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Sensex Opens Over 750 Points Higher; Banking Stocks Rally
Mon, 1 Jun 09:30 am

Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.4% while the Hang Seng is up 3.1%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 1.2%. US stocks finished mostly higher on Friday after President Donald Trump announced measures against China in response to new security legislation that were less threatening to the US economy than investors had feared.

Back home, India share markets rallied in the opening session. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 713 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 221 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index are trading up by 1.3% and 1.4% respectively.

All sectoral indices are trading in green with banking stocks, consumer durables stocks and power stocks witnessing maximum buying interest.

Moving on, gold prices are currently trading up by 0.5% at Rs 46,654.

The rupee is currently trading at 75.61 against the US$.

In the news from oil & gas sector. As restrictions are being eased and India slowly opens up for business, domestic cooking gas price for June has been raised.

Effective 1 June the price of non-subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder in Delhi has been increased by Rs 11.50 for an Indane gas cylinder.

Fuel retailers revise prices of LPG cylinders on the first day of every month, but the price is primarily dependent on the international benchmark rate of LPG and the exchange rate of US dollar and rupee.

For the month of June 2020, there has been an increase in international prices of LPG, the reports noted.

This comes in the backdrop of the demand for petroleum products picking up. While refiners had slashed production due to reduced demand for transportation fuels, there has been an increase in demand for domestic cooking gas.

While the demand for fuels had almost vanished with most of the world under coronavirus lockdowns, the prices since have recovered.

After Black April, crude oil prices have been up again. After the mayhem witnessed by the global oil markets in April, prices were up in May again, with the international benchmark Brent crude oil trading at US$37.84 per barrel.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices has also been up and was trading at US$35.32 per barrel, after it turned negative in a first in April.

However, on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, crude oil prices are down about 42%.

Crude Oil Prices Fall Sharply

Crude oil witnessed selling during the start of the year due to oversupply concerns amid subdued demand.

Prices crashed further in March in what was the worst price dip since the 1991 Gulf War with Brent prices plunging to US$ 31 per barrel.

In April, crude oil futures crashed and briefly went to negative prices, implying that investors would need to pay buyers to take delivery of crude oil amid dwindling storage space.

What effects crude oil prices have on Indian stocks markets and the Indian economy remains to be seen. Meanwhile we will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space.

Moving on to the news from banking sector. Yes Bank has acquired 24.2% in Dish TV, making it the second-largest shareholder in the direct-to-home (DTH) company.

The bank's move to pick up a stake in Dish TV comes following an invocation of pledged shares to the tune of 445.3 million in the firm.

The promoter family now owns 30.4% in Dish TV. The promoter family earlier held 54.6% in the company.

As of Friday's close, Dish TV's market capitalisation stood at Rs 7.9 billion. The firm has shed 67% of its value since January this year.

This is the sixth such transaction by Yes Bank in a year in various companies. Last year, Yes Bank had invoked pledged shares of CG Power, Cox & Kings, and Reliance Infrastructure.

While earlier this year, it had invoked pledged shares of Reliance Power and Sical Logistics, as investor pressure to reduce its exposure to debt-laden firms grows.

Yes Bank share price opened the day up by 1.9%.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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