As Govt ups RIL gas price, markets party
22 Dec 2013 4:41 AM IST
The Indian benchmark Sensex surged 371 points on Friday to end above the 21,000 mark as Reliance Industries led energy stocks higher after the government allowed the company to increase the price of natural gas.
Reliance, with a 4.58 per cent gain, and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), along with financial and IT stocks lifted the Sensex.
Oil & gas and realty stocks climbed the most among the 12 BSE sectoral indices. The consumer durables sector index fell.
The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE ) S&P Sensex opened higher than Thursday's close and traded steady for the first two hours. It then shot up and touched the day's high of 21,117.99 before closing at 21,079.72, up 371.10 points or 1.79 per cent, the biggest gain in almost a month.
It was the biggest gain for the index since the 388-point rise on 25 November. Over the past week, the Sensex has advanced 364 points.
The Cabinet on Thursday allowed Reliance to increase gas prices from April even as output at its main Dhirubhai 1 and 3 fields in the KG-D6 block has dropped. The price hike was allowed provided the company furnishes bank guarantees to cover its liability if gas-hoarding charges are proved.
Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 2,264.11 crore on Thursday, according to provisional data with the stock exchanges.
The Sensex had dropped 151 points on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it would start tapering its stimulus programme in January, a move that would reduce the funds available to invest in local stocks.
The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange flared up 107.60 points, or 1.74 per cent, to 6,274.25. The SX40 on the MCX Stock Exchange jumped 189.01 points to 12,525.54.
‘Equity markets traded on a positive note today (Friday) after bearing the hiccup of Fed's tapering process on Thursday, supported by a good rally in the oil & gas and banking sector shares. FIIs bought considerably in the markets today (Friday), taking the tapering in stride,’ said Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research at Veracity Broking Services.
Apart from Reliance, the top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, which rose 3.93 per cent, Wipro 3.6 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra 3.35 per cent, HDFC 3.05 per cent, Hindustan Unilever 2.42 per cent and ICICI Bank 2.21 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas was up 3.83 per cent, realty 2.76 per cent, auto 2.02 per cent, bankex 1.81 per cent, IT 1.66 per cent and power 1.54 per cent.
The total market breadth turned positive as 1,528 stocks gained, 978 fell and 165 shares ruled steady.Asian stocks were mixed as indices in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose while those in China and Hong Kong declined. Indices in France, Germany and the UK were higher.
Reliance, with a 4.58 per cent gain, and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), along with financial and IT stocks lifted the Sensex.
Oil & gas and realty stocks climbed the most among the 12 BSE sectoral indices. The consumer durables sector index fell.
The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE ) S&P Sensex opened higher than Thursday's close and traded steady for the first two hours. It then shot up and touched the day's high of 21,117.99 before closing at 21,079.72, up 371.10 points or 1.79 per cent, the biggest gain in almost a month.
It was the biggest gain for the index since the 388-point rise on 25 November. Over the past week, the Sensex has advanced 364 points.
The Cabinet on Thursday allowed Reliance to increase gas prices from April even as output at its main Dhirubhai 1 and 3 fields in the KG-D6 block has dropped. The price hike was allowed provided the company furnishes bank guarantees to cover its liability if gas-hoarding charges are proved.
Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 2,264.11 crore on Thursday, according to provisional data with the stock exchanges.
The Sensex had dropped 151 points on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it would start tapering its stimulus programme in January, a move that would reduce the funds available to invest in local stocks.
The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange flared up 107.60 points, or 1.74 per cent, to 6,274.25. The SX40 on the MCX Stock Exchange jumped 189.01 points to 12,525.54.
‘Equity markets traded on a positive note today (Friday) after bearing the hiccup of Fed's tapering process on Thursday, supported by a good rally in the oil & gas and banking sector shares. FIIs bought considerably in the markets today (Friday), taking the tapering in stride,’ said Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research at Veracity Broking Services.
Apart from Reliance, the top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, which rose 3.93 per cent, Wipro 3.6 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra 3.35 per cent, HDFC 3.05 per cent, Hindustan Unilever 2.42 per cent and ICICI Bank 2.21 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas was up 3.83 per cent, realty 2.76 per cent, auto 2.02 per cent, bankex 1.81 per cent, IT 1.66 per cent and power 1.54 per cent.
The total market breadth turned positive as 1,528 stocks gained, 978 fell and 165 shares ruled steady.Asian stocks were mixed as indices in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose while those in China and Hong Kong declined. Indices in France, Germany and the UK were higher.
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