The market sharply pared losses in mid-afternoon trade after hitting fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. At 14:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 2.63 points or 0.01% at 33,133.55. The Nifty 50 index was down 5.15 points or 0.05% at 10,150.10. The Sensex regained the psychologically important 33,000 mark after briefly slipping below that level in afternoon trade.
Market sentiment was negative as crude oil prices jumped yesterday, 21 March 2018. 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 pared gains in mid-morning trade and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon 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 151.49 points, or 0.46% at the day's low of 32,984.69 in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty rose 52.60 points, or 0.52% at the day's high of 10,207.85 in morning trade. The index fell 48 points, or 0.47% at the day's low of 10,107.25 in mid-afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.54%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.68%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 1,844 shares fell and 764 shares rose. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
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 3.41%), BPCL (down 3.09%) and IOCL (down 1.62%) declined.
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In the global commodities markets, Brent for May 2018 settlement was down 11 cents at $69.36 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. 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.
Most auto stocks declined. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.29%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.93%), Escorts (down 1.76%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.69%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.34%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.76%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.66%), edged lower. Eicher Motors (up 0.65%) and Tata Motors (up 1.44%), edged higher.
Realty shares declined. D B Realty (down 3.71%), Parsvnath Developers (down 3.55%), Anant Raj (down 3.54%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.84%), Peninsula Land (down 1.75%), Unitech (down 1.65%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.47%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 1.38%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (down 1.2%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 0.95%), Omaxe (down 0.55%), Phoenix Mills (down 0.49%), DLF (down 0.23%) and Godrej Properties (down 0.1%), edged lower. Sobha (up 0.30%) and Sunteck Realty (up 0.84%), edged higher.
Jindal Drilling & Industries surged 8.11% after the company announced that through a settlement, the arbitration award for an amount of $31.77 million by way of damages passed against the company, along with interest and other expenses has been settled for $9.10 million with complete waiver of all costs, legal and other expenses and the payment has since been made. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 March 2018.
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.
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