The domestic equity barometers continued to trade with decent gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 17,300 mark. Oil & gas stocks advanced for the second day in a row.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 403.69 points or 0.70% to 58,088.48. The Nifty 50 index added 123.45 points or 0.72% to 17,290.35.

The broader market lagged the main stock indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.19% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.52%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1981 shares rose and 1132 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, was down 0.24% to 19.40. The Nifty 30 December 2021 futures were trading at 17,332, at a premium of 41.65 point as compared with the spot at 17,290.35.

The Nifty option chain for 30 December 2021 expiry showed maximum Call open interest (OI) of 32.5 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 52 lakh contracts was seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

Oil and Gas stocks were trading in the positive zone, with the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index rising 227.26 points or 1.29% to 17,822.96. The index has added 1.83% in two sessions.

Among the index components, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.31%), Indraprastha Gas (up 2.29%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 2.08%), Adani Total Gas Ltd (up 2.07%) and Gujarat Gas (up 2.04%) were the top gainers.

Other index gainers included Oil India (up 1.24%), Reliance Industries (up 0.83%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 0.62%) and Mahanagar Gas (up 0.58%).

India Trade Data:

India's merchandise exports in November 2021 was $29.88 billion, an increase of 26.49% over $23.62 billion in November 2020 and an increase of 15.93% over $25.77 billion in November 2019. Merchandise exports in April-November 2021 was $262.46 billion, an increase of 50.71% over $174.15 billion in April-November 2020 and an increase of 24.29% over $211.17 billion in April-November 2019.

Meanwhile, merchandise imports in November 2021 stood at $53.15 billion, an increase of 57.18% over $33.81 billion in November 2020 and an increase of 37.96% over $38.52 billion in November 2019. Merchandise imports in April-November 2021 was $384.44 billion, an increase of 75.39% over $219.19 billion in April-November 2020 and an increase of 18.44% over $324.59 billion in April-November 2019.

The trade deficit in November 2021 was $23.27 billion, while it was $121.98 billion during April-November 2021.

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