13.07.202611:04:02UTC+00Sensex Closes Marginally Higher

India’s BSE Sensex erased early losses to close marginally higher at 77,616 on Monday, marking a third consecutive session of gains, as strength in technology shares helped offset worries about renewed hostilities in the Middle East. Foreign inflows also underpinned sentiment, with overseas investors purchasing INR 26.04 billion of Indian equities on Friday.

Buying interest in IT stocks strengthened after Tata Consultancy Services (+5.4%) announced a multi-million-dollar deal with ABB to transform global network operations using AI, further buoyed by the company’s better-than-expected earnings growth reported last week. HCL Tech climbed 5% ahead of its earnings announcement, while Tech Mahindra (+3.3%) and Infosys (+3.2%) also advanced solidly.

In contrast, metals, FMCG and pharma stocks came under selling pressure. Tata Steel led the laggards, falling 2.1%, followed by Eicher Motors (-1.6%), IndiGo (-1.3%), Maruti (-1.1%), UltraTech Cement (-1.1%) and BEL (-1%).