The benchmark indices extended gains as they hit fresh intraday high in mid morning trade. The Nifty was trading above the 17,150 mark. Bank stocks witnessed some bargain buying after declining in the past two sessions.

At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 894.63 points or 1.58% to 57,641.77. The Nifty 50 index added 252.65 points or 1.49% to 17,164.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.85% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2307 shares rose and 785 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kicked off its two-day policy meet on 6 December 2021. MPC's interest rate decision will be disclosed on Wednesday, 8 December 2021. In the previous meeting, MPC kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4%.

While uncertainty continues to persist over the Omicron's health and economic impacts, investors have embraced news from South Africa which suggested that the exponential rise in Omicron infections has not been followed by a big wave in hospitalizations.

Ntsakisi Maluleke, a public health specialist in South Africa's Gauteng province, reportedly said that over the weekend, patients with omicron had only shown mild symptoms.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Rategain Travel Technologies received bids for over 32.63 lakh shares as against 1.73 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:12 IST on Tuesday (7 December 2021). The issue was subscribed 0.19 times.

The issue opened for bidding today, 7 December 2021 and it will close on 9 December 2021. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 405-425. An investor can bid for a minimum of 35 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

The offer comprises of a fresh issue up to Rs 375 crore and an offer for sale of up to 2,26,05,530 equity shares.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index advanced 2.59% to 5,466. The index had slipped 1.43% in the past two sessions.

National Aluminum Co. (up 5.16%), Hindalco Industries (up 4.20%), Hindustan Copper (up 4.16%), SAIL (up 4.08%), Tata Steel (up 2.84%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.77%) and Vedanta (up 2.68%) advanced.

Further, JSW Steel (up 2.60%), NMDC (up 1.68%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.40%), Coal India (up 1.21%) and APL Apollo Tubes (up 1%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Intellect Design Arena rose 1.78% to Rs 658.90. The company announced that State Bank of India has chosen Intellect Wealth Qube, a Digital Wealth Management suite for bank's digital wealth management transformation agenda.

Prataap Snacks added 2.36% to Rs 658.90. The company has received approval under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme of Government of India for Food Processing Industry.

The Phoenix Mills gained 3.67% to Rs 1032. The board, on Monday, 6 December 2021 appointed Anuraag Srivastava, as the chief financial officer (CFO) and a key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company.

Global markets:

Asian stocks were trading higher on Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday losses as Wall Street rallied on optimism that the omicron variant risk might not be as bad as feared.

US stocks rallied on Monday as investors shook off fears around the emerging threat of the Covid omicron variant.

White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci had reportedly said that the initial data on the omicron variant was “encouraging,” though he cautioned that more information was needed to fully understand it.