The key domestic benchmarks traded with strong gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty marched above 22,150 mark. Auto shares gained after declining in the past trading session.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was jumped 548.92 points or 0.76% to 73,013.74. The Nifty 50 index added 159.60 points or 0.73% to 22,165.25.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.88%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,891 shares rose and 1,823 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.39% to 12.77. The Nifty 28 March 2024 futures were trading at 22,172.10, at a premium of 6.85 points as compared with the spot at 22,165.25.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 March 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 90.5 lakh contracts at the 22,200 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 154.7 lakh contracts were seen at 22,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto gained 1.28% to 21,306.85. The index shed 0.04% in the past trading sessions.

Maruti Suzuki India (up 3.25%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.67%), Balkrishna Industries (up 1.7%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.56%), Eicher Motors (up 1.43%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.36%), Bosch (up 1.29%), Tube Investments of India (up 0.7%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.68%) and MRF (up 0.67%) advanced.

On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp (down 1%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (down 0.49%) and Bharat Forge (down 0.14%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Angel One jumped 5.44% after the stockbroker announced that its board approved the opening of qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares with the floor price of Rs 2,555.01 per share.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.10% after the EPC major announced that its construction arm has secured ‘large' orders for its Buildings & Factories business in the domestic and international markets.

Wockhardt locked in upper circuit of 5% after pharmaceutical company announced the completion of fundraising of Rs 480 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares.