The key indices surged to hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 102.00 points or 0.21% to 49,594.32. The Nifty 50 index gained 40.65 points or 0.28% at 14,605.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.25%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.12%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1468 shares rose and 1483 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

Investors looked forward to US President-elect Joe Biden's major COVID-19 relief package to be unveiled on Thursday.

Economy:

India's wholesale prices rose by 1.22% year-on-year in December 2020, slowing from a 1.55% gain in November 2020 and 2.76% in December 2019.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings projected India's medium-term growth to slow down to 6.5% from FY23 onward, after the initial rebound to 11% in FY22, as the economy suffers lasting damage from the pandemic. The agency downgraded its projection of supply-side potential growth to 5.1% annually over the five-year period from 2020-25 compared to its pre-pandemic expectation of 7%.

Numbers To Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee appreciated to 73.01 compared with its previous closing of 73.15.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.927% as compared to its previous close of 5.947%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement slipped 0.90% to Rs 48,862.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, shed 0.08% to 90.28.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement added 5 cents to $56.11 a barrel. The contract lost 0.92% or 52 cents to settle at $56.06 in the previous trading session.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slipped 1.06% to 3,485.30. In the past one month, the index has added 8.47% while the benchmark Nifty 50 index has advanced 7.60% during the same period.

Mishra Dhatu Nigam (down 4.3%), Welspun Corp (down 2.36%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.1%), JSW Steel (down 1.91%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.93%), Hindustan Copper (down 1.29%), MOIL (down 1.21%) and NMDC (down 0.79%) declined.

Meanwhile, Coal India (up 0.79%) and APL Apollo Tubes (up 0.09%) bucked the trend.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) slumped 7.83% to Rs 68.85 after the offer for sale (OFS) opened for non-retail investors today, 14 January 2021. The floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 64 per share, at a 14.2% discount to SAIL's closing price of Rs 74.70 on Wednesday, 13 January 2021.

Through the OFS, the Indian government proposes to sell 20,65,26,264 shares (representing 5% stake), with an option to sell an additional 5% stake or 20,65,26,264 equity shares in case of oversubscription. With this, the total OFS size stands at 41,30,52,528 shares, which is calculated at Rs 2,664 crore.

As on 14:15 IST, the OFS received subscription for 28,39,34,714 shares or 157.12% against the base non-retail offer size of 18,07,10,481 shares.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers rose 2.78% to Rs 199.55. The company secured a contract from the Transport and Harbours Department, Ministry of Public Works, Government of Guyana, for designing, construction and supply of an ocean-going passenger and cargo vessel at the cost of $12.7 million.

Adani Enterprises shed 0.62% to Rs 533.55. The company has received letter of award (LoA) from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for six laning of Azhiyur to Vengalam section of NH-17 (New NH-66) in Kerala on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under Bharatmala Pariyojna. The company's bid project cost is Rs 1838.10 crore and the first year operation and maintenance (O&M) quote is Rs 8.65 crore. The construction period is 2.5 years and the operation period is 15 years.

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