Sensex, Nifty trade sideways; auto stocks in demand

The domestic equity barometers were trading sideways in early afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading below the 14,400 mark. Auto stocks edged higher.

At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 33.47 points or 0.07% to 47,915.95. The Nifty 50 index added 4.20 points or 0.03% to 14,363.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.25% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.05%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1831 shares rose and 844 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.92% to 22.05. The Nifty 29 April 2021 futures were trading at 14,393.95, at a premium of 14.55 points as compared with the spot at 14,379.40.

The Nifty option chain for 29 April 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 28.5 lakh contracts at the 15,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 38.3 lakh contracts was seen at 14,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 1.49% to 9,674.45. The index had declined 2.82% to end at 9,532.15 yesterday.

Bharat Forge (up 3.88%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.19%), Ashok Leyland (up 2.14%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.97%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.60%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.60%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.13%) and Tata Motors (up 0.58%) advanced.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 141,828,958 with 3,027,604 deaths.

India reported 2,031,977 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 180,530 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

PM Narendra Modi announced an important decision of allowing vaccination to everyone above the age of 18 from 1st May has been taken. PM said that the Government has been working hard from over a year to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible of time. He added that India is vaccinating people at world record pace & we will continue this with even greater momentum.

Phase-I of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy was launched on 16th January 2021, prioritizing protection for our protectors, our Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Front Line Workers (FLWs). As systems and processes stabilized, Phase-II was initiated from 1st March 2021 and 1st April 2021, focusing on protecting our most vulnerable i.e. all people above 45 years of age, accounting for more than 80% Covid mortality in the country.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of India on 19 April said it has decided against activating the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) framework as the current situation does not warrant such an action.

The RBI had in February 2005 put in place CCyB guidelines with the overall objective of strengthening the banking sector. It was envisaged that the CCyB would be activated as and when the circumstances warranted.

"Based on the review and empirical testing of CCyB indicators, it has been decided that it is not necessary to activate CCyB at this point in time," the RBI said in a release.

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