Equity benchmarks came off the day's high as profit taking emerged at higher levels in early afternoon trade. Hopes for the swift launch of COVID-19 vaccines countered fears about the surge in coronavirus cases.
At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 601.46 points or 1.67% at 36,634.52. The Nifty 50 index added 168 points or 1.58% at 10,775.35.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.66% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.96%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1398 shares rose and 981 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.
Index major Reliance Industries rose about 1.72% ahead of an annual general meeting (AGM) today.
Coronavirus Update:
India reported 3,19,840 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 24,309 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total coronavirus cases worldwide stood at 13,323,530 with 578,628 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.62% to 25.9375. The Nifty July 2020 futures were trading at 10,768, at a discount of 7.35 points compared with the spot at 10,775.35.
On the weekly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 16 July 2020 expiry showed maximum Call Open Interest (OI) of 37.28 lakh contracts at the 11,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 39.22 lakh contracts was seen at 10,700 strike price.
On the monthly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 30 July 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25.15 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 32.69 lakh contracts was seen at 10,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index slipped 0.63% to 198.45. It was the only losing sectoral index on the NSE. The index has lost 3.71% in three sessions.
Omaxe (down 4.99%), Godrej Properties (down 2.77%), Sunteck Realty (down 2.75%), DLF (down 0.75%), Sobha Developers (down 0.47%), Prestige Estates (down 0.67%) and Oberoi Realty (down 0.09%) edged lower. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 3.79%), The Phoenix Mills (up 1.62%) and Brigade Enterprises (up 0.07%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Infosys surged 6.25% to Rs 832.15 ahead of Q1 numbers today.
US-based Vanguard and Infosys announce strategic partnership for digital transformation of Vanguard's defined contribution record keeping business.
Bharat Electronics (BEL) was up 0.36% to Rs 97.45 after the company said it collaborated with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for tapping emerging global opportunities in the airport business. AAl, playing the role of a development partner, will assist BEL in its domain of expertise to enable execution of the prestigious MEA projects outside India by BEL.
Delta Corp reported consolidated net loss of Rs 28.24 crore in Q1 June 2020 as against net profit of Rs 42.48 crore in Q1 June 2019. Consolidated net sales slumped 74.08% to Rs 48.34 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Rs 186.51 crore in Q1 June 2019.
The company reported a negative EBIDTA of Rs (20.05) crore, which includes a provision of Rs 23.68 crore on account of license fees payable. The casino operator has made a representation to the government of Goa along with the rest of the industry, to consider a waiver of payment of licence fees during the lockdown period. The company said it is hopeful of a positive response on the same from the government. The scrip has hit a 5% upper circuit at Rs 93.80 on the BSE.
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