| The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with modest gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,900 level. Auto shares advanced after declining over the past four trading sessions. At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 375.54 points or 0.44% to 84,857.35. The Nifty 50 index added 117.20 points or 0.45% to 25,932.40. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.31% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.42%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,305 shares rose and 1,591 shares fell. A total of 211 shares were unchanged. Derivatives: The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.37% to 9.70. The Nifty 30 December 2025 futures were trading at 25,989.10, at a premium of 56.7 points as compared with the spot at 25,932.40. The Nifty option chain for the 30 December 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 80.7 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 76.9 lakh contracts was seen at 26,000 strike price. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Auto index rose 0.87% to 27,559.90. The index fell 0.94% in the four consecutive trading sessions. Samvardhana Motherson International (up 1.94%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.58%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (up 1.47%), Bajaj Auto (up 1.43%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 1.3%), Eicher Motors (up 1.22%), Uno Minda (up 1.07%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.05%), Bharat Forge (up 0.96%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.69%) rose. Stocks in Spotlight: BLS International Services rallied 4.64% after the Delhi High Court quashed the debarment order imposed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which had barred the company from participating in tenders for two years. Reliance Industries advanced 1.65% after the company's FMCG arm, Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), acquired a majority stake in Udhaiyams Agro Foods (Udhaiyams) to expand its branded staples portfolio. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |