Markets end 1% up on a decline in oil prices
BENGALURU: Shares extended gains from last week to end more than 1% higher on Monday, as oil prices declined on hopes of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
The blue chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed up 1.45% at 16,871.30, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained 1.68% to end at 56,486.02.
Both the indices have shed about 3% each this year because of a combination of overvaluation fears, coupled with consistent selling by foreign investors, a miss on economic growth estimates, and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Global markets rose on Monday, while oil prices extended last week’s decline after both Russia and Ukraine gave their most upbeat assessment yet of prospects for talks.
The slide in oil prices is a positive for India in terms of containing inflation, as the country is the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer.
Investors will be looking out for February retail inflation data, which is likely to have slipped, according to a poll. The economists who were surveyed also warned about the impact of surging oil prices.
The Nifty Bank Index gained 2.22%, helped by HDFC Bank, which added 3.3% after saying on Saturday that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had lifted restrictions that had been imposed on some of its activities under its digital programme.
Paytm slid 12.9% after RBI barred Paytm Payments Bank from taking on new customers.
Jubilant FoodWorks, the Indian franchise partner of Domino’s Pizza, fell as much as 12.2%. Several brokerages downgraded their price target for the company after its top boss resigned on Friday.
The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint, and Jubilant Foodworks are closely related. There are, however, no promoter cross-holdings.