Barometers trade with major gains; VIX drops 6.30%

The headline equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the early afternoon trade, driven by robust earnings, growing optimism over a potential early end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and other supportive factors that lifted investor sentiment. The Nifty climbed above the 24,300 level, while FMCG stocks rebounded after declining in the previous trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1013.99 points or 1.32% to 77,900.90. The Nifty 50 index soared 313.30 points or 1.31% to 24,309.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 0.80% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index surged 1.02%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,498 shares rose and 1,515 shares fell. A total of 191 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 6.30% to 16.91.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 6.13% to 16.94. The Nifty 24 April 2025 futures were trading at 24,428.60, at a premium of 119.60 points as compared with the spot at 24,309.

The Nifty option chain for the 26 May 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 42.6 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 37.7 lakh contracts was seen at a 24,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index advanced 1.96% to 51,879.50. The index fell 0.32% in the past trading session.

ITC (up 3.09%), Emami (up 2.36%), Varun Beverages (up 2.21%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 1.92%), Tata Consumer Products (up 1.61%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.60%), Nestle India (up 1.44%), Dabur India (up 1.23%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.81%) and Marico (up 0.69%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shyam Metalics and Energy added 2.78% after the company announced a Rs 2,700 crore strategic growth expansion programme, aiming at expanding higher-margin product offerings, driving incremental topline growth.

CEAT rallied 5.96% after the company's consolidated surged over two-fold to Rs 243.85 crore in Q4 FY26 compared with Rs 99.49 crore in Q4 FY25. Net sales jumped 23.3% YoY to Rs 4,218.89 crore in Q4 FY26.