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RIYADH: Indian shares traded higher on Tuesday, with the NSE Nifty 50 index trading above 17,800 for the first time since April 8, helped by softening consumer inflation that eased for a third straight month in July.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.7 percent at 17,827.25, as of 0500 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.7 percent higher at 59,888.24. Indian markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.
India’s consumer inflation dipped to 6.71 percent in July, aided by a slower increase in food and fuel prices and adding to expectations that the central bank may rein in the pace of its policy rate hikes from next month.
Auto stocks were up, and the Nifty Auto index hit a record high with its 1.8 percent gain.
Shares of Hero MotoCorp. rose as much as 3 percent after strong June-quarter results.
Life Insurance Corporation of India rose 2.5 percent after the country’s biggest insurer posted a 20 percent jump in June-quarter premium income on Friday.
India buys discounted Venezuelan petcoke to replace coal
Indian companies are importing significant volumes of petroleum coke from Venezuela for the first time, trade sources and shipping data showed.
India’s growing appetite for Venezuela’s petcoke – a byproduct from oil upgrading and an alternative to coal — is being driven by a scramble for inexpensive fuel to power industries as global coal prices have surged.
This could boost cash flow for the South American producer, where state and private companies have increased exports of petrochemicals and oil byproducts, and the more competitively-priced Venezuelan supplies could displace cargoes from traditional suppliers.
Indian cement companies imported at least four cargoes carrying 160,000 tons of petroleum coke from April to June, according to three trade sources, Refinitiv ship-tracking data and Venezuelan shipping schedules.
Another 50,000-ton cargo is expected to reach the port of Mangalore on India’s southwestern coast in the coming days while a 30,000-ton shipment is scheduled to depart later in August, the data showed.
Volkswagen, Mahindra deepen electric vehicle component cooperation
Volkswagen and Mahindra & Mahindra on Monday expanded their cooperation and signed a term sheet under which the German carmaker will supply electric components to its Indian peer.
The agreement covers components of Volkswagen’s open platform for electric vehicles, called MEB, to be supplied to Mahindra’s new electric platform INGLO, the companies said.
The INGLO platform, which will power all of Mahindra’s EVs, offers options ranging from 60-80 kilowatt-hour battery capacity and fast-charging of up to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes, Mahindra said, without specifying the range of the EVs.
The cooperation aims for a volume of more than 1 million vehicles by 2030 and includes the equipment of five electric sports utility vehicles based on INGLO, the companies said.
“The partnership not only demonstrates that our platform business is highly competitive, but also that the MEB is well on track to become one of the leading open platforms for e-mobility,” Volkswagen management board member Thomas Schmall said.
(With input from Reuters)