Positive market breadth

Firmness prevailed on the bourses in afternoon trade. At 13:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 221.38 points or 0.63% at 35,573.99. The Nifty 50 index was up 70.15 points or 0.66% at 10,674.50. Positive cues from other Asian stocks boosted investors sentiment.

The market opened higher and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Indices came off day's high in mid-morning trade and they further pared gains in early afternoon trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.49%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1307 shares rose and 1016 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel (up 3.58%), ONGC (up 1.87%), L&T (up 1.77%), Infosys (up 1.7%) and Yes Bank (up 1.6%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Hindustan Unilever (down 0.78%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.57%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.39%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Vedanta was up 4.12%. The company termed reports of alleged discussions between Vedanta and JSW Steel for a possible last-minute joint bid for Essar Steel as speculative and baseless. The company confirms categorically that it is not in the process of submitting any revised bid for Essar Steel under the IBC process as mentioned in the articles, Vedanta said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 19 February 2019.

Overseas, most Asian shares traded higher on Wednesday after US-China trade talks resumed. Investors also awaited the release later on Wednesday of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's January policy-setting meeting, where policymakers took a dovish turn, effectively signaling no further rate hikes.

US stock indices held steady above the break-even line after opening lower on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump reportedly said Tuesday that trade talks with China are going well, adding the current March deadline is not a "magical date." Both countries have until then to come up with a deal. Otherwise, additional US tariffs on Chinese products could take effect. Trump indicated last week, however, he would be willing to push back the deadline.

Representatives from the US and China are meeting in Washington this week to resume trade negotiations, with high level discussions set to happen later in the week, the White House said Monday. US is reportedly seeking to secure a pledge from China that it will not devalue its yuan currency as part of a trade deal.

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