Key benchmarks turn range bound

Key benchmark indices hovered in narrow range in mid-morning trade. At 11:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 183.08 points or 0.62% at 29,838.92. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 52.65 points or 0.57% at 9,270.60. The Nifty pared gains after hitting a record high level in morning trade. Positive leads from Asian stocks and overnight rally on the Wall Street boosted investors sentiment.

The Sensex rose 186.94 points, or 0.63% at the day's high of 29842.78 in mid-morning trade, its highest intraday level since 7 April 2017. The index rose 125 points, or 0.42% at the day's low of 29,780.84 in early trade. The Nifty rose 61.85 points, or 0.67% at the day's high of 9,279.80 in morning trade, its record level. The index rose 32.40 points, or 0.35% at the day's low of 9,250.35 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.99%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.77%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,502 shares rose and 1,015 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

Most IT shares edged higher. MindTree (up 3.45%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.13%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.83%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.82%), Persistent Systems (up 0.70%), HCL Technologies (up 0.63%) and MphasiS (up 0.35%), edged higher. TCS was down 0.59%.

IT major Wipro was down 0.13%. The company will announce Q4 results today, 25 April 2017.

IT major Infosys rose 0.16% to Rs 927.50 after the company announced that it is strengthening its engineering footprint in Eastern Europe by opening its first office and delivery center in Karlovac, Croatia. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Infosys said that in line with the company's strategy to establish global competency centers, offering the best talent in the market and making it available to customers globally, this delivery center (DC) also marks expansion into Eastern Europe's established heavy engineering sector. The new facility will meet near-shoring requirements, support engineering clients worldwide, as well as offer research & development (R&D) services. The Karlovac facility in Croatia is the latest location across 16 regions in Europe which Infosys has opened as part of its ongoing commitment to client servicing and local job creation.

Capital goods shares edged higher. Suzlon Energy (up 4%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 2.47%), Jindal Saw (up 2.32%), ABB India (up 1.91%), GE Power India (up 1.79%), Thermax (up 1.33%), SKF India (up 0.99%), Punj Lloyd (up 0.87%), Siemens (up 0.82%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 0.80%), GE T&D India (up 0.74%), Praj Industries (up 0.43%), AIA Engineering (up 0.31%), Havells India (up 0.28%) and Crompton Greaves (up 0.06%), edged higher. Bharat Electronics (down 0.19%), BEML (down 0.4%) and Reliance Defence and Engineering (down 0.52%), edged lower.

Engineering and construction major L&T was up 1.02% to Rs 1,748.30.

Pokarna surged 5.6% after the company said its board will consider stock split proposal when it meets on 8 May 2017, to declare Q4 March 2017 results. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 April 2017.

Overseas, Asian shares gained following a relief rally in global equities after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election. US stocks rallied yesterday, 24 April 2017, as concerns over France's potential exit from the euro currency bloc eased. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 216.13 points, or 1.1%, to close at 20,763.89. The S&P 500 surged 25.46 points, or 1.1%, to 2,374.15.

Macron led the field in the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, 23 April 2017, with 23.9% of the vote, ahead of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen with 21.4%. The two will now face off in the final round 7 May 2017.

Macron has promised to cut corporate tax rates gradually to 25% from the current 33%. He also wants to make France's 35-hour work week more flexible, and slash housing taxes for most people. He has pledged to cut public spending by 60 billion ($64 billion) a year, and plans an economic stimulus package worth 50 billion over five years. Macron is a free trade supporter and campaigned in favor of the EU's new agreement with Canada. Marine Le Pen wants France to leave the euro, return to the franc, exit the Schengen agreement and close French borders for immigrants.

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