Indices hover near day's high; VIX slips 1.05%

Barometers were trading in a narrow range near the day's high in afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 362.50 points or 0.71% at 51,711.27. The Nifty 50 index spurted 108.35 points or 0.72% at 15,224.15.

The Sensex hit a record high of 51,753.42 and the Nifty hit a record high of 15,237.90 in mid-morning trade. Both the indices have gained over 11% in seven straight sessions.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.24% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.38%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,416 shares rose and 1,336 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.05% to 23.7050. The Nifty 25 February 2021 futures were trading at 15,223, at a discount of 1.15 points as compared with the spot at 15,224.15.

The Nifty option chain for 25 February 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 19.7 lakh contracts at the 15,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 32.8 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.60% to 2,290.30. Punjab National Bank (up 6.18%), Bank of India (up 4.32%), Central Bank of India (up 1.35%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 1.29%) and Bank of Baroda (up 1.17%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

JSW Steel fell 1.67%. JSW Steel's crude steel production grew by 2% to 14.32 lakh tonnes in January 2021 as compared to 14.10 lakh tonnes in January 2020. The average capacity utilisation was 96% during the month of January 2021. Production of flat rolled products fell 1% to 10.14 lakh tonnes in January 2021 as against 10.25 lakh tonnes in January 2020. Production of long rolled products rose 5% to 3.59 lakh tonnes in January 2021 over 3.42 lakh tonnes in January 2020.

Balkrishna Industries tumbled 8.26%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 45.3% to Rs 325.07 crore on a 30.6% increase in net sales at Rs 1,509.23 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) surged 53.7% to Rs 427.57 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 278.27 crore in Q3 December 2019.

Galaxy Surfactants rose 0.53%. On a consolidated basis, Galaxy Surfactants' net profit surged 77.6% to Rs 85.23 crore on 7.8% rise in net sales to Rs 674.70 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The specialty chemical maker said increase in revenue was on account of better sales volumes in both performance surfactants and specialty care business along with better sales mix. The chemical maker's consolidated total volume increased by 7.3% year on year to 58,238 MT.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,64,75,358 with 23,25,381 deaths. India reported 1,43,625 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,55,158 deaths while 1,05,48,521 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

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