Sensex gains 344 pts, IT stocks advance

The benchmark indices traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 17,050 mark. Pharma, healthcare and IT stocks were in demand while realty, media and auto stocks declined.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 344.01 points or 0.60% to 57,871.11. The Nifty 50 index advanced 106.60 points or 0.63% to 17,051.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.93%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,030 shares rose, and 2,471 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.

Numerous global economic releases are scheduled for the final week of the current fiscal year 2022-2023. Absence of significant market triggers this week in the domestic market, investors and traders at home are likely to turn to the international markets for future direction.

Moreover, the week will witness the monthly derivatives series expiry for March on Wednesday, which shall induce some volatility in the domestic market.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.14% to 15.42. The Nifty 29 March 2023 futures were trading at 17,077, at a premium of 25.35 points as compared with the spot at 17,051.65.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 March 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 118.7 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 155.5 lakh contracts were seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index rose 0.92% to 28,192.15. The index shed 1% in the past two trading sessions.

Persistent Systems (up 2.22%), Mphasis (up 1.21%), HCL Technologies (up 0.94%), Infosys (up 0.75%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.64%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 0.63%), L&T Technology Services (up 0.41%), Wipro (up 0.32%) and LTI Mindtree (up 0.04%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals rose 0.87% while Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances slipped 3.64%. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals and Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances have announced a merger to accelerate and smoothen the realisation of synergies of the combined business. Both are listed companies and the merger will take place through shares swap.

Upon Merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly as on the record date will receive 22 equity shares of Crompton for every 5 equity shares held by them in Butterfly, as a consideration for the merger. Post-merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly will hold around 3% stake in the combined entity.

Manappuram Finance fell 3.11%. The Kerala-based NBFC said that it is considering various options for raising funds through borrowings including by the way of issuance of various debt securities in onshore / offshore securities market by public issue, on private placement basis or through issuing commercial papers.

Dalmia Bharat rose 1.80% after the company said its material wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), entered into binding agreement to sell its entire stake of 42.36% of Dalmia Bharat Refractories (DBRL) to Sarvapriya Healthcare Solutions.

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