Local stocks logged gains for sixth straight session on Monday amid positive global cues. Strong foreign portfolio inflows in the domestic market and firmness in the rupee against the dollar also boosted sentiment.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 70.75 points or 0.19% to 38,095.07. The index hit high of 38,369.59 and low of 37,952.10 in intraday trade.

The Nifty 50 index rose 35.35 points or 0.31% to 11,462.20. The index hit high of 11,530.15 and low of 11,412.50 in intraday trade.

Indices opened firmly higher, but pared gains as the session progressed. Benchmarks briefly slipped into negative terrain in early afternoon trade. After hovering near flat line in afternoon trade, the indices slipped into negative terrain once again. Benchmarks bounced back into positive terrain once again in late trade. The Sensex ended above 38,000 mark after slipping below that level in intraday trade.

Broader market ended lower. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.20%. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.13%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1146 shares rose and 1537 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Realty index (up 2.46%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.55%), the S&P BSE Energy index (up 1.7%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Teck index (down 1.06%), the S&P BSE Auto index (down 1.36%), the S&P BSE Telecom index (down 1.28%) underperformed the Sensex.

Bajaj Finance (up 2.84%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.29%), Axis Bank (up 2.21%), Reliance Industries (up 1.89%), and Tata Steel (up 1.77%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.56%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.47%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.08%), HCL Technologies (down 1.51%) and M&M (down 1.34%) were the major Sensex losers.

IndusInd Bank rose 1.32%. The bank announced during trading hours today, 18 February 2019, that it inaugurated a branch in the Sadar Bazar area of Delhi, making it the 54th branch to become operational in the city. In a separate announcement, the bank said that it inaugurated a branch in Boisar, an upcoming industrial area situated in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. This is the Bank's first branch in this region.

Drug major Lupin fell 3.92%. The company said that its subsidiary Novel Laboratories Inc. has received a letter from the U.S. FDA classifying the inspection conducted at its Somerset (New Jersey) facility in December 2018 as Official Action Indicated (OAI). The U.S. FDA has stated that this facility may be subject to regulatory or administrative action and that it may withhold approval of any pending applications or supplements in which this facility is listed. The announcement was made on Saturday, 16 March 2019.

MindTree rose 1.74%. The company said that its board will meet on 20 March 2019 to consider the proposal to buyback the fully paid-up equity shares of the company. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 15 March 2019.

Cadila Healthcare fell 1.21%. The company has received the final approval from the USFDA to market Valsartan and Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets USP (US RLD - Diovan HCT Tablets) in the strengths of 80 mg/12.5 mg, 160 mtg/12.5 mg, 160 mg/25 mg, 320 mtg/12.5 mg, and 320 mg/25 mg. The announcement was made on Saturday, 16 March 2019.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 68.58, compared with closing of 69.10 during the previous trading session.

On the economic front, India's trade deficit plunged 22% to 17-month low of $9.60 billion in February 2019 from $12.30 billion in February 2018. Merchandise exports rose 2.4% to $26.67 billion in February 2019 over a year ago. Merchandise imports dipped 5.4% to $36.26 billion. Oil imports declined 8.1% to $9.38 billion, while the non-oil imports also fell 4.4% to $26.89 billion in February 2019 over February 2018. The share of oil imports in total imports was 25.9% in February 2019, compared with 26.6% in February 2018.

Overseas, most European stocks were trading higher on hopes that the US Federal Reserve could sound decidedly dovish at its policy meeting later this week. US Federal Reserve will decide on interest rates in its two-day meeting on 19-20 March 2019. The meeting will be associated with a summary of economic projections. The Fed held the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.25-2.5% on 30 January 2019.

Asian shares ended higher as investors awaited developments on the US-China trade front. US stocks closed higher Friday, buoyed by encouraging headlines on US-China trade negotiations and Chinese assurances of forthcoming economic stimulus.

On the US data front, the New York Fed's Empire State index fell to a reading of 3.7 in March from 8.8 in the prior month. US industrial production rose by 0.1% in February. January's figure, however, was raised to show a 0.4% drop. Job openings in the US rose to 7.58 million in January, the third-highest level on record, according to the Labor Department. Consumer sentiment rose in March to 97.8 from 93.8 in February, according to a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.

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