Key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. At 9:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 229.38 points or 0.64% at 36,096.82. The Nifty 50 index was up 64.95 points or 0.6% at 10,857.45. The Sensex regained the psychological 36,000 level in opening trade.

On the macro front, India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth moderated to six-quarters low of 6.6% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 7% growth recorded in the previous quarter and 7.7% improvement in the corresponding quarter last year. Quarterly Gross Value Added (GVA) growth also eased to 6.3% in Q3 of 2018-19 from 6.8% in Q2 of 2018-19 and 7.3% in Q3FY of 2017-18.

The GDP growth estimate for 2018-19 is revised downward to 7% from 7.2% growth estimated at first advances estimate level released in January 2019. The GDP growth for agriculture sector is expected to ease to 2.7% and services sector to 7.4% in 2018-19, while industrial sector growth estimate to accelerate to 7.7% in 2018-19.

The output of eight core industries comprising 40.27%of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.8% in January 2019 over January 2018. Its cumulative output increased 4.5% in April to January 2018-19.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.89%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.02%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1094 shares rose and 200 shares fell. A total of 40 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets after index publisher MSCI announced it would boost the proportion of mainland shares in its global benchmarks. Global index provider MSCI said it would quadruple the weighting of mainland shares in its global benchmarks later this year, potentially drawing more than $80 billion of fresh foreign inflows to the world's second-biggest economy.

A private gauge of China's factory activity rebounded to its three-month high in February. The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.9 in February from 48.3 in January, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said on Friday.

U.S. stocks finished lower Thursday after a sudden breakdown in denuclearization talks with North Korea weighed on sentiment. Better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product data helped to offset some of the selling pressure during the session.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reportedly said that a U.S.-North Korean nuclear agreement couldn't be reached at the summit in Hanoi because the isolated nation wanted more sanctions lifted than Trump would allow. On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U.S. would abandon for now its threat to raise tariffs to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods on March 2.

The Commerce Department's estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth showed the U.S. economy growing at a rate of 2.6%. GDP grew at 2.9% during 2018, according to the preliminary estimates by the Commerce Department, representing the best growth in three years. However, expansion tapered from heady levels of a 4.2% growth rate in the second quarter of 2018.

Back home, Bharti Airtel fell 1.71%. Bharti Airtel said that its board approved raising upto Rs 32,000 crore through rights issue of upto Rs 25,000 crore and perpetual bond with equity credit upto Rs 7000 crore. Rights issue price is set at Rs 220 per fully paid equity share. The company will issue 19 rights shares for every 67 equity shares held by eligible shareholders as on the record date. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019.

Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 0.78%. Kotak Mahindra Bank revised the marginal cost of funds based lending rate downwards by up to 5 basis points (bps) with effect from 1 March 2019 for various tenors. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019.

HDFC Bank rose 0.57%. HDFC Bank said it will buy a 9.11% stake in CSC E-Governance Services. The acquisition, for Rs 14.62 crore, which HDFC Bank termed as a strategic investment, will be on cash basis. The bank executed an agreement for subscribing to 37,993 equity shares of face value of Rs 1,000 each to be issued by CSC E- Governance Services India at Rs 3,848 per equity share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019.

Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) rose 1.8%. OMDC said the management proposed to pay Rs 400 crore lump sum to the Government of Odisha as penalty towards violation of environmental clearance (EC), forest clearance (FC), mining plan (MP) and consent to operate (CTO) of OMDC mines of earlier years, which is approved by the board. The company is in process of making the payment which will be completed within a day or two. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2019.

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