Sensex, Nifty at day`s high; breadth remains negative

Equity indices traded near the day`s high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded at the 17,350 level. Banks and financial stocks advanced while pharma and healthcare shares were under pressure. Ambuja Cements declined after weak Q4 earnings.

At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 155.46 points or 0.27% at 58,047.53. The Nifty 50 index gained 43.60 points or 0.25% at 17,348.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.02%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,422 shares rose and 1,786 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.56% to 21.88. The Nifty 24 February 2022 futures were trading at 17,353.50, at a premium of 10 points as compared with the spot at 17,343.5.

The Nifty option chain for 24 February 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 63.4 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 67.2 lakh contracts was seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index rose 0.38% to 37,673.35, snapping its two-day losing streak. The banking index saw buying after declining nearly 2% in two days.

SBI (up 0.76%), ICICI Bank (up 0.63%), AU Small Finance Bank (up 0.58%), Axis Bank (up 0.4%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.37%) were top gainers in Bank Nifty.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ambuja Cements dropped 4.84%. The company recorded 49.4% fall in standalone net profit to Rs 252 crore despite a 6.1% increase in net sales to Rs 3,679 crore in Q4 CY2021 over Q4 CY2020. Sales volume (cement + clinker) in Q4 CY21 was 7.2 million tons (up 3% Y-o-Y). Cement demand remained subdued, especially in the month of November 2021. Realisation improved by 4% to Rs 5,135 per ton in Q4 CY21 from Rs 4,926 per ton in Q4 CY20. Improvement in realization was on account of favourable geo mix and product mix, the cement maker said. During the quarter and year ended 31 December 2021, there was an exceptional charge of Rs 65.69 crore on account of restructuring cost. EBITDA fell by 26% to Rs 568 crore in Q4 CY2021 from Rs 768 crore in Q4 CY2020.

CSB Bank rose 1.18%. The bank said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the deputy managing director of the bank, for a period of three years. On June 8, 2021, the bank had announced the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the deputy managing director of the bank, subject to RBI`s approval.

Gensol Engineering hit an upper circuit limit of 5% to Rs 259.45 after the company said it bagged deals worth over Rs 70 crore for building solar power projects of around 24 MWp cumulative capacity in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

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