Key benchmark indices were trading with small gains in morning trade as buying in IT stocks was offset by selling pressure in pharmaceutical shares. At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 54.58 points or 0.16% at 33,995.02. The Nifty 50 index was up 3.80 points or 0.04% at 10,420.95. The Sensex pared gains after briefly crossing the 34,000 mark.
The Sensex rose 91.74 points, or 0.27% at the day's high of 34,032.18 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 13 March 2018. The index fell 15.56 points, or 0.05% at the day's low of 33,924.88 in early trade. The Nifty rose 13.10 points, or 0.13% at the day's high of 10,430.25 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 13 March 2018. The index fell 21.90 points, or 0.21% at the day's low of 10,395.25 in early trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.08%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.17%, outperforming the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive from negative. On BSE, 1081 shares rose and 984 shares fell. A total of 87 shares were unchanged.
IT shares were in demand. TCS (up 2.63%), Hexaware Technologies (up 2.29%), HCL Technologies (up 2.26%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.76%), Persistent Systems (up 1.55%), MindTree (up 1.53%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.43%), Wipro (up 1.10%) and MphasiS (up 0.74%), edged higher.
IT major Infosys was up 2.22%. Infosys announces its Q4 results on Friday, 13 April 2018.
Most pharmaceutical shares declined. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.91%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.12%), Lupin (down 1.11%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.1%), Wockhardt (down 0.99%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.69%), Cipla (down 0.46%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.44%), Strides Shasun (down 0.44%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.36%) and Piramal Enterprises (down 0.1%), edged lower. Divi's Laboratories (up 0.6%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.67%) and IPCA Laboratories (up 2.29%), edged higher.
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Trump's tweet that Russia should "get ready" for a potential strike on Syria came after a likely chemical weapons attack over the weekend on a rebel-held town in the eastern Ghouta region of Syria. The newfound focus on geopolitics took the focus off a trade spat between the US and China.
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