The key equity barometers continued to trade with strong gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded tad below 17,750 mark. IT shares advanced for second day in a row.
At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 497.36 points or 0.83% to 60,306.33. The Nifty 50 index added 146.30 points or 0.83% to 17,740.65.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.93% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.88%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,136 shares rose and 1,392 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.
Meanwhile, oil prices retreated on Monday as a weaker-than-expected GDP forecast from China dented some optimism over a recovery in crude demand this year.
Focus this week is also squarely on a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, which is expected to shed more light on where U.S. interest rates could go this year.
Economy:
The government, in the latest review, has hiked the windfall profit tax levied on crude petroleum to Rs 4,400 per tonne from Rs 4,350. The special additional excise duty on diesel has been reduced to Rs 0.5 a litre from Rs 2.5, while it has been slashed to 'nil' on Aviation Turbine Fuel. The new tax rates come into effect from 4 March 2023.
Numbers to track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.411 from 7.430 in previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.7000, compared with its close of 81.9750 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement gained 0.07% to Rs 55,830.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.07% to 104.45.
The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.87% to 3.928.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement lost 60 cents or 0.70% to $85.23 a barrel.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index rose 1.35% to 30,218.15. The index has gained 1.68% in two sessions.
Mphasis (up 2.8%), Infosys (up 2.08%), LTI Mindtree (up 1.69%), Coforge (up 1.5%) and Wipro (up 1.08%) were the top gainers.
Among the other gainers were Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.01%), HCL Technologies (up 0.53%), Persistent Systems (up 0.24%) and Tech Mahindra (up 0.13%).
Stocks in Spotlight:
PNC Infratech rose 2.25%. The company said that it has received provisional completion certificate for an Uttar Pradesh-based national highway project awarded by NHAI on hybrid annuity mode effective from 1 March 2023.
Vardhman Textiles added 0.33%. The company said that its board will meet on Thursday, 9 March 2023, to consider and approve Issue of non-convertible debentures upto an amount of Rs 150 crore on private placement basis.
Neogen Chemicals jumped 5.74%. The company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% stake in BuLi Chemicals India from Livent for Rs 25 crore. BuLi Chem is engaged in carrying out Manufacture and sale of N Butyl Lithium and other organolithium products. It has presence in India.
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