The benchmark Sensex lost 59 points to hit the day’s low of 31,567.51 points. (Image: Reuters)
Sensex and Nifty opened marginally higher on Tuesday snapping the two-day slide since Friday last week. BSE Sensex gained 59 points to open at 31,685.81 points and NSE Nifty added 2 points to start at 9,875.25 points. Within minutes of trading both the key indices fell into negative territory following the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday that a weekend tweet by President Donald Trump counted as a declaration of war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its airspace, Reuters reported.
ONGC shares were the top gainer on both the benchmark indices — Sensex and Nifty — rose as much as 2.5% to Rs 168.55 on BSE. Other shares which added in the early trade include Power Grid (up 1%), Lupin (up 0.94%), Hero Motors (up 0.83%), Tata Motors (up 0.72%), and Adani Ports (up 0.8%). The stocks of heavyweight companies such as ITC, Tata Motors, ONGC, Power Grid, and Axis Bank contributed the most to the Sensex upsurge. Collectively these five stocks added about 38 points while shares of HDFC, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, and Hindustan Unilever capped the gains. The benchmark Sensex lost 59 points to hit the day’s low of 31,567.51 points whereas the broader Nifty 50 washed off 26 points to mark the day’s low of 9,846.55 points.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday invited India’s biggest oil and gas producer ONGC to take up a challenge of developing an energy efficient electric cooking stove. Addressing officers and staff of ONGC at the inauguration of the firm’s new corporate office and launch of electricity scheme ‘Saubhagya’, the prime minister exhorted them to work towards making an efficient electric chulha (stove), which would enable cooking through the use of electricity. The prime minister said this innovation would, in one stroke, significantly impact the nation’s dependence on imported fuel.
Wall Street dipped on Monday, as a selloff in technology shares weighed heavily on the Nasdaq, while the most recent statement from North Korea’s to Washington added to a cautious tone. North Korea’s foreign minister said President Donald Trump had declared war on the country and it reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its airspace. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.84 points, or 0.24% to 22,295.75 points, the S&P 500 lost 5.56 points, or 0.22% to 2,496.66 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 56.33 points, or 0.88% to 6,370.59 points.
