Nifty below 24,150; auto shares slide; VIX jumps 6.37%

The headline equity indices extended losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 24,150 mark after hitting the day's high of 24,440.25 in early trade. Auto shares extended losses for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 813.63 points or 1.02% to 79,251.53. The Nifty 50 index dropped 278.15 points or 1.14% to 24,121.25.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.73% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.51%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 632 shares rose and 3,183 shares fell. A total of 87 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 6.37% to 14.86. The Nifty 31 October 2024 futures were trading at 24,140, at a premium of 18.75 points as compared with the spot at 24,121.25.

The Nifty option chain for the 31 October 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 85.7 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 61.4 lakh contracts were seen at 24,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 2.65% to 23,680.55. The index tumbled 6.22% for the four consecutive trading sessions.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 4.69%), TVS Motor Company (down 3.86%), Exide Industries (down 3.57%), Hero MotoCorp (down 3.34%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.63%), Eicher Motors (down 2.18%), Bharat Forge (down 2.12%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 1.85%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.84%) and Tata Motors (down 1.8%) slipped.

Stocks in Spotlight :

RR Kabel slipped 3.42% after the company's consolidated net profit declined 33.16% to Rs 49.52 crore in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 74.09 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations was at Rs 1,810.13 crore in second quarter of FY25, marking a growth of 12.45% as against Rs 1,609.67 crore in Q2 FY24.

Nippon Life India Asset Management added 1.04% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 47.33% to Rs 360.10 crore on 45.59% rise in total income to Rs 692.08 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Bikaji Foods International added 3.97% after the company reported 14.7% rise in net profit to Rs 68.6 crore on a 26% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 721.2 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.