BSE revises circuit limits of over 460 scrips

Leading stock exchange BSE has revised circuit limits for shares of 463 companies, including United Breweries Holdings, Reliance MediaWorks, Kingfisher Airlines and D B Realty, as part of surveillance action.

The revised circuit limits, which ensures that the price of a scrip cannot move upward or downward beyond a limit set for the day, is effective from today.

The exchange has increased the circuit limit for some stocks, while it has been reduced for others.

BSE has raised the circuit limit for 409 scrips, including UBHL, Reliance MediaWorks, Kingfisher Airlines, Essar Oil, UB Engineering, MMTC, Venus Remedies to 10% from 5%.

Besides, BSE has also increased circuit filter level for companies such as Zuari Global, Kesoram Industries, Hindustan Copper, National Fertilizers to 20% from 10%.

For as many as 78 scrips the circuit limit has been upped from 2% to 5%, which includes Lifeline Drugs & Pharma, Mahindra Composites, Venus Power Ventures (India).

The exchange has, however, lowered the circuit filter for a total of 64 companies.

BSE has narrowed the limit for 28 companies to 5% from 20%, reduced the filter for 16 firms from 20% to 10%.

In a separate circular, NSE has set 5% circuit limit for 394 companies, 10% for 146 firms and 20% for a total of 895 companies.

However, there is no price band for 147 companies.

The companies that will have 5% price band include Emkay Global Financial Services, JVL Agro Industries, Lloyds Finance, Pipavav Defence, Piramal Life Sciences and Multi Commodity Exchange of India.

The list of firms that will have 10% circuit limit include A2Z Maintenance & Engineering, D B Realty, Kingfisher Airlines, McDowell Holdings, Muthoot Finance, UBHL, Venus Remedies.

Among the companies that would not not attract any circuit limit are Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Cipla, DLF, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki India, United Spirits, NTPC.

The no price band list also include Tata group firms --Tata Chemicals, Tata Communications, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Motors, Tata Power Company, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services.

Coal India inks fuel supply agreements with 140 power plants

Coal India has so far entered into fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with about 140 power plants, amid the deadline for signing FSAs expiring last month. Some agreements are yet to be signed because of certain issues concerning those power plants. The world’s largest coal miner has to sign 173 FSAs for a capacity of 78,000 MW.

Recently, the company had reported provisional production of 31.68 million tonnes in August 2013, as against target of 32.73 million tonnes. The company’s total off-take for the month of August stood at 35.10 million tonnes as against a target of 35.54 million tonnes.

Coal India is the world’s largest coal mining company. It also produces non-coking coal and coking coal of various grades for diverse applications.

MCX zooms 100% from August low

The stock trading at Rs 476 on BSE has been almost double from its low of Rs 238 touched on August 19.

Shares of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) is locked in upper circuit for eleven straight trading sessions, up 5% at Rs 476 on BSE,  has been double in less than a month.

The stock hit all-time low of Rs 238 on August 19, after the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), a group company, suspended electronic trading.

However, MCX has clarified that the company has no exposure to crisis-hit NSEL, which had to settle dues worth Rs 5,600 crore to investors.

MCX and NSEL, both promoted by Jignesh Shah-headed Financial Technologies India, are totally different entities with no financial commitments or exposure to each other whatsoever.

The company said it is in full compliance with the directive of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the commodity markets regulator, on investments, loans and advances.

The company is a debt-free company and has a net worth of Rs 1,214 crore in the quarter ended June 30, it added.

Meanwhile, according to market buzz a leading investment bank is advising Financial Technologies, the promoter which held 26% stake in the company, on a possible stake sale in MCX.

A combined 7,521 shares have changed hands on the counter and there are pending buy orders for 319,488 shares on BSE and NSE at 0944 hours.

As bond yields rise in the US, RBI under pressure to raise rates in India

The central bank will have to raise rates to maintain the spread between the bond yield in India and US

The yield on 10-year US government bonds have risen to two-year highs and are just shy of the 3% mark as investors worry about a likely withdrawal of monetary stimulus by the Federal Reserve.

