Equity investors suffered a massive loss of Rs 31 lakh crore on Tuesday as markets went into a tailspin with the BSE Sensex tumbling nearly 6 per cent as vote counting trends showed the BJP may not have a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls. Erasing the record-rally of the previous trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex cracked 4,389.73 points or 5.74 per cent to settle at 72,079.05. During the day, the benchmark tanked 6,234.35 points or 8.15 per cent to hit a nearly five-month low of 70,234.43.
The government has slashed by up to 20 per cent the supplies of cheaper domestically produced natural gas to city retailers -- a move that may result in Rs 4-6 per kg hike in the price of CNG sold to automobiles, unless excise duty on the fuel is cut, sources said. Natural gas pumped from below the ground and from under the seabed from sites ranging from the Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal within India is the raw material that is turned into CNG for sale to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households.
"Air India is unable to pay even after a 90-day credit period. They owe us about Rs 300 crore without interest. There is also no bank guarantee from Air India to any of the oil marketing companies. We do not know when will the company honour its dues," said a BPCL official on condition of anonymity.
In the absence of major domestic events, equity markets will be driven by global trends, foreign fund flows and movement in the Brent crude oil, analysts said. The major global events this week are the European Central Bank interest rate decision and China's inflation rate, they added. "Indian equity markets are outperforming most of their global peers and trying to show resilience despite weak global cues.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the biggest gainers. Power Grid, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Nestle, Maruti and JSW Steel were among the laggards.
Petrol prices have been cut in small doses on 20 occasions.
Oil Minister Murli Deora has said that petrol and diesel prices would not be cut till crude oil prices fell to $67 a barrel, since the depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar had eroded gains from falling oil prices, which touched a 7-month low.
The petroleum ministry has asked for a total compensation of Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) to cover the subsidy portion till the third quarter of the current financial year.
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Fitch Ratings on Monday said uncertainty over the bidder consortiums and process complexity, including valuation, may lead to potential delays in privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Affirming BPCL's rating at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook, Fitch said it continues to treat the potential divestment of the company by the Indian government as an event risk. "Bidders are conducting due diligence, but uncertainty over the bidder consortiums and process complexity, including valuation, may lead to potential delays.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, JSW Steel and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards. In contrast, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Nestle and Titan were the biggest gainers.
The environment ministry is likely to soon issue regulations that will mandate automakers to recycle a specified percentage of steel from old vehicles, starting from the next financial year, according to people familiar with the matter. "We recently held a meeting with members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). "The final regulations are likely to be issued in the next 10 days," a government source informed.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended over 1 per cent higher on Friday, helped by heavy buying in Infosys and banking stocks amid a rally in global stock markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 684.64 points or 1.20 per cent to settle at 57,919.97. During the day, it rallied 1,199.79 points or 2.09 per cent to 58,435.12.
Of the Rs 6,000 crore received in 2012-13, the airline spent Rs 1,803 crore (Rs 18.03 billion) on pending staff salaries, paid off Rs 1,253 crore (Rs 12.53 billion) as jet fuel dues to oil marketing companies and Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) as loan and interest payments for aircraft acquired, official data showed.
From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries were among the major laggards. Bucking the trend, auto stocks Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra closed with gains.
The rising rupee over the last three months has brought cheer to the oil marketing companies, who have together added around Rs 250-300 crore (Rs 2.5-3 billion) to their operating profits already.
the Sensex lost 23 points to close at 28,185 levels and the Nifty shed 7 points to end at 8,515 mark.
With the government expressing its reluctance in raising prices of diesel and domestic LPG, the oil marketing companies may be forced to go for another round of increase in petrol price.
