The domestic equity barometers traded near the flat line in early afternoon trade after swinging between gains and losses earlier during the day. The Nifty traded below the 16,900 mark. IT stocks declined.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1.05 points to 56,484.97. The Nifty 50 index lost 3.40 points or 0.02% to 16,867.90.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.45%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,907 shares rose and 1,331 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.41% to 26.04. The Nifty 24 February 2022 futures were trading at 16,871.30, at a premium of 3.4 points as compared with the spot at 16,867.90.
The Nifty option chain for 31 March 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 23.2 lakh contracts at 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 46.8 lakh contracts were seen at 16,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 1.05% to 35,650.50. The index had advanced 1.92% to end at 36,028.00 yesterday.
L&T Technology Services (down 2.69%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 2.41%), Infosys(down 1.94%), MindTree (down 1.82%), Coforge (down 1.51%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.05%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
CreditAccess Grameen fell 1.43% to Rs 790.25. The company said that its board will meet on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, to consider the proposal of raising funds through public issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in domestic market, in one or more tranches.
Manappuram Finance added 1.13% to Rs 116. The NBFC said that the board is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 17 March 2022, to consider and approve borrowing program including issuance of redeemable non-convertible debentures, notes, bonds (Debt Securities) in onshore/offshore market by way of private placement and/or public issue for FY 2022-23. The board will also discuss business plan for FY 2022-23.
