Sensex, Nifty near day's high; IT stocks trade firm

Benchmarks were trading sideways near the day's high in mid-afternoon trade. All the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the green with realty, media and IT shares leading. At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 328.47 points or 0.71% at 46,335.42. The Nifty 50 index gained 101.95 points or 0.76% at 13,568.70.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 1.95% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index surged 2.37%.

Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 2,195 shares rose and 656 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 7,80,18,199 with 17,17,124 deaths. India reported 2,89,240 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,46,444 deaths while 96,63,382 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index added 2.14% to 24,117.10. The index has gained 5.57% in two days.

Mphasis (up 8.17%), Mindtree (up 4.85%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (up 3.08%), Coforge (up 2.83%) and HCL Tech (up 1.57%) were top gainers in IT segment.

Infosys rallied 2.97% after IT major and Daimler AG announced a long-term strategic partnership for a technology-driven IT infrastructure transformation. The collaboration will empower Daimler to strengthen its IT capabilities, and Infosys, its automotive expertise.

Wipro was up 5.09% after the company announced a strategic digital and IT partnership deal with Metro AG. As a part of this transaction, Wipro will take over the IT units of Metro AG - Metro-Nom GMBH in Germany and Metro Systems Romania S.R.L. The estimated deal value for the duration of the first five years is approximately $700 million. With the intention to extend up to 4 additional years, it can be a potential spend of up to $1 billion.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 73.7650 as compared to its previous closing of 73.845.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.952% compared with its closing of 5.951% in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement lost 0.11% to Rs 50,026.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.19% to 90.373.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2020 settlement lost 28 cents to $49.8 a barrel. The contract fell 1.63% to settle at $50.08 in the previous trading session.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Antony Waste Handling Cell received bids for 4.69 crore shares as against 66.66 lakh shares on offer as on 23 December 2020, according to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) data at 14:00 IST. The issue was subscribed 7.05 times.

The issue opened for subscription on Monday (21 December 2020) and closes today (23 December 2020). The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 313-315 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 47 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

The issue comprises of a fresh issue worth Rs 85 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 6,824,933 equity shares by existing shareholders. Shares will list on 1 January 2021 on bourses.

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