Sensex, Nifty hover near day's low; breadth weak

Barometers were trading near the day's low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered around the crucial 14,500 mark. Auto, IT and FMCG bucked weak market trend.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 330.40 points or 0.67% at 49,294.11. The Nifty 50 index slipped 87.35 points or 0.6% at 14,503.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.39%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 990 shares rose and 1778 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 97,475,579 with 2,088,783 deaths. India reported 1,88,688 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,53,032 deaths while 1,02,83,708 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.65% to 22.0350. The Nifty 28 January 2021 futures were trading at 14,506, 10.3 discount to the spot at 14,516.30.

The Nifty option chain for 28 January 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 51.7 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 32.5 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slumped 2.41% to 3,281.05. The index has lost 4.5% in two days.

Steel Authority of India (down 6.85%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.38%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.8%), Tata Steel (down 1.96%), JSW Steel (down 1.9%), Coal India (down 1.56%), NMDC (down 1.45%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 1.34%) fell.

Earnings Impact:

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) fell 0.32%. MCX's consolidated net profit jumped 29.2% to Rs 71.80 crore on 13% surge in net sales to Rs 100.90 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 15.3% to Rs 67.59 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 58.62 crore in Q3 December 2019. EBITDA for the quarter ended 31 December 2020 jumped 17% to Rs 73.45 crore from Rs 62.67 crore over the corresponding quarter ended 31 December 2019. For the quarter ended 31 December 2020, the EBITDA margin stood at 58% and while PAT margin was at 57%.

Supreme Petrochem tumbled 4.4%. The company's net profit surged to Rs 171.62 in Q3 FY21 from Rs 2.07 crore Q3 FY20. Net sales rose jumped 50% to Rs 928.79 crore in the third quarter from Rs 619.08 crore in the same period last year. Total expenditure was Rs 690.28 crore (up 13.2% YoY), interest payments were Rs 2.49 crore (up 24.5% YoY) and depreciation costs were Rs 10.05 crore (up 7% YoY) in Q3 FY21. Profit before tax in Q3 December 2020 stood at Rs 233.32 crore, significantly higher as compared to Rs 2.68 crore in Q3 December 2019.

SRF tumbled 6.3% after the company's consolidated net profit fell 5.3% to Rs 324.73 crore on 17.8% surge in net sales to Rs 2,129.43 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 72.7% to Rs 443.23 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 256.58 crore in Q3 December 2019. Consolidated Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT) jumped 42% to Rs 479 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 337 crore in Q3 FY20 (when compared with CPLY). Net of one-time tax adjustments in CPLY, the consolidated PAT soared 46% to Rs 324 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Rs 221 crore in Q3 December 2019.

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