| The key equity barometers reversed all the losses and traded with minor gains in early-afternoon trade. The Nifty marched above the 17,050 level after hitting day's low of 16,994.90 in mid-morning trade. IT and banking stocks advanced while metal, realty and media stocks declined.
At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 110.37points or 0.19% to 58,035.65. The Nifty 50 index gained 18.90 points or 0.11% to 17,095.80.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.42%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,310 shares rose and 2,018 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 0.79% to 14.3750. The Nifty 29 March 2023 futures were trading at 17,110, at a premium of 15 points as compared with the spot at 17,095.80.
The Nifty option chain for the 29 March 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 146.6 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 112.6 lakh contracts were seen at 17,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index rose 0.75% to 28,209.20. The index lost 0.77% in the past trading session.
LTI Mindtree (up 1.46%), Infosys (up 1.37%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.13%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.72%) and Wipro (up 0.62%), Persistent Systems (up 0.36%), Coforge (up 0.12%), L&T Technology Services (up 0.01%) advanced.
On the other hand, HCL Technologies (down 0.7%), Mphasis (down 0.11%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Zydus Lifesciences added 0.86% after the drug major on Friday announced that it has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Doxepin Hydrochloride Capsules USP, 150 mg.
Shreeji Translogistics rose 1.25% after the company recently bagged Bharat Heavy Electricals as a new client in Full Truck Load (FTL) segment. This order win strengthens the company's dominant market position by providing a groundbreaking, differentiated value added services and cost-efficient solution for transportation, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to becoming a customer-centric and highly service-oriented organization.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose 0.12% after the company said that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) for a period of 5 years. The MoU is for providing Helicopter ticket booking service to the pilgrims of Shri Kedarnath Dham on behalf of UCADA. |