Nifty re-claims 17,200 level; oil & gas scrips in demand

The benchmark indices made small gains during mid-morning trade, buoyed by firmness in metal and oil & gas stocks. The Nifty reclaimed 17,200 mark.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex rose 52.79 points or 0.09% at 57,219.53. The Nifty 50 index gained 30.30 points or 0.18% at 17,203.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.88%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 2,158 shares rose while 1,093 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Brent crude for June 2022 settlement rose 8 cents or 0.07% at $113.24 a barrel, following outages in Libya deepened concern over tight global supply amid the Ukraine crisis.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 6,387.45 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,341.96 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 April 2022, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

India recorded 1,274 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Tuesday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases currently stood at 11,860 and comprised 0.03% of the total infections. The recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.76% and 928 recoveries were reported on Monday. The daily positivity rate was at 0.31% while the weekly positivity rate stood at 0.34%.

Economy:

The debt piled on by the private sector during the COVID-19 pandemic could lower growth for emerging markets by 1.3% over three years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. For developed nations, the hit to growth is seen marginally lower at 0.9% over the same period, the IMF said in a chapter of its World Economic Outlook report released on 18 April 2022.

"The surge in global private debt in 2020 - 13% of GDP - was widespread, faster than during the global financial crisis and almost as large as the rise in public debt," the IMF said in the report.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas rose 1.91% to 8,354.95. The index lost 1.66% in the past trading session.

Among the components of the Nifty Oil & Gas index, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 4.13%), Oil India (up 3.9%), Reliance Industries (up 3.01%), GAIL (India) (up 2.86%) and Gujarat State Petronet (up 2.21%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) (up 1.84%), Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (up 1.83%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (up 1.37%), Mahanagar Gas (up 1.17%) and Petronet LNG (up 1.05%).

On the other hand, Adani Total Gas (down 0.24%), Gujarat Gas (down 0.67%) and Aegis Logistics (down 1.25%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Poonawalla Fincorp advanced 2.04%. The company said it has entered digital consumption loans space through a tie up with KrazyBee. Under this partnership, Poonawalla Fincorp will offer small ticket personal loans to individuals. The partnership provides complete end to end digital consumer loans across the country. The credit underwriting for these loans is done through a scorecard which enables right customer selection at scale, while the complete digital process helps democratize the process of taking loan. The company plans to cross Rs 1,000 crore of disbursement under this partnership in the current financial year.

Salasar Techno Engineering rallied 4.49%. The company announced that its board will consider a stock split proposal on 30 April 2022. The board will also discuss other incidental or ancillary matters in the meeting.

Global Markets:

Asian markets were trading mixed on Tuesday, as investors watched for market reaction to China`s central bank announcing financial support for COVID-hit sectors. On Monday, the People`s Bank of China announced it will increase financial support for industries, businesses and people affected by COVID-19.

Wall Street ended the day lower in a choppy trading day on Monday, while US Treasury yields jumped as investors juggled strong earnings with what Russia`s invasion of Ukraine could mean for global growth.

The World Bank lowered its annual global growth forecast for 2022 on Monday by nearly a full percentage point, down from 4.1% to 3.2%, citing the impact that Russia`s invasion of Ukraine is having on the world economy.

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