Sensex rises; rupee strengthens

Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE’s Nifty 50 rose yesterday led by gains in banking and oil marketing company stocks.

Oil prices have fallen by almost 10% over the last week as crude export terminals in Libya have reopened and exports from other Opec countries and Russia have improved.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 196.19 points, or 0.54%, to 36,519.96, while the Nifty 50 rose 71.20 points, or 0.65%, to close at 11,008.05.

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap advanced 2.14% and 1.12%, respectively. All the sectoral indices on the BSE, except FMCG, ended with gains led by oil and gas, energy, bankex, basic materials and healthcare. FMCG fell 0.80%.

On the NSE, Nifty PSU Bank Index surged 3.86% led by Union Bank, PNB and Bank of Baroda. HPCL, IOC, SBI, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers, whereas Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, ITC and Eicher Motors were among top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth a net of Rs625.68 crore on Monday, while local investors offloaded shares worth a net of Rs70.30 crore, showed provisional data. Meanwhile the rupee yesterday closed at a three-week high against the US dollar as crude oil prices declined after comments from US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The rupee ended at 68.46 a dollar — a level last seen on June 26, up 0.16% from its previous close of 68.57.

The currency opened at 68.38 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 68.28 and 68.47, respectively.

Overnight, oil prices fell over 4% after US officials suggested the US will take a softer stance on countries that import oil from Iran. The 10-year bond yield stood at 7.745%, from its Monday’s close of 7.801%.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

So far this year, the rupee has weakened 6.55%, while foreign investors have sold $800mn and $6.34bn in equity and debt markets, respectively.

Asian currencies were mainly stronger following weakness in dollar on Monday and a lack of any further development on trade. South Korean won was up 0.39%, China renminbi 0.18%, China offshore 0.12%, Singapore dollar 0.07%, Thai Baht 0.07%, Taiwan dollar 0.06%. However, Japanese yen was down 0.12%, Malaysian ringgit 0.08%.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.514, up 0.01% from its previous close of 94.511.