Indian bourses closed the week on Friday on an optimistic note. On January 16, benchmark BSE Sensex closed 0.23 per cent up at 83,570.35 (+187.64 points), and the NSE Nifty closed 0.11 per cent higher at 25,694.35 (+28.75 points), as retail investors pinned their hopes on continued good show in IT and state-owned bank earnings.
However, further surge was curtailed by the caution surrounding the fate of the US-India trade deals and persistent FII outflows. The rupee continued to depreciate, dropping 0.6 per cent to 90.865 versus the dollar around the close of the bourses. This was the worst single-day fall in the rupee in almost two months.
Infosys (+5.65%), Tech Mahindra (+5.17%), HCL Tech (+1.82%), and SBI (+1.36%) were the top gainers of the 30-pack Sensex. The major laggards were Zomato, Blinkit-parent Eternal (-3.89%), Asian Paints, BEL, and Sun Pharma.
Infosys stock gained after multiple market analysts posted a Buy rating, including HSBC, CLSA, Motilal Oswal, UBS, and Jefferies. The Bengaluru-headquartered IT major posted its Q3 results on Wednesday and raised its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to 3-3.5 per cent in constant currency growth from the earlier estimate of 2-3 per cent.
However, Infosys took a one-time hit of Rs 1,289 crore on the implementation of the new labour codes, pushing its Q3 consolidated profit down 2.2 per cent to Rs 6,654 crore.
Hopes for state-owned lenders prevailed, especially after recent earnings show by Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India.
Federal Bank on Friday also posted its Q3 results, with quarterly net profit lifting by 8.98 per cent to Rs 1,041 crore. The lender’s gross Non-Performing Assets (NPA) ratio shrank to 1.72 per cent vs 1.95 per cent a year ago, on lower bad loans.
As the bourses closed on Friday, the Sensex was up by 440 points and the Nifty by 162 points in the course of the week. On Saturday, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, YES Bank, UCO Bank, Punjab Sind Bank, and RBL Bank are expected to post their quarterly earnings.