by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : A day after closing at their lowest levels in a week’s time, key Indian equity indices — the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex — on Wednesday surged on the back of positive global cues and healthy buying in metal, oil and gas, and banking stocks.
According to market observers, easing geo-political tension in East Asia and healthy buying in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, HDFC and Tata Steel aided the upward trajectory of the indices.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) reclaimed the psychologically important 9,900-mark to touch a high of 9,909.45 points during intra-day trade.
However, the Nifty50 could not retain that level and closed at 9,884.40 points — up 88.35 points or 0.90 per cent.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,534.57 points, closed at 31,646.46 points — up 258.07 points or 0.82 per cent from its previous close at 31,388.39 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 31,727.98 points and a low of 31,533.02 points during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,805 advances and 770 declines.
“Markets rallied sharply on Wednesday after the sharp correction seen on Tuesday. Positive global cues aided the market sentiments,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “Market recouped from the previous day’s loss, taking cues from positive global markets due to no further escalation in the geopolitical tensions. The domestic market was also filliped by the better than anticipated tax collection under the GST regime.”
“Mid and small-caps outperformed the broader market as investors saw buying opportunity in corrections,” Nair added.
In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index rose by 1.49 per cent, and the small-cap index by 1.35 per cent.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed on a flat note at 64.02 to a US dollar from its previous close.
“Trading volumes, however, were muted as floods caused by heavy seasonal monsoon rains destroyed homes and disrupted traffic in Mumbai, India’s financial capital on Tuesday, causing many people to stay home on Wednesday,” said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.
“Oil marketing companies traded higher. Auto and auto ancillary stocks continued to trade higher even after the Cabinet cleared an ordinance to hike cess on luxury cars and sport-utility vehicles to 25 per cent from 15 per cent under the GST regime at present,” Desai told IANS.
Sector-wise, all the 19 sub-indices of the BSE ended in the green, led by the S&P BSE metal index, which surged by 342.40 points.
This was followed by the S&P BSE oil and gas index, which rose by 341.57 points, the banking index by 214.44 points and the consumer durables index by 211.93 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: Reliance Industries, up 2.12 per cent at Rs 1,564.15; Adani Ports, up 1.94 per cent at Rs 389.65; HDFC, up 1.83 per cent at Rs 1,759.50; Coal India, up 1.39 per cent at Rs 241.50; and Tata Steel, up 1.35 per cent at Rs 638.65.
Major Sensex losers were: Mahindra and Mahindra, down 1.28 per cent at Rs 1,360.10; Power Grid, down 0.35 per cent at Rs 215.05; NTPC, down 0.30 per cent at Rs 168; Cipla, down 0.19 per cent at Rs 566.85; and Dr. Reddy’s Lab, down 0.16 per cent at Rs 2,040.35.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
Aizawl/Agartala : (IANS) State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has struck gas in northern Mizoram and is continuing prospecting for more hydrocarbons, a minister said on Thursday.
“The ONGC has for the first time found gas in Assam-Mizoram bordering areas under Kolasib district,” Mizoram’s Industries Minister H. Rohluna told the assembly in Aizawl.
“The ONGC is now conducting tests on the gas found. The company has continued its drilling and hydro-fracturing to find out whether more deposits of hydrocarbons are available in the area,” Rohluna said.
The company’s Jorhat basin has been doing exploratory drilling in Kolasib district in northern Mizoram.
ONGC has already found large reserves of natural gas in Assam and Tripura, a company spokesperson said.
Oil India Ltd, another company owned by the central government, has also found gas in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
ONGC, which has been present in Tripura since 1972, has so far drilled about 206 wells in the state half of which are gas bearing.
The ONGC spokesperson said the company has undertaken a Rs.5,050 crore ambitious plan to prospect for more gas in Tripura.
ONGC has also commissioned its first mega commercial power project in the state, run by the ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
The Rs.10,000 crore 726 MW capacity gas-based thermal power project (using both water and natural gas) at Palatana, 60 km from here, is ONGC’s first commercial power project in India.
ONGC, in association with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd and the Tripura government, would also set up a Rs.5,000 crore fertiliser plant in northern Tripura.
“The process is on to set up the fertiliser plant,” said another ONGC official.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business
New Delhi:(IANS) American consultants DeGolyer & MacNaughton have submitted their final report on the gas dispute between state-run explorer ONGC and Reliance Industries (RIL) that says natural gas worth over Rs.11,000 crore has migrated from ONGC’s idling KG fields to RIL’s adjoining KG-D6 block, an official source said on Tuesday
“The report more-or-less reiterates what D&M had said in their draft report that some gas had migrated from ONGC’s Krishna Godavari basin blocks to RIL’s KG-D6 fields,” said the petroleum ministry source, adding that the government will now examine the report to decide the extent of compensation to ONGC for its gas being produced by RIL.
“The Supreme Court had in its order stated that the government will, in six months from the date of receipt of D&M report, have to decide on addressing the ONGC contention. That we will do,” he said.
The D&M report says 11.122 billion cubic meters (bcm) of ONGC gas has migrated from Godavari-PML and KG-DWN-98/2 its Krishna Godavari basin KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) and the Godavari Producing Mining Lease (PML) to Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 & D3) field located in the KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) Block of RIL, as the reservoirs in question are connected.
It says that of the 58.68 bcm of gas produced from KG-D6 block since April 1, 2009, 49.69 bcm belongs to RIL and 8.981 bcm could have come from ONGC’s side
At gas price of $4.2 per million British thermal unit, the volume of gas belonging to ONGC which RIL has produced comes out to worth $1.7 billion (Rs.11,055 crore).
ONGC had moved the high court here alleging that RIL extracted gas upto 18 billion cubic meters (bcm) from ONGC blocks resulting in loss of several thousand crores of rupees.
In October, RIL had said it has “scrupulously followed every aspect of the production sharing contract and has confined its petroleum operations within the (boundaries of its) KG-D6 Block”.
It said all its wells were drilled “strictly within the KG-D6 block boundaries, as per the Development Plan approved by the relevant authorities under the PSC (production sharing contract)”.
“After submission of the final report by D&M, RIL, while reserving its rights under the PSC and in law, will continue to fully cooperate with the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and any actions it takes to comply with the Delhi High Court’s order,” it added.
D&M was jointly appointed by ONGC and RIL to investigate and submit a report on the matter.