Barometers trade higher; India VIX cools off

The market barometers continued to trade with modest gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 172.30 points or 0.56% at 30,844.89. The Nifty 50 index added 59.20 points or 0.65% at 9,098.45.

The undertone of the market was positive as several countries across the globe have now moved to lift restrictions as early as next week. Metal shares advanced.

The broader market was positive. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.52%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1147 shares rose and 902 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 38 shares advanced while 12 stocks declined.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 54,97,538 far with 3,46,269 deaths. India reported 80,722 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,167 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 2.70% to 1,756.65, resuming uptrend after a day's pause. The metal index has gained 5.4% in the past one month while benchmark Nifty 50 index has lost 2% during the same period.

Jindal Steel & Power (up 8.87%), JSW Steel (up 6.61%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.4%), Tata Steel (up 3.06%), NMDC (up 2.21%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.04%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.01%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.21%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.41%) and Vedanta (up 0.17%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Eicher Motors surged 4.93% to Rs 14,605. The automaker said that its board will consider sub-division of the equity shares on 12 June 2020. It will also consider Q4 results on the same day.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) gained 1.22% to Rs 5196.30. The company has received intimation from Suzuki Motor Gujarat that they would re-start production of vehicles from 25 May 2020, strictly in accordance with the Government regulations and guidelines and by observing the company's own concern for the highest standards of safety. SMG manufactures cars on a contract basis for MSIL.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose 1.25% to Rs 356.20 after the company announced a new randomized, open-label study to test the combined efficacy of two antiviral drugs Favipiravir and Umifenovir as a potential COVID-19 treatment strategy.

The two antiviral drugs have different mechanism of action, and their combination may demonstrate improved treatment efficacy by effectively tackling high viral loads in patients during early stage of disease. The current Glenmark study will examine whether early administration of a combination of Favipiravir and Umifenovir, both acting by different mechanisms, enhances antiviral efficacy on COVID-19 patients. Glenmark has received approval from the Indian regulator to initiate the study.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.58% to 31.54. The Nifty May 2020 futures were trading at 9,097.95, a discount of 0.5 points compared with the spot at 9,098.45.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 28 May 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 33.47 lakh contracts at the 9,200 strike price. Maximum put OI of 38.20 lakh contracts was seen at 9,000 strike price.

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