Equity indices off day's low; metals shine

The main equity indices came off the day's low and traded with small gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty reclaimed 17,250 level. Metals, media and realty shares advanced while banks and financial shares declined.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 125.56 points or 0.22% at 57,978.66. The Nifty 50 index gained 49.5 points or 0.29% to 17,283.55.

The Sensex hit record high of 58,115.69 while the Nifty scaled all time high of 17,311.95 in early trade.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.51%. Both these indices outpeformed the barometers.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1708 shares rose and 1320 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 219,070,580 with 4,541,051 global deaths.

India reported 399,778 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 439,895 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

With the administration of 74,84,333 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has surpassed the cumulative figure of 67.09 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am today. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 97.45%. 45,352 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.07% to 14.25. The Nifty 30 September 2021 futures were trading at 17,195.35, at a premium of 16.85 points as compared with the spot at 17,178.50.

The Nifty option chain for 30 September 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 17 lakh contracts at the 17,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 31.2 lakh contracts was seen at 16,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index gained 1.42% to 5,733.40. The index has added 2% in two days.

Steel Authority of India (up 2.48%), Coal India (up 2.08%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.04%), NMDC (up 1.86%), Tata Steel (up 1.39%), Vedanta (up 1.08%) and JSW Steel (up 0.92%) were top gainers in metal space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

S H Kelkar and Company (SHK) jumped 10.07% to Rs 166.15 after the company bagged an order in the home care segment from a large global MNC player in the domestic FMCG market. Driven by robust R&D capabilities and innovation strategies, SHK is the only company of Indian origin to file patents in the field of fragrance and novel aroma molecules. These patented molecules along with SHK's strong & well known expertise in the Indian fragrance industry paved the way for this order win.

Zen Technologies surged 5.58% after the company said it secured new order of about Rs 155 crore from Indian Air Force (IAF). As per the order, Zen Technologies will supply Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS). The order will be carried out in a 12-month time frame.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News