Indian equity markets sustained their upward momentum in afternoon trade on Friday, with both benchmark indices maintaining steady gains as IT stocks continued their rally following Infosys's upbeat revenue guidance. The sustained buying momentum reflects strong investor confidence despite ongoing foreign institutional selling pressure.

Current Market Performance

The afternoon session showed consistent gains across both major indices:

Both indices opened positively, with the Sensex starting at 83,670.79 against its previous close of 83,382.71, while the Nifty opened at 25,696.05 compared to its previous close of 25,665.60.

IT Stocks Drive Market Gains

IT stocks continued to lead the market rally, building on morning session momentum after Infosys raised its revenue guidance:

Infosys emerged as the top performer on the Nifty 50, extending its gains from the morning session when the company's decision to raise its FY26 revenue guidance from 2%-3% to 3%-3.5% boosted sector sentiment.

Mixed Performance Across Stocks

While IT stocks dominated the gainers, some sectors showed weakness:

Maruti Suzuki also declined 1.63% to ₹15,889.00, reflecting mixed sentiment across different sectors.

Sectoral and Broader Market Trends

Sectoral performance showed positive momentum in key indices:

Market breadth remained positive with 2,066 stocks advancing against 1,958 declines on the BSE, where 4,241 stocks were traded. A total of 75 stocks hit 52-week highs, while 190 touched 52-week lows.

Institutional Activity and Market Dynamics

Despite the positive market performance, foreign institutional investors continued their selling pressure:

The sustained buying by domestic institutional investors helped offset foreign selling pressure, contributing to the market's resilience and continued upward momentum in the afternoon session.

Infosys shares jumped 5.07% to ₹1,680.90 in morning trade following the company's decision to raise its FY26 revenue growth guidance and report strong deal wins in the December quarter. The IT services giant's performance has sparked renewed investor confidence, with the stock trading on healthy volumes and brokerages setting higher target prices.

Financial Performance and Guidance Revision

The company upgraded its full-year constant currency revenue growth guidance to 3-3.5% from the earlier 2-3%, signalling improved business momentum. This upward revision came after strong Q3 performance:

Strong Deal Momentum and AI Leadership

Infosys secured large deals worth $4.80 billion during the quarter, including a significant $1.60 billion contract with NHS UK. The company is currently working on 4,600 AI projects across 90% of its top 200 clients, with management indicating that clients increasingly view Infosys as their preferred AI partner.

Enhanced Brokerage Targets and Outlook

JM Financial: Buy Rating with ₹1,930 Target

JM Financial maintained its Buy rating with a target price of ₹1,930, highlighting that FY27 growth is expected to accelerate driven by large deal ramp-ups and pickup in discretionary spending in BFSI and Energy & Utilities sectors.

Choice Equity Broking: Revised Target to ₹1,865

Choice Equity Broking revised its target to ₹1,865, citing strong large deal momentum and positive outlook for the company's growth trajectory.

Motilal Oswal: Bullish Target of ₹2,200

Motilal Oswal set an ambitious target of ₹2,200, noting early signals of AI services inflection and the company's strong positioning in artificial intelligence adoption.

Operational Metrics and Workforce Expansion

The company demonstrated confidence in demand recovery through significant workforce expansion:

Market Performance and Trading Activity

The stock traded with healthy volumes of 89.10 lakh shares, with 64.90% sell orders against 35.10% buy orders. Despite being down 12.96% over the past year, the stock has gained 2.99% year-to-date, reflecting improving investor sentiment.

Profitability was impacted by a one-time labor code provision of ₹1,289 crore, which affected reported operating margins. However, adjusted operating margins stood at 21.20%, up 20 basis points sequentially, supported by currency tailwinds and Project Maximus initiatives. Management expressed particular confidence in BFSI and Energy, Utilities sectors for FY27, indicating sustained momentum in key verticals.