Indian shares snapped a 4-day losing streak and rose 0.5 percent on Wednesday as export-led outsourcers Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies hit all-time highs on improving prospects. Expectations for robust quarterly earnings helped pull up metals such as aluminium maker Hindalco that gained 2.6 percent and Tata Steel, the world's eighth-largest steel maker, which rose 2.2 percent.
Shares in Tata Consultancy, the top outsourcer, hit a record high of 796 rupees, up 6.3 percent, while Infosys scaled a new peak at 2,700.10 rupees, up 4.4 percent. Third-ranked Wipro Ltd rose as high as 718.50 rupees, its highest level since April 2000, and ended up 3 percent. "The decision-making freeze among customers in the past six quarters is giving way to an urgency to outsource," CLSA said on Tuesday.
The brokerage has a "buy" rating on Infosys and "outperform" ratings on TCS and Wipro. The 30-share BSE index closed up 0.5 percent, or 87.29 points, at 17,509.80. Half of its components advanced. The benchmark had dipped as much as 0.8 percent in early deals, as China's monetary tightening hit Asian stocks.
Top lender State Bank of India dropped 1.2 percent to 2,177.85 rupees while rival ICICI Bank eased 0.3 percent to 839.90 rupees. In the broader market, gainers led losers in the ratio of 1.4:1 on volume of 648 million shares, higher than the previous week's daily average of 625 million shares. The 50-share NSE index closed 0.5 percent higher at 5,233.95.