Sensex gains 648 pts; oil & gas shares rises over 4% in four days

The key equity indices continued to trade with strong gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above 17,750 level. Oil & gas shares advanced for fourth consecutive session.

At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 648.25 points or 1.08% to 60,457.22 The Nifty 50 index added 179.20 points or 1.02% to 17,773.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.92% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.09%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2249 shares rose and 1196 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated on Monday as a weaker-than-expected GDP forecast from China dented some optimism over a recovery in crude demand this year.

Focus this week is also squarely on a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, which is expected to shed more light on where U.S. interest rates could go this year.

Economy:

The government, in the latest review, has hiked the windfall profit tax levied on crude petroleum to Rs 4,400 per tonne from Rs 4,350. The special additional excise duty on diesel has been reduced to Rs 0.5 a litre from Rs 2.5, while it has been slashed to 'nil' on Aviation Turbine Fuel. The new tax rates come into effect from 4 March 2023.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 1.49% to 12.3625. The Nifty 29 March 2023 futures were trading at 17,831.25, at a premium of 57.7 points as compared with the spot at 17,773.55.

The Nifty option chain for the 9 March 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 30.7 lakh contracts at the 18,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 47 lakh contracts were seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil and Gas index advanced 1.93% to 7,248.85. The index jumped 4.43% in four trading sessions.

Mahanagar Gas (up 5.61%), Adani Total Gas (up 5%), Indraprastha Gas (up 2.73%), Oil India (up 2.71%), GAIL (India) (up 2.71%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 2.37%), Gujarat State Petronet (up 2.29%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.73%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 1.42%) and Aegis Logistics (up 1.22%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Olectra Greentech jumped 3.24% after the company said that Evey Trans (EVEY) has received two letter of awards (LoAs) from Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) for 550 electric buses. The value of these 550 bus supply would be approximately Rs 1,000 crore for Olectra.

Mahanagar Gas (MGL) surged 5.78%. The company signed share purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire 100% stake in Unison Enviro (UEPL), a subsidiary of Ashoka Buildcon. The company will acquire 100% shareholding for a cash consideration of Rs 531 crore.

Force Motors advanced 3.17% after the company registered 105.9% jump in domestic sales to 2,236 units in February 2023 from 1,086 units sold in February 2022.

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