Barometer indices firmed up further and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 615.74 points or 1.67% at 37,555.31. The Nifty 50 index added 161.65 points or 1.48% at 11,053.60.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 4.99% to Rs 2108.60, boosting key indices higher.

In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.69% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was added 1.22%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1571 shares rose and 804 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 7,818.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 135.55 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 August, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 18,224,253 with 692,679 deaths. India reported 5,86,298 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 38,938 deaths while 12,30,509 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

RBI's Monetary Policy Meet:

The three-day monetary policy meet headed by the Governor, Shaktikanta Das will commence today, 4 August 2020. The MPC will announce its policy stance on Thursday, 6 August 2020. Investors and traders will also keep an eye on whether RBI extends moratorium beyond August 2020.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 3.57% to 24.2850. The Nifty August 2020 futures were trading at 11,042, at a premium of 4.5 points compared with the spot at 11,037.50.

On the weekly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 6 August 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 31.41 lakh contracts at the 11,200 strike price.

Maximum Put OI of 35.01 lakh contracts was seen at 10,900 strike price.

On the monthly index options front, the Nifty option chain for 27 August 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 21.81 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 33.19 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank surged 4.1% after the Reserve Bank of India approved the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as managing director (MD) & CEO of the bank for three years. Jagdishan will replace Aditya Puri who will retire as managing director of the bank on 26 October 2020.

Yes Bank rose 2.09% after the global credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service upgraded the bank's long-term foreign currency issuer rating to B3 from Caa1. Moody's said that Yes Bank's successful equity capital raise of Rs 15000 crore (about $2 billion) has bolstered its solvency and is the main driver of the ratings upgrade. The successful equity raising showcases Yes Bank's regained access to external market funds, which is a result of its improving financial strength and will support depositor confidence.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) was up 0.5% after the steel major's consolidated production jumped 13% to 7.40 lakh metric tons (MT) in July 2020 over July 2019. Consolidated steel sales grew 25% (y-o-y) to 7.62 lakh MT in July 2020. The company reported a rise of 29% in standalone steel sales in July 2020 to 6,37,000 tonnes as compared to standalone sales of 4,93,000 tonnes in the previous year during the same period. JSPL export sales contributed to 39% of the total standalone sales in July 2020 to 2,50,000 tonnes. Standalone steel production rose 13% (y-o-y) to 6,03,000 tonnes in July 2020. The figure was disclosed before market hours today, 4 August 2020.

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