However, it may still not change its stance on the policy rate as inflationary pressures are coming from high commodity prices.
Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Wipro, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid and Reliance Industries Limited were the major laggards. Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Finance were the gainers.
In first clear indications of a further reduction in petrol and diesel prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday said the government was considering passing on the benefit of the fall in international crude oil prices to consumers.
Public sector oil firms on Tuesday slashed aviation turbine fuel prices by 7.9 per cent in line with fall in international oil prices.
The fuel price hike for the last 16 days had caused inconvenience and disappointment among the general public.
"At the moment there is no proposal before us for reducing prices," petroleum secretary R S Pandey told reporters in New Delhi. State-run oil retailers have started making profits on sale of petrol and diesel, but continue to incur hefty losses on domestic LPG and kerosene.
Oil companies have cut petrol price by Rs 0.95 per litre with effect from midnight tonight.
Investors should avoid making drastic changes to their asset allocation during a market correction.
'The government's priority is not farmers.'
Petrol price was on Monday cut by 85 paise per litre with effect from midnight tonight, the second reduction in rates in two weeks.
Despite discounts on Russian crude oil - which fell to the lowest since the Ukraine war began - and the rising sanctions, import volumes from the country will remain stable for now or at least till July, said refinery officials. "There is an appetite for Russian crude, and shipments are not expected to taper off beyond this point unless something major happens. "Talks are on, and buying will continue," an official at a major refinery said.
The weaker rupee will push the country's import bill due to higher payments for crude oil, coal, vegetable oil, gold, diamonds, electronics, machinery, plastics, and chemicals, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday. Citing an example, it said the depreciating domestic currency will increase India's gold import bill, especially as global gold prices have jumped 31.25 per cent, rising from $65,877 per kg in January 2024 to $86,464 per kg in January 2025.
In line with the government's expectations, inflation, which rose for the previous two weeks, fell below 8 per cent for the week ended September 4 mainly due to fall in the prices of vegetables and some edible oils.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 3-month low of 2.04 per cent in July on decline in prices of food items especially vegetables, government data released on Wednesday showed. The decline in wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in July came after it rose for four months in a row till June, when it was 3.36 per cent. It was (-) 1.23 per cent in July last year. In April wholesale inflation stood at 1.19 per cent.
A fall in crude oil price and Aramco's $75 billion annual dividend commitment may have delayed Saudi company picking a stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's oil-to-chemical unit (O2C), research firm Jefferies said. Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the O2C business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank emerged as the biggest loser, falling 4 per cent. JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro were the other major laggards. Power Grid, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, NTPC, ITC and Infosys were among the gainers.
The rupee fell by 49 paise to close at 81.89 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as heavy selling pressure in the domestic equities and a spike in crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.
Fuel rates were last revised on February 1 when petrol price was cut by a marginal 4 paise a litre.
Prices are sustainable and not just driven by speculative gains
Among the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Reliance Industries were the major gainers. ICICI Bank, NTPC, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.
Retail inflation declined to a three-month low of 5.1 per cent in January, mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits and other food items, according to government data released on Monday. The fall indicates that retail inflation is inching towards the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 4 per cent. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was on the rise for two straight months after touching a trough of 4.9 per cent in October 2023. In December, it stood at 5.69 per cent.
Continuing its fall for the third consecutive week, inflation dipped to 6.73 per cent for the week ended December 11, mainly due to cheaper vegetables and fuels, after remaining over 7 per cent since July.
Experts feel oil prices will remain volatile with an upward bias.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought Rs 446 crore worth of domestic stocks on Thursday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 49.68 crore, provisional data available with BSE suggested.
Mustard seed and soybean prices at NCDEX counter opened on a negative note following the news of stock limit on edible oils and food grains. Besides the domestic development, sluggish global market also affected Indian futures prices, an analyst at Hyderabad-based Karvy Comtrade told PTI.
The decision to deregulate the diesel prices is expected to bring the oil subsidy down Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion), the agency said, adding the ongoing correction in global crude prices will also result in sizable gains for the government.
Re-instatement of 5% custom duty on crude imports will help.
CNG price in the national capital and adjoining cities on Tuesday was hiked by Rs 0.50 per kg, while an imminent increase in petrol and diesel price has been put on wait-and-watch mode for more clarity on global oil prices. CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 57.51 per kg from Rs 56.51, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital. Following the firming up of international gas rates, IGL has been raising CNG rates by up to 50 paise (Rs 0.50) per kg periodically. Prices have gone up by about Rs 4 per kg this year alone.
The government expects indirect tax collection to be lower than the Budget Estimate (BE) of Rs 13.38 trillion this fiscal year, despite prospects of netting goods and services tax (GST) in large amounts, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj has said. "Indirect tax collection may see lower realisation than budgeted on account of cuts in excise and customs duties. "We could see a shortfall of about Rs 1.5 trillion on account of those," he told Business Standard.
Diesel rates were cut by 40 paisa to Rs 68.89 a litre. With this, the reduction in rates in last six weeks totals Rs 9.26 per litre on petrol and Rs 7.2 per litre on diesel.
Benchmark Brent oil futures prices more than halved between June 2014 and January 2015.
The government will release revised growth estimates for the current financial year by the end of June.
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
The Sensex ended down 251 points at 27,351 and the Nifty shed 65 points to close at 8,228.
Petrol currently costs Rs 72.51 per litre in Delhi.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Wednesday hinted at reduction in prices of petrol and diesel in step with the fall in international oil prices, at the next fortnightly review due on April 15.
IOC along with HPCL and BPCL took a hit of about Rs 4,500 crore from absorbing Re 1 a litre hike.
The middle income group has been impacted by inflation particularly in context of falling The rupee and its cascading effects on price rise of items like petroleum products and edible oil, according to a survey by apex chamber Assocham.
