As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 85.26 points or 0.14% at 61,235.32. The Nifty 50 index rose 45.45 points or 0.25% at 18,257.80.

Broader markets settled higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.38% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.49%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,745 shares rose and 1,678 shares fell. A total of 76 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

India reported 2,47,417 new cases in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate stood at 13.11%. The country's active caseload currently stands at 11,17,531. Active cases stands at 3.08% of the total infections and recovery rate currently stands at 95.59%. There were 84,825 recoveries in the last 24 hours, which increases total recoveries to 3,47,15,361.

Economy:

India's retail inflation rose sharply to 5.59% in the month of December from 4.91% in November, pushed up by rising prices of manufactured items, data released by the government showed on Wednesday. Inflation as measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.59% in the year-ago period.

Separately, industrial production for the month of November grew by 1.4% as compared to (-)1.6 % in the same month last year. IIP surged 3.2% in the month of October.

Earnings Impact:

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 1.09%. The IT major's consolidated net profit rose 1.51% to Rs 9,769 crore on 4.31% increase in net sales to Rs 48,885 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, the IT major's net profit rose 12.27% and net sales rose 16.35% in Q3 FY22. Constant currency revenue grew 15.4% Y-o-Y. Operating margin fell 1.6% Y-o-Y to 25% in Q3 FY22. The board recommended to buyback upto four crore equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 18,000 crore, being 1.08% of the total paid-up equity share capital, at Rs 4,500 per share. The buyback price is 16.66% premium to Wednesday's closing price. The board recommended a third interim dividend of Rs 7 per share.

Wipro dropped 5.99%. The IT company reported a 1.3% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,970 crore on a 3.3% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 20,313.6 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. In dollar terms, Wipro's gross revenue was $2.7 billion in the third quarter of financial year ended 2022. The IT services segment revenue stood at $2,639.7 million, an increase of 2.3% Q-o-Q and 27.5% Y-o-Y. IT services operating margin for the quarter was at 17.6%, a decrease of 19 basis points quarter on quarter. Wipro said it expects revenue from its IT services business to be in the range of $2,692 million to $2,745 million. This translates to a sequential growth of 2% to 4%.

Infosys gained 1.04%. The IT major's consolidated net profit rose 7.1% to Rs 5,809 crore on a 7.7% increase in revenues to Rs 31,867 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. On a year-on-year basis, Infosys' net profit and revenue in Q3 FY22 increased 11.8% and 22.9%, respectively. In dollar terms, the company reported revenues of $4,250 million, registering a growth of 20.9% Y-o-Y for the quarter ended 31 December 2021. Revenues in constant currency terms grew by 21.5% Y-o-Y and 7% Q-o-Q. Operating margin for the quarter stood at 23.5%, a decline of 1.9% Y-o-Y and 0.1% Q-o-Q. Infosys has revised upwards its revenue guidance for FY22 to 19.5%-20%. Margin guidance is retained at 22%-24%.

CESC fell 0.59%. The company's consolidated net profit remained flat at Rs 329 crore while sales rose 1.51% to Rs 2826 crore in Q3 FY22 as compared with Q3 FY21. Profit before tax in Q3 FY22 stood at Rs 459 crore, up by 1.55% from Rs 452 crore in Q3 FY21. The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4.50 per equity share for financial year 2021-22. The record date for the same is 25 January 2022.

Stocks in Spotlight:

State Bank of India (SBI) rose 0.25%. The PSU bank concluded the issue of $300 million senior unsecured fixed rate notes having maturity of five years and a coupon rate of 2.49% payable semi-annually. The bonds will be issued through its London branch as of 26 January 2022 and shall be listed on Taipei Exchange (TPEx), Singapore Stock Exchange and lndia lnternational Exchange, GIFT City (Gujarat).

Tata Motors rose 1%. The company's its subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) recorded a 37.6% drop in retail sales to 80,126 units in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. Sequentially, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the subsidiary of Tata Motors, witnessed a 13.6% fall in retail sales to 80,126 units in Q3 FY22 from Q2 FY22. Jaguar Land Rover retail sales for the three-month period to 31 December 2021 continued to be constrained by the global semiconductor shortage, though the company started to see some improvement in chip supply and wholesale volumes compared to the preceding quarter.

Ramkrishna Forgings rose 1.7% after the company won an export order worth Rs 57.50 crore from North America for supplying spindle. The export order will be supplied over a period of 3 years from one of the largest TIER-1 manufacturers in North America in commercial vehicle (CV) segment.

TVS Motor Company added 0.84% after the company announced a strategic partnership with Swiggy, India's leading on-demand delivery platform. As part of the MoU, TVS Motor and Swiggy will test the implementation of TVS Motor's electric vehicles (EV) for food delivery and other on-demand services of Swiggy. The two companies are exploring the co-creation of sustainable and comprehensive solutions for Swiggy's delivery partners. This will include working on customised packages like a need-specific product, flexible financing options and, connected services.

Lumax Industries fell 0.13%. The company commenced its commercial production of electronic components for automotives, at its new manufacturing plant situated at Bawal (Haryana) on Wednesday, 12 January 2022.

Manappuram Finance fell 0.32%. The NBFC said that a meeting of the financial resources and management committee of the board will be held on Monday, 17 January 2022, to consider and approve the issuance of secured, rated redeemable non-convertible debentures.

Global Markets:

European markets were trading lower while Asian markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

In US, December reading for the consumer price index, a gauge of prices across a broad spectrum of goods, showed a gain of 7% year over year. That is the biggest jump since 1982, but was in line with expectations.

Investors are keeping an eye on Covid developments, as the World Health Organization reported a record 15 million new Covid-19 cases globally for a single week, as omicron rapidly replaces delta as the dominant variant across the globe. The World Health Organization warned that omicron cases are off the charts.

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