Barometers trade with decent gains; IT shares advance

Key indices firmed up once again in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered at 10,600 mark. At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 140.19 points or 0.39% at 35,974.85. The Nifty 50 index advanced 42 points or 0.40% at 10,593.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.43%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,302 shares rose and 1,359 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 30 stocks advanced while 20 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 0.48% to 15,195.45, rising for second trading session. The index is up 3.1% in two days.

MphasiS (up 1.65%), MindTree (up 1.18%), NIIT Technologies (up 1.15%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 0.88%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.55%) and HCL Technologies (up 0.45%) were top gainers in IT segment.

TCS (up 1.42%). The IT major's board will consider Q1 results on 9 July 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals rose 0.22% after US private equity giant KKR on 2 July 2020 agreed to acquire about 54% stake in the Mumbai-based drug manufacturer for Rs 3,109 crore. KKR will make the investment through its subsidiaries, Tau Investments Holdings, Tau Holdco, and KKR Asia III Fund Investments. The deal will see KKR acquire 4.17 crore fully paid-up equity shares of the face value of Rs 2 for a price of Rs 745 per share. The deal triggered an open offer for an additional 26% stake in JB Chemicals. KKR launched an open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake or 2 crore full paid-up equity shares of the drug maker. The open offer will also be made at a price of Rs 745 per share. If successful the open offer will add another Rs 1,496 crore to the deal, taking the total value of the deal to Rs 4,605 crore.

Affle (India) hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 1,523.90 after the company said it signed a definitive agreement on 2 July 2020 to acquire 8% stake in Singapore's OSLabs for $2.86 million. The acquisition is likely to complete by 25 July 2020.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.863% compared with previous closing of 5.841% in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 74.66 compared with its previous closing 75.045.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2020 settlement fell 46 cents to $42.68 a barrel. The contract rose 2.64% to settle at $43.14 a barrel in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2020 settlement fell 0.48% to Rs 48,034.

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