Asian stocks are trading lower today trimming the first-half rally in global equities. Treasury yields steadied following a surge on Thursday on bets for further rate hikes, which cast a shadow over markets.

The Nikkei is trading 0.6% lower, and the Hang Seng index is trading higher marginally. While Shanghai composite was up 0.8%

The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 advanced on Thursday as bank shares rallied after major lenders cleared the Federal Reserve's annual stress test, while strong economic data stoked expectations of further interest rate hikes from the central bank.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.8% higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 0.2% lower.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Thursday:

Source: Equitymaster

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a positive note.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 447 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 120 points.

Infosys and M&M are among the top gainers today.

Tata Steel and ICICI Bank on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. Both the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading 0.5% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with the exception of the telecom sector, metal sector, and FMCG sector. Stocks in the auto sector and IT sector witnessed most of the buying.

Shares of Titan and Coforge hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.04 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading lower by Rs 58 at Rs 57,965 per 10 grams today.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading 0.5% higher at Rs 68,519 per 1 kg.
 

ONGC sells gas produced from KG basin

State-owned refinery Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) initial gas produced from its KG basin fields in the Bay of Bengal to three firms, including Torrent Gas.

In an e-auction, the public-sector undertaking (PSU) sold 1.4 million (m) standard cubic meters per day - a fraction of the planned output from the block that sits next to Reliance Industries' KG-D6 area in the Bay of Bengal, to Torrent Gas Pune, GAIL (India) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).

GAIL picked up 0.8 mmscmd while HPCL took 0.42 mmscmd and Torrent 0.12 mmscmd.

The tender document showed that ONGC asked companies to quote a premium that they are willing to pay over and above the rate arrived at by calculating 14% prevailing Brent oil price plus US $ 1 per m British thermal unit.

The sale price will however be the lower of the price arrived at using this formula or the rate that the oil ministry's arm Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) notifies twice a year for the deep sea fields.

ONGC was originally to start gas production from Cluster-II fields in the KG-D5 in June 2019 and the first oil was to flow in March 2020.

The company blamed contracting and supply chain issues due to the pandemic for shifting the start of oil production first to November 2021, then to the third quarter of 2022, and then to June 2023.

The gas output start target was first revised to May 2021, then to May 2023, and then to May 2024 for non-associated gas to start flowing.

However, these timelines have now been shifted to August.

This news might finally pull the company's share price out of its range-bound trajectory. In the last year it only moved up by 5%.

Adani Total Gas' big investment plans

Adani Total Gas, a joint venture between Adani Group and French energy behemoth Total Energies, plans to invest Rs 180-200 billion (bn) in the next 8-10 years to build infrastructure for its gas distribution business, according to the annual report of Adani Total Gas.

The company currently has a network of 460 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations and 7 lakh domestic consumers of piped cooking gas, will use the investment to add more CNG stations, and expand its pipeline network.

It intends to build over 3,000 EV charging points across India. It is commissioning one of India's largest biomass plants at Barsana in Uttar Pradesh with a starting capacity of 600 tonnes per day.

The company is optimistic about the future of gas in India, as the government is looking to increase the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030.

Adani Total Gas has invested at least Rs 11.5 bn to create additional infrastructure in FY 2023.

Awaiting clarity on the allegations made against Adani Group by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research on 24 January, Total Energies has put its US $ 4 bn (about Rs 328.3 bn) planned investment in Adani New Industries on hold.

The investment would have amounted to a 25% stake acquisition in the Adani group company and helped the group work towards its ambitious US $ 50 bn (about Rs 4,103.1 bn) capex target to co-develop green hydrogen production capacity in India.

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