SENSEX, NIFTY TRADE HIGHER; OIL & GAS SHARES ADVANCE

The frontline indices traded with substantial gains in early afternoon trade after five days of steep decline amid value buying at lower levels and a rally in global markets. The Nifty traded above the 23,700 level. Oil & gas shares advanced after declining in past past five consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared rallied 486.86 points or 0.62% to 78,528.39. The Nifty 50 index jumped 157.70 points or 0.67% to 23,745.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.43% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.47%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,821 shares rose and 2,103 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India`s foreign exchange reserves dipped by $1.98 billion to $652.87 billion as of December 13, according to data shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI showed that the primary contributor to this decline was the drop in Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), which fell by $3 billion to $562.58 billion.

Meanwhile, gold reserves were up by $1.12 billion, bringing the total to $68 billion.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) dipped by $35 million, now totaling $17.99 billion, while the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contracted by $27 million, standing at $42.40 billion.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 7.79% to 13.90. The Nifty 26 December 2024 futures were trading at 23,798, at a premium of 52.80 points as compared with the spot at 23,745.20.

The Nifty option chain for the 26 December 2024 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 144 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 113.2 lakh contracts was seen at 23,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained 1.03% to 10,716.35. The index fell 4.95% in past five consecutive trading sessions.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2.65%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.73%), GAIL (India) (up 1.71%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.63%), Reliance Industries (up 1.5%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.33%), Petronet LNG (up 1.17%), Mahanagar Gas (up 0.96%), Gujarat Gas (up 0.72%) and Oil India (up 0.47%) advanced.

On the other hand, Aegis Logistics (down 3.38%), Castrol India (down 1.81%) and Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.26%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ksolves India slipped 3.62%. The company�s board has approved the proposal of sub-division of one equity share having a face value of Rs 10 each into two equity shares having a face value of Rs 5 each.

Suraksha Diagnostic declined 2%. The company reported 21.85% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 10.15 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 8.33 crore in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 11.18% YoY to Rs 66.75 crore during the quarter ended 30 September 2024.

Bigbloc Construction rallied 3.32% after the company announced that it has s secured a work order from TATA Projects worth Rs 4.5 crore.

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