Oil stocks rally in a flat market; RBI policy eyed

GAIL rallies 5%; OMCs hit 52-week high

Benchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range, as investors have turned cautious ahead of RBI Monetary policy to be announced later in the day today.

At 12:50 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 40 points or 0.14%, trading at 28,286 levels. Nifty50 edged 10 points higher, trading at 8,748 levels. The broader markets have shown a similar trend, with the S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices posting marginal gains of 0.1% each.

"We feel market consolidation is still not over and Nifty needs sustainability above 8850 for confirmation. Meanwhile, we suggest maintaining positive yet cautious approach and keep a check on leveraged positions," Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution at Religare Securities had said in a recent note.
 

 

BUZZING STOCKS 

GAIL and ONGC have been performing well Sensex, gaining 5% and 4% respectively. Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma gained 1% each. On the other hand Coal India, Larsen and Toubro and Mahindra and Mahindra are the top losers, slipping up to 2%.

ONGC, Indraprastha Gas, Petronet LNG, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Mahanagar Gas and Cairn India were up between 1% and 6% on the BSE. All these stocks were trading at their respective 52-week highs. 

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares shrugged off a sluggish start and pushed higher on Tuesday, with Japanese markets leading the way after an upbeat US manufacturing survey bolstered the dollar.

Australian shares slipped 0.2% after Australia's central bank kept its cash rate steady at 1.5% on Tuesday, a widely expected decision as it assesses the impact of its May and August rate cuts.

Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 gained 1% as the dollar rose against the yen. Hang Sheng edged up by a mere 0.1%. Markets in China closed this week. 

With Reuters Inputs