Nifty hovers above 12,500 mark

Benchmark indices were trading near record high levels in morning trade. The Nifty held above the crucial 12,500 mark. IT, FMCG and pharmaceutical stocks declined. Sentiment was upbeat after US drug maker Pfizer said large-scale trials of its coronavirus vaccine showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing infection.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 279.82 points or 0.66% at 42,877.67. The Nifty 50 index added 73.55 points or 0.59% at 12,534.30.

In the morning trade, the Sensex hit a record high of 42,988.83 while the Nifty hit a record high of 12,566.75.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.04%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.17%. Both the indices underperformed the benchmark indices.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1126 shares rose and 999 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,08,75,289 with 12,62,413 deaths.

India reported 5,05,625 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,27,059 deaths while 79,59,406 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE are the first drug makers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. They said tests so far have found no serious safety concerns, and expected to seek authorisation for emergency use in the US later this month.

Bihar Elections:

The counting of votes for 243 assembly constituencies in Bihar is under way. The elections saw incumbent Nitish Kumar, who is heading the JD(U)-BJP combine, take on the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan comprising RJD, Congress and Left Parties. Latest trends indicate that the RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan, which was ahead of NDA in early trends, is now leading on 109 seats. The majority mark is 122.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index fell 2.85% to 21,198.20, snapping its four day winning streak amid profit booking at higher level. The index gained 2.23% in last four trading sessions.

Tech Mahindra (down 3.83%), Coforge (down 3.66%), Infosys (down 3.23%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 3.17%), Wipro (down 2.29%) and TCS (down 2.19%) were top losers in IT index.

Results Today:

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.41%) is a Nifty company that will announce its quarterly result today.

NMDC (up 0.75%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.75%), Alkyl Amines (down 0.23%), Aster DM Healthcare (up 0.29%), RITES (up 0.6%), Chalet Hotels (up 5.63%), Gillette India (down 0.03%), Godfrey Phillips (up 0.46%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.29%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.23%), JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (down 2.43%), Kaveri Seed (down 1.02%), Motherson Sumi (down 1.63%), Raymond (up 0.55%), Tata Power (up 2.64%) and Ruchi Soya (up 1.74%) are some of the companies that will announce their quarterly results today.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) rose 3%. The NBFC announced reduction in its Retail Prime Lending Rate (RPLR) on housing loans. "The change will benefit all existing HDFC retail home loan customers, it added.

Tata Steel gained 2.1%. The steel major's European unit and POSCO from South Korea will collaborate to develop and test steels and tube designs, which will be used to create a hyperloop - a tube big enough to carry a passenger or freight pod able to travel at more than 1,000km/hour.

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