The S&P BSE Sensex which closed just 60 points shy of Mount 34K hit an intraday low of 33,750 before closing the day at 33,940 up 60 points. However, there was plenty of action in individual stocks.
Moneycontrol News
The momentum continued on D-Street for fifth consecutive day in a row on Wednesday as both Sensex and Nifty50 ended with gains of over 0.1 percent each. The S&P BSE Sensex closed just 60 points short of its crucial psychological level of 34000 while Nifty ended above 10400.
The Nifty50 closed above its crucial psychological level of 10400 for the second consecutive day in a row which is a bullish signs; however, the momentum seems to be slowing down. The index closed 0.14 percent higher at 10,417. It hit an intraday low of 10,355.
The S&P BSE Sensex which closed just 60 points shy of Mount 34K hit an intraday low of 33,750 before closing the day at 33,940 up 60 points. However, there was plenty of action in individual stocks.
Nearly 100 stocks on the BSE rose to fresh 52-week high which include names like Jubilat FoodWorks, SRF, HIL, Avenue Supermarts, HUL, Balkrishna Industries, Aarti Industries, Dilip Buildcon, Pidilite Industries, and Titan Company Ltd etc. among others.
Top Sensex gainers include names like TCS (up 2.8%), followed by Sun Pharma (up 2.5%), RIL (up 1.3%), HUL (up 1.29%), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.09%).
Top Sensex losers include names like Yes Bank (down 2.2%), followed by Adani Ports (down 2.26%), ICICI Bank (down 1.6%), Axis Bank (down 1.19%), and ITC (down 1%).
Sectorally, metal index rose 1.6%, followed by IT index rose 1.3%, consumer durables gained 1.02%, and auto index closed 0.5% in green.
On the other hand, oil & gas stocks closed 2.2% lower, followed by PSU which closed 1.7% down, and banking index ended 0.7% lower.
The S&P BSE Midcap index slipped 0.19 percent, and the S&P BSE Smallcap index rose 0.2% up.
Stocks in news:
Boiling crude oil weighs on OMCs:
Share prices of oil retailers slipped up to 7 percent but exploration companies gained up to 3 percent after Brent crude hit four-year high, above $71/bbl. HPCL and BPCL were the biggest loser among Nifty50 stocks, falling over 7 percent each followed by IOC which slipped 6.6%.
CNX IT outperforms:
The S&P BSE IT index closed 1.3 percent higher led by gains in Tata Consultancy Services which added over 2.8 percent followed by HCL Tech, Infibeam, Inffosys and KPIT Technologies.
Metal stocks shine:
CNX Metal gained 1.6 percent in the afternoon trade led by Vedanta which jumped 4 percent followed by Hindalco Industries, Jindal Steel & Power, Tata Steel, and Hindustan Zinc.
Stocks rallied after media reports suggested that supply may be disrupted after the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oligarchs, including Oleg Deripaska and his United Co. Rusal.
Banking stocks fell on rising bond yields:
Banking stocks fell in trade after 10-year government bond yields rose 4.35 percent since April 5, 2018. On April 5, the yield stood at 7.127 percent. It fell off the recent high of 7.780 reached on February 22, 2018, said a report.
Public sector banks are typically the biggest buyers of govt bonds. They are likely to see a fall in treasury income in March quarter due to rising bond yields. PNB slipped 3 percent while SBI dropped 2.2%.
Mahanagar Gas falls nearly 3% post big block deals:
Mahanagar Gas scrip price fell 2.9 percent after big block deals in opening which were worth more than Rs 800 crore. More than 90.5 lakh shares traded on the National Stock Exchange at an average price of Rs 911.10 per share through block deals in opening.
Tata Steel:
Tata Steel entered into definitive agreements to subscribe to additional equity shares in Subarnarekha Port Private Limited (SPPL) to acquire an aggregate of approximately 7 percent share capital of SPPL. The stock rose 1% higher.
Sun Pharma:
Sun Pharma, one of the country's largest drug makers, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Paliperidone tablets, which will be available in 1.5-9 mg strength. The stock closed 2.5% higher at Rs520.70.
Himachal Futuristic Communications:
Himachal Futuristic Communications share price rallied 5 percent after the telecom equipment maker has received advance purchase order worth Rs 579 crore from state-run firm BSNL for building 2G network in Assam. The stock closed 4.2% higher.
Vedanta Resources said its plans for capacity expansion at the Thootukudi copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu were on track, a day after its application to renew operations was rejected by the state pollution regulator. The stock rose 4.3% higher.
In other news:
The 10-year bond prices on Wednesday fell after international crude oil prices hardened—which analyst expects may cause fiscal slippage and accelerating inflation. In the last four trading sessions, bond yield gained over 30 basis points. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, said a report.
Crude oil surged past $70 a barrel as markets eyed an escalation of Middle East tensions after Europe’s air traffic control agency warned of possible air strikes on Syria in the next 72 hours, Reuters reported.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said that USD 60 a barrel is a good price for oil currently as the market should avoid volatility.
The Singapore Exchange on Wednesday said it would list Indian equity derivative products in June, nearly two months after India's three main bourses announced they would stop licensing their indexes to overseas exchanges, said a Reuters report.
The announcement comes after the Singapore bourse said it would launch successor products to its flagship Indian equity index derivatives before the bourse's license agreement with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) expires in August 2018.
India's economic growth will rise to 7.3 percent this fiscal and further to 7.6 percent in the next financial year, retaining the fastest-growing Asian economy tag, on back of GST and banking reforms.
In its Asian Development Outlook (ADO), 2018, Manila-based ADB said, "risks to trade are high" and retaliatory actions could dent growth in the Asian region going forward.
Global Update:
Equities in Europe were mildly lower as investors began to focus on earnings at the start of a new reporting season. France's CAC and Germany's DAX were down 0.3 percent each at the time of writing this article.
Asian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday after easing of trade war fears in the last session. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended up 0.6% each while Japan's Nikkei and Australia's ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent each.
Oil rebounded, trading near its highest in nearly three years, supported by political tension in the Middle East, although evidence of rising US crude supply acted as a counterbalance.
Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 71.22 a barrel, up 0.25 percent while US crude oil at USD 65.84 a barrel, up 0.5 percent.
In US, investors will get insights into current thinking of the FOMC members and glide-path of interest rates this year – as the FOMC minutes of the March meeting is released later today.