Sensex gains 535 pts; IT shares outperforms; VIX rises 2.96%

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in early afternoon trade as investors waited for the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later today and the Union Budget this weekend. The Nifty traded above the 23,100 level. IT shares gained after declining in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 535.35 points or 0.71% to 76,436.25. The Nifty 50 index advanced 178.75 points or 0.78% to 23,136.85.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 2% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 2.51%.

 

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,867 shares rose and 902 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, added 2.96% to 18.73. The Nifty 30 January 2025 futures were trading at 23,132.15, at a discount of 4.7 points as compared with the spot at 23,136.85.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 January 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 134.7 lakh contracts at the 24,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 135 lakh contracts was seen at 22,000 strike.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 1.78% to 42,565.95. The index declined 2.20% in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

Persistent Systems (up 4.94%), LTIMindtree (up 3.17%), Mphasis (up 2.99%), L&T Technology Services (up 2.81%), Coforge (up 2.65%), Wipro (up 1.99%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.31%), HCL Technologies (up 1.29%), Infosys (up 1.24%), and Tata Consultancy Services (up 0.95%) added.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mahanagar Gas shed 0.23%. The company has reported a 28.9% fall in standalone net profit to Rs 225.37 crore despite a 12% increase in net revenue to Rs 1,757.58 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY24.

Piramal Pharma added 1.14%. The pharmaceutical companys consolidated net profit tumbled 63.6% to Rs 3.68 crore despite a 12.54% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2,204.22 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.

VIP Industries shed 0.53%. The firm reported consolidated net loss of Rs 12.42 crore in Q3 FY25 as against net profit of Rs 7.15 crore recorded in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations declined 8.29% year on year (YoY) to Rs 503.54 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.

JSW Energy tumbled 7.14% after the companys consolidated net profit declined 32.2% to Rs 157.45 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 232.24 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 3.72% to Rs 2,430 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 2342.77 crore in Q3 FY24.

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