Sensex Jumps 238 Points, Oil Marketing Companies Fall On Excise Duty Hike

Shares of oil marketing companies were most affected after the Centre hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The Indian equity markets traded in the red during the early trade on Tuesday as banks and financial services saw mild selling pressure.

New Delhi: In the opening trade on Wednesday, the markets slipped yet again in continuation with the downward movement as Sensex slide 0.75 per cent to 31,211.74 in the initial trade and NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 0.9 per cent to 9,120.65. However, the losses were pared as the Sensex jumped 238 points at 31,691 levels and the Nifty50 index touched 9,273. Shares of oil marketing companies were most affected after the Centre hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel. Even as the hike will not impact the retail prices of the fuels and the revenue generated from these duties shall be used for infrastructure and other developmental items of expenditure, according to reports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took note of developments in the vaccine, drug recovery, and testing for a three-pronged strategy to contain the spread of covid-19. The markets opened on a weak note tracking Asian peers, which were mixed in the morning deals. The Chinese markets opened for the first time since Thursday also fell with the blue-chip index sliding 0.6 per cent. Australian shares slipped 0.8 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.7 per cent while South Korea's KOSPI remained upbeat, rising 1 per cent. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday. Meanwhile, US stocks closed higher as market sentiment was boosted by a strong rally in oil prices and hopes for restarting the economy. In commodities, US crude futures slipped 6 cents to $24.5 a barrel after five straight sessions of gains while Brent crude was flat at $30.97. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 133.33 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 23,883.09, after jumping more than 400 points earlier in the session, Xinhua news agency reported. The S&P 500 was up 25.70 points, or 0.90 per cent, to end at 2,868.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 98.41 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 8,809.12. The index retreated from gains toward the close after US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida warned that economic data would get much worse before improving, possibly in the second half of the year. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes rose on Tuesday to 0.66 per cent from 0.63 per cent late on Monday. Also Watch: (With inputs from IANS)