PSU OMCs gain as crude oil prices decline

Shares of three public sector oil marketing companies rose by 0.93% to 2.29% at 11:55 IST on BSE as global crude oil prices declined.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 145.15 points or 0.52% at 27,812.35.

Among PSU OMCs, HPCL (up 1.7%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.93%) edged higher.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) advanced after the company said it has entered into a term loan agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) to set-up a rupee loan facility. The stock was up 2.29% at Rs 800.40. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 22 May 2015. The facility will be used to finance capital expenditure on the company's ongoing and new projects, BPCL said. Under the facility, BPCL can avail a loan of up to Rs 4000 crore which can be drawn over a period of three years. The loan carries a floating rate of interest linked to base rate and has a door to door maturity of ten years.

Brent crude oil futures edged lower extending previous trading session's decline. Brent for July settlement was down 13 cents at $65.24 a barrel. The contract had fallen $1.17 a barrel or 1.75% to settle at $65.37 a barrel during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 63.625, compared with close of 63.5125 during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015.

Decline in crude oil prices could reduce under-recoveries of PSU OMCs on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at government controlled prices. However, a weakness in rupee against the dollar will restrict the benefit of falling global crude oil prices to that extent. A weak rupee raises the cost of imports. The government has already decontrolled pricing of petrol and diesel.

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