Benchmarks come off day's low; IT shares advance

Key equity benchmarks bounced back after hitting fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 5.62 points or 0.02% at 36,439.02. The Nifty 50 index was up 2.85 points or 0.03% at 10,925.60.

After opening on a flat note, key indices declined to fresh intraday low in morning trade. Indices sharply pared losses in mid-morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.28%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.24%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1028 shares rose and 997 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

IT shares advanced. Oracle Financial Services Software (up 2.54%), MphasiS (up 2.5%), Wipro (up 2.28%), MindTree (up 1.28%), Persistent Systems (up 0.7%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.48%), HCL Technologies (up 0.19%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 0.17%), edged higher. TCS (down 0.77%) and Infosys (down 1.12%), edged lower.

Pharmaceuticals shares were mixed. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 1.20%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.81%), Lupin (up 0.79%), Cipla (up 0.54%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.45%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.33%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.27%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.12%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.10%), edged higher. Divi's Laboratories (down 0.09%), Wockhardt (down 0.11%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.59%), Strides Shasun (down 1.25%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.42%), edged lower.

Va Tech Wabag rose 3.78% after the company announced securing desalination order from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 January 2019.

Va Tech Wabag secured Rs 467 crore worth order from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) towards engineering and construction of a 30 MLD Sea Water Desalination plant expandable upto 70 MLD in Mangaluru, Karnataka. The scope of this Design and Build contract includes engineering, supply, erection, construction and commissioning of a 30 MLD Sea Water Desalination plant over a period of 22 months. The project also includes cross-country piping of 11 Kilometers to deliver the water to MRPL's refinery. The plant aims to minimize the fresh water dependency of MRPL once completed. Post successful commissioning, Va Tech Wabag will also be awarded a contract towards Operation & Maintenance of the plant for a period of 10 years.

Overseas, Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday on the back of concerns over the state of ongoing US-China trade negotiations, amid reports that the White House had canceled a trade planning meeting with Beijing this week.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) cut its inflation forecasts and stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy on Wednesday. The central bank maintained its view that Japan's economy, the world's third largest, will continue to expand at a modest pace. The BoJ cut its forecast for core consumer inflation to 0.9% in the fiscal year beginning in April from 1.4%.

US stocks closed lower Tuesday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as trade woes and fresh concerns over the state of the global economy greeted investors returning from the long holiday weekend.

Shares dropped following a media report which said the US had canceled a trade meeting with Chinese officials due to a lack of progress in areas including "forced" technological transfers and economic reforms. However, the market trimmed its losses late in the session after White House adviser Larry Kudlow reportedly denied that the US rejected China's overtures.

Investors also digested a fresh round of corporate earnings and paid close attention to management commentary on the global economic outlook. Meanwhile, a partial US government shutdown stretched into its 32nd day on Tuesday.

On US data front, existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million in December, their lowest in three years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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