Equity indices trade with positive bias, IT stocks gain
Mar 16, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 16 : Equity benchmark indices traded in the green with thin margins during early hours on Tuesday in line with positive cues from global markets.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 214 points or 0.42 per cent at 50,609 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 41 points or 0.28 per cent to 14,972.
Except for Nifty IT and FMCG which rose by less than 1 per cent, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 1.5 per cent, PSU bank by 1.6 per cent and realty by 0.5 per cent.
Among stocks, Asian Paints surged by 2.9 per cent to Rs 2,423.50 per share while agro-chemicals major UPL was up by 2 per cent. IT majors Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies gained by over 1 per cent in early session.
However, Hindalco fell by 1.8 per cent to Rs 327.60 per share, Tata Steel by 1.7 per cent and JSW Steel by 1.5 per cent.
Tata Communications slipped by 5.9 per cent as the offer for sale (OFS) to divest government's shareholding opened for institutional investors at a floor price of Rs 1,161 per share.
The others which lost were State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and Cipla.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose tracking an advance by Wall Street's main indexes to record highs as investors looked to key central bank meetings this week starting with the US Federal Reserve.
An index of the region's share markets excluding Japan strengthened 0.7 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained by 0.6 per cent while China's blue chip CSI 300 index climbed by 0.7 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained by 0.7 per cent.
