INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Twenty seven stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index were trading in the positive zone
Ahead of Karnataka election results, the stock markets started Monday's session on a cautious note
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.07 per cent, on track for a third straight day of gains and within
striking distance of one-month high
Japan's Nikkei tacked on 0.1 per cent while South Korea's KOSPI index climbed 0.3 per cent
Asian shares tracked signs the US and China were toning down their trade war rhetoric, while the dollar dipped again as investors wagered on
a slower pace of US interest rate hikes.Twenty seven stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index were trading in the positive zone
Top gainers on the Nifty 50 were state-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, and Bharat Petroleum, trading with gains
of at least 2 per cent each.Petrol and diesel priced were hiked on Monday, after a gap of 19 days
With that, petrol prices in Delhi registered a fresh high in four years and eight months while diesel prices crossed Rs 66 per litre for the
first time to a new all-time high.The outcome of Karnataka assembly elections are likely to determine the fate of equity market indices
(Sensex and Nifty) this week, say market experts.The big market moving event this week "will be the Karnataka elections outcome especially
BJP's performance", according to Devendra Nevgi, founder and principal partner of Delta Global Partners."Crude oil prices, US-Iran
developments and earnings would be closely monitored," he said.Other factors that are expected to cast a shadow on the market trajectory
include the release of macroeconomic data of retail inflation (CPI), wholesale inflation (WPI), crude oil prices and other geopolitical
factors, they add.Industrial output growth fell to a five-month low of 4.4 per cent in March due to a decline in capital goods production
and deceleration in mining activity and power generation, according to official data released post-market hours on Friday.Inflation data
will be released later on Monday.Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,163.35 crore, while foreign
portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 325.44 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.(With agency inputs)
