Barometers pare losses; IT shares witness bargain buying

The domestic equity benchmarks pared all losses and traded with minor gains in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,050 level after hitting day�s low of 21,875.25 in morning trade. IT shares advanced after witnessing selling pressure in the past three consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 76.74 points or 0.11% to 72,699.83. The Nifty 50 index added 25.55 points or 0.12% to 22,080.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap gained 0.50% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.37%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,890 shares rose and 1,879 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index, which measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India`s manufacturing and service sectors, increased from 61.2 in January to 61.5 in February. This growth reflects a sharp expansion, the strongest since mid-2023. Both the manufacturing and services sectors saw improved growth, attributed to factors such as buoyant demand conditions, technology investment, efficiency gains, expanded clientele, and favorable sales developments.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 0.96% to 37,765.60. The index declined 2.78% in the past three trading session.

HCL Technologies (up 1.96%), Mphasis (up 1.53%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.3%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.22%), Wipro (up 1.08%), Coforge (up 0.99%), L&T Technology Services (up 0.79%), Infosys (up 0.63%) and Persistent Systems (up 0.24%) and LTIMindtree (up 0.16%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.34% to 7.069 as compared with the previous close of 7.045.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.9050, compared with its close of 82.9600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.14% to Rs 62,196.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.42% to 103.57.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.16% to 4.317.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2024 settlement added 25 cents or 0.30% to $83.28 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

Paisalo Digital shed 0.10%. The company�s board approved raising of funds by way of issuance of equity shares upto Rs 1,260 crore through qualified institutional placements (QIP).

NBCC (India) rallied 4.31% after the company has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HUDCO. Meanwhile, the company obtained in-principle approval from Greater Noida Authority to develop unused and purchasable floor area ratio (FAR) in furtherance of existing projects of Amrapali valuing Rs 10,000 crore.

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