Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) opened the Q2 earnings season on Thursday, reporting a 15% year‑on‑year rise in net profit to ₹13,884 crore, up from ₹12,075 crore a year earlier and ₹13,349 crore in the preceding quarter. Revenue from operations climbed 11.22% year‑on‑year to ₹73,188 crore, compared with ₹65,799 crore a year ago and ₹72,275 crore in the June quarter. Artificial intelligence contributed about 10% of overall revenue, with annualised AI revenue rising to $3.1 billion from $2.6 billion in the preceding quarter, CEO K Krithivasan said. Krithivasan highlighted broad‑based growth and confidence in its continuation, citing the deal pipeline, signings and client conversations.

The domestic equity market is expected to open higher on Friday, October 9, with GIFT NIFTY futures suggesting the NIFTY50 index will open 70 points higher. IT stocks, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech, will remain in focus after the US suspended eight IT companies from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme (PERM), a key step in the employment‑based green‑card process. The suspension could delay green‑card applications for foreign employees and add to concerns over staffing flexibility and compliance costs, though it does not automatically affect existing H‑1B visas or prevent these companies from operating in the US. The direct impact on earnings remains uncertain, but the development could weigh on near‑term investor sentiment towards the IT sector.

Earnings today: As many as 11 companies are slated to release their Q2 earnings today, including Anand Rathi Wealth, Can Fin Homes and Poonawalla Fincorp, among others. Hexaware Technologies announced a multi‑year partnership with Anthropic, becoming a Preferred Partner in Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network. Under the partnership, Hexaware will bring Claude to the core of its AI‑native engineering platform Zerovity™ and its agent build and governance platform AgentVerse™, which hosts more than 600 pre‑built agents. Hexaware will use Claude to deliver outcome‑based services across IT operations and software engineering, as enterprise clients increasingly buy results rather than effort.

ITC Ltd shares will remain on investors’ radar on Friday after official data on Thursday’s block deals revealed that GQG Partners sold a 2.91% stake in the FMCG major. BSE data show that the US‑based boutique investment firm offloaded 36,50,84,221 ITC shares in 14 tranches through its fund, representing a 2.91% stake in the Kolkata‑based company. The shares were sold at an average price of ₹257.35 apiece, for a total deal value of ₹9,395.44 crore. The transaction comes as GQG Partners continues to pare its holdings in Indian companies.

Cochin Shipyard shares are expected to be in focus after the state‑owned firm received orders to build over 40 ships from the US, Germany, Norway and other countries. Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is creating a comfortable ecosystem for shipbuilding. He noted that most orders are from foreign countries such as Germany, America and Norway, and that more than 40 ships have been ordered. JSW Steel reported that its consolidated crude steel production grew 5% year‑on‑year to 7.27 million tonnes for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, with a 10% sequential increase.

NCC Ltd is expected to be in the spotlight on Friday after the company bagged an order worth ₹1,286.03 crore, excluding GST, from Hyderabad Growth Corridor Ltd (HGCL). The order covers the construction of “Radial Road‑2 from Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Budwel to Nacharam on NH‑167N (Package‑1 – Budwel to Shabad), Telangana,” with an 18‑month construction period. KEC International secured new orders worth ₹1,030 crore across businesses, including a 400 kV transmission line project in Bhutan, an additional 380 kV line in Saudi Arabia, and the supply of towers, hardware and poles in the Americas. IRB Infrastructure Developers reported toll revenue of ₹773 crore in September 2026, up around 24% year‑on‑year compared with September 2025.