Nifty above 22,400 level, media shares slip

The domestic equity indices traded with minor gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,400 level. Media shares declined after advancing in the previous trading session.

At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 105.83 points or 0.14% to 73,911.98. The Nifty 50 index added 76.00 points or 0.16% to 22,414.75.

The benchmark Nifty50 hit a record high of 22,440.90 in the mid- morning trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.28% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.69%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,433 shares rose and 2,394 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s forex reserves jumped $2.975 billion to $619.072 billion for the week ended February 23, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $1.132 billion to $616.097 billion.

For the week ending February 23, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $2.405 billion to $548.188 billion.

Gold reserves increased by $472 million to $47.848 billion during the week, the RBI said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was up by $9 million to $4.839 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.03% to 14.99. The Nifty 28 March 2024 futures were trading at 22,502.20, at a premium of 87.45 points as compared with the spot at 22,414.75.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 March 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 32.7 lakh contracts at the 23,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 45 lakh contracts were seen at 21,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index fell 1.66% to 2,021.05. The index advanced 1.75% in the previous trading session.

TV18 Broadcast (down 5.01%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 4.98%), Dish TV India (down 2.56%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 1.54%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 1.52%), Nazara Technologies (down 1.27%), Saregama India (down 0.64%), PVR Inox (down 0.31%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Biocon added 1.01% after the Biocon Biologics announced the signing of a settlement agreement with Bayer and Regeneron Pharma for introduction of Yesafili, a proposed biosimilar to EYLEA (aflibercept) injection, into the Canadian market.

Patel Engineering advanced 1.70% after the company along with its joint venture partner has received a letter of award (LoA) from Irrigation & CAD Department of the Government of Telangana, worth Rs Rs 525.36 crore.

Dr Lal Pathlabs fell 1.28% after the healthcare service provider has announced that Bharath Uppilliappan has resigned from the position of chief executive officer (CEO) and key management personnel (KMP) of the company on 3 March 2024.

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