Sensex gains 183 pts; consumer durables slide; VIX slips 2.40%

The benchmarks indices pared all the losses and traded with minor gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 21,850 mark after hitting the day�s low of 21,710.20 in mid-morning trade. Consumer durables shares declined for the fourth day in a row.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 182.64 points or 0.25% to 72,194.69. The Nifty 50 index rose 42.80 points or 0.20% to 21,860.25.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.10% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.24%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,538 shares rose and 2,106 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The provisional figures of Gross collection of Direct Taxes (before adjusting for refunds) for the Financial Year 2023-24 stand at Rs 22,27,067 crore compared to Rs 18,75,535 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, showing a growth of 18.74% over the collections of FY 2022-23.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 2.40% to 13.77. The Nifty 28 March 2024 futures were trading at 21,949.65, at a premium of 89.4 points as compared with the spot at 21,860.25.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 March 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 39.5 lakh contracts at the 22,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 46.3 lakh contracts were seen at 21,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Consumer Durables index declined 0.72% to 30,920.85. The index slipped 2.28% in four trading sessions.

Amber Enterprises India (down 4.1%), Blue Star (down 3.83%), Whirlpool of India (down 1.57%), V-Guard Industries (down 1.56%) and Relaxo Footwears (down 1.52%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (down 1.5%), Voltas (down 0.75%), Rajesh Exports (down 0.73%), Dixon Technologies (India) (down 0.58%) and TTK Prestige (down 0.22%) declined.

On the other hand, Kajaria Ceramics (up 0.7%), Bata India (up 0.24%) and Orient Electric (up 0.15%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Time Technoplast rallied 7.67% after the company received approval from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) for manufacturing high pressure type-IV composite cylinder, prototype, for hydrogen.

Ramky Infrastructure added 0.40%. The company announced that it has bagged two contracts worth Rs 216.65 crore from Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Shakti Pumps (India) fell 1.92%. The submersible pump manufacturer announced that its board approved the qualified institutional placement (QIP) of upto Rs 200 crore at a floor price of Rs 1,272.09 per share. The company`s board authorized and declared the opening of the issue on Tuesday, 19 March 2024.

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