Shares trade with decent gains; oil & gas stocks in demand

16 Aug 2022 , 02:27 PM

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,800 level. Oil & gas stock witnessed across the board buying. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 345.59 points or 0.58% to 59,808.37. The Nifty 50 index added 109.25 points or 0.62% to 17,807.40. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.83% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.97%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,930 shares rose and 1,572 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged. Economy: Indias inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 13.93% in July 2022 compared with 11.57% in July 2021. The WPI grew 15.18% in June 2022, while the figure for May was 15.88%. WPI for the month of August 2022 will release on 14 September 2022. Indias retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to 6.71% in July 2022 compared with 7.01% in preceding month. Inflation eased mainly due to easing prices in the food & beverages section. Indias factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of 12.3% in June 2022. Industrial production grew 19.6% in May 2022. IIP growth in June 2021 was 13.8%, the data showed. Indias overall exports including merchandise and services exhibited growth last month. Exports registered growth of 11.51% over the same period of last year and estimated to be $61.18 billion. Overall imports also exhibited a growth of 42.90% in comparison to the corresponding period of last year. The countrys imports in the last month are estimated to be $82.22 billion. Numbers to Track: MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2022 settlement fell 1.40% to Rs 51,848. The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenbacks value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.16% to 106.72. In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2022 settlement fell $1.28 or 1.35% to $93.82 a barrel. Buzzing Index: Oil & Gas stocks edged higher in trade today, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index rising 0.98% to 8,258.80. Among the components of the Nifty Oil & Gas index, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 3.34%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 3.07%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.71%), GAIL (India) (up 1.75%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.75%) were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were Petronet LNG (up 1.71%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.24%), Castrol India (up 1.14%), Adani Total Gas (up 0.6%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp(up 0.43%). Stocks in Spotlight: DFM Foods was locked in a 20% upper circuit at Rs 304.30. The companys promoter has announced a proposal to delist equity shares of the company from the stock exchanges. Samvardhana Motherson International jumped 4.85%. The companys board recommended the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one bonus equity share against two existing equity shares. Powered by Capital Market – Live News