Midday: Sensex rises 344 pts, Nifty Up 96 pts; FMCG, Auto Lift Markets

Mumbai, April 17: Indian stocks were on an upswing in midday session on Friday. The Sensex was trading at 78,332.77, up 344.09 points or 0.44%. Nifty was at 24,293.00, up 96.25 points or 0.4%. Consumer, FMCG and auto stocks drove the rally while select IT counters kept sentiment in check.

Hindustan Unilever was the top gainer during the midday, rising 4.6% to ₹2,237.6 on heavy volumes. Nestle India also gained over 2% to ₹1,286.9. Maruti Suzuki jumped over 1.9% to ₹13,588 in midday on strong sales expectation. Tech Mahindra added 1.79%, while ITC climbed 1.52%. Tata Consumer, Apollo Hospitals, Asian Paints and Reliance Industries also rose between 1.3–1.5%. Trent, BEL and Power Grid were other gainers on the midday panel.

Wipro was among the biggest losers during midday, which was down 2.61% to ₹204.77. HCL Tech shed 1.03% while Sun Pharma slipped 0.96%. Hindalco also slipped over 0.9% on metal weakness. HDFC Life declined 2.88% to ₹613.3. Titan, Adani Enterprises, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Auto were other losers on Sensex midday trade. Heavyweights Infosys, NTPC and ICICI Bank were also trading in red.

Iran War

Risk appetite has returned to the market following latest events in Middle East war front. A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel began on Thursday, bringing some calm to region. US President Donald Trump also said Washington and Tehran could talk over the weekend, with Iranian envoy saying his country could make concessions on nuclear weapons program. Israel and Lebanon ambassadors have met in Washington for direct talks for first time in over three decades, raising hopes for wider peace in Middle East region.

Oil Prices

Oil markets digested all this news and traders reacted sharply. Brent crude prices were down $1.34 or 1.35% at $98.05 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate was lower by $1.65 or 1.74% at $93.40 per barrel in early Friday trade. Markets are pricing in expectations that any US Iran deal could reopen Strait of Hormuz oil shipping channel with less worries over supply disruptions. US crude oil futures on Thursday rallied more than 5%, rebounding from their worst weekly loss since the fourth quarter on hopes that escalating tensions may not disrupt oil supply from Middle East after all.

Rupee Vs Dollar

Rupee hit one week high on central bank measures to curb volatility. The rupee was trading 0.5% higher at 92.7250 per dollar as of 10:50 a.m. IST. It was the strongest level since April 10. The central bank moved to tame currency volatility late Thursday asking state run oil refiners to use special credit line for their forex requirements instead of buying dollars in spot market. In addition to this, the RBI has imposed other curbs on FX positions of banks. Rupee has risen nearly 2.5% from record closing low hit in the last week of March.

Sources:

• https://www.bseindia.com
• https://www.nseindia.com/market-data/top-gainers-losers