The markets opened in the green on Thursday (July 15). The Sensex was up 108.60 points or 0.21 percent at 53,012.65, while the Nifty50 was up 30.75 points at 15,884.70.
Indices tracked gains in index majors L&T, HDFC Bank and HCL Tech amid a largely positive trend in global markets.
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 3 percent, followed by HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy’s and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, M&M, Asian Paints, Maruti, ITC, Titan and Infosys were among the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 134.32 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 52,904.05, and Nifty advanced 41.60 points or 0.26 per cent to 15,853.95.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,303.95 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.
"IT results out so far including that of majors like TCS and Infosys indicate a strong order pipeline emboldening the companies to raise their revenue guidance to 14 to 17 per cent. This augurs well for the industry and can invite further investments," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, PTI said.
However, Nifty is likely to face resistance around 15,900, since FIIs are consistent sellers at higher levels, he said, adding that retail activity is high in mid and small-cap space, as heavy FII selling is in large caps.
Further, global support to the markets comes from US Fed chief Jerome Powell''s remark that rates will remain near zero until "inflation goes persistently and materially higher". This has further emboldened the equity bulls, he noted.
Fuel prices hiked to record high
Petrol and diesel rates were hiked again on Thursday, taking fuel prices across the country to a new record high. Petrol price was hiked by a steep 35 paise per litre and diesel by 15 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 101.54 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 89.87 per litre. In Mumbai, where petrol price crossed Rs 100 mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price reached new high of Rs 107.54 per litre on Thursday. Diesel price also increased in the city by 16 paisa per litre to reach Rs 97.45 a litre, the highest among metros.
The price of petrol and diesel in Chennai was Rs 102.23 and Rs 94.39 per litre respectively and Rs 101.74 and Rs 93.02 per litre in Kolkata.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and freight charges.
Asian shares firm
Asian shares held firm on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US economy was 'still a way off' from levels the central bank wanted to see before tapering its monetary support.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade while Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.4 percent.
Oil prices drop
Oil prices dropped on Wednesday after sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had reached a compromise that should unlock an OPEC+ deal to boost global oil supplies as the world recovers from the pandemic.
Results today
Wipro, Angel Broking, Avantel, Aditya Birla Money, Cyient, Ganesh Housing Corporation, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Onward Technologies, Rama Paper Mills, Rollatainers, Tata Elxsi, and Tata Steel Long Products will release quarterly earnings on July 15.
Eight stocks: Granules India, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Vodafone Idea, NALCO, NMDC, Punjab National Bank, SAIL, and Sun TV Network are under the F&O ban for July 15.
