Equities off day's high; Nifty below 15,900

The benchmark indices pared gains after hitting a fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 15,900 mark after briefly crossing that level. Media scrips were in demand.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 173.54 points or 0.33% at 53,053.54. The Nifty 50 index gained 63.05 points or 0.40% at 15,897.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.73%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,990 shares rose and 1,133 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,41,50,638 with 39,84,515 deaths. India reported 4,64,357 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,03,281 deaths while 2,97,52,294 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.16% to 12.0475. The Nifty 29 July 2021 futures were trading at 15,916.15, at a premium of 18.75 points as compared with the spot at 15,897.40.

The Nifty option chain for 29 July 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25.8 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 33.6 lakh contracts was seen at 15,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 1.81% to 1,853.45. The index added 3.27% in the past two sessions.

PVR (up 4.07%), Jagran Prakashan (up 3.59%), Inox Leisure (up 2.98%), Dish TV India (up 2.50%) and Sun TV Network (up 1.61%) climbed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vakrangee slipped 0.12%. The IT firm announced an alliance with Edusaksham, an EdTech startup by IIT alumni, to offer online tuition/live classes by expert teachers, e-Learning courses, practice and assessment-based modules to the customers under online education domain.

TCS skid 1.15%. The IT major has entered into a strategic partnership with OTT streaming platform, SonyLIV, to help create an innovative business model enabled by digital technologies, enhance customer experience, and pave the path to future growth.

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