OMCs fall 2-4% as global oil prices rise; ONGC hits new 52-week low ahead of Q3 numbers

Indian benchmark indices fell on Thursday afternoon, with the Nifty50 down 40 points and was trading at 10753 mark while the Sensex shed 103 points, trading at 35930 mark. The fall was largely aided by energy stocks after crude oil prices climbed to their highest in nearly three months.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.16 per barrel at 0413 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were up 37 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $63.98 a barrel. China’s crude oil imports in January rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, to an average of 10.03 million barrels per day (bpd), the third straight month that imports have exceeded the 10 million bpd mark.

The global oil market will struggle this year to absorb fast-growing crude supply from outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), even with the group’s production cuts and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Wednesday.

State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation were among the top losers on the index, shedding 2-4 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries which has gained nearly 10 percent since reporting its quarterly results mid-January, fell over 1 percent.

ONGC was down 2.5 percent intraday on Thursday thereby hitting new 52-week low of Rs 130 per share with spurt in volume by more than 1.68 times. It is expected to report decline in bottom-line and operating income as realisation is likely to fall on lower oil prices during the quarter ended December 2018 QoQ, but year-on-year numbers are expected to be strong.

Technical Analyst Mitessh Thakkar of mitesshthakkar.com recommends selling BPCL with a stop loss of Rs 335 and target of Rs 318 and has a sell also on GAIL India with a stop loss of Rs 322 and target of Rs 301.