Share markets in India are presently trading on a positive note. Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the realty sector, oil & gas sector and IT sector witnessing buying interest while automobile stocks and FMCG stocks are witnessing selling pressure.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 85 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 27 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.1% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.1%.
The rupee is trading at Rs 69.90 against the US$.
The rupee declined 23 paise against the US dollar in early trade due to higher demand for the greenback from importers amid foreign fund outflows. A strengthening US dollar against major global currencies also affected rupee's trading pattern.
On Tuesday, the rupee gained 5 paise to settle at 69.62 against the US dollar. The domestic currency recovered from the day's low to close higher by five paise on some dollar selling by banks and exporters.
The Reserve bank of India (RBI) again received overwhelming response for its second three-year dollar-rupee swap auction where it received bids worth US$ 18.7 billion compared with its promise to take in $5 billion. With this move, the banking system will have cash injection of nearly Rs 600 billion.
Market participants are tracking UltraTech Cement share price, Bharti Infratel share price, and Indiabulls Housing finance share price as these companies are set to announce their Q4FY19 results later today.
You can also read our recently released Q4FY19 results: HDFC Bank, Mahindra Lifespace, Reliance Industries.
In the news from the energy sector, ONGC share price is witnessing buying interest today on expectations of strong earnings in the January-March quarter (Q4FY19).
Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) hit a 6-month high of Rs 170, up 4%, in intra-day trade, extending its previous day's 4% gain on back of the above news.
The stock was trading at its highest level since October 4, 2018.
For the first nine months of FY19, the company had posted 62% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 226.7 billion.
With crude clocking in an average of around US$ 62 per barrel, the company expects Q4FY19 to be a quarter with robust earnings, leading to highest-ever standalone profitability.
Note that crude oil prices have quietly creeped up.
Oil prices jumped as much as 3.2% to their highest level since late 2018 on news that the United States is likely to ask all importers of Iranian oil to end their purchases or face US sanctions. The surge in oil prices has been weighing on rupee.
Bond yields also hardened in the wake of rising oil prices.
Bond yields surged to over three-and-a-half-month high. The 10-year government bond yield ended at 7.475%, a level last seen on 11 January from its earlier close of 7.39%.
Moving on to another news, auto shares are under pressure today, with Tata Motors share price and Hero MotoCorp leading the pack of losers.
Maruti Suzuki share price is also among the top losers. Shares of India's top-selling car maker fell as much as 1.8% to Rs 6,925, its lowest since April 3.
Earlier this week, the company launched a new 1.2 litre DUALJET, DUAL VVT BS VI engine with next generation Smart Hybrid technology in Baleno, a premium hatchback.
The new BS VI compliant Baleno (Petrol) with Smart Hybrid will be available at NEXA showrooms across the country.
Note that automobile companies have shifted to low gear and demand has flattened across the board. NBFC crisis, followed by lower off-tick of volumes and increasing competition has taken a major toll on automobile original equipment manufacturer (OEMs).
According to reports, major dealers across the country have been burdened with high inventory prompting OEMs to re-align their production.
While private vehicles (PVs) have been facing stiff task with dealers across geographies grappling with higher inventory, commercial vehicles (CVs) are seeing some revival led by fresh disbursal by NBFCs.
Speaking of automobiles sector, one thing we must keep in mind is that not all auto companies will make money over time. And also, you shouldn't stay away from auto stocks altogether.
Even Tanushree Banerjee, Co-head of research at Equitymaster believes that there are businesses in this sector that you cannot ignore. She is particularly talking about the blue-chip auto stocks.
She believes, This could be the opportunity long term investors were waiting for.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
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