Oil stocks see across the board surge

Firmness continued on the bourses in early afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently up 213.34 points or 0.79% at 27,329.17. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. In overseas markets, Asian stocks rose after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said in an interview to a newspaper in the United States yesterday, 18 June 2015, that important changes are being made in government policies every week.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher. Shares of upstream oil exploration and production (E&P) firms also edged higher. Cement stocks gained. Dr Reddys Laboratories edged higher after the company said it has concluded the acquisition of select portfolio of the established products business of UCB in India.

Earlier, the Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit their highest level in more than two weeks in mid-morning trade as these two key benchmark indices extended initial gains.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 784.73 crore yesterday, 18 June 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1110.01 crore yesterday, 18 June 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates. US stocks advanced sharply yesterday, 18 June 2015, sending the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 to record highs, while the main indexes recorded their third consecutive day of gains.

At 12:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 213.34 points or 0.79% at 27,329.17. The index jumped 234.73 points at the day’s high of 27,350.56 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 2 June 2015. The index rose 86.55 points at the day’s low of 27,202.38 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 55.20 points or 0.68% at 8,229.80. The index hit a high of 8,235.50 in intraday trade, its highest level since 3 June 2015. The index hit a low of 8,195.65 in intraday trade.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 81.59 points or 0.78% at 10,508.75. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 66.03 points or 0.61% at 10,977.73. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,383 shares rose and 909 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher. BPCL (up 0.68%), HPCL (up 1.3%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.79%) edged higher.

Shares of upstream oil exploration and production (E&P) firms edged higher. Oil India (up 0.79%), ONGC (up 2.08%), Cairn India (up 1.09%) and Reliance Industries (up 1.27%) edged higher.

Cement stocks gained. ACC (up 0.51%), Shree Cement (up 1.16%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.48%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.2%) edged higher.

Grasim Industries was up 0.51% at Rs 3,381.10. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Yes Bank was up 0.75% at Rs 828.65. The stock hit a high of Rs 829.50 and a low of Rs 822.15 so far during the day. Yes Bank during market hours today, 19 June 2015, said that in furtherance of the results declared at the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 6 June 2015, two directors on the board of Yes Bank, namely Mr. M. R. Srinivasan and Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda, will be assuming office from today, 19 June 2015. All relevant filings with other regulatory authorities confirming the same will be made in due course, Yes Bank said.

Dr Reddys Laboratories edged higher after the company said it has concluded the acquisition of select portfolio of the established products business of UCB in India. The stock was up 0.97% at Rs 3,407. The stock hit a high of Rs 3,423.60 and a low of Rs 3,392.50 so far during the day. The announcement was made during market hours today, 19 June 2015.

It may be recalled that Dr Reddy’s Laboratories had on 1 April 2015, announced acquisition of select portfolio of the established products business of UCB in India.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said in an interview to a newspaper in the United States yesterday, 18 June 2015, that important changes are being made in government policies every week. Jaitley said that overhauls are moving ahead at a rapid pace and there’s a lot of agenda still to cover. Jaitley said the government is looking for compromises that would speed up passage of a new law aimed at easing the acquisition of land for development projects. Jaitley said the tax notices to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) demanding payment of the minimum alternate tax (MAT) were a legacy of 2012 litigation and would be reviewed by the Supreme Court. Once the Supreme Court judgment comes, MAT will get sorted out, he said. Jaitley said that the government has enacted a law saying MAT won’t apply to foreign institutional investors from 1 April 2015. Jaitley is currently on a 9-day official visit to the United States.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its daily monsoon update issued yesterday, 18 June 2015, that the Southwest Monsoon was vigorous over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and active over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Konkan & Goa, Vidarbha and Telangana during past 24 hours ending at 0830 hrs. Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal and remaining parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bay of Bengal during next 2-3 days, the IMD said.

For the country as a whole, the cumulative rainfall during this year’s monsoon season was 11% above the Long Period Average (LPA) until 17 June 2015. Region wise, the southwest monsoon was 19% above the LPA in Central India, 16% above the LPA in East & Northeast India and 7% below the LPA in Northwest India until 17 June 2015. The rainfall was 100% of the Long Period Average in South Peninsula.

In a separate weekly monsoon report, the IMD said that the rainfall activity is expected to increase over Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra till 20 June. During 21-25 June, rainfall is expected to increase over many parts of central and adjoining eastern and northwestern parts of the country. Thereafter, during 26-30 June, rainfall is likely to increase over Indo-Gangetic plains and northwest India. IMD said that its forecasting models are suggesting an overall decrease in monsoon rainfall over most parts of the country in the beginning of July.

The June-September southwest monsoon is critical for the country’s agriculture because a considerable part of the country’s farmland is dependent on the rains for irrigation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources today, 19 June 2015, announced that the water storage available in 91 important reservoirs of the country as on 18 June 2015 was 39.05 BCM which is 25% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This storage is 103% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 139% of storage of average of last ten years. The present storage position during current year is better than the storage position of last year and is also better than the storage of average of last ten years.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana. Uttarakhand is having equal storage as compared to the storage capacity for corresponding period last year.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher today, 19 June 2015, after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia were up 0.15% to 1.04%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was off 3.83%. Taiwan stock market was shut for a holiday.

The Bank of Japan today, 19 June 2015, said it would stick with its record 80 trillion yen annual asset-buying scheme that is aimed at jacking up prices and kick-starting growth. The Japanese central bank also said it would move to improve its communication by issuing more frequent and detailed reports on its economic outlook, while cutting the number of policy meetings to eight from the current 14 a year.

US stocks advanced sharply yesterday, 18 June 2015, sending the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 to record highs, while the main indexes recorded their third consecutive day of gains. Investors continued to cheer what they perceived as a dovish tone set by the US central bank and Chairwoman Janet Yellen following the conclusion of a two-day Fed policy meeting on Wednesday, 17 June 2015.

US consumers saw an increase in price pressures in May, rising for the fourth straight month, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor released yesterday, 18 June 2015. Consumer price index rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, compared to April’s rise of 0.1%.

Meanwhile , the first-time weekly jobless claims in the US fell by 12,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 267,000 during the week ending 6th June, the Labor Department said yesterday, 18 June 2015. Continuing jobless claims, the number of people already receiving benefits and reported with a one-week delay, fell by 50,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 2.22 million during the week ending 6th June.

In Europe, European officials and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have failed to strike a deal on Greece’s bailout program, bringing the country one step closer to a dangerous default and potential exit from the eurozone, as per reports. After the talks collapsed, the EU called an emergency summit of leaders for Monday to urgently discuss the situation of Greece, reports added. Greece is still struggling to reach a reform agreement with its lenders, which would unlock the next portion of bailout money needed to repay 1.6 billion euros ($1.82 billion) to IMF by the end of June.

[“source – business-standard.com”]