The Indian markets had a rather volatile trading session today. The morning session saw the indices barely stay afloat, while in the afternoon session, the indices surged into the green. However, selling activity intensified in the final trading hour leading to a negative close. The BSE-Sensex closed lower by about 42 points, while the NSE-Nifty ended flat. Losses were largely seen in oil and gas and Automobile stocks. The S&P BSE Midcap index ended the day in red (down 0.15%) while the S&P BSE Smallcap index did better and closed higher by around 0.4%.
European shares gained ground after European Central Bank stated that they would front-load an asset purchase scheme, aimed at boosting growth, over the coming two months. The CAC 40 is up 1.80% while Germany's DAX is up 1.76% and London's FTSE 100 is up 0.30%. Asian stocks shrugged off early losses to end the day in green.
Washing out early losses, the rupee snapped back from overnight fall to recover by 10 paise to 63.62 against the dollar.
According to a leading financial daily, ONGC and its partners have been awarded a contract for development of an onshore LNG terminal in a step towards start of gas production from its giant Mozambique gas fields. Indian firms led by ONGC Videsh Ltd hold a total of 30% stake in offshore Rovuma Area-1. Reportedly, the Rovuma Area has about 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves which are to be converted into LNG for transportation by ships to consuming nations like India. ONGC Videsh Ltd had in 2013 bought Videocon's 10% stake in the Rovuma Area-1 for USD 2.475 bn. It followed this up by acquiring another 10% stake in the same field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp of the US for USD 2.64 bn.
Shares of Bharti Infratel have moved higher by 5% at Rs 439, extending their past four day’s gains on the BSE, after the company was included in the list of stocks in MSCI Global Standard Index. MSCI Global Standard Index was created by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) that serves as a benchmark of the performance in major international equity markets. The stocks which have been added to the MSCI India index are likely to witness buying from passive foreign funds which track the return of the MSCI India index.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Weak end to a volatile day of trading". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!