Nifty hovers near 14,350; India VIX skids 7%

The domestic equities firmed up once again in early afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading below 14,350 level. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 101.18 points or 0.21% at 47,984.56. The Nifty 50 index gained 29.85 points or 0.21% at 14,340.65. Concerns over rising covid-19 cases continued to weigh on investors sentiment.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.27% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.26%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,591 shares rose and 1,084 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) showed industrial output in India once again shrink in February, going down by 3.6%. IIP had contracted by an updated 0.9% in January after rising by 1.6% in December.

The all-India general CPI inflation rose to 5.52% in March 2021 (new base 2012=100), compared with 5.03% in February 2021. The corresponding provisional inflation rate for rural area was 4.61% and urban area 6.52% in March 2021 as against 4.19% and 5.96% in February 2021.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 13,66,63,803 with 29,46,124 deaths. India reported 12,64,698 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,71,058 deaths while 1,22,53,697 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Monday reported 1,61,736 new COVID-19 cases and 879 deaths in last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 6.77% to 21.4375. The Nifty 29 April 2021 futures were trading at 14,351.55, at a premium of 10.9 points as compared with the spot at 14,340.65.

The Nifty option chain for 29 April 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 25.2 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 33.4 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index lost 4.21% to 25,601.90. The index skid 6.44% in two sessions.

Coforge (down 8.83%), Mphasis (down 6.92%), MindTree (down 6.15%), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (down 4.75%) and Tech Mahindra (down 4.57%) were the top losers in IT segment.

TCS dropped 4.75%. The IT major reported a 6.3% growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 9,246 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q3 December 2020. Consolidated revenue grew by 4% to Rs 43,705 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q3 December 2020. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, TCS` net profit rose 14.87% and revenues rose 9.41% in Q4 March 2021. In constant currency terms, the company`s revenues grew 4.2% on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis and 5.9% on a YoY basis during the March quarter. The IT major`s operating margin expanded 0.2% QoQ and 1.7% YoY to 26.8% in Q4 March 2021. TCS` order book at $9.2 billion in Q4 March 2021, was the highest ever total contract value (TCV) in a quarter, taking the total yearly order book at $31.6 billion, a 17.1% growth compared to previous financial year.

All verticals showed good sequential growth, but a couple continue to lag prior year level - BFSI (+7% QoQ, +13.3% YoY), Retail and CPG (+4% QoQ, -0.9% YoY), Life Sciences and Healthcare (+3.8% QoQ, +19.3% YoY), Manufacturing (+3.9% QoQ, +1.3% YoY), Technology & Services (+2.8% QoQ, +3.9% YoY) and Communications & Media (+1.8% QoQ, -4% YoY). The company`s board has proposed a final dividend of Rs 15 per share.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Muthoot Finance gained 1.42% after the NBFC`s board approved payment of an interim dividend of Rs 20 per equity share. The company has fixed 23 April 2021 as the record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.

NBCC (India) advanced 2.42% after the company said it has been engaged as project management consultant for the construction of FCIL office building at Noida (Uttar Pradesh) on 9 April 2021. NBCC (India) is the project management consultant (PMC) for a project worth Rs 65.10 crore charging a PMC fee of 7%.

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