Barometers edge lower; Asian markets mostly decline

The domestic equity barometers failed to hold on to recovery gains and edge lower in mid-morning trade. The Nifty was trading below the 17,700 mark. Oil & gas stocks were in demand.

At 11:24 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 392.68 points or 0.66% to 59,054.50. The Nifty 50 index lost 92.35 points or 0.52% to 17,692.

The broader market traded higher with gains. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 0.63%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,009 rose and 1,284 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged

Buzzing Index:

Oil and Gas stocks were trading in green, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index advancing 1.17% at 8,306.10 on the NSE.

Among the index constituents, Adani Total Gas (up 6.57%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2.13%), Gujarat Gas (up 2.08%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.54%), GAIL (India) (up 1.42%), were the top gainers.

Other gainers included Petronet LNG (up 0.82%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 0.77%), and Mahanagar Gas (up 0.72%).

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (down 0.77%), and Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.18%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores hit an upper circuit limit of 20% at Rs 4522.80 after the company said its board has approved a rights issue of equity shares. The board of Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores has approved issuing upto 1,80,03,882 equity shares of face value Rs 10 each under the proposed rights issue. The entitlement ratio is set at 2:1 (two rights equity shares for each equity share held).

Further, the board approved a proposal for entering into power purchase agreement and share subscription and shareholding agreement with Renew Green Energy Solutions for supply of solar and wind power to the company and its associates.

The company also said that it will enhance capacity at the Karnataka plant with an estimated investment of Rs 900-950 crore. This capacity and product addition will help to cater growing demands for the product and meets company`s internal consumption requirements as well, it added.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) said that the company, along with L&T consortium, has emerged as the L-1 bidder to make five polar space launch vehicles (PSLVs) for ISRO.

Shares of HAL advanced 3.50% to Rs 1677 while those of L&T slipped 1.72% to Rs 1799.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded lower on Monday as investors reacted to Chinese inflation data for March.

China`s producer inflation for March was higher than expected. The producer price index surged 8.3% as compared with a year ago, official data showed Monday. Chinese consumer inflation also rose more than expected in March, with the consumer price index climbing 1.5% year on year.

U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday, with the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 closing lower, as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve`s plans to aggressively raise interest rates and shrink its balance sheet.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News