Benchmarks off the day's high; India VIX up over 2%

The key equity barometers came off the day's high in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 16,750 mark. Metal shares snapped their two-day wining streak as they witnessed across the board selling.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 493.01 points or 0.89% to 56,043.31. The Nifty 50 index gained 110.55 points or 0.66% at 16,741.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.73% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.07%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,722 shares rose and 1,620 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 2.54% to 25.99. The Nifty 24 February 2022 futures were trading at 16,735.70, at a discount of 5.3 points as compared with the spot at 16,741.

The Nifty option chain for 31 March 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 22.8 lakh contracts at 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.9 lakh contracts were seen at 16,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 1.32% to 6,108.55. The index had advanced 2.75% in the past two sessions.

National Aluminum Co. (down 3.45%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.99%), Coal India (down 1.80%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.66%), Vedanta (down 1.37%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.35%), SAIL (down 1.20%), Tata Steel (down 1.15%) and JSW Steel (down 1.10%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Krsnaa Diagnostics slipped 1.19% to Rs 541.80 after the company informed that Shivananda Rao has tendered his resignation from the post of chief operating officer (COO) of the company citing personal reasons. The resignation is effective from closing of business hours on Monday, 14 March 2022.

Sobha tumbled 5.32% to Rs 706.30. The company said that Jagdish Chandra Sharma has tendered his resignation for the position of director, vice chairman, managing director and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from 1 April 2022. He will hold the said position till 31 March 2022.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News