The benchmark indices opened flat amid mixed global cues tracking gains in index majors TCS, HUL and Reliance Industries amid a positive trend in global markets and sustained foreign fund inflows.
At 09:16 AM, the Sensex was up 37.42 points or 0.07 percent at 57,375.63, and the Nifty was up 7.50 points or 0.04 percent at 17,083.80. About 977 shares have advanced, 392 shares declined, and 74 shares are unchanged.
Dr Reddy's was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Titan, UltraTech Cement, HUL, L&T and Tata Steel. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, Maruti and PowerGrid were among the laggards.
Dr Reddy's was up (+1.57 percent) at Rs 4,838.75. Maruti (+1.10 percent) at Rs 6,860, Hindustan Lever (+1.06 percent) at Rs 2,760, Ultra Cements (+0.98 percent) at Rs 7,840, and Bajaj Finserv (+0.80 percent) at Rs 16,919 were among the top gainers.
Reliance (-1.31 percent) at Rs 2,240, Tech Mahindra (-1.05 percent) Rs 1,421, Infosys (-0.74 percent), ONGC (-0.63 percent) at Rs 118.95, and Axix Bank (-0.29 percent) at Rs 796.20 were among the top losers.
In the previous session, the BSE index ended 214.18 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 57,338.21, and Nifty snapped its seven-day record-setting spree, settling 55.95 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 17,076.25.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 666.66 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.
Asian stocks steady
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday morning trade, with Australia’s July trade data expected later in the day.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.52 percent in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.26 percent. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.24 percent.
Oil prices fall
Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to keep its policy of gradually returning supply to the market at a time when coronavirus cases around the world are surging and many US refiners, a key source of crude demand, remained offline.
Brent crude was down by 52 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $71.07 a barrel by 0134 GMT, after dropping 4 cents on Wednesday. US oil fell 56 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $68.03 a barrel, after rising 9 cents in the previous session.
Petrol, diesel prices unchanged
A day after reducing fuel prices, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) on Thursday kept petrol and diesel rates unchanged to further review global oil price movement before making any changes in the domestic market.
In Delhi, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.34 per litre, while diesel is also being sold at the unchanged price of Rs 88.77 a litre. In Mumbai, where petrol price crossed the Rs 100-mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price is at Rs 107.39 per litre. Diesel price in the city is also at Rs 96.33, the highest among metros.
In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs 99.08 a litre and in Kolkata Rs 101.72 a litre. Diesel is also priced at Rs 93.38 and Rs 91.84 per litre in both cities respectively.
SDR holdings up in India
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) equivalent to around $17.86 billion to India on August 23, the RBI said in a press release on September 1.
With this, the total SDR holdings of India now stands at equivalent to around $19.41 billion as on August 23, 2021, the RBI said. This increase in SDR holdings will be reflected in the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) data that shall be published for the week ended August 27, 2021, the central bank said.
Indian Railway freight loading up in August
Indian Railways freight loading during August 2021 was 110.55 million tonnes which is 16.87 percent higher when compared to August 2020. The railways earned Rs. 10,866.20 crore from freight loading during August which is 20.2 percent higher when compared to last year. August marks the twelfth consecutive month when the Indian Railways had surpassed its highest freight loading volumes.
Unemployment figures up in August
Unemployment in August rose to 8.32 percent from a four-month low of 6.95 percent in July, data from private research firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. showed Wednesday.
Asian stocks were steady Thursday after U.S. technology shares climbed in a defensive tilt to the Wall Street rally, and as traders await employment data to assess when the Federal Reserve may pare stimulus.
SEBI penalises 8 entities
Capital markets regulator SEBI has imposed penalties totalling Rs 40 lakh on eight entities, including individuals, for indulging in non-genuine trades in illiquid stock options at BSE.
In eight separate orders, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on Nikita Rungta, Aakash Prakash Shah, Abha Mohunta, Aachman Vanijya, Abhi Portfolio, A C Agarwal Commodities, Vinay Ramanlal Shah HUF and Vinodkumar M Jain. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) observed large scale reversal of trades in stock options segment of BSE.
