Mumbai: IT stocks were in demand Thursday, gaining as much as 3 percent, after the rupee breached 64-level to fall to a 20-month low against the dollar, as the stronger US currency boosts the sales of software firms in rupee terms.
Shares of TCS rose by 3.27 percent to settle at Rs 2,543.30 on the BSE. The stock was the biggest gainer among the 30-Sensex components.
HCL Tech climbed 3.31 percent, Infosys was up 1.06 percent and Wipro gained 1.07 percent.
Led by the gains in these stocks, the BSE IT index ended 1.63 percent higher at 10,523.17.
"Rupee depreciated to lowest ever in last 20 months. The steep fall in rupee against the dollar could be attributed to sell of triggered by FIIs," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.
Continuing its weakness for the fifth session, the rupee dipped below the 64-mark to end at 20 months' low of 64.23 against the American currency on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds.
Fall in rupee versus the US currency is broadly seen as positive for export-focussed sectors like the Indian IT space.
Analysts said large IT companies benefit from a weaker rupee, as it positively impacts their profit margins.
Big IT companies earn a major chunk of their revenues in dollar from their US clients.
In the stock market, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 26,599.11, down 118.26 points.
