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Barometers turn range bound; IT stocks in demand

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Mar 20 2020 | 12:04 PM IST
Key equity indices traded with decent gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty ascended towards 8400 level. Investors sentiment improved as global stock markets rebounded after a recent selloff.

At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 301.15 points or 1.06% at 28,589.38. The Nifty 50 index was up 115.2 points or 1.39% at 8,378.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 2.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.52%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1143 shares rose and 913 shares fell. A total of 99 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 36 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index spurted 5.24% to 11,934.20 as rupee depreciated in foreign exchange market. The IT index slumped 16.24% in the past four trading sessions.

The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 75.05, compared with its close of 75.12 during the previous trading session. A weak rupee boosts revenues of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

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NIIT Technologies (up 7.93%), MindTree (up 6.32%), Tech Mahindra (up 6.15%), Infosys (up 5.83%), Wipro (up 5.42%), HCL Technologies (up 5.16%), TCS (up 4.39%), Hexaware Technologies (up 3.84%) and Tata Elxsi (up 3.16%) were top gainers in IT segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Syngene International were trading 1.88% higher at Rs 238.85. The company announced on Thursday (19 March 2020) that the newly setup manufacturing facility of the company situated at Mangalore Special Economic Zone, Karnataka has commenced operations and successfully processed the first order upon receipt of all statutory licences and clearances from relevant authorities. The company's third quarter business performance was driven primarily by growth in discovery services and supported by steady performance in development services and the dedicated R&D centres.

Shares of Biocon were trading 2.2% higher at Rs 258.10. Biocon announced that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the post-approval and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspection of its small molecules API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing facility at Bengaluru, conducted between 20 and 26 February 2020. The EIR has been closed with a 'VAI' classification for the observations. At the conclusion of the inspection last month the agency had issued a Form 483, with two observations, which were procedural in nature and are being addressed by the company.

Global Markets:

Most Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday following the overnight rebound in the US and European markets, as massive relief packages announced by global central banks and governments to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic boosted investor sentiment.

In US, stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday, in another volatile session, as central banks and governments pledged support for the economic shocks from the coronavirus pandemic

The US Dollar Index, which measures the price of the currency against a basket of other currencies, was trading at 102.01.

The dollar index surged as economic slowdown fears persisted in the face of governments' pledges of stimulus to combat the damage from the coronavirus.

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First Published: Mar 20 2020 | 11:28 AM IST

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