Including the 5 basis point rise on Friday, bond yields in US are now up 131 basis points from their lows in May this year. Yields refer to the interest income that a bond holder receives if they buy it at current price and hold it to maturity.

Experts say that this will put pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to raise interest rates so as to maintain the spread between the bond yield in India and US. The yield spread –the difference in the interest rate that a Indian bond pays over US government bond – has narrowed in recent weeks as yields in India have failed to keep pace with the rise in US.

Bond yield in India are up 68 points since May this year, less than half the rise in US. The spread declined to 546 points on Friday from a high of 636 points reached in middle of last month and over 600 basis points at the beginning of May this year. 100 basis points or bips makes a per cent.

There is scope for a further rise in bond yield in US as the date for stimulus withdrawal gets closer. In last ten years, the median yield on a 10 year bond in US is 3.78% while average yield has been 3.55% during the period.

“The rise in bond yield in US is an indication that interest rates are rising globally and it is here to stay. Ultimately it will get transmitted to India either through imported inflation from higher energy and commodity prices or through higher cost of foreign capital,” says Deep Narayan Mukherjee, director Ratings at India Ratings, the domestic credit rating arm of global rating agency Fitch.

It may some take time for the central bank to raise the benchmark interest rates in response but it will start showing up in the real economy much sooner, he says.

Analysts agree. “We can’t have a situation where bond yield or the interest rate in US keeps rising while that in India remains flat or falls. We expect interest rates to harden further in India in line with the global trend,” says Dhananjay Sinha, co-head institutional equity at Emkay Global Services. If the Reserve bank of India drags its feet on raising benchmark rates, the transmission will happen through currency depreciation, he says.

Experts say that the central bank also has to be mindful of elevated level of inflation in India while taking a stance on the interest rate.
“A persistently high level of consumer inflation meant that interest rates have been negative for most of the last five years. This is unsustainable and should correct soon,” says Mukherjee.

Some disagree and say that a lot depends on the upcoming meeting of Federal Reserve open market meeting slated for 18th of this month.

“There is lot of uncertainty in the global markets right now regarding Fed monetary stance. This is causing market volatility making it tough for policy makers in emerging markets,” says Arun Kumar R, vice-president, India Credit, Nomura.

Sensex surges over 200 pts, Europe opens positive

European stocks opened positive, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index heading for a weekly gain.

Markets extended gains in the afternoon session this Friday on back of buying witnessed in financial shares after the central bank raised overseas borrowing limits for lenders in a bid to prop up grwoth and boost the rupee.

At 1PM, the 30-share Sensex rose 225 points at 19,203  and the 50-share Nifty gained 67 points at 5,660 levels.

Traders were, however, cautious ahead of the long weekend coupled with US Non-Farm Payrolls data tomorrow that may depict the health of world’s biggest economy.

Reserve Bank of India on late-Thursday allowed banks to issue, without its approval, guarantees on behalf of non-residents acquiring shares or convertible debentures of a company in India through open offers or delisting or exit offers.

The broader markets traded firm with mid-caps and small-caps gaining nearly 0.5 per cent on the BSE.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 2,101 stocks traded, 1,145 stocks advanced while 823 stocks declined on the BSE.


RUPEE

The rupee gained some ground today after the slew of reforms announced by the central bank late-Thursday.

At 12:50PM, the partially convertible rupee was trading at 65.67 per dollar against the yesterday’s close of 66.01 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange.


GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks dropped, snapping a six-day advance and paring the regional benchmark index’s biggest weekly gain since July, as investors await the monthly American jobs report.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.5% at 13,860, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.2% at 3,046, China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 1% at 2,139 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 22,659 today.

European stocks opened positive, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index heading for a weekly gain.

France’s CAC gained 0.3% to 4,019, Germany’s DAX added 0.12% to 8,253 while UK’s FTSE was up 0.1% to 6,537.


