The benchmark indices pared gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty held above the 15,000 mark. IT shares witnessed some bit of value buying. At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 282.24 points or 0.56% to 50,687.56. The Nifty 50 index added 93.55 points or 0.63% to 15,031.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.65% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.95%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1792 shares rose and 997 shares fell. A total of 193 shares were unchanged.

Gains were capped as the Brent crude futures surged above $70 a barrel on Monday, following reports of attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities. Higher crude oil prices could increase fiscal deficit, current account deficit and stoke fuel price inflation..

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 116,822,839 with 2,593,073 deaths. India reported 188,747 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 157,853 deaths while 108,39,894 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 0.95% to 25,469.25. The index declined 2.11% in the past two sessions.

HCL Tech (up 2.50%), MindTree (up 2.46%), MindTree (up 1.92%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 1.84%), Infosys (up 1.24%), Coforge (up 1.08%), Info Edge India (up 0.87%), TCS (up 0.58%) advanced.

Meanwhile, Wipro (down 0.52%) and Mphasis (down 0.27%) lagged behind.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) rose 1.16% to Rs 196.45. MIDHANI has allotted 1,000 commercial papers (CPs) of face value Rs 5 lakh each and an issue price of Rs 4,95,540 each to Union Bank of India on a private placement basis. The CPs hold tenure of 90 days. Credit rating agency CRISIL has rated the CPs at 'CRISIL A1+'.

Cipla added 1.09% to Rs 814.25. The drug maker said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cipla (UK), has been voluntarily liquidated with effect from Friday, 5 March 2021. The company added that this liquidation was a part of internal reorganisation and it will not impact the performance or the revenue of the company.

Natco Pharma jumped 4.97% to Rs 874.10 after the company received final approval for everolimus tablets (a generic version of Afinitor) in the US market. Everolimus is indicated in the treatment of breast cancer and a few other types of cancers. As per industry sales data, Afinitor and its therapeutic equivalents had generated annual sales of $712 million in USA during the twelve months ending December 2020.

Global Markets:

Asian market declined on Monday as rising treasury yields eclipsed the optimism surrounding the global growth outlook and the passage of a $1.9 trillion U.S. stimulus bill.

The U.S. Senate passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package over the weekend that includes direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans. The bill is expected to pass in the Democratic-held House this week and sent to President Joe Biden for his signature before a March 14 deadline to renew unemployment aid programs.

The fresh round of government spending could cause ripples in the U.S. Treasury market, where the benchmark 10-year yield has risen sharply in recent weeks. The yield rose as high as 1.62% on Friday after starting the calendar year below the 1% mark.

Meanwhile, China's February exports grew at a record pace from a year earlier when COVID-19 battered the world's second-biggest economy, customs data showed on Sunday, while imports rose less sharply. Exports in dollar terms skyrocketed 154.9% in February compared with a year earlier, while imports gained 17.3%, the most since October 2018.

Today's session in Asia follows the wild day in US stock market Friday, where stocks roared back from a sharp sell-off as a stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report improved optimism for a quicker economic recovery.

Hiring surged in February as U.S. economic activity picked up with COVID-19 cases steadily dropping and vaccine rollouts providing hope for more growth.

The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls jumped by 379,000 for the month and the unemployment rate fell to 6.2%. That compared with the unemployment rate holding steady from the 6.3% rate in January. The report further showed that hiring also was stronger in January than initially indicated, with that month's tally revised to 166,000 from 49,000. However, December's count was revised lower from a loss of 227,000 to a drop of 306,000.