Benchmarks trade with decent gains; oil & gas stocks decline

21 Mar 2024 , 05:29 PM

The domestic equity barometers traded with decent gains in mid-morning trade. Positive cues from other Asian indices boosted sentiment. The Nifty traded tad above the 16,250 mark. Oil & gas stocks declined across the board. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 306.46 points or 0.56% to 54,558.99. The Nifty 50 index added 88.85 points or 0.55% to 16,259.00. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.06% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.91%. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,052 shares rose and 1,014 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged. The most recent minutes of the Feds meeting calmed fears of the American central bank turning more hawkish and thereby, contracting worries of aggressive rate-tightening policy by the US Fed. The minutes of Feds May meeting released on Wednesday confirmed two more 50-basis point hikes each in June and July, but policymakers also suggested the potential for a pause later in the year. Buzzing Index: Oil & Gas stocks were trading with losses. The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 120.05 points or 1.55% to 7,644.15. The index had advanced 0.69% to end at 7764.20 yesterday. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 2.47%), Oil India (down 1.65%), Petronet LNG (down 1.59%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.53%) were the top losers. Further, Gujarat State Petronet (down 1.51%), GAIL (India) (down 1.26%), Mahanagar Gas (down 0.84%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 0.79%) and Adani Total Gas (down 0.49%) edged lower. Meanwhile, Castrol India (up 2.03%) and Gujarat Gas (up 0.41%) managed to outperform. ONGC dropped 4.48%. The state-run oil major said it has drawn up a comprehensive roadmap to further intensify its exploration campaign, allocating a capital expenditure of about Rs 31,000 crore in the next three fiscal years during FY 2022-25. This is 150% of its exploration expenditure of Rs 20,670 crore in the last three fiscals during FY 2019-22, it said in a statement on Thursday. Stocks in Spotlight: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) rose 2.63%. The company reported 34% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 181.93 crore in Q4 FY22 as against Rs 275.73 crore in Q4 FY21. Net sales jumped 18.2% to Rs 2,322.90 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 from Rs 1,965.82 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year. AstraZeneca Pharma India jumped 9.36%. The pharmaceutical company posted a 2.6% rise in net profit to Rs 27.98 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 27.28 crore posted in Q4 FY21. Net sales jumped 10% year on year to Rs 231.96 crore in Q4 FY22. Global markets: Asian markets rose across the board on Friday, with investors monitoring shares of Alibaba in Hong Kong after the Chinese tech giant posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. Chinese authorities held an unprecedented nationwide meeting via teleconference on Wednesday in a bid to bolster an economy battered by Covid, with Premier Li Keqiang warning of difficulties ?even greater than the severe shock of the pandemic in 2020.? Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday after optimistic retail earnings outlooks and waning concerns about overly aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve put investors in a buying mood. On the data front, revised figures showed the worlds biggest economy contracted at an annualised rate of 1.5% in the first quarter, slightly worse than the previous estimate of 1.4%. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 210,000 for the week ended May 21, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Powered by Capital Market - Live News