The benchmark indices trimmed losses after hitting fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered a tad above the 15,600 mark. Global cues were weak amid mounting concerns about the rapidly surging delta variant of the COVID-19 in several countries.

At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 424.19 points or 0.81% at 52,129.21. The Nifty 50 index skid 142 points or 0.90% at 15,610.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.52% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.68%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 859 shares rose and 2,250 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Politics:

Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 PM. Opposition MPs disrupted proceedings over Pegasus snooping controversy. Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the second time on Tuesday, with a session beginning from 1 PM as all leaders met with the chairman to discuss the covid-19 situation.

Coronavirus Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 19,08,90,659 with 40,95,863 deaths. India reported 4,06,130 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,14,482 deaths while 3,03,53,710 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

In the past 24 hours, India recorded 30,093 new cases in the last 24 hours- the lowest in 125 days, as per Health Ministry's recent data.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, climbed 7.47% to 13.6275. The Nifty 29 July 2021 futures were trading at 15,592.60, at a discount of 17.80 points as compared with the spot at 15,610.40.

The Nifty option chain for 29 July 2021 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 28.60 lakh contracts at the 16,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 36 lakh contracts was seen at 15,000 strike price.

Buzzing Segment:

Shares of Adani group tumbled in the range of 1.29% to 5% after the Parliament was informed that the securities regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and customs authorities, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) were investigating some of the group companies for non-compliance of rules.

Adani Total Gas (locked in 5% lower circuit), Adani Power (locked in 5% lower circuit), Adani Transmission (locked in 5% lower circuit), Adani Green Energy (down 4.83%), Adani Enterprises (down 2.02%) and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) (down 1.29%) declined.

The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Choudhury, neither named the companies that were involved, nor did he clarify when was the investigation initiated. The Minister of State for Finance was answering in a response to questions posed by Lok Sabha member and TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament.

The government also clarified that the three foreign portfolio investors - Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund, Apms Investment Fund - were not in the frozen list of the country's securities depository in relation to their investment in Adani group companies.

The Enforcement Directorate, however, was not carrying out any investigation into Adani Group, Mr Choudhury added.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Zen Technologies spurted 5.54% after the company on Monday announced that it has bagged a Rs 120 crore export contract. Zen Technologies said the order will be carried out in roughly a year. Owing to a confidentiality agreement, the customer's identity cannot be published due to the nature of the deal, the company said.

Jindal Stainless (JSL) skid 2.20%. Jindal Stainless (JSL) said that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Steel Mining (TSML) for jointly unearthing the chrome ore locked up in the boundary between their mines located in Sukinda of Jajpur district, Odisha. This would help conservation of chromite ore which otherwise would have been left unmined forever.

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