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PSU OMCs edge higher on buzz of diesel price deregulation

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Jun 12 2014 | 11:55 PM IST

Key benchmark indices edged higher amid initial volatility. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 119.43 points or 0.47%, up close to 185 points from the day's low and off about 20 points from the day's high. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive.

Some pharma stocks extended recent gains. State-run oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) rose on reports the oil ministry is preparing a fresh proposal for the Cabinet to deregulate diesel price to reduce government's fuel subsidy burden.

A bout of volatility was witnessed in early trade as key benchmark indices alternately swung between gains and losses. The Sensex extended gains in morning trade.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 313.40 crore on Wednesday, 11 June 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

At 10:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 119.43 points or 0.47% to 25,593.22. The index jumped 137.43 points at the day's high of 25,611.32 in early trade. The index fell 64.20 points at the day's low of 25,409.69 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 17.50 points or 0.23% to 7,644.35. The index hit a high of 7,652.10 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 7,593.80 in intraday trade

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The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 39.68 points or 0.44% to 9,158.75. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 22.88 points or 0.23% to 9,972.91. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,092 shares rose and 911 shares fell. A total of 58 shares were unchanged.

ONGC (up 2.1%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.89%) and Tata Power Company (up 1.36%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Some pharma stocks extended recent gains. Cipla (up 0.6% to Rs 414), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1.07% to Rs 464.90) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.08% to Rs 620) gained. Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 0.19% to Rs 2,427.40. Lupin shed 0.84% to Rs 972.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) rose on reports the oil ministry is preparing a fresh proposal for the Cabinet to deregulate diesel price to reduce the government's fuel subsidy burden. HPCL (up 1.99% to Rs 435.75), Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (up 1.36% to Rs 356.50) and BPCL (up 1.87% to Rs 617.35), edged higher

PSU OMCs suffer under-recoveries on domestic sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol.

The government's total fuel subsidy burden in 2013-14 was about Rs 140000 crore, with subsidy on diesel estimated at Rs 62800 crore, according to reports. The diesel subsidy figure has been progressively coming down as the government has followed a policy of hiking diesel prices by 50 paise a month. To protect customers from volatility in international oil markets, the government may allow fuel retailers to increase diesel rates up to a limit, which would be determined by the Cabinet, reports suggest.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 59.325, compared with its close of 59.27/28 on Wednesday, 11 June 2014.

In his reply on motion of thanks on President's address in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 11 June 2014, said his promise to reduce inflation is not an empty slogan but a resolve. Just like the way Mahatma Gandhi had turned India's freedom struggle into a mass movement, India needs to make the quest for good governance a mass movement, he said. He urged all elected members of parliament (MPs) to resolve to ensure that every family in India has a house, with basic amenities of water, power and sanitation, on India's 75th anniversary of independence in 2022. The Prime Minister said a way would be found to achieve this, and he would seek the help and cooperation of all senior leaders in this endeavour.

Industrial production is expected to register a growth of 1.7% in April 2014, as per the median estimates of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government is due to release industrial production data for April 2014 after trading hours today, 12 June 2014. Industrial production shrank for a second straight month in March 2014. Industrial production declined 0.5% in March 2014, compared with a contraction of 1.8% in February 2014.

The rate of inflation based on the combined consumer price index (CPI) for rural and urban India is seen easing at 8.4% in May 2014, from 8.59% in April 2014, as per the median estimates of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government is due to release CPI inflation for May 2014 after trading hours today, 12 June 2014. CPI inflation accelerated to 8.59% (provisional) in April 2014, from 8.31% (final) in March 2014. Core CPI which excludes food and energy prices eased to 7.8% in April 2014, from 7.81% in March 2014.

Asian shares slipped on Thursday, 12 June 2014, after US stocks stepped back from record levels on Wednesday while civil war in Iraq supported oil prices. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong were off 0.16% to 0.67%. Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.04%.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 5 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 12 June 2014. US stocks fell on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking a four-day string of record closing highs, following the World Bank's reduction of its global growth forecast.

Adding to the sour tone, the defeat in a primary election of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, further dampened expectations of Washington passing any significant legislation before the November elections.

The US posted a $130 billion budget deficit in May and the smallest shortfall for the first eight months of a fiscal year since 2008, as a stronger economy and rising employment bolster revenue. The deficit last month was about $9 billion less than the $139 billion shortfall in May 2013, the Treasury Department said in Washington.

Meanwhile, Sunni rebels from an al Qaeda splinter group overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday and closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

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First Published: Jun 12 2014 | 10:14 AM IST

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