Mkts rangebound; oil & gas, metals, PSU power rise
At 11:39 hours IST, the benchmark indices were hovering at their previous closing values. Buying in metal, oil & gas and PSU power stocks was helping the markets to stay on the higher side.
However, selling in shares of technology, banking, capital goods, FMCG, realty, auto and major telecom companies was putting pressure on the benchmark indices.
The Nifty was up just 1 point, to 4,342 and the Sensex rose 7 points, to 14,652. Among the broader indices, the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.7% and the Smallcap Index gained 1.5%. The market breadth was positive; about 1632 shares advanced while 1048 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 476 shares were unchanged.
The government announced a hike in fuel prices on Wednesday evening. Petrol prices were hiked by Rs 4 per litre while diesel prices were up by Rs 2 a litre. Kerosene and LPG prices were left untouched.
Commenting on this move, SV Narasimhan, Director-Finance, Indian Oil Corporation said that under-recoveries were manageable after the fuel price hike. IOC’s burden would come down by Rs 750 crore per month post fuel price hike, he said. “Oil marketing companies (OMCs) may have to bear some share of subsidy,” he added. IOC, HPCL and BPCL gained 1-2%.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Oil Secretary, RS Pandey said that only government would bear under-recovery on kerosene/LPG. “Upstream companies would not bear subsidy on cooking fuels while would bear only auto fuel subsidy”, he added. Post this comments, ONGC and GAIL shot up 7% each.