STOCK MOVERS

Domestically, the key sectoral indices gainers included banks, capital goods, IT, healthcare, pharmaceuticals while consumer durable sector lead the drop on the BSE.

The gainers included counters such as ICICI Bank rising 5%, Jindal Steel added 4%, Cipla gained 3.5% while ONGC was up 3% on the BSE.

The laggards were Tata Power declined 2%, Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.9%, Coal India was down 2.5% while Reliance Industries declined 1.7% the BSE.

The key notable movers included counters such as Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) that is locked in upper circuit for eleven straight trading sessions, up 5% at Rs 476 on BSE,  has been double in less than a month.

The stock hit all-time low of Rs 238 on August 19, after the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), a group company, suspended electronic trading.

Wockhardt has soared nearly 18% to Rs 546 in early morning deals after the promoters purchased equity shares worth Rs 10 crore from the open market.

Coal India to decide on shares buyback on Sept 18

Public sector miner Coal India Ltd will decide on the proposal for buyback of shares on September 18.

“We are not ruling out any possibility of buyback. The board will take a call on that. There is an annual general meeting on September 18 and the board will also meet on that day,’’ Coal India Chairman S. Narsing Rao said on Friday.

The company has a debt of $200 million and cash reserves of Rs 62,000 crore, Rao said at a CII conference on Mining Leaders’ Roundtable in the national capital.

The Government is considering if Coal India can buyback shares in case if it is not able to proceed through the 5 per cent disinvestment.

Government targets to mop up Rs 8,000 crore by selling shares in Coal India. This is a key share sale to meet the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore.

The labour unions of Coal India have opposed any share sale. Coal India will hold a meeting on September 11 with its labour unions on this issue.

FSA signing

Rao said that there were just a few fuel supply agreements left to be signed out of the 173 mandated by the Government. The company is not likely to extend Friday's deadline of signing the fuel agreements.

Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava said out of the 173 FSAs, 140 were signed so far.

RCom gets new CEO for enterprise business

Deepak Khanna appointed CEO, India Enterprise

As part of its strategy to increase focus on the enterprise business, Reliance Communications (RCom), on Friday, said that it has appointed Deepak Khanna as CEO, India Enterprise.

Khanna is an MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune. He has worked in leadership roles with Bharti Airtel and Tulip Telecom, before moving to RCom.

"We see exciting growth potential in the enterprise business in the years ahead, and expect to register 30% per annum compounded growth in this space in both, revenues and profitability over the next five years," Khanna said, in a statement.

Tata Global Beverages trades with traction on the BSE

Tata Global Beverages is currently trading at Rs. 149.25, up by 2.10 points or 1.43% from its previous closing of Rs. 147.15 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 148.55 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 149.85 and Rs. 145.15 respectively. So far 137616 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 181.70 on 15-Nov-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 122.00 on 26-Mar-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 149.85 and Rs. 136.75 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 9198.68 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 35.20% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 36.36% and 27.48% respectively.

Tata Starbucks, the 50/50 joint venture between Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks Coffee is all set to inaugurate the first Starbucks store in Pune on September 8, 2013. Following the opening of new store, the total number of Starbucks outlet in India will increase to 21.

This flagship store will be located off North Main Road at Koregaon Park - a popular neighborhood in Pune - and promises to offer coffee lovers an enriching and elevated coffeehouse experience.

Tata Starbucks is reportedly planning to open around 100 Starbucks cafes in the country by next year.

ICICI Bank extends rally, surges 20% in three days

ICICI Bank is planning to launch 500 gramin branches during the current fiscal.

ICICI BANK has moved higher by nearly 6% at Rs 943, extending its previous two day’s rally, on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Shares of private sector lender have rallied 20% from Rs 784, in past three trading days as compared to 13% rise in the BSE banking share index Bankex.

ICICI Bank is planning to launch 500 gramin branches during the current financial year 2013-14.

