Business

BSE Sensex Soared 562 Points & Nifty Ended Above 18,050

Indian benchmark indices ended higher amid mixed global cues. BSE Sensex soared 562 points and Nifty ended above 18,050. Oil and gas stocks were up as much as 0.53 percent after the country, a major consumer and importer of oil, cut a windfall tax on crude oil and exports of aviation turbine fuel and diesel.

Shares of Reliance Industries, Oil India Ltd Chennai Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery And Petrochemicals climbed between 0.7 percent and 4.4 percent.

The Indian rupee weakened on Tuesday, slipping back towards the 82 per dollar mark, as the greenback broadly rebounded and Asian currencies weakened.

Gold prices inched lower on January 17 in the international markets weighed by an uptick in the dollar, although hopes of slower interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve capped further losses.

Spot gold was down 0.4 percent at $1,910.48 per ounce. On Monday, prices hit $1,929, the highest since late-April 2022. US gold futures fell 0.5 percent to $1,912.70.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors extended their selling streak for the seventeenth day in a row – the longest run in six months – offloading 7.51 billion rupees ($92.00 million) worth of equities on a net basis on Monday.

Asian Markets

Asian share losses widened on Tuesday after China reported weak fourth-quarter economic data; although investor expectations for a strong rebound in the country remained high even as concerns increase that the global economy is heading for a recession.

MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan increased its losses to stand down 0.65 percent.

Tokyo stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with investors taking heart from a lull in the yen’s appreciation against the dollar and overnight rallies by European shares. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.23 percent, or 316.36 points, to end at 26,138.68, while the broader Topix index gained 0.88 percent, or 16.58 points, to 1,902.89.

South Korea’s KOSPI ended with the loss of 20.47 points or 0.86 percent to 2,379.39. Taiwan Weighted ended with the gain of 0.04 percent at 14,932.93. SGX Nifty ended with the gain of 0.72 percent at 18,076.00.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.22 percent and China’s benchmark CSI300 Index slid 0.27 percent following the China data and as investors sold gains ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday starting on 21 January 2023.