Cairn India rose 2.32% to Rs 278.05 at 11:42 IST as crude oil prices climbed toward $70 per barrel. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 226.24 points, or 1.41%, to 16,248.72. On BSE, 1.44 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 4.11 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 279.25 and a low of Rs 274 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 321.30 on 3 May 2010 and a 52-week low of Rs 201 on 9 July 2009. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 25 May 2010, falling 8.78% compared with the Sensex's 9.45% decline. It outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 5.41% as against 1.43% fall in the Sensex. The large-cap private sector oil exploration firm has an equity capital of Rs 1897.21 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10. Crude oil futures were trading 0.9% higher at $69.37 as a drop in US gasoline supplies and rebounding Asian stock markets bolstered confidence that demand for fuel is rising. Rise in crude oil prices would result in higher realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms. Crude prices had slumped recently amid tensions on the Korean peninsula and fresh concerns over sovereign debt levels in Europe. Cairn India's consolidated net profit rose 23.1% to Rs 290.96 crore on 135% surge in net sales to Rs 495.46 crore in Q3 December 2009 over Q3 December 2008. The company will declare its Q4 & year ended March 2010 results on 27 May 2010.

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