With OPEC+‘s unexpected output reduction, oil prices rose, raising inflation fears, and Indian equities were quiet on Monday, the opening trading day of the financial year.
At 10:18 a.m. IST, the Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was 17,355.25, down 0.02%.BSESN is down 0.06% to 58,952.16.
With solid March sales, auto stocks (.NIFTYAUTO) rose 1.5%. SML Isuzu (SMLI.NS) rose 15% as March passenger car sales quadrupled.
As Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting nations unexpectedly curtailed output over the weekend, inflation worries cooled crude oil prices.
Goldman Sachs raised its Brent crude projection to $95 per barrel by 2023, expecting the reduction to boost oil prices by $10 per barrel.
According to Kotak Institutional Equities research analysts Anil Sharma and Aditya Bansal, the cutbacks tighten oil markets in the second half of 2023, hurting India and oil marketing businesses.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation of India (BPCL.NS) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL.NS) lost 3%.
On Monday, most Adani Group equities fell. According to two sources, India’s market regulator scrutinizes the conglomerate’s interactions with at least three offshore businesses tied to Gautam Adani’s brother.
Separately, two experts expect markets to be cautious ahead of the Central Bank of India’s rate announcement on April 6.
According to a Reuters survey of experts, the RBI will hike its main interest rate by 25 basis points and halt for the remainder of the year.
