| The barometer indices hovered near the flat line in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded in a narrow range above the 11,200 mark. Metal stocks bucked weak market trend on softer dollar.
At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 26.04 points or 0.07% at 38,007.83. The Nifty 50 index was up 9.15 points or 0.08% at 11,236.55.
President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, will face off in their first Presidential debate Tuesday night. Three debates between the presidential candidates are scheduled to take place on 29 September, 15 October, and 22 October 2020. The US Presidential election is scheduled on Tuesday, 3 November 2020.
The broader market was mixed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.1%.
Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1006 shares rose and 1316 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.12% to 19.5475. The Nifty September 2020 futures were trading at 11,233.05, at a premium of 5.05 points compared with the spot at 11,228.
The Nifty option chain for 1 October 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 43.61 lakh contracts at the 11,300 strike price. Maximum put OI of 38.71 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price.
The Nifty option chain for 29 October 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 18.50 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 36.66 lakh contracts was seen at 10,500 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index added 1.25% to 2,265.05 on softer dollar. The index has surged 7.25% in three sessions.
Hindalco Industries (up 4.09%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2%), Tata Steel (up 1.52%), Vedanta (up 1.01%), JSW Steel (up 0.9%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.63%), NMDC (up 0.55%) and NALCO (up 0.46%) advanced.
Dollar and commodity prices share an inverse relationship; when dollar strengthens, commodity prices fall and vice versa. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, was currently trading at 94.21.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Shalby surged 7.31% after the company's board approved to reduce promoters' shareholding in the company to 75% from 79.45%. The board also approved to raise upto Rs 117.01 crore via through issue of equity shares, other convertible securities/warrants/Global Depository Receipts/American Depository Receipts/any other financial instruments/securities convertible into and/or linked to equity shares or a combination thereof.
Prime Focus jumped 6.95% after the company said its UK-based subsidiary, DNEG plc, intends to commence a private offering of $375 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2025. It intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to repay amounts outstanding under its existing term loan facility, its existing revolving loan facility and its Indian financing facilities; to extend a loan to its parent group of companies; to pay related transaction fees and expense; and for general corporate purposes. There can be no assurance that the private offering of Notes will be completed, the company said.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 33,353,615 with 10,01,646 deaths. India reported 9,47,576 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 96,318 deaths while 51,01,397 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Unlock 5.0:
The media reported that restaurants, bars and eatery outlets in Maharashtra will be allowed to re-start operations from the first week of October. Hotels, bars and restaurants have been surviving on home deliveries due to the covid-19 lockdown.
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