The benchmark indices further pared gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty held above 16,650 mark. FMCG shares extended gains for the fourth consecutive session.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 183.60 points or 0.33% at 55,975.87. The Nifty 50 index added 43.85 points or 0.26% at 16,658.45.
The Sensex hit record high of 56,118.57 while the Nifty scaled record high of 16,701.85 in morning trade.
Bajaj twins were in demand. Bajaj Finserv (up 3%) and Bajaj Finance (up 2.77%) advanced.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.46% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.05%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,224 shares rose and 1,835 shares fell. A total of 113 shares were unchanged.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 20,85,98,406 with 43,82,401 deaths. India reported 3,67,415 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,32,519 deaths while 3,14,85,923 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India reported 35,178 new cases in last 24 hours. Active cases constituted 1.14% of total cases, lowest since March 2020. India's active caseload of 3,67,415 is lowest in 148 days. Recovery rate stood at 97.52%, highest since March 2020. 56.06 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under nationwide vaccination drive.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.02% to 13.2750. The Nifty 26 August 2021 futures were trading at 16,634.80, at a discount of 23.65 points as compared with the spot at 16,658.45.
The Nifty option chain for 26 August 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25 lakh contracts at the 17,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.3 lakh contracts was seen at 16,500 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.91% to 37,818.75. The index added 3.82% in four sessions.
United Spirits (up 7.69%), United Breweries (up 5.68%), Jubilant Foodworks (up 4.20%), Varun Beverages (up 1.28%) and Emami (up 1.27%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HCL Technologies rose 0.28%. The IT firm has signed a five-year, end-to-end IT transformation services deal with Wacker Chemie AG, a German multinational chemical company, to establish a modernized digital workplace and improve its quality-of-service delivery.
HDFC Bank gained 0.97%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted the embargo on private sector lender to onboard new credit card customers. Following repeated technological outages at HDFC Bank, RBI in December 2020 slapped penalties on the private bank, which included a ban on any new credit card issuance and also prohibition on launching new digital initiatives. RBI vide its letter dated 17 August 2021 has relaxed the restriction placed on sourcing of new credit cards. The board of directors of HDFC Bank has taken note of the said RBI letter.
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