Asian share markets started higher on Monday on hopes of an interim Sino-US tariff deal after the two countries described their talks as "productive" and "constructive". Wall Street dropped on Friday, and also finished the week lower, after a Chinese agriculture delegation cancelled a planned visit to Montana, dampening optimism about US-China trade talks.
Back home, India share markets opened substantially higher today. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 975 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 285 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 2.2% and 1.7% respectively.
Barring IT stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day on a positive note with FMCG stocks and oil & gas stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.
The rupee is currently trading at 71.92 against the US$.
If you look at the stock market returns over the years, you will see that the markets have never moved in a linear fashion.
It has never been a one-way street - only up or down.
Stock markets have always moved in cycles.
If you would have bought stocks when either the Sensex or the Smallcap index was in a downturn, you would have made big returns once the cycle turned and the bulls took over.
The economic slowdown does not herald the end of the world or for that matter the end of India. It's a phase and like all phases - This too shall pass.
The real question is - Are you taking advantage of these price declines to buy quality stocks?
In the news from the oil & gas sector. Petronet LNG share price will be in focus as Tellurian Inc. has signed a US$7.5 billion agreement for India's Petronet LNG to buy a stake in its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Louisiana
As per the reports, it could potentially be one of the largest foreign investments in the US for shipping shale gas abroad.
Petronet will spend US$2.5 billion for an 18% equity stake in the US$28 billion Driftwood LNG terminal, the largest outside holding so far in the project, and negotiate the purchase of 5 million tonnes of gas per annum.
The deal, signed in Houston in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underscores a record year for the LNG industry, with tens of billions of dollars' worth of export projects given the green light.
The surge of new supply from the US' trove of shale gas has rendered the once-premium fuel accessible for emerging markets such as India, currently the sixth-largest buyer of US LNG.
The pact was signed on the sidelines of Modi's meeting with top executives of US energy majors in Houston. In his first engagement during his week-long visit to the US, Modi met 17 CEOs of US energy companies such as Tellurian Inc., Exxonmobil, BP Plc, Cheniere Energy, Dominion Energy, and Total SA.
India has been sourcing LNG and crude oil from the US, with Indian companies investing US$4 billion in US shale gas assets.
India, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, has been pushing for a gas-based economy and plans to connect 10 million households to piped natural gas by 2020.
Moving on to the news from the pharma sector. In the latest development, Cipla on Sunday announced the closure of the inspection by the US health regulator at the company's API manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.
Following the inspection by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) at the Company's API manufacturing facility in Virgonagar, Bengaluru, from July 15 to 19, the company has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR).
This indicats closure of the inspection.
In another development, Torrent Pharmaceuticals is expanding its recall for Losartan Potassium Tablets USP and Losartan Potassium/hydrochlorothiazide tablets, USP, to the consumer level due to the detection of trace amounts of an unexpected impurity.
The recall is expanded to include an additional 3 lots of Losartan Potassium Tablets USP and 2 lots of Losartan Potassium/Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets, USP.
Reportedly, Torrent is only recalling lots of losartan-containing products that contain N-Methylnitrosobutyric acid (NMBA) above the acceptable daily intake levels released by the FDA.
Losartan is used to treat hypertension, hypertensive patients with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and for the treatment of nephropathy in Type 2 diabetic patients.
Cipla share price opened down by 1% while, Torrent Pharma share price opened up by 1.7%.
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