Indian shares rose on Monday, lifted by upbeat earnings results, a stronger rupee and a sharp fall in crude prices over the weekend on global growth worries. Global cues were mixed, limiting the upside to some extent.
The benchmark BSE Sensex moved in the range of 18,601-18,809 before closing up 111 points or 0.59 percent at 18,793, while the broader Nifty index closed at 5,717, up 33 points or 0.58 percent from its previous close. Capital goods, healthcare, banking and IT stocks led the gainers, while FMCG, consumer durable, auto and metal stocks ended on a subdued note.
Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software services exporter, rose 2.3 percent on robust Q2 earnings. The company outperformed its peers once again, posting a 49 percent year-on-year growth in second-quarter net profit, driven by growth across geographies. Rival Infosys edged up marginally, while Wipro slid 0.3 percent.
Bajaj Auto gained 0.6 percent after the two-wheeler manufacturer posted a better-than-expected 2 percent rise in quarterly profit and said it expects a strong volume growth during the ongoing festive season. Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 1.2 percent, but Maruti Suzuki edged down marginally, Tata Motors slipped 0.3 percent and Hero MotoCorp declined 1.7 percent.
Shares of Larsen & Toubro rallied 2.3 percent after the engineering & construction giant beat forecasts with a 42 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by an exceptional gain and higher revenue booking.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.3 percent after the drug maker decided to buy the entire equity holding of Netherlands-based OctoPlus NV, a specialty pharmaceutical company, for about 27.4 million euros in an all cash deal.
Lumax Auto Technologies rallied 2.6 percent as it unveiled plans to set up a Greenfield project in Bangalore for the supply of automotive parts to Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India.
ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector lender, gained 1.8 percent ahead of its quarterly results due later this week and HDFC Bank also added 1.8 percent, but shares of state-run SBI fell 0.7 percent. Mortgage lender HDFC lost half a percent after reporting a 19 percent increase in quarterly profit, in line with expectations.
Telecom stocks turned in a mixed performance due to lingering worries over a possible decision on the contentious spectrum re-farming issue. Bharti Airtel rose 1.9 percent, while Idea Cellular lost a percent and Rcom edged down 0.2 percent.
Rain Commodities plunged 6.5 percent after its arm Rain CII Carbon LLC agreed to buy Rutgers N.V., a Belgium-headquartered coal tar pitch manufacturer for an enterprise value of 702 million euros.
Kingfisher Airlines hit the 10 percent lower circuit limit once again after the Director General Civil Aviation suspended the flying license of the beleaguered airline.
Bank of Baroda lost 2.1 percent after the state-owned lender reported a 12 percent rise in quarterly profit. Syndicate Profit retreated 2.3 percent after the lender posted a 43 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by tax reversal of Rs 100 crore received in the quarter.
On the global front, other Asian markets turned in a mixed performance, weighed down by worries about the pace of global growth and disagreements between EU leaders over how to resolve the region's debt crisis.
Official data released today showed that Japan's exports to China fell sharply in September from a year earlier, highlighting the effects of the ongoing territorial dispute between Asia's two largest economies. European stocks swung between gains and losses in reaction to the release of some positive earnings and mixed poll results in Spain's turbulent Basque region and in northwestern Galicia.
