Sensex & Nifty recover from day's low; Inox Wind locks in at upper circuit, bank stocks in focus, ONGC declines
During the recent fortnight, Aluminum futures and Gold futures caught attention of the investors by giving better returns than the peers. Higher demand and prediction of tightening supply can be traced to boosting the price of Aluminum futures. The Gold futures followed a positive trend as US Fed continued the previous interest rates, keeping them unchanged and assured markets on the stand to keep benchmark rates near-zero through at least 2023. Both Gold and Silver futures traded on a positive note ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting outcome. The zinc prices surged up backed by signs of demand improvement in top consumer China, as the traditional peak consumption period commences.
The rising concerns regarding spike in COVID-19 cases along with the boost in US dollar hurt the oil prices, thereby erasing the gains during previous fortnight. There was seen profit booking in Cotton which can be due to the halting of procurement operations by Cotton Corporation of India and also a weaker than expected data presented by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in March month World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Copper prices faced pressure by an increase in stocks at Small Heavy Fuel Engine (ShFE) accredited warehouses to the highest since September at 187,372 tonnes.
Looking at the data recorded during the fortnight, on MCX, Aluminum futures was the highest performer which rose by 1.46 per cent followed by Gold futures which rose by 1.39 per cent. Zinc futures and Silver futures inched up by 0.96 per cent and 0.58 per cent.
WTI crude oil prices and Brent crude oil prices were the weakest performers during the fortnight, where Brent Crude oil prices plunged by 5.55 per cent and WTI crude oil prices declined by 5.48 per cent. MCX Cotton dipped by 4.72 per cent. MCX Cotton was followed by MCX Copper which decreased by 2.84 per cent. Whereas MCX lead inched down by merely 0.36 per cent.