The bank has already launched 308 gramin branches to provide basic banking services in unbanked villages and plan to scale it up to 500 this fiscal, the PTI report suggests quoting ICICI Bank Executive Director Rajiv Sabharwal.

The bank’s substantial branch expansion in the past three to four years and strong capital adequacy has position the bank to grow its loan book at faster rate than system average as and when business environment turns conducive, says analyst at Angel Broking in report dated August 1.

Analyst maintains Buy recommendation on the stock, from a medium term perspective, with a target price of Rs 1,068.

F&O total turnover stood at Rs 1,45,504.65 crore on September 05

Future & Option (F&O) total turnover stood at Rs 1,45,504.65 crore on September 05 and the total numbers of contracts traded on the day were 54,40,462.

Of the total turnover, Index Futures contributed Rs 16,921.74 crore, Stock Futures Rs 19,025.20 crore and Index Options Rs 1,01,287.75 crore, while the contribution of the Stock Options was of Rs 8,269.96 crore.

For the day, the total F&O PutCall ratio stood at 1.03, while Index Options PutCall ratio was 1.09 and that of Stock Options was 0.54.

The top five scrips with highest PCR on OI were, Mcleodruss 39.14, CESC 10.00, Finan Tech 2.27, Divis Lab 2.00 and Ind Hotel 2.00.

Among most active underlying, SBI witnessed contraction of 0.73 million of Open Interest in the Sep month futures contract followed by United Spirits  an addition of 0.04 million Open Interest in the near month contract; Axis Bank witnessed contraction of 2.14 million in the Sep month futures. Also, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 0.28 million in Open Interest in the Sep month contract and Axis Bank witnessed contraction of 0.18 million in Open Interest in the near month futures contract.

Yes Bank may raise Rs 2000 -3000 crore post relaxation of overseas window

Yes Bank, the country’s private sector bank, is mulling raising Rs 2000 -3000 crore post relaxation of overseas window. Besides, the bank is also targeting to raise $50-10 million of FCNR deposits over next few months. These plans come on the heels of RBI’s recent measures to support the ailing currency and liberalizing markets.

Obliging the bank, the central bank’s new governor decided to raise the current overseas borrowing limit to 100% of the unimpaired Tier I capital as against 50% earlier and mobilize the borrowings under this provision to be swapped with Reserve Bank of India at the option of the bank at a concessional rate of 100 basis points, below the ongoing swap rate prevailing in the market. Further, the central bank also has decided to offer special concessional window to bank for swapping FCNR dollar funds, mobilized for a minimum tenor of three years and over, at a fixed rate of 3.5% per annum for the tenor of the deposit.

Meanwhile, the bank has also not ruled out case for one more base hike if the rates remain higher. The bank, recently in August revised its Base Rate to 10.75% per annum an increase of 25 basis points (bps) with effective from August 01, 2013.

Indices slip after a positive start

Some positive buying is seen in IT, teck, healthcare and capital goods sectors, while metal, realty, oil & gas and banking sectors are showing weakness

At 9:36 AM (IST), S&P BSE Sensex is 26 points down at 18,953, while 50-share Nifty is 18 points down at 5,554.

BSE Mid-cap is 2 points down at 5,417, whereas BSE Small-cap is 12 points up at 5,322.

Some positive buying is seen in IT, teck, healthcare, capital goods, consumer durables and FMCG sectors, while metal, realty, oil & gas, banking and auto sectors are showing weakness on BSE.

ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Lab, Wipro, Infosys, ONGC, TCS and Bharti Airtel are up on BSE, whereas Sesa Goa, HDFC Bank, Coal India, HDFC, Gail India, RIL and SBI are showing some weakness.

Reliance Industries (RIL) has hired 19 banks to arrange $1.75 billion of funding in US and Singapore dollars, euros and yen, according to a media report. RIL is 1.64% down on BSE.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has requested the Government to set up an institution to finance capacity expansion in the sector. The stock is 1.35% down on BSE.

Central Bank of India (CBOI) has raised interest rates on high value deposits by 50 basis points to 9.5%. The scrip is 0.47% higher.

