Indices hit day's high; breadth strong

Barometers further extended gains and hit a fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 631.76 points or 1.30% at 49,196.03. The Nifty 50 index jumped 190 points or 1.33% at 14,471.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.72% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.52%.

The market breadth was very strong. On the BSE, 1,978 shares rose and 709 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

Positive cues from other Asian markets and robust FII inflows in the domestic equity market boosted sentiment.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 5.09% to 23.1525. The Nifty 28 January 2021 futures were trading at 14,501, at a premium of 29.70 point compared with the spot at 14,471.30.

The Nifty option chain for 28 January 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25.20 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 33 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Economy:

India's 2020-21 sugar production till 15 January 2021 is up by 33.76 lakh tonnes or 31% compared to the same period of the previous sugar season (October to September), according to a latest update from the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA). A total of 487 sugar mills are in 33.76 lakh tonnes operation in the country as on 15 January 2021 and have produced 142.70 lakh tonnes of sugar, as compared to 108.94 lakh tonnes produced by 440 sugar mills as on 15 January 2020.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,55,55,533 with 20,40,085 deaths. India reported 2,00,528 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,52,556 deaths while 1,02,28,753 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index gained 1.96% to 1,726.85. The index skid 3.71% in the past three days.

Jagran Prakashan (up 5.61%), TV18 Broadcast (up 2.94%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) (up 2.43%), DishTV India (up 2.40%) and Inox Leisure (up 1.78%) jumped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

IRB Infrastructure Developers rose 0.79%. The company's consolidated net profit tanked 56.5% to Rs 69.48 crore on 11.2% decline in net sales to Rs 1,547.16 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) tumbled 54.6% to Rs 116.25 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 255.81 crore in Q3 December 2019. Current tax expense for the quarter dropped 50.2% to Rs 45.96 crore as against Rs 92.23 crore in Q3 December 2019.

The firm said that it saw a strong recovery in toll collections for all projects, as economic activity picked up across the country. Significant improvement was seen in construction pace as well. The company achieved COD for its Agra - Etawah 6 laning project; resulting in tariff collection effected at full rates with over 66% tariff revision.

Escorts gained 0.95%. The company said it received Budni certification in India for its electric tractor. Escorts Agri Machinery Division (EAM) on 18 January 2019 got certification from Central Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute, Budni for its electric tractor. The Budni certification complies with the provision of Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 (CMVR). Escorts is the first and the only company to receive the CMVR certificate in India for the electric tractor.

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