OMCs erase morning losses partially; HPCL rebounds 5% from day's low

HPCL, BPCL and IOC were down between 3% and 5% on the BSE in early morning trade, but recouped losses partially as trade progressed

Shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs)  bounced back by up to 5% from their intra-day lows.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) lost between 3% and 5% in early morning trade, as crude oil prices hovered near 3 1/2-year highs on Wednesday. Chennai Petroleum Corporation (CPCL) and Mangalore Refinery & Petroleum were down 1% to 3% on the BSE.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at $70.24 per barrel, up 1.7% and near Monday's high of $70.84, which was its highest level since November 2014 after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, sparking worries about global oil supplies, the Reuters report suggests.

Among individual stocks, IOC ended 0.24% higher at Rs 167, bouncing back 4% from its early morning low of Rs 161 on the BSE. HPCL closed 1% lower at Rs 305, but recovered 5% from intra-day low of Rs 290. BPCL recovered partially and closed 1.7% lwoer at Rs 386, after falling 4% to Rs 378 in early morning deal.

Meanwhile, oil exploration & production companies like Oil India, Aban Offshore, Selan Exploration Technology, Deep Industries and Jindal Drilling & Industries were up in the range of 1% to 5% on the BSE.