Indian shares end at one-week high as IT, metal stocks climb

BENGALURU: Indian shares climbed on Thursday to a one-week closing high, as gains in IT and metal companies after strong earnings reports eclipsed worries over record spikes in daily coronavirus cases.

The NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.73% higher at 14,724.8 and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.56% to 48,949.76, their highest close since April 29, after struggling to make headway earlier in the session.

India reported more than 400,000 coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, taking the total tally past 21 million, while deaths rose by a record 3,980, health ministry data showed.

The surge in infections has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, forced state lockdowns, and prompted several economists to cut gross domestic product projections, but the stock market is focused on corporate earnings amid abundant liquidity, analysts say.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said in a note that IT, pharmaceuticals, metals and telecom shares were likely to remain resilient under "difficult times".

Tata Steel climbed 2.9% to a record close after beating quarterly profit estimates. Hindalco Industries jumped 5.1% and the Nifty Metal index climbed 2.5%, helped by strong metal prices.

IT solutions firm Coforge soared 17.4% to an all-time peak after reporting a rise in quarterly profit and issuing strong outlook for the full year. The Nifty IT Index closed up 1.8%, with IT major Wipro advancing 4.4%.

Angel Broking jumped to its 20% upper limit after the stockbroker reported a surge in profit.

Top shadow lender HDFC Ltd was the biggest boost to the Nifty 50, closing 2.2% higher.

State-run lender IDBI Bank ended up 6.9% after the government on Wednesday approved a stake sale.

Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp climbed 4.5% ahead of its quarterly results, while rival Bajaj Auto rose 2.5%.