Oil & gas drives Sensex, Nifty to record highs; ONGC up 11 pc
Oil & gas drives Sensex, Nifty to record highs; ONGC up 11 pc
The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 376.95 points or 1.51 percent to 25396.46 and the 50-share NSE Nifty shot up 109.30 points or 1.46 percent to 7583.40.

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks saw new all-time highs on Friday supported by oil & gas and banking & financials stocks. State-run ONGC and petrochemical major Reliance Industries contributed most to Nifty gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 376.95 points or 1.51 percent to 25396.46 and the 50-share NSE Nifty shot up 109.30 points or 1.46 percent to 7583.40. Not only benchmarks but also the CNX Midcap touched fresh record high, up 1.65 percent to 10,952.35.

The strong momentum may continue till the announcement of Union Budget (likely in July) and the Nifty may see 8000-mark but post Budget, correction may be likely, say experts, adding every dip is a buy as the bull run may last for next five years. Geosphere Capital Management's Arvind Sanger sees the Nifty closing in on 8000 pre-Budget in anticipation of policy reforms .

He is advising investors to be cautious about what they buy in the run-up to the Budget as he expects a sell off after the event.

Broking firm IIFL's chairman Nirmal Jain believes a healthy bull market rises slowly, steadily and with healthy corrections . "If market is able to hold on to these gains, there has been a run-up from the exit poll day, then it shows that it is clearly a bull market and may be it is a long bull market. It will last for at least five years," he says.

Sources-based news from oil, finance and food ministries regarding new policies has been helping the market to keep the positive momentum intact. As a result of which, oil & gas, banking & financials and sugar stocks saw hefty buying interest. Huge long build up helped ONGC gain 11 percent to close at record high of Rs 465.65 and Reliance rallied 3 percent on hopes of hike in natural gas prices from July 1.

GAIL rallied 8 percent on heavy long build up. BSE Oil & Gas was up 4.82 percent. Arvind Sanger says select oil and gas shares can rise 20-25 percent from these levels if the government clarifies on its energy pricing policy. HPCL, BPCL and ONGC are the stocks he is bullish on. Sanger says he will advise investors to increase exposure to the sector if a decision on gas pricing is taken soon. Realty stocks (especially Bangalore-based) too were on buyers' radar with the BSE Realty Index rising 5 percent.

DLF gained 6 percent while Sobha Developers, Puravankara Projects, Prestige Estates Projects and Kolte-Patil Developers surged 6-11 percent. Top lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank gained more than a percent while housing finance company HDFC spiked 3 percent. Index heavyweight ITC was up 1 percent. Among autos, Hero Motocorp jumped 3.7 percent followed by M&M and Bajaj Auto with over 2 percent. However, Infosys declined 1.3 percent after its senior vice president Prasad Thrikutam resigned. TCS lost 1 percent as it adjusted for dividend (Rs 20 per share). Sesa Sterlite fell 2.5 percent on profit booking. In the broader space, sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan, Shree Renuka Sugars, Balrampur Chini Mills, Dhampur Sugar and Triveni Engineering were up 8-15 percent after Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said the government would examine raising import tax on sugar to support local prices and help mills clear dues to cane growers. Amtek Auto touched a six-year high of Rs 265.70, up 19.4 percent after brokerage house Nomura initiated a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 416. Advancing shares beat declining ones by a ratio of 2142 to 969 on the BSE.

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