Shares trade with decent gains; oil & gas stocks in demand

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,800 level. Oil & gas stock witnessed across the board buying.

At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 345.59 points or 0.58% to 59,808.37. The Nifty 50 index added 109.25 points or 0.62% to 17,807.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.83% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.97%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,930 shares rose and 1,572 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India`s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 13.93% in July 2022 compared with 11.57% in July 2021. The WPI grew 15.18% in June 2022, while the figure for May was 15.88%. WPI for the month of August 2022 will release on 14 September 2022.

India`s retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to 6.71% in July 2022 compared with 7.01% in preceding month. Inflation eased mainly due to easing prices in the food & beverages section.

India`s factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of 12.3% in June 2022. Industrial production grew 19.6% in May 2022. IIP growth in June 2021 was 13.8%, the data showed.

India`s overall exports including merchandise and services exhibited growth last month. Exports registered growth of 11.51% over the same period of last year and estimated to be $61.18 billion. Overall imports also exhibited a growth of 42.90% in comparison to the corresponding period of last year. The country`s imports in the last month are estimated to be $82.22 billion.

Numbers to Track:

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2022 settlement fell 1.40% to Rs 51,848.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.16% to 106.72.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2022 settlement fell $1.28 or 1.35% to $93.82 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

Oil & Gas stocks edged higher in trade today, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index rising 0.98% to 8,258.80.

Among the components of the Nifty Oil & Gas index, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 3.34%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 3.07%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.71%), GAIL (India) (up 1.75%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.75%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Petronet LNG (up 1.71%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.24%), Castrol India (up 1.14%), Adani Total Gas (up 0.6%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp(up 0.43%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

DFM Foods was locked in a 20% upper circuit at Rs 304.30. The company`s promoter has announced a proposal to delist equity shares of the company from the stock exchanges.

Samvardhana Motherson International jumped 4.85%. The company`s board recommended the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of one bonus equity share against two existing equity shares.

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