Stocks rise as crude prices to 7 week low

The market opened on a positive note Thursday extended its 4-day positive run on the back of firm Asian market cues and as the prices of oil dropped to its lowest in 7 weeks. Shares from the banking and public sector led the advance.

At 10:05 am, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was up 79 points or 0.53 per cent at 15,021.64.

Biggest Sensex gainers were Bharti Airtel (3.55%), Tata Motors (2.73%), HDFC Bank (2.67%), ICICI Bank (2.6%), ONGC (2.12%) and BHEL (1.75%).

Mahindra & Mahindra (4.37%), Infosys Technologies (1.23%), Wipro (1.23%) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (0.24%) were the losers. Market breadth on BSE showed 659 advances and 63 declines.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was up 30 points or 0.66 per cent at 4506.45.

“Today is the 7th day of retracement from the low of 3790 points, and with 700 points behind us, one needs to be careful for a couple of days. Support in declines is away at 4222 and 4140 points.

Intraday, immediate resistance in the Nifty is at 4503, which, if sustained, can test 4545-4563 (50% retracement of 5298-3790). In the event of profit taking, if the Nifty does not hold at 4405-4412, we may see a threat. The bulls might take a breather so protect your gains,” Religare Securities said in a note.

US stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday as crude continued its decline and as concerned authorities drew closer to approving a plan to help troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26 per cent, the Standards & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.41 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.95 per cent.

Stock markets in the Asia Pacific region rallied Thursday as the prices of crude oil dropped to a 7-week low. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.96 per cent and the Hang Seng was up 0.15 per cent.

Oil prices fell to below $125 a barrel on Thursday amid speculation US energy demand has reached a tipping point. The commodity was hovering around $124.20, for the first time in weeks.

Inflation data is also expected after market hours today. The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen 12.03 per cent in the 12 months to July 12 driven by higher costs of commodities and strong demand in the economy. Data showed inflation at 11.91 per cent a week earlier.