Nifty trades tad above 24,000 level; auto shares gear up

The key equity barometers traded with major gains in early afternoon trade, tracking strength in global markets, even as concerns persisted over the fragile two-week US'Iran ceasefire. The Nifty traded a tad above the 24,000 level. Auto stocks advanced after declining in the previous trading session.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 767.97 points or 1% to 77,399.62. The Nifty 50 index climbed 231.50 points or 0.97% to 24,006.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index surged 1.28% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index soared 1.52%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,299 shares rose and 817 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 7.29% to 18.94. The Nifty 28 April 2026 futures were trading at 24,055.10, at a discount of 48.5 points as compared with the spot at 24,006.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 April 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 45.5 lakh contracts at the 24,000 strike price. A maximum put OI of 49.9 lakh contracts was seen at the 23,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 2.23% to 26,480.60. The index shed 0.39% in the past trading session.

Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 5.5%), Exide Industries (up 3.52%), Ashok Leyland (up 3.33%), Eicher Motors (up 3.2%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 2.93%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.82%), Hero MotoCorp (up 2.35%), Bharat Forge (up 2.34%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.26%), and Bosch (up 1.9%) jumped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ajmera Realty & Infra India rallied 3.23% after the company's sales value jumped 8% to Rs 270 crore in Q4 FY26, compared with Rs 250 crore in Q4 FY25.

Maiden Forgings advanced 1.84% after the company reported a production volume of 35,546 MT for FY 2025'26, which is an increase of 11.5% as compared with the volume of 31,879 MT recorded in the previous year.

Godrej Properties added 1.71% after the company reported a 16% increase in booking value to Rs 34,171 crore in FY26 from Rs 29,444 crore in FY25.