India’s Nifty 50 crosses 22,000 to hit record high, Wipro leads tech rally

Investing.com-- India’s Nifty 50 index hit record highs on Monday, breaching the 22,000 level as index heavyweight Wipro (NYSE:WIT) led a rally in technology stocks on stronger-than-expected earnings.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.6% to 22,021 points, while the BSE Sensex 30 index rose 0.7% to a record high of 73,095.56 points by 10:28 AM IST (04:58 GMT).

Technology stocks were the biggest boost to both indexes, led chiefly by Wipro Ltd (NS:WIPR) after the firm clocked stronger-than-expected earnings in the December quarter. Wipro jumped about 6% and was the top performer on the Nifty.

Other tech majors also advanced, with HCL Technologies Ltd (NS:HCLT), Tech Mahindra Ltd (NS:TEML), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (NS:TCS) and Infosys Ltd (NS:INFY) rising between 0.9% and 2.5%. Infosys and TCS had clocked better-than-feared earnings last week, while HCL’s quarterly profit also beat expectations.

Tech Mahindra is set to report its quarterly earnings on January 24.

Strong tech earnings set a positive tone for the December-quarter earnings season, while sentiment towards India was also aided by a softer-than-expected reading on consumer price index inflation on Friday.

Strength in tech stocks helped the Nifty extend a stellar rally from 2023, as investors piled into the Indian market on growing optimism over strong economic growth in the country. The Nifty grew 20% in 2023 and was among the best-performing global stock indexes.

A bulk of the Nifty’s recent outperformance was also linked chiefly to India’s economic growth rate, which is the fastest among major global economies. Gross domestic product grew 7% in the third quarter of 2023, with annual GDP also forecast to grow by a similar margin.

Private consumption and a strong services sector have been the two key drivers of the Indian economy in recent years- a trend that has also attracted a heavy dose of foreign buying into local markets.

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