Domestic equity indices were trading near the day's high in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 644.88 points or 1.30% at 50,225.61. The Nifty 50 index jumped 190.30 points or 1.28% at 15,113.45.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.79% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.30%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1936 shares rose and 967 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 2.94% to 19.03. The Nifty 27 May 2021 futures were trading at 15,142.05, at a premium of 28.60 points as compared with the spot at 15,113.45.
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The Nifty option chain for 27 May 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 22.8 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 42.8 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index rose 2.70% to 10,271.95. The index added 4.70% in two sessions.
Ashok Leyland (up 5.59%), Bajaj Auto (up 4.43%), Bharat Forge (up 3.52%), Tata Motors (up 3.33%) and Eicher Motors (up 3.21%) advanced.
Hero MotoCorp gained 1.95% after the two-wheel manufacturer announced that it has extended the duration of all its warranty and free services. The extended services include all scheduled free service, all services under joyride and all vehicles for which warranty is expiring. The two-wheeler maker said it extended the duration of the services that were getting exhausted during the ongoing period by 60 days. Durations have been extended to ensure that customers are not required to visit dealerships in a rush to avail of the services.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Praj Industries spurted 5.99% after the company said it has developed an eco-friendly material for road construction. The Netherlands-based Circular Biobased Delta (CBBD) has approved the company's Bio-bitumen samples processed from purified lignin, as a part of their flagship CHAPLIN program. Lignin is one of the co-products resulting from the 2nd generation ethanol plants, paper making and also from Compressed Bio-Gas plants. Bitumen is a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons produced by fractionation of crude oil and has wide applications in road construction and roofing as binder.
Economy:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest bulletin said that the biggest economic impact during the second wave has been on the demand outlook. RBI said demand has seen a sharp fall during the April-May period, but added that the situation is better than the first wave in 2020.
According to the central bank, loss of mobility, lower discretionary spending, lack of employment and inventory accumulation are some of the factors that indicate weaker demand during the second wave in India. While RBI said that the resurgence of Covid-19 has dented economic activity in the first half of Q1:2021-22, it has not yet debilitated it.
Coronavirus Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 16,36,42,990 with 33,90,316 deaths. India reported 33,53,765 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,78,719 deaths while 2,15,96,512 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The country recorded 2,63,533 fresh cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours taking the total tally of COVID-19 infections to 2,52,28,996, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday, 18 May 2021.
Meanwhile, the government has dropped plasma therapy from COVID-19 treatment protocol. Covid National Task Force released new clinical guidelines for management of mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 cases. Plasma therapy does not find a mention under the new guidelines. The decision came on the basis of recommendations of experts from AIIMS, ICMR-COVID-19 National Task Force, and Joint Monitoring Group of Union Health Ministry.
The plasma therapy, which includes transfusion of COVID-19 antibodies from the blood of a recovered patient to the one being treated, has not been found effective in reducing the progression to severe disease nor has a decrease in the fatality rate been observed.
The World Health Organization on Monday, 17 May 2021 warned that the global pandemic isn't over yet despite high COVID-19 vaccination rates in some countries. In Asia, places such as Singapore and Taiwan have seen a recent resurgence in local infections, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions in a bid to stem the virus' spread.
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