The BSE benchmark Sensex today rose by 176 points in early trade, mainly on the back of a rally in IT-sector stocks after Infosys posted “better-than-expected” third quarter earnings.

Besides, a firming trend in the global markets also buoyed the trading sentiment here. The 30-share index, which had lost nearly 80 points in the previous two sessions, rose by 176.25 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 19,839.80, with stocks of IT, technology, consumer durables and metal sectors leading the rise in early trade.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 50.20 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 6,018.85. Buying activity triggered after better-than-expected third quarter earnings by IT major Infosys, mainly influenced the trading sentiment, brokers said.

A better trend in the Asian region following overnight gains on US markets following stronger-than-expected Chinese trade data, boosting growth hopes for the world’s second- biggest economy, further generated buying by participants, they said.

Shares of Infosys climbed 12.43 per cent to Rs 2,609 in early trade, after the company reported consolidated profit for the October-December period at Rs 2,369 crore. In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up by 0.33 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei Index gained 1.03 per cent in the morning trade today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.60 per cent higher in yesterday’s trade.

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.1 percent. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan fell 0.2 percent.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday and the S&P 500 ended at a fresh five-year high as stronger-than-expected exports from China spurred optimism about global growth prospects.

RBI to release India forex reserves, bank loan data (1130 GMT) Infosys Ltd said on Friday its October-December consolidated net profit was 23.69 billion rupees, above consensus forecasts of 21.01 billion rupees.

India’s central bank raised concerns over states governments’ debt repayment capacity from fiscal year 2017/18 because of higher market borrowings and the recently announced bailout scheme for state-owned power companies.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram plans to meet investors in Asia and Europe this month in a drive to try and boost capital flows into Asia’s third-largest economy, four sources with direct knowledge of the plan said.

The 2013/14 budget is likely to have a package of measures to address concerns related to foreign taxation and transfer pricing. National Stock Exchange and Japan Exchange Group will seek to launch yen-denominated futures based on the Nifty index of Indian stocks, the bourse operators said on Thursday.

Lenders to Suzlon Energy Ltd are demanding the company raise equity of 50 billion rupees or sell its unit REpower before any loan restructuring as wary banks do not want a repeat of the Kingfisher fiasco, two people familiar with the development said.

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