The stocks of airlines and oil marketing companies (OMCs) took a breather in on Monday’s trading session, as Brent crude slipped to a two-week low.
Brent crude was trading at $112.21 a barrel at IST 1830 while NYMEX crude slipped below $100 a barrel to $ 99.43.
Jet Airways outperformed its peers as the company’s shares surged 6.2 per cent, or Rs 27.45, to settle at Rs 469.95. Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet were up 3.73 per cent and 3.58 per cent, respectively. When crude was on the rise, the airlines’ stocks had taken a beating amid margin pressure owing to their inability to increase passenger fares.
The state-owned OMCs, too, traded firm. Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum gained over 4.25 per cent while Indian Oil Corporation managed an upside of 1.5 per cent.
The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries gained 2.63 per cent to close at Rs 1,017.65. Gas Authority of India, too, jumped 4.5 per cent to settle at Rs 462.30.
With Japan, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, struggling to cope with the tsunami disaster, crude prices have started showing some downward movement. The Brent crude price had touched $117 a barrel, while NYMEX crude had surpassed $105 in the last fortnight.
The Sensex gained 1.49 per cent, or 265.39 points, to close at 18,439.48. Among the sectoral indices, oil & gas topped the list as it gained 2.24 per cent or 217.93 points, followed by metal and IT index which rose 2.01 per cent and 1.48 per cent, respectively. All sectoral indices closed in the green. Auto and FMCG indices were the poorest performers, with a gain of 0.69 per cent each.
