Share markets in India are presently trading on a flat note. Benchmark indices are fluctuating between minor gains and losses in today's volatile session.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 51 points, at 38,800 levels.
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 8 points.
IndusInd Bank is the top loser in NSE. Meanwhile, the top gainers in NSE today include Bharti Infratel and Wipro.
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.2%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.3%.
On the sectoral front, oil & gas stocks are witnessing selling pressure. Meanwhile, IT stocks and realty stocks are trading in green.
US stock futures are trading higher after a volatile session in which the recent tech sell-off resumed.
Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 99 points (up 0.9%), while Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures are trading up by 175 points (up 0.6%).
The rupee is trading at 73.48 against the US$.
Gold prices are currently trading down by 0.7% at Rs 51,410.
In news from the commodities space, crude oil prices extended their decline, under pressure from a surprise rise in US stockpiles and ongoing weak demand from the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time of writing, Brent crude is down by 0.2%, at US$ 39.98 a barrel after falling nearly 2% on Thursday, while US crude is off by 2 cents at US$ 37.28 a barrel, having fallen 2% in the previous session.
In the United States, stockpiles rose last week against expectations as refineries slowly returned to operations after production sites were shut down due to storms in the Gulf of Mexico and wider region.
Crude inventories in the United States rose 2.0 million barrels last week, against expectations for a 1.3 million-barrel decrease in a Reuters poll.
In a further bearish sign, traders were starting to book tankers again to store crude oil and diesel, amid a stalled economic recovery as the Covid-19 pandemic continues unabated.
Moving on to stock-specific news...
Hindustan Copper is among the top buzzing stocks today.
The company on Thursday reported a 40.6% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 298 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2020.
It had posted a net profit of Rs 212 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
Revenue from operations rose 41.9% to Rs 4,314 million in the quarter under review as against Rs 3,041 million posted last year.
EBITDA stood at Rs 858 million, down 8.6% from Rs 939 million posted last year.
Hindustan Copper share price is presently trading up by 6.1%.
In other news, metal stocks are in focus today after it was reported that India will increase surveillance on copper and aluminum imports from China.
Reports also state that steel price buoyancy continues to drive upgrades among the metal stocks, and domestic steel price uptrend continues in September 2020 with prices now up to Rs 5,500 per tonne, 16% since the June 2020 lows.
Further, a strong stimulus-led demand recovery in China and lower exports have underpinned a recovery in steel prices across the globe. Regional prices have increased by 15-18% in the past two months led by improving demand and iron ore cost push.
We will keep you updated on the latest developments in the metal sector. Stay tuned.
Speaking of the metal sector, note that metal stocks have rebounded sharply from their March lows, with a revival in both domestic and global demand.
Have a look at the chart below which shows returns of the major sectoral indices since 23 March 2020.
As per Apurva Sheth, the secret behind the rally in metals is nothing else but its greed and fear cycle. The greed phase in metal stocks will last until September 2021.
Comments
Log in or sign up to join the conversation.