Nifty below 25,100; IT shares decline

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,100 level. IT shares witnessed profit booking after advancing in past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 183.23 points or 0.22% to 81,789.80. The Nifty 50 index fell 66.10 points or 0.26% to 25,061.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.03% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.67%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,009 shares rose and 1,805 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Government of India (GoI) has announced the sale (re-issue) of (i) '7.02% Government Security 2031' for a notified amount of Rs 10,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction using multiple price method, (ii) '7.23% Government Security 2039' for a notified amount of Rs 13,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction using multiple price method and (iii) '7.09% Government Security 2054' for a notified amount of Rs 10,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction using multiple price method.

GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs 2,000 crore against each security mentioned above. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on October 18, 2024 (Friday). Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the securities will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.15% to 13.02. The Nifty 31 October 2024 futures were trading at 25,147.15, at a premium of 85.30 points as compared with the spot at 25,061.85.

The Nifty option chain for the 31 October 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 54.3 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 44.6 lakh contracts were seen at 25,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.64% to 42,598.15. The index rose 1.86% in past two consecutive trading sessions.

Wipro (down 2.68%), Mphasis (down 2.34%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.44%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.61%), L&T Technology Services (down 0.40%), Infosys (down 0.07%) and Persistent Systems (down 0.06%) declined.

On the other hand, Coforge (up 0.40%), HCL Technologies (up 0.2%) and LTIMindtree (up 0.20%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight :

International Travel House (ITHL) rallied 4.63% after the company's standalone net profit jumped 31.97% to Rs 7.43 crore in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 5.63 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations grew 14.93% year on year (YoY) to Rs 60.94 crore in the quarter ended 30 September 2024.

J.Kumar Infraprojects added 0.70%. The company announced that it has received work order worth Rs 297.83 crore from Pune Municipal Corporation.