Sensex, Nifty turn rangebound; breadth strong

Benchmark indices hovered in a narrow range in early afternoon trade. All sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in the green. Shares rallied for the second day as investors cheered Union Budget announcements. Positive global cues also lifted the sentiment.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 991.18 points or 2.04% at 49,591.79. The Nifty 50 index soared 290.35 points or 2.03% at 14,571.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.24%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,614 shares rose and 1,098 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.

The Union Budget 2021 unveiled on 1 February 2021 supported all the essential aspects of growth by an increase in government spending without an increase in indirect taxes. The Budget offered huge stimulus to infrastructure, capex, healthcare and boosted the credit flow by taking out the toxic assets of the banking system. Increased FDI limit in insurance improved the overall outlook of the sector.

Derivatives:

The NSE’s India VIX, a gauge of market’s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.45% to 23.2175. The Nifty 25 February 2021 futures were trading at 14,635.15, at a premium of 63.60 points as compared with the spot at 14,571.55.

The Nifty option chain for 25 February 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 16.2 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 28.6 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,34,09,402 with 22,37,973 deaths. India reported 1,63,353 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,54,486 deaths while 1,04,48,406 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index jumped 4.15% to 1,777.40. The index added 7.71% in two sessions.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) (up 8.05%), DishTV India (up 4.10%), Sun TV Network (up 3.29%), PVR (up 2.71%) and TV18 Broadcast (up 1.79%) were the top gainers in Media segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Central Depository Services (India) gained 2.46% after the company reported 66.3% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 48.75 crore on 69.4% increase in net sales to Rs 89.20 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Consolidated profit before tax rose 66.7% to Rs 63.71 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 38.22 crore in Q3 FY20. Tax expense were steeply higher at Rs 16.52 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 5.81 crore in Q3 FY20.

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) declined 2.40% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 213.65 crore in Q3 FY21 as against net loss of Rs 150.79 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales declined 44% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 7,893.37 crore during the quarter. Pre-tax loss in Q3 December 2020 stood at Rs 326.95 crore as against Rs 303.15 crore in Q3 December 2019.

MRPL’s gross refining margin (GRM) was at $3.26 per barrel in Q3 December 2020, up by 2.2% from $3.19 per barrel in Q3 December 2019. The company’s throughput declined by 1% to 3.08 million metric tonnes (MMT) in the third quarter from 4.07 MMT in the same period last year. The capacity utilization gradually improved during the current quarter compared with the previous quarter of current year.

Power Grid Corporation of India advanced 2.62% after the company said it was declared as the successful bidder for an establishing transmission system in Rajasthan. The company said that it had been declared as the successful bidder under tariff based competitive bidding to establish transmission system for Transmission system strengthening scheme for evacuation of power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase II – Part C on build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.

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