Sensex, Nifty extend gains

Stocks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 176.33 points or 0.46% at 38,309.21. The Nifty 50 index was up 55.85 points or 0.49% at 11,500.90.

The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds and domestic funds, both, were net buyers of Indian stocks yesterday, 27 March 2019. The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,481.11 crore yesterday, 27 March 2019, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 134.92 crore yesterday, 27 March 2019, as per provisional data.

Key indices nudged higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals.

Trading could be volatile as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month March 2019 series to April 2019 series. The March 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 28 March 2019.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.62%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.76%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1337 shares rose and 532 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks declined on Thursday following an overnight slip on Wall Street after the closely-watched 10-year Treasury yield touched its lowest in more than a year. U.S. stocks on Wednesday bounced off session lows but finished in the red as sentiment remained sensitive to mounting signs of slowing global growth, reflected in falling bond yields on the heels of increasingly dovish central banks.

On the U.S.-China trade front, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to resume negotiations with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Thursday, in a bid to strike a deal on trade.

In economic data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in January to a five-month low of $51.1 billion versus $59.9 billion in December. Data from China's National Bureau of Statistics, meanwhile, showed that profits at industrial firms fell by 14% in January and February, the largest decline since 2011.

Back home, HCL Technologies (up 3.02%), Yes Bank (up 1.88%), Infosys (up 1.56%), HDFC (up 1.28%) and Bajaj Finance (up 1.22%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

ONGC (down 1.78%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.25%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.25%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.48%) and M&M (down 0.48%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Strides Pharma Science rose 0.33%. Strides Pharma Science said its shareholders approved divestment of Australian business. The shareholders also approved transactions/contracts/arrangements with Solara Active Pharma Sciences upto Rs 500 crore in each financial year, commencing from FY 2018-2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 March 2019.

Mcleod Russel India rose 0.87%. Mcleod Russel India announced that the transaction for sale of the equity stake held by Borelli Tea Holdings, UK ('Borelli'), a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Gisovu Tea Co., Rwanda (Gisovu), being 60% of the paid up capital of Gisovu, in terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Borelli and Rwanda Tea Co., UK completed on 26 March 2019 by virtue of completion of the share transfer process. In view of the above, Gisovu has ceased to be a subsidiary of Borelli and step-down subsidiary of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 March 2019.

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