Shares ended the session with modest losses. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 129.91 points or 0.39% to 33,006.27, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 40.50 points or 0.40% to 10,114.75, as per the provisional closing data. The Sensex provisionally ended a tad above the psychologically important 33,000 mark.
A sharp rise in crude oil prices yesterday, 21 March 2018, dented investors' sentiment in domestic market. Spike in oil prices raises India's import bill as the country imports majority of its crude requirements.
After a dull opening, key indices firmed up and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Indices reversed trend in mid-morning trade and hit fresh intraday low in late trade. The Sensex rose 145.59 points, or 0.44% at the day's high of 33,281.77 in morning trade. The index fell 172.87 points, or 0.52% at the day's low of 32,963.31 in late trade, its lowest intraday level since 20 March 2018. The Nifty rose 52.60 points, or 0.52% at the day's high of 10,207.85 in morning trade. The index fell 49.85 points, or 0.49% at the day's low of 10,105.40 in late trade, its lowest intraday level since 20 March 2018.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally fell 0.75%. The BSE Small-Cap index provisionally fell 1.05%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 2,007 shares fell and 713 shares rose. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3493.91 crore, compared with the turnover of Rs 3,277 crore registered during the previous trading session.
Telecom shares tumbled. Reliance Communications (down 5.36%), Idea Cellular (down 2.28%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 2.16%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.08%), edged lower. MTNL rose 0.51%.
Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was down 0.37%.
Shares of three state-run oil marketing companies tumbled as Brent crude oil prices peaked to near $70 a barrel mark yesterday, 21 March 2018. HPCL (down 2.94%), BPCL (down 3.40%) and IOCL (down 1.48%) declined. Higher crude oil prices could increase under-recoveries of public-sector undertaking oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.
Shares of three oil exploration and production companies gained. Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 1.14%), ONGC (up 1.94%) and Oil India (up 3.24%) gained. Higher crude oil prices would result in increase in realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms.
In the global commodities markets, Brent for May 2018 settlement was down 59 cents at $68.88 a barrel. The contract had spurted $2.05 a barrel, or 3.04% to settle at $69.47 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Overseas, European and Asian bourses declined after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time this year. US stocks ended a volatile session slightly lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve delivered its sixth interest-rate increase since the end of 2015 and signaled it still expects to deliver two more before the end of the year.
The Fed raised overnight rates by 25 basis points, in line with market expectations. Central bank officials also raised their GDP forecast. Fed officials also released their projections for the federal funds rate, which remained unchanged for 2018. The central bank, however, raised its 2019 forecast, saying it sees the benchmark rate at 2.9%, up from a 2.7% projection released in December.
In US, the current-account deficit rose by 26% in the fourth quarter, widening to $128.20 billion from a revised $101.5 billion in the third quarter. Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 5.54 million in February.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
