Diesel price hike on hold offer solace to Auto stocks

After being hit hard on steep petrol hike, some solace came to Auto stocks, after Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy averred that the government is not looking to hike prices of diesel, LPG or kerosene.

Recating to this, Tata Motors is currently trading at Rs 280.10, up by 3.50 points or 1.27% from its previous closing of Rs 276.60 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 281.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 283.15 and Rs 279.00 respectively. So far 497433 shares were traded on the counter.

Maruti Suzuki India is currently trading at Rs 1116.05, up by 12.35 points or 1.12% from its previous closing of Rs 1103.70 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 1118.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs 1119.25 and Rs 1105.20 respectively. So far 22114 shares were traded on the counter.

Ashok Leyland is currently trading at Rs 24.90, up by 0.15 points or 0.61% from its previous closing of Rs 24.75 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 25.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs 25.15 and Rs 24.85 respectively. So far 125841 shares were traded on the counter.

Further, no decision has been taken regarding the meeting of the EGoM with respect to the hiking of diesel prices either. The meeting is expected to see participation from Congress party's ruling allies TMC and DMK. Both TMC and DMK have held street protests against the hike in petrol price and the Congress seems to be buying time before taking another step.

The EGoM has not met since June last year inspite of the fact that depreciation of the rupee and rising prices of global crude oil have been posing significant challenges. The current meeting, in which Reddy participated, was held at the inter-ministerial level and was called to discuss the inflationary impact of a diesel price hike on inflation.