Sensex Dips Over 600 Points, Oil Prices Rally Amid Landmark Oil Deal

The government to unveil consumer inflation data for March after market hours.

(Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/via Getty Images)

New Delhi, April 13: Markets opened on a weaker note on Monday with Sensex falling over 650 points tracking global peers amid a landmark deal among top oil producers in cutting output by a record margin. Sensex has fallen around 685.47 points to 30,474.15 during the initial one hour of trade even as it opened 36.1 points higher at 31,195.72. Nifty slipped to 8,912.40 after opening the session at 9,103.95. The deal to slash oil production triggered the rally in oil prices in the volatile market. The government will unveil consumer inflation data for March after market hours. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) keeps a tab on consumer inflation that helps in devising monetary policy. In March, the repo rate was slashed by 75 basis points in a move to spur liquidity like several other central banks around the world. The inflation data will help the RBI to decide if borrowing costs have to be further cut. On Thursday last week, the Sensex has ended 4.23 per cent higher at 31,159.27 and the Nifty stood at 4.15 per cent at 9,111.90. The markets closed on higher note due to expectations of a stimulus and global cues even as there is no respite from rising covid-19 cases. Stock markets remained closed on Friday on account of Good Friday.

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Equities in other Asian markets opened lower on Monday with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan trading 0.11 per cent lower. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 1.11 per cent at 19,282.99 in the opening trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 1 per cent at 1,415.69. Meanwhile, Wall Street ended the trading week on a high note on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve has devised a strategy to support local governments and businesses hit by measures taken to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 281.48 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 23,715.05, the S&P 500 gained 39.49 points, or 1.44 per cent, to 2,789.47 and the Nasdaq Composite added 62.67 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 8,153.58. The domestic financial markets will remain closed on Tuesday for Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.