ET:Stocks of oil marketing companies drop on firm crude prices
MUMBAI: Defying the rally in the stock market, shares of oil marketing companies today fell by as much as 2.4 per cent amid firm international crude prices.
Higher crude prices increase under-recoveries of the state-owned oil marketing companies which sell diesel, LPG and kerosene at controlled prices.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation saw its shares drop 2.39 per cent to Rs 640.90 on the BSE, as rising global markets have pushed up crude oil prices.
Similarly, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation plunged 2 per cent to Rs 336.60, while Indian Oil Corporation lost 0.95 per cent to Rs 294.5 a piece.
WTI crude, which rose over 9.67 per cent in the last six sessions, was trading 0.74 per cent down at USD 93.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude also fell 0.21 per cent, but optimism around European leaders move to rescue debt-laden euro-zone nations, especially Greece, has kept prices above USD 112 a barrel.
The oil marketing firms underperformed a bullish broader market: the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 423.33 points, or 2.45 per cent, up at 17,712.16 at 1234 hours.
