Indices at day's high; Nifty scales 16,200 mark

The main indices extended gains and traded at the day's high in early afternoon trade. IT and pharma stocks were in demand while metal stocks corrected for second day. The Nifty was scaled 16,200 mark.

At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 829.44 points or 1.55% at 54,253.53. The Nifty 50 index gained 1.29% at 16,219.40.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index surged 1.7% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 1.77%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2530 shares rose and 681 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.

LIC IPO:

State-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday has received capital markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to raise funds through an initial share sale. The government will sell over 31 crore equity shares of LIC.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.76% to 27.5125. The Nifty 24 February 2022 futures were trading at 16,209, at a discount of 10.4 points as compared with the spot at 16,219.40.

The Nifty option chain for 31 March 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI at 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI contracts were seen at 16,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index declined 0.59% to 6,009.55, extending its losing run to second consecutive trading session. The metal index lost 2% in two days.

Vedanta (down 2.83%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.32%), JSW Steel (down 1.31%), Tata Steel (down 1.3%) and Coal India (down 0.56%) were the top losers. Among the other losers were Steel Authority of India (down 0.52%), NMDC (down 0.39%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.36%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Venus Remedies rose 3.79% to Rs 282.25 after the company said it won WHO Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certification for quality services across entire supply chain. The company said it received the certification from SociGale de Surveillance (SGS), the world's leading testing inspection and certification company, in an endorsement of its quality services throughout the entire supply chain cycle.

Larsen & Toubro gained 1.41%. The EPC major on Wednesday announced that the company's heavy civil infrastructure business won a significant order from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. As per L&T's classification, the value of the significant project is 1,000 to 2,500 crore. The project is for design and construct of the underground metro project of phase IV of Delhi MRTS.

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