Barometers trade in range; IT stocks rise for 2nd day

Benchmark indices traded with small gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 53.76 points or 0.12% at 43,936.01. The Nifty 50 index gained 26.25 points or 0.20% at 12,885.30.

The Sensex hit a record high of 44,271.15 while the Nifty hit a record high of 12,962.10 in initial deals today.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.32%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,531 shares rose and 1,069 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 5.88% to 20.7725. The Nifty November 2020 futures were trading at 12,883.65, at a premium of 7.60 points compared with the spot at 12,876.05.

The Nifty option chain for 26 November 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 50.79 lakh contracts at the 13,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 46.73 lakh contracts was seen at 12,800 strike price.

Economy:

FICCI's latest quarterly survey on Manufacturing pointed towards recovery of manufacturing sector for Q2 (July-September 2020-21) as compared to previous quarter. The percentage of respondents reporting higher production in second quarter of 2020-21 has increased vis-a-vis the Q1 of 2020-21. The proportion of respondents reporting higher output during July-September 2020 rose to 24%, as compared to 10% in Q1 of 2020-21. The percentage of respondents expecting low or same production is 74% in Q2 2020-21 which was 90% in Q1 of 2020-21. The overall capacity utilization in manufacturing has witnessed a rise to 65% as compared to 61.5% in Q4 2019-20.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,86,49,324 with 13,88,068 deaths. India reported 4,43,486 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,33,738 deaths while 85,62,641 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 gained 1.74% to 21,781.60. The index added 3.15% in two sessions.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 4.57%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.61%), MindTree (up 2.16%), Coforge (up 2.08%) and Infosys (up 1.84%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Praj Industries advanced 4.37% after the company signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing technology support to Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) projects under SATAT scheme. The objective of the MoU is to facilitate technological support to the entities for setting-up and commissioning of multiple number of eligible and qualified CBG plants and their continuous operation for production of CBG and organic compost manure under sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation (SATAT), the company said.

Max Ventures and Industries gained 0.38%. The company's real estate subsidiary, Max Estates, started construction of its new commercial project on the Noida Expressway. The project 'Max Square' comprises around 0.7 million square feet of office and retail spaces. Max Estates will develop the project with New York Life Insurance Company as the financial partner. It will have 51% and the New York Life Insurance Company will have 49% stakes in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Max Square, formed to develop the 'Max Square' project.

The project will be built at a cost of approximately Rs 400 crore with an equity infusion of Rs 175 crore and a debt funding of Rs 225 crore. Max Estates will be responsible for the final delivery of the project. The project construction has commenced and the company targets to deliver the same by March 2023.

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