All the 13 major sectoral indices were up on Thursday, helped by a 2% rise in heavyweight information technology stocks . IT companies get a significant share of their revenues from clients in the United States.
"Plenty of investors are looking to increase allocations to IT because these stocks will become expensive and too late to enter when the rate hike cycle reaches its fag end," Aishvarya Dadheech, director and fund manager at Ambit Asset Management. The signs of improving stability in the U.S. economy have improved the outlook for the information technology sector, two analysts said. Metals rose 1%, while the oil and gas index rose 0.5% after the government cut its windfall tax on crude oil and exports of aviation turbine fuel and diesel in its fortnightly revision. Reliance Industries , the highest weighted stock on the Nifty 50 index, gained over 1%.
Foreign institutional investors extended their buying streak in Indian equities for the fourth session on Wednesday. Over the past four sessions, FIIs have bought a net 45.17 billion rupees ($546.24 million), reversing an extended selling trend earlier in the year.
Apollo Hospitals jumped 4% after the company's finance chief told Reuters the company is planning to make its online pharmacy business profitable by the end of the next financial year. The stock was among the top gainers on the Nifty 50. Interglobe Aviation shed over 4% on a report of a stake sale plan by the co-founder's wife. ($1 = 82.6920 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Eileen Soreng)
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