Nifty above 17,300; metal stocks lose shine

Equity indices traded higher near the day`s high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded comfortably above the 17,300 level. Barring metal stocks, all sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the green

At 12:32 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex rallied 721.42 points or 1.26% at 57,758.34. The Nifty 50 index surged 203 points or 1.19% to 17,340.45.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.88% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.23%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,308 shares rose while 985 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.10% to 18.0925. The Nifty 28 April 2022 futures were trading at 17,360, at a premium of 30 points as compared with the spot at 17,330.

The Nifty option chain for 28 April 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 34.3 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 40.1 lakh contracts was seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index declined 0.37% to 6,531.65, extending its losing run to third consecutive trading session. The metal index lost 1.76% in three days.

Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.29%), Tata Steel (down 1.62%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 1.54%), JSW Steel (down 1.3%), Jindal Stainless (Hisar) (down 0.81%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.69%), NMDC (down 0.41%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.21%) were the top losers in metal space.

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