The benchmark indices tumbled to a fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty index was trading below 14,650 mark amid weakness in banks and financial stocks.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 451.55 points or 0.91% at 49,406.69. The Nifty 50 index lost 113.15 points or 0.77% at 14,630.85.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.50% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.45%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,461 shares rose and 1,349 shares fell. A total of 207 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 3.55% to 20.6975. The Nifty 25 March 2021 futures were trading at 14,662.65, at a premium of 31.80 points as compared with the spot at 14,630.85.
The Nifty option chain for 25 March 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 50.3 lakh contracts at the 15,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 46.4 lakh contracts was seen at 14,500 strike price.
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Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Bank index slipped 1.44% to 33,669.35. IndusInd Bank (down 3.30%), HDFC Bank (down 1.94%), ICICI Bank (down 1.85%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.82%) and Bank of Baroda (down 1.56%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Power Grid Corporation of India declined 2.56%. The company signed a share purchase agreement with Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL) for acquiring its 74% stake in Jaypee Power Grid (JPL) at an aggregate consideration of Rs 351.64 crore. On completion of the transaction, Jaypee Power Grid (JPL) will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India.
Great Eastern Shipping Company (G E Shipping) gained 1.59% after the company signed a contract to buy a secondhand midsize gas carrier of about 35,188 cubic metre (cbm). The 2006 Korean built vessel is expected to join the company's fleet in Q1 FY 2021-22. The company's current fleet stands at 45 vessels, comprising 32 tankers (9 crude carriers, 18 product tankers, 5 LPG carrier) and 13 dry bulk carriers with an average age of 11.86 years aggregating 3.64 million deadweight (dwt).
Economy:
Moody's Analytics stated that India's economy will grow by 12% in 2021 following a 7.1% contraction last year, as near-term prospects have turned more favourable. A stronger than expected December quarter GDP growth of 0.4% following a 7.5% contraction in the previous three months has turned India's near-term prospects more favourable, it said.
Meanwhile, gold imports, fell 3.3% to $26.11 billion during April-February 2020-21 from $27 billion in April-February 2019-20, according as per the commerce ministry data. India is the largest importer of gold.
India's consumption of petroleum products over the year-earlier fell at the worst pace since August 2020. The aggregate demand for petroleum and related products, including auto and industrial fuels, dropped 4.9% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in February 2021, according to provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell. The consumption in absolute terms stood at 17.21 million metric tonnes (MMT) in February 2021 as compared with an average of 18.17 MMT over the last three months.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 12,32,15,294 with 27,15,292 deaths.
India reported 3,34,646 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,59,967 deaths while 1,11,51,468 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India reported 46,951 new COVID-19 cases, 21,180 recoveries and 212 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to health ministry's updated data on Monday.
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