Inflation in 'fuel and power' basket rose sharply to 11.22 per cent in May from 7.85 per cent in April as prices of domestic fuel increased in line with rising global crude oil rates.
Wholesale inflation rate at five-month high in May; rupee breaches 60-a-$ mark, slides to lowest since May 5; Iraq crisis threatens to push global crude oil prices.
Tata Motors was the top gainer in the Sensex pack rallying 5.32 per cent. Among other prominent gainers were Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and TCS.
India's wholesale prices fell to 5.90 per cent in the year to May 10 from 6.03 per cent in the year to May 3, due to lower prices of several manufactured items, the government said on Sunday.\n\n\n\n
Farmers reported a massive crop damage in transit in addition to huge quantity of the potato left unharvested due to mud in the field.
Inflation moderates, but government can and must do more.
However, the growth, driven largely by a bumper rabi harvest and facilitated by relaxation in lockdown, may not have resulted in a big rise in income for a section of farmers.
As India looks to mend its Covid-battered economy, one thing that will grab the attention of all concerned is the path that both wholesale and retail inflation will follow. Even the Reserve Bank of India in its latest policy statement said, "Going forward, the inflation trajectory is likely to be shaped by uncertainties impinging on the upside and the downside.
RBI might retain rates at current levels, upside risks to inflation rise.
In most cases, however, retail consumers are paying higher prices in the absence of direct procurement from aggregator or farmers.
Core inflation, a measure of demand-side pressure on prices also rose sharply in March.
WPI-based inflation falls to 5-month low of 6.16%.
The reading for March WPI inflation was revised to 6% from 5.7% earlier.
The central bank is widely expected to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday to 7.75 per cent to fight inflation even as it continues to unwind its rupee defense steps, a Reuters poll showed.
A fall in prices of some oil products nudged India's wholesale price inflation lower in the week ended April 5, and analysts said they expected a further easing of prices as the war in Iraq comes to an end.
While onion prices in the wholesale markets of Mumbai declined 48.6 per cent, the steepest among the four metros, compared to October, prices fell only 27.3 per cent in Mumbai's retail markets.
The time frame for this is difficult to specify and much depends on stability in the foreign exchange markets, Prime Minister's key economic advisor C Rangarajan said.
Top losers in the Sensex pack include Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Asian Paints, RIL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, ONGC and M&M, falling up to 3.09 per cent.
The study was conducted along with its research partner -- Nielsen Company in the last quarter of 2013.
Vegetables account for 5.44 per cent of the Consumer Price Index.
Experts say given the annual inflation, the increase might not be substantial for the industry, which has to deal with rising cost of manufacturing, raw material as well as packaging and logistics.
The government regulates prices of all other medicines.
The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was (-)4.54% in Sep.
Food prices rose 8.12% year-on-year last month, slower than an annual rise of 8.80% in January.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday said repo rate has been hiked as inflation pressures remain high.
Food articles inflation dips to 8.14% from 9.50% last month.
'India's economy is growing faster compared to the developed economies of the world.' 'More importantly, it is growing faster compared to most of the developing economies.' 'The monsoon is not the only thing that drives the rural economy and certainly not the national economy.' 'It is too simplistic to reduce everything to the monsoon.'
Inflation in food articles during June stood at 2.04 per cent, as against 1.13 per cent in May.
While the farmers are not getting remunerative prices for their produce, at the same time they are forced to pay high prices for items they consume.
High inflation print is the price that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to pay to nurse a fragile growth back, say economists. Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose to a record high of 12.94 per cent in May, aided by low base effect, but also because of higher fuel and commodity prices. Retail inflation, too, surprised by rising to 6.30 per cent, while the core inflation, which is the non-food and non-fuel component, rose to an 83-month high of 6.55 per cent. These numbers are much above RBI's upper limit of 6 per cent inflation target, but there is very little that the RBI can do at this moment.
Tech Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, cracking over 5 per cent, followed by Infosys, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and NTPC. On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp, L&T, Maruti, UltraTech Cement and Sun Pharma led the gainers' chart.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday rejected Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's contention in Lok Sabha that UPA government left behind double digit inflation.
Consumer price inflation touched a nine-month high of 11.24 per cent last month.
Onion prices both in wholesale and retail markets in most parts of the country have seen a sharp increase since July.
The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation fell to 4.7 per cent in May, driven mainly by decline in prices of manufactured items, even as prices of food articles inched up.
Wholesale Price Index-based inflation declined to 6.62 per cent in January, however, retail inflation remained in double digits at 10.79 per cent during the month.
Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, closing 7.20 per cent higher as investors cheered its financial results. The IT major posted better-than-expected 5.3 per cent rise in its June quarter net profit, and raised revenue growth forecast for the current fiscal.
However, prices of most agricultural items, barring potatoes, onions and wheat, continued to rise.
Onion supply to the city, which comes from Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, is normal at 12,000 quintals in Azadpur, Asia's largest wholesale market, it added.
The market believes there will soon be another offer to buy the bonds.
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