Most oil stocks shoot up on fuel price hike hopes

Even as the Sensex closed flat on lack of support,shares of oil marketing companies,led by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd....

Even as the Sensex closed flat on lack of support,shares of oil marketing companies,led by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL),surged on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on the back of expectations of a fuel price hike. BPCL zoomed 11 per cent to settle at Rs 774.60 on the BSE. During the day,the scrip had surged by about 12 per cent to touch a life-time high of Rs 781.05.

Similarly,shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) shot up by over 5 per cent to close at Rs 536.70. During the session,the stock had hit a one-year high of Rs 545.80.

The spurt in oil stocks was fuelled by speculation of an coming price hike. Oil marketing companies looked up sharply. The market is expecting that the companies would be revising prices of petrol upwards. Other stocks from the oil and gas sector were also positive, said Bonanza Portfolio Assistant Vice-President Avinash Gupta.

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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) too flared up by 3.08 per cent to finish at Rs 404.35. Earlier in the day,the scrip had touched a one-month high of Rs 414.35.

The other oil stocks that registered gains today were exploration and production (E&P) giant ONGC (up 1.97 per cent),Essar India (1.29 per cent),and RNRL (0.53 per cent). However,some stocks like Reliance Industries Ltd (down 1.19 per cent),Gail India (down 0.74 per cent) and Aban Offshore (down 1.08 per cent) did not fare well.

The price of oil climbed just above $74 a barrel today from last weeks six-week low,although bulging US inventories and a lack of hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico limited the gains. Crude oil has traded in a $64.24-$87.15 range this year as recovering demand has been insufficient to drain ample supplies.

US petroleum stocks have climbed to an all-time high since weekly records began in 1990.

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The BSEs 30-share Sensex also finished the session higher by 7.53 points at 18,409.35. Shares of consumer goods and textile firms today rose by as much as 8 per cent.

Videocon Industries stole the show with a jump of 8.51 per cent to Rs 263.90 after the government extended sops for exporters hit by the slowdown in global markets. This helped the BSE-Consumer Durables index end 4.37 per cent higher than the previous close.