Sensex gains 200 pts, Nifty hits 4900; ONGC spikes 4%

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty gained strength amid volatility, even after the rupee was moving towards record low again. Oil & gas, banks and metals stocks helped markets gain further.

The BSE benchmark spiked 150 points to 16,097.89 and the NSE benchmark gained 45 points at 4,880.45.

The Indian rupee depreciated by 31 paise to 56.31 a dollar from previous close of 56 a dollar. It had touched an all-time low of 56.39 to the dollar.

Ssharad D Pawaar, SPFX INDIA feels the rupee is expected to remain under pressure as the dollar continues to gain. "The uncertainty in the Eurozone could add to the pressure but any RBI intervention may restrict the losses," he reasoned.

State-owned oil & gas producer shot up 3.5% on hopes that the government may raise diesel price. GAIL too rallied over 1.5%. Reliance Industries, India's most valued stock gained 0.8%. Oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC erased somewhat gains, but still up 1-2% on petrol price hike by Rs 6.28 per litre.

Housing finance company HDFC stayed 3% higher since early trade. Even private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 2.5% while its rival ICICI Bank was up just 0.76%. State Bank of India trimmed losses, falling just 0.3%.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel jumped 1.6%. Cigarette major ITC, and engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro were up 0.6% each.

Metals and mining stocks too gained; Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Hindalco and Coal India were up 0.6-1.4%.

However, Maruti fell 2% on demand concerns after the 11% petrol price hike. The company might have to up discounts and sacrifice on margins. Goldman Sachs has a sell rating on the stock; they believe that the widening price differential between petrol and diesel will put additional pressure on pricing and utilizations.

Two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp were down 0.5-0.8%.

Country's largest software services exporter TCS was down 0.7% while rival Infosys rose 0.4%.

In the second line shares, Tech Mahindra shot up 6% after beat expectations on margin front in Q4. The company positively surprised with a 60 basis points sequential increase in margins. Dollar revenue has declined 2.5%, but was inline with expectations.

On the global front, Asian markets were lacklustre in trade - Shanghai fell 0.5% after HSBC preliminary PMI declined at 48.7 for May as against final PMI at 49.3 in previous month. Hang Seng and Taiwan Weighted were marginally down whereas Nikkei, Straits Times and Kospi trade with moderate gains.

At 10:31 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty, broader mkts flat; ONGC, HDFC top buy list

The BSE Sensex stayed flat since early trade as it seemed to be priced in petrol price hike, depreciation in rupee and Greece woes.

The index opened with more than 100 points gap up in reaction to fuel price hike (up petrol by Rs 6.28/Litre), but could not sustain gains for long. Even the rupee did not see any appreciation in opening trade; it fell 15 paise to 56.15 a dollar.

Experts believe this would not improve sentiment. They feel act on diesel price will definitely helped markets to advance further. Sources indicated that oil ministry has been pushing for Rs 5 per litre hike in diesel price.

The BSE benchmark went up 21.19 points to 15,969.29 and the NSE benchmark rose 4.15 points to 4,839.80. The broader markets too were flat.

Housing finance company HDFC topped the buying list, rising 3%. State-owned oil and gas producer ONGC gained 2.7% on hopes of increase in diesel price. GAIL too gained 2% and Reliance Industries was up 0.4%.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 1% whereas top lender State Bank of India fell nearly 1%.

Country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel moved up 1.4% on short covering; the stock had tanked 4% yesterday on rupee depreciation.

However, top software services exporters TCS, Infosys and Wipro were down 0.5-1%.

Auto stocks were under pressure due to sharp hike in petrol price yesterday. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki tumbled 2.5%. Bajaj Auto declined 1.7%. M&M, Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors slipped 0.2-0.8%.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 632 to 512 on the National Stock Exchange.

At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty open volatile despite petrol price hike

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started off trade with gain of 0.6% on Thursday, but immediately erased all gains despite petrol price hike.

Experts feel this would not improve sentiment as it already deteriorated by global and domestic factors.

Petrol price hike would not alone be able to improve sentiment of the market, says Pratik Gupta, Head of Equities at Deutsche Equities. "Diesel price hike is one of the point that will improve sentiment." Sharp fall in rupee has hurt sentiment significantly, he says.

The BSE benchmark rose just 13.26 points to 15,961.36 and the NSE benchmark went up 1.05 points to 4,836.70.

Oil marketing companies rallied quite sharply after they have taken bold steps yesterday to increase petrol price by Rs 6.28 a litre (excluding taxes). BPCL, HPCL and IOC shot up 4% each.

ONGC gained 3.5% on hopes that government may raise diesel price too. GAIL went up 2.5%.

CNBC reported quoting sources that EGoM is likely to meet on Friday to mull Diesel and LPG price hike. Oil Ministry has been pushing for Rs 5/Litre hike in diesel price.

The Indian rupee could not see any pull back in early trade as it opened at 56.14 a dollar as against previous close of 56 a dollar. It was trading at 56.05 a dollar. 

HDFC gained 2%. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and L&T too were on buyers' radar. 

However, auto stocks took knock due to hike in petrol prices. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki lost 3%, which already beaten down by the rupee depreciation and now petrol price hike added fuel to the fire. Even two-wheeler majors Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto were down 1.4% each.

Infosys, SBI and Bank of Baroda were other losers.

The CNX Midcap Index rose 26 points to 6,848. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Delta Corp, Essar Oil, Shasun Pharma, Petronet LNG, Aurobindo Pharma, Everest Kanto and KPIT Cummins rose 2% each.

Pantaloon Retail and Wockhardt gained 1% each.

However, Allahabad Bank, GMR Infra, Canara Bank and Kingfisher fell 1-3%.