People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, Nov. 4, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
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BENGALURU, July 6 (Reuters) – Indian shares rose on Wednesday as earnings at leading non-bank financial firm Bajaj Finance boosted financial stocks after a strong quarterly performance, while easing inflation worries on the back of a collapse in crude oil prices also bolstered sentiment.
The NSE Nifty 50 Index (.NSEI) was up 0.42% to 15,878.35, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.52% to 53,413.16 (as of 0455 GMT).
Crude oil prices plummeted 9% on Tuesday as they were hit by concerns over demand destruction that could lower inflation for India, the world’s third-biggest importer.
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“Concerns about a possible recession and high inflation remain the same. Markets are only positive on the slowdown in crude oil prices,” said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities.
The market expects crude oil prices to fall below $100 a barrel in the event of a global economic recession, which will significantly lower domestic inflation, he said.
Interest rates and inflation concerns have weighed on Nifty and Sensex, with indices down over 8% so far this year.
The Nifty Finance Index (.NIFTYFIN) rose 0.8%, while Bajaj Finance (BJFN.NS) gained 3.2% after reporting strong numbers for the June quarter.
Bajaj Finance was the frontrunner and driver in the blue-chip Nifty 50 index.
Shares in domestic Explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), Oil India (OILI.NS) and Gail India (GAIL.NS) fell between 2.6% and 6.3%.
The explorers have also come under pressure after the Indian government imposed windfall tax on oil producers. Continue reading
Investors are also keeping an eye on the Indian rupee, which recently hit several record lows on concerns about the country’s widening current account deficit. Continue reading
Elsewhere, Asian stocks slid and the dollar remained at a two-decade high against the euro as fears mounted that the continent was dragging the world into recession.
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Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Edited by Rashmi Aich
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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