Auto shares rally on petrol price cut

Shares of automobiles companies have gained ground after the state-run oil marketing companies cut petrol price by Rs 2.46 per litre. This is the second time that fuel retailers reduced petrol price since they raised it by Rs 7.50 a litre on May 24. The fuel price had been cut by Rs 2 a litre on June 3.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the BSE Auto index has rallied almost 2% or 152 points in opening trades, as against the 1.5% rise in the  benchmark Sensex.

Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra and Mahindra are opened higher by 2% each, while Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are up 1-2% on the BSE.