Sensex edges up; OMC losses offset by gains in IT

Indian shares edged up on Wednesday with losses in oil marketing companies (OMCs) such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd being offset by gains in IT stocks including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Indian Oil Corp Ltd and HPCL fell 3.5-5.5 percent. Brent crude futures hit a 3-1/2-year high after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran.

IT companies saw some recovery after the technology index lost 4.3 percent over the last five sessions. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was among the top gainers on the index, up as much as 1.4 percent.

Analysts expect markets to stay range-bound in the short term.

“Because of the upcoming Karnataka (southern state) elections, investors will stick to the sidelines and markets will remain range-bound,” says R.K. Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management.

“Because of ample liquidity in the markets, the overall scenario is largely positive.”

Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth a net 9.23 billion rupees ($137.01 million) on May 8

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.04 percent at 10,722.3 as of 0629 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.10 percent higher at 35,253.25.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose as much 7.67 percent after the central bank revised the list of securities it plans to buy back from the market at its open market purchase of debt.

The partially convertible rupee hit its lowest level since Feb. 7, 2017.

Among gainers, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd rose 2.1 percent on bullish commentary by analysts after it said on Tuesday March-quarter profit grew over ten-fold.

Hindalco Industries Ltd rose 4 percent after U.S.-based unit Novelis Inc reported a 9 percent jump in quarterly adjusted EBITDA on Tuesday.

($1 = 67.3650 Indian rupees)