Barometers hover near flat line

Benchmark indices continued trading near the flat line in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 72.07 points or 0.15% at 47,541.01. The Nifty 50 index slipped 14.85 points or 0.11% at 13,917.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.06% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.04%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,405 shares rose and 1,358 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.80% to 21.1650. The Nifty December 2020 futures were trading at 13,934.15, at a premium of 12.05 points compared with the spot at 13,922.10.

The Nifty option chain for 31 December 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 72.86 lakh contracts at the 14,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 54.15 lakh contracts was seen at 13,000 strike price.

Economy:

The government has invited the protesting farmer' unions for talks today to end the impasse over the three farm laws. This will be the sixth round of talk between the government and farmers to end the deadlock. The Centre has written to the 40 protesting farmers' unions and invited them for talks. Apart from the farm laws, discussions will be held on MSP and on legislations related to air quality and the electricity.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 8,19,97,042 with 17,89,908 deaths. India reported 2,62,272 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,48,439 deaths while 98,34,141 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

The central government on Monday, 28 December 2020 extended the existing COVID-19 guidelines till 31 January 2021 as well as maintained strict surveillance and caution during this period amid concerns of new and highly infectious COVID-19 strain in the UK. The new Coronavirus variant discovered in the UK has now been detected in Taiwan.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Maharashtra government has extended lockdown restrictions in the state till 31 January 2021.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 0.93% to 1,748.95. The index jumped 7.43% in the past five trading sessions.

Bank of Baroda (down 1.60%), Indian Bank (down 1.36%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.36%), State Bank of India (down 0.81%) and UCO Bank (down 0.78%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of Jindal Stainless (Hisar) fell 1.52% while Jindal Stainless declined 2.31%.

The board of Jindal Stainless (JSL) and Jindal Stainless (Hisar) (JSHL) on Tuesday (29 December 2020) accepted the recommendations of the respective board committees and approved the merger of JSHL into JSL.

As per the approved share swap ratio, 195 equity shares of JSL will be issued for every 100 equity shares of JSHL. JSL is the largest manufacturer of stainless steel in India with a capacity of 1.1 MTPA. JSHL is an integrated stainless-steel manufacturer with facilities starting from melting, casting, and hot rolling to cold rolling and other value additions.

Cadila Healthcare rose 0.01%. The drug major announced that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved its New Drug Application (NDA) for Saroglitazar Mg for the treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in India.

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