Sensex spurts 376 pts, Nifty above 17,900 level

17 Aug 2022 , 12:32 PM

The domestic equity benchmarks traded near the days high with modest gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,900 level. Consumer durables shares extended their gains for the fourth consecutive trading session. Investors awaited the release of the US FOMC minutes of meeting scheduled later today. At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 375.91 points or 0.63% to 60,218.12. The Nifty 50 index added 111.75 points or 0.63% to 17,937. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.69% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.60%. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,019 shares rose and 1,270 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged. Derivatives: The NSEs India VIX, a gauge of the markets expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.63% to 17.57. The Nifty 25 August 2022 futures were trading at 17,945.65, at a premium of 8.65 points as compared with the spot at 17,937. The Nifty option chain for the 25 August 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 31.2 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 34 lakh contracts were seen at 17,500 strike price. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Consumer Durables index rose 0.77% to 26,808. The index added 3.1% in four trading sessions. Dixon Technologies (India) (up 3.14%), TTK Prestige (up 2.49%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (up 1.96%), V-Guard Industries (up 1.77%), Orient Electric (up 1.75%), Havells India (up 1.66%), Whirlpool of India (up 1.53%), Blue Star (up 1.51%), Kajaria Ceramics (up 1.12%) and Voltas (up 0.59%) edged higher. On the other hand, Bata India (down 1.73%), Rajesh Exports (down 0.83%) and Relaxo Footwears (down 0.24%) declined. Stocks in Spotlight: Bharti Airtel gained 2.23%. The telecom major said that it has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore to the Department of Telecom (Government of India) towards dues for spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auctions. As per the regulatory filing, Airtel has paid 4 years of 2022 spectrum dues upfront. The company believes that this upfront payment coupled with the moratorium on spectrum dues and AGR related payments for four years will free up future cash flows and allow Airtel to dedicate resources to single-mindedly concentrate on the 5G roll out. Singer India surged 18.22%. Rare Investments on Tuesday (16 August) bought 42.50 lakh shares in a bulk deal on the BSE for Rs 53.50 each. The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala investment firm now holds around 8% in Singer India. RateGain Travel Technologies (RateGain) advanced 3.49%. The company said that Air India, the flagship carrier of India owned by Indias largest conglomerate the Tata Group has selected RateGains – AirGain product to dynamically adjust prices with real-time, accurate, and high-quality airfare data to compete globally with leading airlines. Powered by Capital Market – Live News