Sensex rises over 100 points after sharp fall in crude prices; OMC stocks rally

The BSE Sensex recovered over 107 points to 36,431.17 in early trade on Tuesday on fresh buying by investors after a sharp drop on global crude oil prices and a strengthening rupee.

The 30-share index, which had lost 224.64 points in the previous two sessions, rebounded 107.40 points, or 0.30%, to 36,431.17 with stocks of oil & gas, FMCG, infrastructure, PSU, banking, consumer durables and auto sectors rising by up to 1.69%.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty was trading 40.20 points, or 0.37%, higher at 10,977.05.

Major gainers that supported the recovery were Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Vedanta Ltd., M&M, ONGC, RIL, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj auto and Infosys.

Shares of State-run oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC were back in demand and rose by up to 3.34%, supported by a sharp fall in crude prices.

Shares of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever advanced 1.48% to ₹1,779.95 in early trade after the company yesterday posted a 19.17% increase in standalone net profit at ₹1,529 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

Traders said besides encouraging earnings posted by some bluechip companies, a mixed trend at other Asian markets as investors tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, influenced trading sentiments here.

Investors were also awaiting U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony for hints on the pace of interest rate hikes, the added.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of ₹625.68 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth a net of ₹70.30 crore on July 16, provisional data showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.77%, while Singapore Index was up 0.29% in early trade today. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.92% and Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.01%.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.18% higher in July 16th trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)