The key equity indices traded near the flatline in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 23,050 mark after hitting the day's high of 23,144.25 in mid-morning trade. Media shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session. The market is expected to be volatile ahead of Q3 results from major Nifty stocks like HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 20.84 points or 0.04% to 75,865.87. The Nifty 50 index declined 7.70 points or 0.03% to 23,016.95.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 2.25% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 2.60%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 797 shares rose and 3,005 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.33% to 17.11. The Nifty 30 January 2025 futures were trading at 23,070.85, at a premium of 53.9 points as compared with the spot at 23,016.95.
The Nifty option chain for the 30 January 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 147.3 lakh contracts at the 23,100 strike price. Maximum put OI of 139.1 lakh contracts was seen at 23,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index dropped 2.60% to 1,649.75. The index tumbled 4.05% in two consecutive trading sessions.
Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 4.28%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 4.09%), Den Networks (down 3.34%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 3.28%), Tips Music (down 2.93%), Dish TV India (down 2.36%), Saregama India (down 2.26%), PVR Inox (down 1.95%), Sun TV Network (down 1.3%) and Nazara Technologies (down 1.19%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
South Indian Bank jumped 3.33% after the bank’s standalone net profit increased 11.95% to Rs 341.87 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 305.36 crore recorded in Q3 FY24. Total income jumped 6.88% year on year to Rs 2,817.96 crore in the third quarter of 2025.
Tanla Platforms tumbled 6.76% after the company’s consolidated net profit declined 15.43% to Rs 118.51 crore on a 0.21% fall in net sales to Rs 1,000.43 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Neuland Laboratories gained 4.07% after its board approved a capital expenditure of Rs 342 crore to expand the peptide synthesizer reactor capacity at Unit-1 from 0.5 KL to 6.37 KL and to add 52 KL of capacity at Unit-3.