Sensex, Nifty near day's high; NSE VIX near 13 mark

The key equity indices were hovering near the day's high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 16,500 mark. IT shares extended gains for second consecutive session. Investors sentiment improved after India's retail inflation fell below the Reserve bank of India (RBI)'s threshold of 6% in July 2021.

At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 459.27 points or 0.84% to 55,303.25. The Nifty 50 index added 109.55 points or 0.67% to 16,473.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.26% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.40%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1736 shares rose and 1337 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4.95% to 12.99. The Nifty 26 August 2021 futures were trading at 16,475.75, at a premium of 1.8 points as compared with the spot at 16,473.95.

The Nifty option chain for 26 August 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 24.8 lakh contracts at the 16,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 47.2 lakh contracts was seen at 15,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index shed 0.44% to 5,743.95. The index advanced 3.52% in the past two sessions.

APL Apollo Tubes (down 2.65%), SAIL (down 2.04%), NMDC (down 1.24%), Tata Steel (down 1.10%), National Aluminum Co. (down 1.01%), Welspun Corp (down 0.85%), JSW Steel (down 0.76%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.57%) declined.

Meanwhile, Ratnamani Metals Tubes (up 1.75%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.09%), Vedanta (up 0.90%), MOIL (up 0.63%), Adani Enterprises (up 0.41%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.28%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Aurobindo Pharma slumped 7.25% to Rs 765.85. The company posted an 8.9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 770 crore on 2.9% rise in net sales to Rs 5,702 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21. The company's Research & Development (R&D) spend stood at Rs 358 crore, representing 6.3% of revenue.

The drug company's US formulations revenue declined by 1.5% to year on year to Rs 2,681.2 crore Q1 FY22. Europe formulation revenue stood at Rs 1,582.9 crore, growing by 19.7% over corresponding previous quarter. Revenue from Growth Markets rose 13.7% year on year to Rs 329.30 crore. ARV revenue declined by 30.3% year on year to Rs 296.4 crore. API revenue for the quarter was at Rs 812 crore versus Rs 780.1 crore in the corresponding previous period.

GMM Pfaudler slumped 4.93% to Rs 4432. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 18.4 crore in Q1 FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 19.19 crore in Q1 FY21. Net sales soared 257% to Rs 551.68 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

Tata Power shed 0.30% to Rs 133.25. Tata Power Solar Systems has received a Notice of Award (NoA) to build 50 megawatts-peak (MWp) Solar PV plant with 50 megawatt-hour (MWh) Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project at Phyang village in Leh, Ladakh. The order value of the project is Rs 386 crore. The commercial operation date for this project is set for March 2023.

Cadila Healthcare rose 2.77% at Rs 559.35. The drug major on Friday announced that it has received final approval from the US drug regulator to market mesalamine extended-release capsules in the strength of 0.375 g. Mesalamine extended-release capsules are indicated for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis in adults. The drug will be manufactured at the group's formulation manufacturing facility at the SEZ, Ahmedabad.

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