227: Top News Podcast: Petrol, diesel prices hiked again; LIC IPO in May; Shanghai lockdown and more

The market snapped a two-day positive streak and ended lower in a volatile session on Tuesday. Sensex closed at 60,176, down 435 points and the Nifty was down almost 100 points at 17,950. While FMCG and consumer durables stocks gained, financials including HDFC twins, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, and Kotak Mahindra Bank suffered losses.

Auto stocks were also in focus following the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations auto sales data today. According to FADA, retail auto sales in India increased seven percent on a year-on-year basis in FY22 while in the month of March retail sales declined three percent compared with the corresponding period a year ago.

HDFC twins continued to be in the news after their merger announcement. HDFC and HDFC Bank shares took a breather today, which is a day after surging almost 10 percent each - their biggest intraday gain in 13 years. According to Morgan Stanley, HDFC-HDFC Bank combined will be one of the largest consumer lenders in the emerging markets in Asia.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government is all set to launch the much-awaited LIC IPO in early May.

Meanwhile, market veteran and member of BSE Ramesh Damani said, the Indian market is in a sweet spot. Democracy, China Plus One, and digitization are all playing to India’s strength and thus the bull market is here to stay, he said.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each today, which takes the total increase in rates in the last two weeks to Rs 9.20 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 104.61 per litre while diesel rates have gone up to Rs 95.87.

On the global front, Shanghai extended restrictions on transportation today after a day of intensive city-wide testing and saw new COVID-19 cases surge to more than 13,000. This means there’s no end to the lockdown yet in sight.

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