The market indices opened in the green on Monday (August 9), first day of trading in the new week. The Sensex jumped 183 points or 0.34 per cent to 54,460, tracking gains in index majors Infosys, ITC and HUL amid a positive trend in global markets. The Nifty 50 index crossed 16,300-mark. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 65.05 points or 0.40 per cent to 16,303.25.
BSE Midcap index slipped into the red while BSE Smallcap index moved in line with benchmark Sensex in opening trade.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints.
On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Reliance Industries, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 215.12 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 54,277.72, and Nifty fell 56.40 points or 0.35 per cent to 16,238.20.
FIIs net sellers
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 69.37 crore on Friday, as per provisional exchange data.
"RBI’s continued soft monetary policy stance to support ongoing economic recovery augurs well for domestic equities," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, PTI said.
Further, faster vaccination process in the country and absence of sharp spike in daily caseload despite opening-up economy bode well, he noted.
Also, sharp improvement in key economic indicators like GST collection, auto sales volume and other high- frequency indicators like e-way bills in July suggests sustainable rebound in corporate earnings in subsequent quarters. This should aid the market to sustain premium valuations, he added.
Nuvoco Vistas Corporation, part of the Nirma Group, and online auto classified platform CarTrade Tech will launch their initial share-sales today.
Asian shares wobble
Asian shares wobbled on Monday amid sharp losses in gold and oil prices. Sentiment was shaken by a sudden dive in gold as a break of $1,750 triggered stop loss sales taking it as low as $1,684 an ounce. It was last down 2.2 percent at $1,723. Brent sank almost 2 percent on on the back of a rising U.S. dollar and concerns that new pandemic curbs in Asia, especially China, may set back the global recovery in fuel demand.
Oil prices decline
Oil prices dropped 2 percent on Monday, extending last week's steep losses on the back of a rising US dollar and concerns that new pandemic curbs in Asia, especially China, may set back the global recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude futures slid $1.41 or 2 percent to $69.29 a barrel by 0125 GMT, after having slumped 6 percent last week, their biggest weekly loss in four months.
International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.82 per cent to $69.41 per barrel
Fuel prices unchanged for 23rd consecutive day
Oil marketing companies (OMC) kept petrol and diesel rates unchanged on Monday as international crude oil prices have started to recede. This was the 23rd day of pause in the fuel price change.
With no price increase by OMCs, in Delhi, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.84 per litre, while diesel is also being sold at the unchanged price of Rs 89.87 a litre on Monday.
In Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed Rs 100-mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price is at Rs 107.83 per litre. Diesel price in the city is also at Rs 97.45, the highest among the metros.
Petrol prices in all metros have now crossed the Rs 100 per litre-mark. In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs 102.49 a litre and in Kolkata Rs 102.08 a litre. Diesel is also priced at Rs 94.39 and Rs 93.02 per litre in both cities respectively.
Company results today (August 9)
Shree Cement, Astrazeneca Pharma India, Balrampur Chini Mills, Birla Tyres, Bombay Dyeing, Chemcon Speciality Chemicals, Clean Science and Technology, Gati, Gujarat State Petronet, Indian Hotels, Laxmi Organic Industries, MRF, Nilkamal, Reliance Power, Satin Creditcare Network, Shalby, Shankara Building Products, Subex, Suven Life Sciences, Timken India, and Venky's (India) will release quarterly earnings on August 9.