The benchmark indices declined further and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty held above 15,800 mark.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 141.34 points or 0.27% at 52,783.70. The Nifty 50 index lost 30.35 points or 0.19% at 15,830.
The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.47%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,771 shares rose and 1,399 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.
While the fresh COVID cases have declined in India, the Delta variant continues to be a cause of concern. Due to its higher transmissibility, fresh restrictions are being imposed in developed countries like UK & Australia.
Firm crude oil prices above $75 mark also worried investors. India is heavily dependent on oil imports for satisfying its domestic demand. A high crude price directly maps into a high trade deficit and in turn a high current account deficit (CAD). At the same time, being an important input for the aggregate economy, a crude price shock also leads to a spike in domestic inflation.
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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address a press conference today, 28th June 2021 at 3 PM in New Delhi.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,10,96,913 with 39,23,105 deaths. India reported 5,72,994 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,96,730 deaths while 2,93,09,607 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.26% to 13.3325. The Nifty 29 July 2021 futures were trading at 15,848.70, at a premium of 18.70 points as compared with the spot at 15,830.
The Nifty option chain for 29 July 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 19.50 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 26.90 lakh contracts was seen at 15,500 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.65% to 14,301.60. The index rose 2.38% in the past two sessions.
Torrent Pharma (up 3.05%), Biocon (up 2.91%), Cadila Healthcare (up 2.35%), Divi's Laboratories (up 2.25%) and Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals (up 2.08%) jumped.
The drug major, Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.43% after the company announced the commercial launch of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) and it will supply the product to major government and private hospitals across India. In the initial weeks, the drug major will make 2-DG available in hospitals across metros and Tier-I cities, and subsequently expand coverage to the rest of India. 2-DG manufactured by Dr Reddy's Laboratories has a purity of 99.5% and is being sold commercially under the brand name 2DG. The maximum retail price (MRP) of each sachet has been fixed at Rs 990, with a subsidized rate offered to Government institutions.
Stock in Spotlight:
Tech Mahindra gained 0.11%. The IT major, through its wholly-owned subsidiary viz., Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc., approved the proposal to acquire 100% equity shares in US-based Brainscale Inc. Brainscale is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, US. The company is a cloud focused asset having expertise in cloud consulting, enablement, application development and data analytics. It has more than 120 employees. For the financial year ending 31 December 2020, the company had revenue of $10 million.
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