Sensex rises as weak rupee boosts IT stocks

Reuters 

By Krishna V Kurup

The Indian rupee hit a record low of 69.13 per dollar in early trade, tracking weakness in the yuan with traders monitoring the domestic stock market for further direction.

A weaker rupee could translate into higher returns from the U.S. market, the biggest source of revenue for companies.

Meanwhile, traders took a cautious stance amid talks that the could step in to prevent a further decline in the currency.

A no-confidence motion is currently underway in parliament against

The broader Nifty was up 0.57 percent at 11,019.15, as of 0648 GMT, while the benchmark climbed 0.55 percent to 36,551.05.

"There is a lot of nervousness around the no-confidence motion. It will, most likely, not get passed and the government will sail through. Nonetheless, any political instability impacts market sentiment in the near term," said Siddhartha Khemka, of Retail Research,

"Focus will continue to be on the large caps," he said.

stocks accounted for nearly half the gains on the indexes, with Nifty IT index rising up to 1.9 percent. Infosys, which gained as much as 3.8 percent, was the top performer on both indexes, while HCL climbed up to 2 percent.

Ltd, which is due to report its first-quarter results later in the day, inched up 0.2 percent.

firm Ltd, which was the top percentage gainer on the index, rose to an all-time high. Brokerage Jefferies raised the stock's price target, saying core fundamentals of the company are intact.

Ltd hit a record high, after the Bajaj Group-owned asset & wealth management firm posted a 41 percent surge in its first-quarter profit on Thursday.

(Reporting by in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, July 20 2018. 12:35 IST