Nifty near 19,100; oil & gas stocks advance; VIX slumps 5.74%

The benchmark indices continued to trade with moderate gains in early afternoon trade as investors found solace in the U.S. Federal Reserve`s decision to maintain its benchmark interest rate unaltered. The Nifty traded near the 19,100 level. Oil & gas shares rose for the second day in a row.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 336.39 points or 0.53% to 63,927.72. The Nifty 50 index added 106.75 points or 0.56% to 19,095.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.79%.

The market breadth is strong. On the BSE, 2,247 shares rose and 1,248 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates at a 22-year high, with the benchmark rate remaining between 5.25% and 5.50%, for the second meeting in a row.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 5.74% to 11.36. The Nifty 30 November 2023 futures were trading at 19,126.40, at a premium of 77.6 points as compared with the spot at 19,105.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 November 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 29.4 lakh contracts at the 20,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 49.4 lakh contracts were seen at 19,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained 0.99% to 7,701.55. The index added 1.21% in two trading sessions.

GAIL (India) (up 2.55%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 2.54%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.14%), Gujarat State Petronet (up 2.03%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.73%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 0.95%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 0.9%), Gujarat Gas (up 0.85%), Reliance Industries (up 0.59%) and Adani Total Gas (up 0.25%) advanced.

On the other hand, Oil India (down 0.93%) and Aegis Logistics (down 0.14%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) dropped 8.18% after the company�s standalone net profit declined 49.23% to Rs 76.04 crore as on Q2 FY24 as compared to Rs 150.60 recorded in Q2 FY23. Revenue from operations fell 28.94% YoY to Rs 383 crore during the quarter.

Godrej Consumer Products rose 1.03%. The Godrej Group company`s consolidated net profit grew 20.6% to Rs 432.77 crore in Q2 FY24 from Rs 358.86 crore posted in Q2 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 6.1% YoY to Rs 3,568.36 crore in the quarter ended 30 September 2023, led by volume growth of 10% and constant currency growth of 16% YoY.

Va Tech Wabag jumped 4.36% after the company has announced that it has secured a consortium design, build, operate (DBO) repeat order towards 345 MLD Bejaoua drinking water treatment plant, worth about 215 million Tunisian Dinars (approximately EUR 63 million), from Societe Nationale D`exploitation Et De Distribution Des Eaux (SONEDE).

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