Infy results help markets open higher

Infosys soars 13% in opening deals

Markets have opened firm this morning, piggybacking on a strong set of numbers from IT bellweather Infosys. The Sensex touched a high of 19,840 and is now up 112 points at 19,775. Nifty is up 21 points at 5,989.

Infosys has surged 11 % at Rs 2580. Around 1.8 million shares have been traded already in the first five minutes. India’s second largest IT services exporter, reported a flat consolidated net profit for the third quarter ending December, 2012. The company posted a net profit of Rs 2,369 crore as compared to Rs 2,372 crore in the previous quarter ending September 2012.

U.S. stocks logged a second straight day of gains Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh 5-year closing high. But investors are still cautious ahead of a slew of earnings reports next week. The Dow Jones jumped 81 points to 13471. Nasdaq was also up half a per cent.

In Asia, markets traded on a positive note, mirroring wall street. Nikkei went up 1% at 10,779. The European Central Bank meeting today to discuss and decide on the eurozone economic data is an important event that will further decide direction of the global bourses.

BSE IT index has surged 6% to 6,068. Infosys zoomed 13% to Rs 2,625. Wipro and TCS surged 3% each.

However, BSE FMCG index has slipped 1% to 5,755. Oil & gas, capital goods, power and bankex have shed 0.2-0.5% each.

IT shares are leading gains. Sterlite and Tata Steel are also in the green. On the other hand, ONGC has slipped 2% to Rs 296. ITC is down 1.7% at Rs 276. Among other losers are Tata Power and GAIL.

BSE market breadth is neutral. Out of 1,877 stocks traded, 919 shares have advanced while 887 shares have delcined in trades.