Nifty hovers above 17,500; RIL climbs 5%

Equity indices traded at the day's high with modest gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 17,500 mark. Pharma, IT and energy stocks saw buying demand while auto stocks declined. Rising COVID-19 cases in Europe dented investor's sentiments.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 368.6 points or 0.63% at 58,709.54. The Nifty 50 index added 91.8 points or 0.53% at 17,506.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.20% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.61%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,960 shares rose and 1,207 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged.

 

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.35% to 17.155. The Nifty 30 December 2021 futures were trading at 17,549.55, at a premium of 52.5 point as compared with the spot at 17,564.55.

The Nifty option chain for 30 December 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 22.4 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 39.5 lakh contracts was seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Segment:

Oil & gas stocks were in demand. Reliance Industries (up 5.3%), Oil India (up 1.03%), Indraprastha Gas (up 0.41%) and Gujarat Gas (up 0.38%) were top gainers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Eicher Motors fell 1.02%. The auto maker said its Royal Enfield motorcycle unit commenced operations of its exclusive local assembly unit and CKD (Completely Knocked Down) facility in Thailand. With this, Royal Enfield now has three local CKD units - in Argentina, and Colombia in Latin America, and in Thailand - in addition to the three manufacturing facilities in Chennai, India.

TCS rose 0.48%. The IT company on Thursday announced that it has been selected as a strategic partner by South32, a global mining and metals company. The scope of the partnership is to enhance South32's IT operating model and provide application and infrastructure services critical to its global operations, strengthening its operational resilience and business agility. Under the new contract, management of critical infrastructure that was previously managed by multiple service-providers has been consolidated with TCS, driving end-to-end accountability.

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