Barometers hover near flat line; broader market trades firm

Benchmark indices were trading with minor losses in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 69.52 points or 0.14% at 51,259.56. The Nifty 50 index fell 14.10 points or 0.09% at 15,095.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.53% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.32%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,334 shares rose and 1,425 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.10% to 24.5375. The Nifty 25 February 2021 futures were trading at 15,095.65, at a premium of 0.55 point as compared with the spot at 15,095.10.

The Nifty option chain for 25 February 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 19.8 lakh contracts at the 15,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 31.7 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,69,03,452 with 23,41,004 deaths. India reported 1,41,511 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,55,252 deaths while 1,05,61,608 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 0.48% to 1,714.95. The index fell 1.87% in the previous session.

TV Today Network (up 2.60%), Sun TV Network (up 0.98%), Dish TV India (up 0.84%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 0.68%) and PVR (up 0.47%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Linde India rallied 4.15% after the company informed about sale of land and buildings of the closed factory at Kolkata. The company has on 9 February 2021 after obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals, sold and disposed of land and buildings pertaining to its closed factory (Packaged Gases Plant) at Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata for an aggregate consideration of Rs 300 crore to Mindstone Mall Developers, Mumbai. The operations of the erstwhile Packaged Gases Plant (factory) at Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata were earlier shifted to the site at Uluberia, Howrah.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) gained 0.21%. The company said its sales jumped 35% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 5.8 lakh tonnes in January 2021. JSPL's monthly production jumped 80% y-o-y in January 2021 to 6.9 lakh tonnes. Higher production also helped JSPL post a 35% growth y-o-y in shipments to 5.8 lakh tonnes. Shipments were however lower by 18.31% quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) as JSPL continued to focus on value over volumes.

Varroc Engineering tumbled 7.67% after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 136.96 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with net profit of Rs 29.33 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales jumped 24.6% to Rs 3,492.66 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The India business revenue increased 29.2% year on year. The Global Lighting Business (VLS) revenue increased 9.0% YoY in Euro terms.

The company posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 112.86 crore in Q3 FY21 as against a pre-tax profit of Rs 48.64 crore in Q3 FY20. Current tax expense declined 23.8% to Rs 18.10 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Reported EBITDA declined 8.8% year on year to Rs 245.65 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. EBITDA margin declined to 7% in Q3 FY21 from 9.6% in Q3 FY20, mainly due to lower margins in VLS.

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