Equity indices off day's high; broader market outperforms

Benchmark indices came off the day's high and traded with small gains in morning trade. The Nifty was trading below 14,200 mark. Metal and realty stocks were in demand while IT and pharma shares declined.

At 10:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 98.29 points or 0.2% at 48,272.66. The Nifty 50 index was up 37.95 points or 0.27% at 14,184.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.81% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap rallied 1%. Both indices outperformed the benchmark indices.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1883 shares rose and 716 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 87,156,972 with 18,82,051 deaths. India reported 2,28,083 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,50,336 deaths while 1,00,16,859 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported that currency in circulation contracted by 0.3% on the week to stand at Rs 27.70 lakh crore as on 1 January 2021. The central bank stated further that the overall reserve money rose by 0.2% on the week to Rs 33.22 lakh crore. Currency in circulation rose around 22.1% on a year ago basis compared to 11.8% growth at the same time last year. In the current fiscal, the currency in circulation has expanded by 13.2% so far while the reserve money has increased by 9.7%.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index surged 3.3% to 3,532.75, rising for second consecutive trading session. The index has jumped 4.64% in two trading days.

Tata Steel (up 4.23%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.98%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.67%), Hindustan Zinc (up 3.63%), Vedanta (up 2.8%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.33%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.16%), JSW Steel (up 2.09%) and Coal India (up 0.7%) were top gainers in metal index.

NMDC jumped nearly 4% after the PSU miner raised prices of lump ore by 9.62% to Rs 5700 per ton. The company also raised prices of fines by 4.34% to Rs 4,810 per ton with effect from 6 January 2021.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bandhan Bank gained 1.7% after the bank's total deposits jumped 30% to Rs 71,188 crore in Q3 FY21 as against Rs 54,908 crore in Q3 FY20. Sequentially, the bank's deposits have risen by 8% in Q3 FY21 from Rs 66,128 crore in Q2 FY21. The bank's loans & advances at the end of the December 2020 quarter stood at Rs 80,255 crore, up by 23% from Rs 65,456 crore in the same period last year. The loan book of the private lender has increased by 5% sequentially compared with Rs 76,615 at the end of the September 2020 quarter.

Ramco Systems rose 1.5% after the company announced that it will implement its Aviation M&E MRO Suite v5.8 for U.S.-based Construction Helicopters Inc.

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