Benchmarks turn rangebound; metal stocks rise for third day

The domestic equity benchmarks traded in a narrow range in mid afternoon trade. The Nifty continued to trade below 17,400 level. Metal stocks extended gains for the third consecutive session. Upbeat global stocks boosted investors' sentiment.

At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 176.15 points or 0.30% to 58,306.10. The Nifty 50 index advanced 54.45 points or 0.31% to 17,378.05.

The Sensex hit record high of 58,515.85 while the Nifty scaled record high of 17,429.55 in early trade.

Buying was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.20%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.63%.

Buyers paced sellers. On the BSE, 1679 shares rose and 1605 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 0.70% to 5,759.10. The index has added 2.61% in three sessions.

National Aluminum Co. (up 7.56%), MOIL (up 6.50%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.34%), Vedanta (up 2.22%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.66%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.94%) and Tata Steel (up 0.45%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tarc rose 2.27% to Rs 40.60. The company said that it has sold a part of its warehousing asset to Blackstone lnc. (BREP) for Rs 295 crore. The company plans to use a part of the proceeds to fast track the residential projects, consolidating its strategy to develop higher yielding, future ready projects.

NMDC shed 0.45% to Rs 154.20. The PSU miner reduced prices of lump ore and fines with effect from 4 September 2021. The prices of lump ore (65.5%, 6-40 mm) have reduced by 14% to Rs 6,150 per ton while the prices of iron ore fines (64%, - 10 mm) have been reduced by 16.23% to Rs 5160 per ton as compared with those set on 6 August 2021.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals added 0.85% to Rs 781.05. The drug maker announced that its joint venture, Aleor Dermaceuticals, received final approval from the US drug regulator for metronidazole gel. Metronidazole gel USP is indicated for the topical treatment of inflammatory lesions of rosacea. According to IQVIA, metronidazole gel USP has an estimated market size of $29 million for twelve months ending June 2021.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 73.0375 from its previous closing of 73.0225.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2021 settlement lost 0.25% to Rs 47,406.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.23% at 92.25.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2021 settlement fell 48 cents or 0.66% to $72.13 a barrel.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.145% from its previous close of 6.156%.

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