Falling crude prices also helped the rupee to jump to near 72 a dollar, as compared to Tuesday’s close of 72.67

Indian markets rose today, buoyed by a plunge in global oil prices. Overnight, the US crude futures dived 7%, suffering their biggest one-day loss in more than three years. Brent crude was down 0.2% today at $65.33 per barrel after tanking 6.8% on Tuesday and set an eight-month low of $64.61. Brent had soared to a four-year high of $86.74 early in October as the market braced for US sanctions on Iran, but prices have sunk nearly 25% since then. The Sensex was up around 200 points while Nifty was near 10,650. Falling crude prices also helped the rupee to jump to near 72 a dollar, as compared to Tuesday’s close of 72.67.

Oil marketing companies HPCL, Indian Oil and BPCL extended their recent gains on the back of easing oil prices. The stocks were up between 5% and 7%.
Among the Sensex stocks, Asian Paints, Maruti, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, and IndusInd Bank were up between 1.5% and 3%. IT stocks struggled amid the gain in rupee. Wipro, TCS, and Infosys were down nearly 1%. Sun Pharma, which posted a surprise quarterly loss, fell nearly 3%.

Elsewhere, Asian markets were weak on concerns about global growth. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4%.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) warned on Tuesday that a supply glut could emerge in 2019 as the world economy slows and rivals increase production more quickly than expected.

Led by top exporter Saudi Arabia, OPEC has been making increasingly frequent public statements that it would start withholding crude in 2019 to tighten supply and prop up prices.

Such a stance, however, has caused friction with U.S. President Donald Trump, who supports low oil prices and has called on OPEC not to cut production.

10:00 AM IST
Dilip Buildcon Ltd shares down 6%
Dilip Buildcon Ltd shares were down 6% to Rs 403.40 after the company reported 28% decline in its net profit to Rs 83.20 crore.

9:40 AM IST
Ashok Leyland Ltd shares fell 7%
Ashok Leyland Ltd shares fell 7% to Rs 111 after the company said its MD & CEO Vinod K.Dasari to resign from company effective March 31 2019. Dheeraj Hinduja will step in as executive chairman with immediate effect. The company’s Nominations and Remuneration Committee of the Board will meet shortly to decide the future course of action in identifying the next CEO and MD for the company.

source: livemint.com