Indices trade with minor cuts; oil & gas shares in demand

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with minor losses in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered around the 22,050 mark. Oil & gas shares witnessed buying demand for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 215.29 points or 0.29% to 72,618.59. The Nifty 50 index lost 43.15 points or 0.20% to 22,053.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.52% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.06%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,507 shares rose and 2,293 shares fell. A total of 179 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion for the week ended March 15, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen by $10.47 billion to $636.095 billion.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.034 billion to $568.386 billion, the data showed.

Gold reserves increased by $425 million to $51.14 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $65 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was down by $129 million to $4.689 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 3.88% to 12.70. The Nifty 28 March 2024 futures were trading at 22,117.05, at a premium of 63.45 points as compared with the spot at 22,053.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 March 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 94.9 lakh contracts at the 22,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 130.2 lakh contracts were seen at 22,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index added 0.81% to 11,313.60. The index rallied 3.65% in four trading sessions.

Oil India (up 5.03%), Petronet LNG (up 3.2%), Gujarat Gas (up 2.93%), GAIL (India) (up 2.18%), Adani Total Gas (up 1.95%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.48%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.36%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.35%), Mahanagar Gas (up 1.01%) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 0.55%) advanced.

On the other hand, Castrol India (down 1.85%), Reliance Industries (down 0.84%) and Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.25%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Aeronautics added 2.84% after the company has signed a contract with Guyana Defence Force, Government of Guyana for supply of aircraft and other equipment for a value of MUSD 23.37(approximately Rs 194 crore).

Gandhar Oil Refinery (India) shed 0.91%. The company has announced that it has received a work order from Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam (AVVNL) amounting Rs 17.41 crore.

Schaeffler India fell 1.06%. The company has informed that its board has approved the re-appointment of Harsha Kadam, as the managing director (MD) and CEO of the company for a period of three years with effect from October 1, 2024.

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