Power Finance Corporation, which is 1.09% down on BSE, has started the process of bidding two ultra mega power projects by signing an agreement with states authorizing company to issue bid documents as approved by the government last week.

Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) has signed an MoU with Coal India (CIL), GAIL India, and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF) for revival of Talcher Urea Plant in Odisha. CIL is 2.24% down, while RCF is 1.63% down on BSE.

Nikkei is trading 132 points down at 13,932, while Hang Seng is trading 68 points up at 22,666.

Wockhardt’s promoter hikes stake in company

Wockhardt’s promoter has acquired equity shares of the company worth Rs 10 crore from the open market. Khorakiwala Holdings & Investments, the promoter of the company has acquired 211,094 equity shares representing 0.20% stake of the pharmaceutical company via market purchase in past trading sessions.

The company’s promoter has bought 50,000 shares each on August 30, September 2 and September 3, while purchased 61,094 shares on September 4, through open market purchase. The promoter has acquired these shares for total consideration of Rs 9.66 crore. Post acquisition, promoter's holding in Wockhardt has increased to 64.08% from 63.88% earlier.

Wockhardt is one of the few companies with end to end integrated capabilities for its products, starting with the manufacture of the oral and sterile API’s, the dose forms and marketing through wholly owned subsidiary in the US, enabling the company to capture maximum value.

HPCL to build 888 kilometers long new pipeline projects

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has planned to build new pipelines projects which would be entirely 888 kilometers long. The company has already received the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) approval for the same.

The company is planning to build 440 km Rewari –Kanpur pipeline, 92 km long Awa-Salawas and 356 km long Mangalore-Mysore LPG pipeline via Hassan and Bengaluru.

HPCL operates two major refineries producing a wide variety of petroleum fuels and specialties, one in Mumbai (west coast) of 6.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) capacity and the other in Vishakapatnam, (east coast) with a capacity of 7.5 MMTPA.

Rupee will correct itself and the economy will bounce back: P Chidambaram

In an attempt to reverse the perception of gloom and pessimism spread across the country, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday asserted in the Lok Sabha that rupee will correct itself and the economy will bounce back. However, acknowledging that the economy was going through a period of stress, the Minister reiterated that the government has been taking corrective steps to check rupee slide.

Confirming fears of a deepening slowdown and accentuating the widespread pessimism brought on by the steep rupee depreciation and falling markets, India's economy grew at its slowest pace in over four years at 4.4% in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Further, on the recent sharp depreciation of rupee calling it a matter of concern, Chidambaram said that the currency had overshot its value. However, contradicting its own statement, the finance minister underscored that the value of the rupee depends upon various macro-economic factors like fiscal deficit, current account deficit and inflation, while adding that, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said some of the corrections in the value of rupee were the most-needed adjustments. In a continuous effort of soothing some jittery nerves, the minister, however, reiterated his commitment of meeting the tough fiscal deficit target for the fiscal year ending in March 2014.

Fortis Healthcare concludes preferential allotment of 3.7 million shares to Standard Chartered PE

Fortis Healthcare, one of India’s largest healthcare chains, has completed the preferential allotment of 3.7 million shares to Standard Chartered Private Equity Mauritius III (SCPE), successfully bringing to a close its current phase of fund raising initiatives. With this allotment, the company has cumulatively raised Rs 1,040 crore, this year, through equity and equity linked instruments.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a key strategic investor with a long term horizon and commitment to healthcare has so far invested approximately Rs 570 crore in the company through the IPP in May 2013, the preferential allotment of equity shares and subscription to the company’s FCCB issuance-both made during June 2013.

In the last phase of this current fund raising program, the company completed the preferential allotment of 3.7 million equity shares at a price of Rs 99.09 per share to Standard Chartered Private Equity Mauritius III (SCPE). SCPE / entities acting in concert with SCPE had previously invested in the IPP of the company and have also recently intimated to the stock exchanges that they are the key investor in the public issue of FCCBs that the company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) in July 2013. With this the cumulative investment by SCPE in the company is estimated to be approximately Rs 250 crore.

