The equity barometers firmed up and traded near the day's high in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 170.84 points or 0.33% at 51,480.23. The Nifty 50 index gained 49.60 points or 0.33% at 15,156.10.
The broader market was trading firm. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.55% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,593 shares rose and 1,167 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.16% to 23.435. The Nifty 25 February 2021 futures were trading at 15,128, at a discount of 28.10 points as compared with the spot at 15,156.10.
The Nifty option chain for 25 February 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 19.2 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 29.7 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.
Economy:
Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said that India's budget, presented by the government on 1 February 2021, points to a loosening of fiscal policy to support the country's ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic and will consequently lead to a rise in public debt.
"The debt/GDP trajectory is core to our sovereign rating assessment, meaning higher deficits and a slower consolidation path will make India's medium-term growth outlook take on a more critical role in our analysis," Fitch Ratings said.
"We now expect public debt/GDP to rise above 90% of GDP over the next five years, based on the revised budget targets and with our other previous rating assumptions remaining unchanged. However, recent reforms and policy measures, including those announced in the budget, could also influence our growth expectations and, thus, our debt trajectory forecasts," it added.
Meanwhile, for the third and fourth quarters, SBI Research on Wednesday revised its contraction forecast for the current fiscal year to 7%. The agency had earlier forecast a 7.4% contraction in 2020-21 GDP numbers.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,73,39,144 with 23,54,416 deaths. India reported 1,42,562 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,55,360 deaths while 1,05,73,372 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.47% to 34,348.25. The index fell 1.31% in the past three sessions.
Proctor & Gamble Health and Hygiene (up 4.10%), Tata Consumer Products (up 2.90%), Varun Beverages (up 2.25%), Dabur (up 1.89%) and Nestle India (up 0.95%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Magma Fincorp hit an upper circuit of 10% at Rs 93.40. Adar Poonawalla-controlled Rising Sun Holdings will acquire a 60% stake in the non-banking financial company (NBFC) Magma Fincorp (MFL) by subscribing to a Rs 3,456-crore preferential issue. Adar Poonawalla is the CEO of Serum Institute of India.
Following the preferential issue, Rising Sun Holdings would be classified as "promoter" of Magma Fincorp. Magma Fincorp and its subsidiaries shall be renamed and rebranded under the brand name "Poonawalla Finance".
The deal has triggered an open offer under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)'s takeover code to buy up to 26% stake from public shareholders.
NLC India slumped 7.79% after the company's consolidated net profit fell 54.2% to Rs 183.10 crore on 19.2% decline in net sales at Rs 2,214.86 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) tumbled 60.5% to Rs 288.11 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 729.06 crore in Q3 December 2019.
The company said power generation during the quarter was 4,252.82 MUs as against 5,469.47 MUs in the corresponding period of the previous year. The reduction in power generation was mainly due to fire incidents in TPS-II and retirement of all units of TPS-I as on 30 September 2020, which was partly offset by operation of Unit-I of NNTPP unit (500 MW) and full period operation of solar 709 MW. Unit-2 of NNTPP (500 MW) started commercial operation from 10 February 2021.
J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals soared 14.89% after the company's consolidated net profit zoomed 132.2% to Rs 154.28 crore on a 27.9% rise in net sales to Rs 548.22 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) surged 136% to Rs 208.46 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. J.B Chemicals said PBT for Q3 FY21 includes non-recurring income of Rs 34 crore related to sale of product registration, marketing authorization along with trademark. Current tax expense was sharply higher at Rs 49.68 crore in Q3 FY21 as compared to Rs 20.11 crore in Q3 FY20.
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