the highest closing since September 9.

Nifty, India’s broad-based National Stock Exchange index, soared 125.05 points, or 2.51 percent to 5,099.40. Investor sentiment was also boosted by rising markets in Europe and Asia though domestic output rose a bit less than projected.

Infosys, the Sensex’s second heaviest weighted component, soared 6.83 percent to its highest level since the beginning of August on an earnings rise of 9.7 percent on year. The results were a relief for a market that had been anxious about the impact of the global economic uncertainty.

Infosys’s rivals Tata Consultancy rose 3.66 percent and Wipro was up 2.71 per cent on hopes that global business sentiment was improving.

State Bank of India surged 6.07 percent while number two lender ICICI Bank gained 3.24 per cent.

Twenty-seven of the 30 stock comprising the Sensex posted gains, with the leading refinery component Reliance Industries rising 2.86 percent.