Oil stocks are turning in a mixed performance, after state-run oil marketing firm Indian Oil Corporation hiked prices of petrol and diesel.
IOC raised petrol price by 42 paise a litre and of diesel by Rs 1.03 in Delhi, effective from Monday. The state run oil marketing company cited the current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and the currency exchange rate as the reason for the price hike.
Earlier, petrol and diesel prices were hiked by Rs 1.29 a litre and 97 paise a litre, on 1 January 2017, after global oil prices hit an 18-month high following oil producers outside OPEC agreeing to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day.
Indian Oil Corporation shares are up 1.2% at Rs 354.80. BPCL is up 0.6% at Rs 661 and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is trading 0.5% up at Rs 490.
Castrol India is up 0.3%. Among other stocks in the Oil & Gas index, ONGC, Indraprastha Gas, Reliance Industries and GAIL India are down 0.6% - 0.7%, while Oil India and Petronet LNG are lower by 1% and 1.2%, respectively.
Meanwhile, amid alternate bouts of buying and selling at front line counters, the key indices Sensex and the Nifty50 are moving in a tight band.
The Sensex is up 37.41 points or 0.14% at 27,275.47. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange is up 2.60 points or 0.03% at 8402.95.
Tata Steel is gaining nearly 2.5%. Adani Ports, Idea Cellular, Tata Motors, Zee Entertainment Enterprises are up 1.5% - 2%. State Bank of India, Cipla, Tata Motors DVR and Bharti Infratel are also notably higher.
HCL Technologies, Infosys and Eicher Motors are declining 1.6% - 2%. Tata Power, ITC, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Bosch are lower by 0.5% - 1%.
