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Last Updated : Apr 15 2019 | 11:50 AM IST

Key benchmarks were trading in a narrow range near the day's high in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 91.91 points or 0.24% at 38,859.02. The Nifty 50 index was up 29.65 points or 0.25% at 11,673.10.

Indices opened higher and extended gains as the session progressed. Positive cues from other Asian markets boosted investors sentiment.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.37%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.73%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1347 shares rose and 838 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Pharmaceuticals shares were mixed. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.90%), Wockhardt (up 0.89%), Cipla (up 0.34%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.23%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.17%) and Strides Shasun (up 0.05%), edged higher. Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.04%), Lupin (down 0.19%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.25%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.27%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.3%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.39%), IPCA Laboratories (down 0.93%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.98%), edged lower.

IT major Infosys lost 2.91% after the company declared its Q4 result after market hours on Friday, 12 April 2019. On a consolidated basis, Infosys reported 12.88% rise in net profit to Rs 4074 crore on 0.23% rise in total income to Rs 22204 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Infosys has given FY2020 revenue guidance in the range of 7.5%-9.5% in constant currency and operating margin guidance in the range of 21%-23%.

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Salil Parekh, CEO and MD, Infosys, said the company has completed the first year of transformation journey with strong results on multiple dimensions including revenue growth, performance of our digital portfolio, large deal wins, and client metrics.

Infosys has declared a final dividend of Rs 10.50 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March 2019.

IT bellwether TCS rose 2.89% after the company declared its Q4 result after market hours on Friday, 12 April 2019. On a consolidated basis, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported 0.26% rise in net profit to Rs 8126 crore on 1.82% rise in total income to Rs 39203 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Revenue growth continued to accelerate in BFSI, crossing over into double digits (+11.6% vs +8.6% in Q3). Growth was broad-based, with most verticals showing strong growth: Life Sciences & Healthcare (+18.2%), Energy & Utilities (+11.3%), Communications & Media (+10%), Retail & CPG (+9.9%) and Manufacturing (+9.2%).

All major markets showed strong growth momentum. Growth was led by UK (+21.3%) and Europe (+17.5%). Other markets continued to grow well: North America (+9.9%), Asia Pacific (+11.5%), India (+11.3%) and Latin America +16.2%.

Commenting on the Q4 performance, Rajesh Gopinathan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TCS, said that the company's order book is bigger than in the prior three quarters, and the deal pipeline is robust.

Among other IT shares, Hexaware Technologies (up 2.50%), HCL Technologies (up 1.81%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.57%), Wipro (up 1.29%) and MindTree (up 0.80%), edged higher. Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.11%), MphasiS (down 0.2%) and Persistent Systems (down 0.63%), edged lower.

On the economic front, India's industrial production (base year 2011-12=100) growth moderated sharply to 20-month low of mere 0.1% in February 2019, compared with 1.4% growth recorded in January 2019. The industrial production growth for January 2019 has been revised downwards from 1.7% increase reported provisionally.

The all-India general CPI inflation rose to 2.86% in March 2019 (new base 2012=100), compared with 2.57% in February 2019. However, the core CPI inflation eased to 5.02% in March 2019 compared with 5.29% in February 2019.

Overseas, Asian shares were trading higher. Investors cheered Chinese data on Friday showing exports rebounded in March to a five-month high while new bank loans jumped by far more than expected.

US stocks closed higher Friday after a series of strong bank earnings boosted confidence in the US economy.

On the data front, US import prices rose sharply in March for the second straight month. The import price index climbed 0.6% last month after a revised 1% gain in February. Further, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 96.9 in April.

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First Published: Apr 15 2019 | 11:24 AM IST

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