Indian shares recover as ONGC, Hindalco rise on commodity rebound

Gardeners work outside the National Stock Exchange (NSE) building in Mumbai, India, August 16, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, June 28 (Reuters) – Indian shares recouped early losses to close higher on Tuesday as oil explorer ONGC and aluminium producer Hindalco rose on a rebound in commodity prices after China relaxed some COVID-19 curbs.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) ended 0.11% higher at 15,850.2, and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) edged up 0.03% at 53,177.45 in last-hour buying, managing to gain for a fourth straight day after falling up to 0.7% each earlier in the session.

Rising oil prices put pressure on the rupee , which ended at a record closing low of 78.77 per dollar, after falling to an all-time low of 78.84 in the session.

China eased some quarantine requirements for international arrivals on Tuesday, raising hopes for stronger growth and a revival in demand for commodities, pushing broader stocks and prices of metals and crude higher.

State-owned ONGC was the top Nifty percentage gainer, rising 5.6% to log its best session since mid-May. Hindalco Industries (HALC.NS) climbed 4.1%, gaining for a fourth straight session.

The Nifty Metal index (.NIFTYMET) rose 1.7% and the Nifty Energy index (.NIFTYENR) added 1%. The Nifty Auto index (.NIFTYAUTO) climbed 1.3%, boosted by a 2.7% rise in Mahindra and Mahindra (MAHM.NS).

Coal India (COAL.NS) advanced 2.7% to a near two-week high.

Meanwhile, shares of Titan Company (TITN.NS) slumped 3.5%, while Asian Paints (ASPN.NS), which uses crude derivatives, slid 3.4%, marking its worst day since May 25.

Food delivery firm Zomato (ZOMT.NS) plunged 8.4%, costing investors nearly $1 billion over two sessions after announcing a deal to buy local grocery-delivery startup Blinkit last week. read more

Despite the benchmark indexes’ multiple-session winning run, they are on course for their worst month since the pandemic-hit March of 2020 due to hefty losses earlier in June on inflation and interest rate worries.

($1 = 78.3000 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Vinay Dwivedi

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