Direct tax collections for August up 14.43%

While gross collection of Corporate taxes has shown an increase of 11.72%.

Gross direct tax collections during April-August of the Financial Year 2013-14 is up by 14.43 percent at Rs. 1,88,193 crore as against Rs. 1,64,463 crore in the same period last year.

While gross collection of Corporate taxes has shown an increase of 11.72 percent and stood at Rs. 1,08,075 crore as against Rs. 96,738 crore in the same period last year.

Gross collection of Personal income tax is up by 18.91 percent and stood at Rs. 78,187 crore as against Rs. 65,752 crore during the same period last year.

Net direct tax collections is up by 15.42 percent and stands at Rs. 1,43,138 crore, as compared to Rs. 1,24,019 crore in the same period in the last fiscal.

The collection of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) stands at Rs. 1649 Crores. The Wealth Tax has posted a growth of 24.44 percent and stood at Rs. 280 crore as against Rs. 225 crore in the same period last year.

RBI norm to benefit home buyers

The new circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) disallowing banks from making upfront payments to builders in 80:20 or 75:25 loan schemes will benefit homebuyers as they will get timely possession of their premises.
Since the banks will now release the amount based on the progress of construction, and the builder has to pay the equated monthly installments (EMIs) until he hands over the premises to the buyer, banks can effectively leverage their position to force the builder to complete the construction on time.

While a majority of builders have welcomed the RBI's decision, some say it will disrupt business plans.

Experts say there will be a short-term impact on sales.

"The RBI has acted responsibly by introducing this directive as it is trying to protect the interests of buyers and lending banks. The impact [on sales] would be short term and volumes would pick up once the real estate market witnesses other promotional schemes or when a correction in prices takes place," said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director (South Asia), Cushman and Wakefield, a real estate consultancy firm.

Sunil Mantri, chairman of Indian Merchants Chamber (real estate committee), said the circular would be beneficial in the long run.

"There was the possibility of builders diverting the funds to buy new land instead of investing in the project. There is no logic in disbursing the entire amount, which is in effect the consumer's loan, to builders who have not even started work," he said.

Manju Yagnik, vice chairperson, Nahar Group, a real estate firm, termed it a win-win situation for all stakeholders. "Since the banks release the amount according to the stages of construction, it is in a position to pressurise builders for speedy construction. If the entire amount is paid in advance, there is no motivation for the builders to complete the project," she said.

However, some have called it a regressive move which will adversely affect sales.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (Credai) said the RBI should have consulted the stakeholders before issuing the circular. "Abruptly issuing such circulars and advising banks against established practices only harms sentiments and disrupts business plans," said Credai chairman Lalit Kumar Jain.

A similar stance has been adopted by the Builders Association of India (BAI), which said it would increase the problem of liquidity. "Funding is big hurdle and this move will worsen the situation," said Anand Gupta, secretary, BAI.

US crude oil supplies fall by 1.8 mn barrels

The United States’s crude oil supplies fell last week, the Government has said.

Crude supplies dropped by 1.8 million barrels, or 0.5 per cent, to 360.2 million barrels, which is 0.9 per cent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said yesterday in its weekly report.

Analysts expected a drop of 2.5 million barrels for the week ended August 30, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill.

Gasoline supplies also fell by 1.8 million barrels, or 0.8 per cent, to 216 million barrels. That’s 8.6 per cent more than year-ago levels. Analysts expected gasoline supplies to shrink by 1 million barrels.

Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended August 30 was down 0.3 per cent from a year ago, averaging 9.1 million barrels a day.

US refineries ran at 91.7 per cent of total capacity on average, up 0.5 percentage point from the prior week. Analysts expected capacity to fall to 90.4 per cent.

Supplies of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 500,000 barrels to 129.6 million barrels.

Analysts expected distillate stocks to rise by 800.000 barrels.