Petrol, Diesel Price/ Stock Market Live: Sensex Jumps 386 Pts, Nifty Above 100 Pts Despite Fuel Price Hike

The Indian stock market reacted positively to the second hike in petrol and diesel prices due to elevated global crude oil prices. Petrol and diesel prices are hiked by up to 90 paise on May 19, in less than four days after Rs 3 per litre hike was announced across cities. Oil and gas stocks will be in focus accordingly.

In the early trade, Sensex traded at around 75,600 and Nifty 50 touched above 23,700. Meanwhile, Bank Nifty traded at 53,572.30, marginally up. India's volatility index dropped by 5-6%. Nifty Oil & Gas index traded higher by 1% despite the fuel prices hike.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices remain high despite the latest fall on Tuesday. Recently, Morgan Stanley warned that the blockade at Hormuz could push Brent crude to $130-150 per barrel. This could be fatal for Indian OMCs who are already incurring hefty losses for the delayed hike in fuel prices.

In the early trade, Asian stocks traded on a mixed note after US President Donald Trump stated to pause another attack on Iran and claimed that there was a good chance of a nuclear deal with the Islamic regime. Currently, US WTI Crude oil is near $103 per barrel and Brent Crude is above $110 per barrel, but down by 1-2% due to the latest statement of Trump.

Among the Asian indices, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.22%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 traded higher by 1%. On the other hand, South Korea's Kospi fell 2%.

Overnight, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.07% and 0.51%, while the Dow Jones closed higher by 159.95 points or 0.32%. {live-blog}