IT stocks in demand

Key benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:12 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 136.51 points or 0.35% at 38,781.58. The Nifty 50 index was up 32.20 points or 0.28% at 11,712.70. IT stocks gained.

Trading for the week began on a positive note as the key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade boosted by good first-quarter GDP data.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.57%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.6%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1385 shares rose and 704 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto rose 1.01% after the company reported a 30% growth in its total vehicles sales at 4.37 lakh units in August 2018 over August 2017. Bajaj Auto's total domestic sales rose 27% to 2.55 lakh units, while total exports rose 35% to 1.81 lakh units in August 2018 over August 2017. The announcement was made during market hours today, 3 September 2018.

IT stocks gained. Infosys (up 1.32%), TCS (up 0.33%), HCL Technologies (up 0.43%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.15%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.46%), MindTree (up 3.67%), Hexaware Technologies (up 1.48%) and Mphasis (up 0.3%) rose.

Wipro jumped 4.79% after the company announced that it has won a 10-year engagement to provide a comprehensive suite of solutions and services to Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Alight Solutions LLC, a leader in technology-enabled health, wealth, HR and finance solutions. This deal will result in revenues of $1.5 to $1.6 billion for Wipro over the tenure. This is Wipro's largest win to date. The announcement was made on Sunday, 2 September 2018.

This engagement will enable the digital transformation of Alight's offerings across health, wealth, HR and finance solutions, and enhance the employee experience of Alight's clients by leveraging Wipro's industry-leading strengths in digital technologies, cognitive automation and data analytics.

On the macro front, Nikkei Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) for August 2018 will be announced today, 3 September 2018. The Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI dropped to 52.3 in July 2018 from 53.1 in June 2018.

India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth accelerated sharply to nine-quarters high level of 8.2% in the quarter ended June 2018, while showing consistent improvement from a low of 5.6% in the quarter ended June 2017. The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 31 August 2018.

The production of eight core infrastructure industries comprising 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased 6.6% in July 2017 over July 2017. The cumulative output improved 5.8% in April-July 2018-19. The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 31 August 2018.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower as trade-war fears increased after the US and Canada missed a deal deadline set for Friday and uncertainty rose about escalating tariffs between the US and China. Activity in China's factories expanded at a slower rate in August. The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined to 50.6 in August from 50.8 in July, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said Monday.

US markets will be closed today, 3 September 2018 for the Labor Day holiday. US stocks closed mixed on Friday, 31 August 2018 as the Trump administration and Canada were said to plan on resuming trade talks next week after discussions Friday ended with no deal.

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