Sensex Opens Marginally Up; Oil & Gas Stocks Lead

Fri, 3 May 09:30 am

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Asian share markets are subdued today amid thin holiday trade although the dollar found support as investors pared expectations for a US rate cut this year while oil prices loitered near one-month lows on oversupply fears. US stocks eased further from recent record highs on Thursday as energy shares dropped along with oil prices and investors continued to digest comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Back home, India share markets opened on a flat note with a positive bias. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 89 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 12 points. Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.2%.

Except FMCG and IT stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day on a positive note with telecom and oil & gas stocks leading the pack of gainers.

The rupee is currently trading at 69.39 against the US$.

The rupee appreciated by 19 paise to 69.37 against the US dollar Thursday, registering its third consecutive session of gain amid easing crude oil prices and weakening of the greenback against other major currencies overseas.

Reportedly, selling of the American currency by exporters and sustained foreign fund inflows also propped up the rupee.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 69.60 per dollar and advanced to a high of 69.62 during the day.

It finally settled at 69.37, registering a rise of 19 paise over its previous close.

The rupee had settled at 69.56 against the US dollar Tuesday. Currency market was shut on Wednesday on account of Maharashtra Day.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.63.

The Indian rupee has strengthened in the past few days following a fall in oil prices, even as weak Chinese data strokes fear of a global slowdown.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.9% to US$ 71.51 per barrel. Crude prices have recovered significantly from their six-month high of US$ 75.60 per barrel.

Oil prices fell, pulled down by record US crude production that led to a surge in inventories.

Notably, crude oil prices have quietly creeped up.

Oil prices jumped as much as 3.2% to their highest level since late 2018.

As you know, rising crude oil prices have a big impact on the country's economy as India imports over 70% of its energy needs.

Rise in crude oil increases input costs for dependent firms. It also means rising inflation. Rising inflation means rising interest rates.

It also puts pressure on the government to cut excise duty, thereby impacting its revenues. We have already seen that happening.

Research Analyst, Richa Agarwal believes that this has the potential to bring down sentiments in the domestic markets. She further believes that, if oil prices continue their upward march in a tight global environment, a broader correction in the sentiment fueled domestic market cannot be ruled out.

Now how this pans out going forward remains to be seen.

In the news from the automobiles sector. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday reported decline in sales for April, hit by subdued demand in the market.

Similarly, Toyota Kirloskar Motor also reported a decline of 22.4% in its domestic sales last month. Its domestic sales last month stood at 10,112 units against 13,037 units in April 2018

Tata Motors said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by 26% to 12,694 units last month, compared to 17,235 units in April 2018.

Reportedly, the industry has recorded de-growth for the 10th consecutive month. Weak consumer sentiments are reflected in this demand de growth.

Meanwhile, M&M saw its passenger vehicle sales drop 8.9% to 19,966 units in April as against 21,927 units in the year-ago period.

On Wednesday, the country's top two carmakers, Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India, had also reported a decline in their domestic sales in April.

While Maruti Suzuki reported an 18.7% fall, Hyundai posted a decline of 10.1% in domestic sales in the first month of FY20.

In the two-wheeler segment, Bajaj Auto said its domestic motorcycle sales were up 2.5% at 2,05,875 units in April as against 2,00,742 units in the year-ago month.

TVS Motor Company also posted 3% increase in its domestic two-wheeler sales at 2,48,456 units last month, up 3% from 2,41,604 units in the same month last year.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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