Benchmarks pare intraday gains

Key barometers pared gains in early afternoon trade as profit booking emerged at higher levels. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 101.71 points or 0.28% at 36,406.73. The Nifty 50 index was up 20.05 points or 0.18% at 10,987.45.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.29%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.60%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1000 shares rose and 1376 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

IT shares were mixed. Tech Mahindra (up 1.93%), HCL Technologies (up 1.33%), MindTree (up 0.92%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.46%), edged higher. Wipro (down 0.33%), Persistent Systems (down 0.72%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.81%), MphasiS (down 0.92%) and TCS (down 0.93%), edged lower.

IT major Infosys was up 1.74%. Infosys announced that Infosys Public Services Inc. (IPS) received a CAD $80.3 million contract by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to modernize and automate their procurement processes. IPS is working with Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and SAP Canada Inc. (SAP) to digitize PSPC procurement system through the implementation and management of a cloud-based electronic procurement solution. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 September 2018.

Most pharmaceutical shares rose. Aurobindo Pharma (up 4.48%), Wockhardt (up 3.16%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 2.73%), Lupin (up 2.04%), Cadila Healthcare (up 1.73%), Cipla (up 1.61%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.56%), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.11%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.10%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.52%) and Strides Shasun (up 0.14%), edged higher. IPCA Laboratories (down 0.13%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.77%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 1.98%), edged lower.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for public holidays. Investors were cautious as the latest round of US-China tariffs revived fears the trade dispute would knock global growth, while crude oil was elevated near four-year highs after Saudi Arabia and Russia ruled out immediate production increases.

US stocks closed mostly lower Monday as the US-China trade war entered a new phase when tariffs on billions of dollars of products took effect. Investors were also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting, which wraps Wednesday and is likely to result in another interest-rate hike.

On the US economic data front, the Chicago Fed's national activity index came in at 0.18 in August, unchanged with the previous month.

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