:::LALKAR GROUP::::

The key benchmark indices further extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading above 15,700 level. Barring the Nifty Auto index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were positive.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 287.72 points or 0.55% at 52,229.36. The Nifty 50 index gained 90.40 points or 0.58% at 15,725.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.91% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.59%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,349 shares rose and 695 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 17,44,25,356 with 37,58,124 deaths. India reported 11,67,952 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 3,59,676 deaths while 2,76,55,493 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

In the last 24 hours, India reported 94,052 COVID-19 cases, and 6,148 deaths in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of deaths that the country has seen in a day since the start of the pandemic. The jump in deaths come after Bihar revised its toll on Wednesday, adding 3,951 previously uncounted deaths to its tally.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.40% to 14.96. The Nifty 24 June 2021 futures were trading at 15,750, at a premium of 24.25 points as compared with the spot at 15,725.75.

The Nifty option chain for 24 June 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 23.9 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 30.1 lakh contracts was seen at 15,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.07% to 5,265.35. The index lost 2.42% in three sessions till yesterday.

APL Apollo Tubes (up 2.28%), JSW Steel (up 1.86%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (up 1.81%), MOIL (up 1.69%) and Welspun Corp (up 1.41%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries rose 1.77%. The Fluidized Catalytic Cracker Unit (FCCU) at Reliance Industries (RIL)'s SEZ refinery at Jamnagar had to be taken for an emergency shutdown on 6 June 2021.Consequently, some product shipments might get delayed and the company working to minimize the impact on our customers, RIL said. The FCCU unit is being repaired on top priority and is expected to be restarted expeditiously. All other units at the Jamnagar Refining complex are operating normally,” RIL said in a regulatory filing made after trading hours yesterday.

Separately, RIL offered an update on receipt of amounts due on first call on Rs 2.50 paid-up equity shares of the company. The 42.26 crore partly paid-up shares of the company were allotted on rights basis. The conglomerate said that the holders of the aforesaid partly paid-up equity shares, whose names appeared on the register of members as on 12 May 2021 (the record date), were required to pay the first call amount of Rs 314.25 per equity share (comprising Rs 2.50 towards face value and Rs 311.75 towards securities premium) between 17 May 2021 and 31 May 2021 (both days inclusive). The aggregate amount payable by these shareholders towards first call was Rs 13,281.05 crore.

Tanla Platforms advanced 3.61% after the company said its subsidiary Karix Mobile has deployed a conversational banking solution, WhatsApp Business, for Axis Bank. Karix Mobile is India's largest CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) provider. Using the solution, Axis Bank customers can now start a WhatsApp chat with the bank to conduct frequent banking activities on-the-go. A gamut of financial services - both transactional and informational - such as checking account balance, checking of credit card bill amount, knowing nearest branch or ATM location and the like can be availed by customers through this solution.

MMTC rallied 3.25% after the company's lenders led by State Bank of India approved moratorium on loans and interest repayment. On 8 June 2021, the board of directors of the company approved the implementation and signing of necessary documents regarding outstanding existing financial assistance/credit facilities restructuring scheme approved by banks of MMTC.

Under the said scheme, the company has received moratorium/deferment on recovery of interest for credit facilities upto December 2021/March 2022 and for principal upto March 2022 by different banks. The final settlement is envisaged out of divestment proceeds of Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL). It may be affected by cases/ Anglo Coal, government directives and COVID-19 pandemic situation etc.