IT stocks gain

Stocks held firm in early afternoon trade on sustained buying demand in index pivotals. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 270.23 points or 0.72% at 38,025.12. The Nifty 50 index was up 84.10 points or 0.74% at 11,427.35. IT stocks rose.

The Sensex was currently trading above the psychological 38,000 level after moving above and below that level in inttraday trade. Domestic stocks nudged higher in early trade on positive Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices extended early gains and hit intraday high in morning trade. Stocks hovered in positive zone in mid-morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.49%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.28%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1262 shares rose and 1110 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks rose. TCS (up 2.62%), Infosys (up 0.93%), Wipro (up 1.62%), HCL Technologies (up 1.35%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.01%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.46%), Hexaware Technologies (up 1.38%) and Mphasis (up 0.19%) gained. MindTree (down 0.8%) fell.

A2Z Infra Engineering hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 18.05 after the company said it signed full cash one time debt settlement agreement with Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 15 March 2019.

Overseas, Asian markets were trading higher Friday as China took a step to appease U.S. trade negotiators. Chinese legislators on Friday approved a new law against the forced transfer of technology by foreign companies, which has been a major complaint by the U.S. and other countries. The move was intended to smooth the path to a trade deal, but it's unclear if it will be enough.

US stocks closed mostly lower Thursday as investors digested headlines suggesting progress toward a US-China trade deal has stalled against the backdrop of weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data.

A meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be delayed until at least April, as per reports, indicating that a bilateral trade deal will not be finalized this month.

Meanwhile, the U.K. Parliament voted to request an extension of the March 29 Brexit deadline to June 30 if lawmakers can agree to a withdrawal deal by March 20. Thursday's vote comes after Prime Minister Theresa May failed to secure support for her revised Brexit plan and lawmakers on Wednesday ruled out a no-deal exit.

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