IT powers Indian shares to weekly gains; Reliance, bank earnings eyed
- Nifty 50 rose 1.09% to 24,334.30 and the BSE Sensex added 1.25% to 78,151.45
Indian benchmarks rose on Friday, led by IT and financial stocks after upbeat results from Tech Mahindra and Jio Financial, swinging to weekly gains despite trading in their narrowest range of 2026.
The benchmark Nifty 50 rose 1.09% to 24,334.30 and the BSE Sensex added 1.25% to 78,151.45. Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries gained 2.4% ahead of its June quarter earnings, due after markets close.
Reliance said its promoter group raised its stake to 50.48% in June quarter from 50%.
Financials rose 1.3%. Jio Financial jumped 3.1% after quarterly profit beat, while top private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank added 1.4% and 1.8%, ahead of their results over the weekend, with pre-quarterly updates signalling positive earnings outlook.
IT index rose 1.8%, led by a 4.1% jump in Tech Mahindra after quarterly revenue beat.
IT stocks added 4.3% this week, helped by revenue growth from TCS and HCLTech and soft U.S. inflation. TCS gained 9.7%, its best week in about six years.
The session’s gains powered the benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex 0.5% and 0.8% higher this week.
The Nifty’s 368-point band between 24,000 and 24,368 marked its tightest weekly range in 2026, underscoring consolidation.
Brent crude rose 1.8% to $86 a barrel on Friday, adding 12.5% this week on intensifying U.S.-Iran hostilities.
“Despite renewed Middle East tensions, markets held firm this week, helped by modest June-quarter revenue gains at IT firms and as softer U.S. inflation eased rate-hike worries, sparking bottom-fishing after the sector’s sharp 23% year-to-date slide,” said Raghvendra Nath, managing director at Ladderup Asset Managers.
“The consolidation also reflects investor caution ahead of key earnings due today and over the weekend, while the monsoon deficit keeps rural inflation and growth concerns alive.”
Nine of the 16 major sectors logged weekly gains. The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 0.6% and 1%, respectively, snapping their weekly winning streaks.