Benchmarks trade firm; Nifty above 14,700

The domestic barometers were trading firm in early afternoon trade. The Nifty index was trading tad above 14,700 mark. Pharma, realty and FMCG shares were in demand.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 179.11 points or 0.36% at 49,338.43. The Nifty 50 index gained 71 points or 0.49% at 14,708.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.93%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,713 shares rose and 960 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.30% to 20.9375. The Nifty 29 April 2021 futures were trading at 14,788.95, at a premium of 80.15 points as compared with the spot at 14,708.80.

The Nifty option chain for 29 April 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 21.4 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 39.3 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 13,18,28,728 with 28,61,100 deaths. India reported 7,88,223 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,65,547 deaths while 1,17,32,279 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India, on Monday, reported 96,982 fresh coronavirus cases and 446 related deaths. Of these, 47,288 cases were reported in Maharashtra. While cases in Chhattisgarh scaled a new high of 7,302, and the count in Karnataka crossed the 5,000-mark. The country's active case tally now stands at 7,88,223. While 164 people died in Maharashtra, 72 deceased in Punjab. Over 43 lakh people were also inoculated on Monday, pushing the vaccination count up to 8,31,10,926.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has imposed a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am till April 30 in the wake of rising cases. This comes a day after Maharashtra imposed full lockdown on weekends and fresh restrictions to last through April.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.27% to 12,487.75. Cadila Healthcare (up 2.14%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.55%), Cipla (up 1.48%), Torrent Pharma (up 1.40%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.28%) were the top gainers in Pharma segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Trident slipped 0.93%. The company said that a major fire has been broken out on Monday in the cotton warehouse located in the manufacturing facilities at Budhni, Madhya Pradesh.

Sobha spurted 6.88% after the company's total new sales jumped 47.69% to 13,37,707 square feet in Q4 FY21 over 9,05,710 sq ft. in Q4 FY20. Total sales value grew 54.35% to Rs 1,072 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 694.50 crore in Q4 FY20. Sobha's share of sales value soared 57.91% to Rs 874.20 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with Rs 553.60 crore in Q4 FY20. Total average price realisation rose 4.51% to Rs 8,014 per sq ft. in Q4 FY21 over Rs 7,668 per sq ft. in Q4 FY20.

Tilaknagar Industries gained 1.97% after the company said it entered into an agreement with Pernod Ricard India to manufacture its products in India. Tilaknagar Industries has entered and executed an agreement on 1 April 2021 with Pernod Ricard India (PRIPL) to manufacture products for PRIPL at the company's bottling facilities in Maharashtra. The agreement is effective immediately and shall remain valid for the period of 10 years and shall be renewable thereafter by mutual consent. The co-operation could be extended to more states in the near future.

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