Benchmarks continue to trade sideways; oil & gas shares extend gains for 6th day

The headline equity indices continued to trade with sideways in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 26,200 level. Oil & gas shares extended gains for the six consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex shed 45.09 points or 0.05% to 85,791.03. The Nifty 50 index added 22.15 points or 0.08% to 26,238.20.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 85,978.25 and 26,277.35, respectively in mid morning trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.22% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.34%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,175 shares rose and 1,641 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 4.82% to 12.13. The Nifty 31 October 2024 futures were trading at 26,368, at a premium of 129.8 points as compared with the spot at 26,238.20.

The Nifty option chain for the 31 October 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 65 lakh contracts at the 27,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 47.6 lakh contracts were seen at 26,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas rose 0.95% to 12,945.15. The index advanced 4.27% in the sixth consecutive trading session.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 3.87%), Gujarat State Petronet (up 3.57%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2%), Gujarat Gas (up 1.6%), Castrol India (up 1.57%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.54%), Petronet LNG (up 1.29%), GAIL (India) (up 1.26%), Indraprastha Gas (up 0.86%) and Adani Total Gas (up 0.44%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight :

Indian Bank rose 0.51%. The bank said that its board, at the meeting held on Thursday (26 September 2024) has approved for raising additional long term infrastructure bonds aggregating up to Rs 5000 crore, in one or more tranches.

Genesys International Corporation added 1.10% after the company has received two new contracts from NEOM and the Saudi Geological Survey Authority to adopt geospatial technology for infrastructural development in Saudi Arabia.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) gained 1.19% after the company announced that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Engineers India (EIL) to explore global business opportunities.

Biocon fell 0.43%. The company said that it has signed a licensing and supply agreement with Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company to commercialize its GLP-1 products for treating diabetes and chronic weight management, in select countries of the Middle East.