Oil stocks continue to slip on falling crude prices

Oil stocks, led by Gail and ONGC, continued their downward journey, falling as much 4.5 per cent today as global crude oil prices fell to over five-year lows.
Shares of Gail (India) plunged 4.57 per cent to Rs 423.45 on the BSE, emerging as the worst performer among 30 Sensex constituents.
ONGC lost 3.55 per cent, Cairn fell by 3.53 per cent, Oil India shed 3.42 per cent and RIL dipped 2.51 per cent.
Fall in stock prices of these companies have also weakened their market valuation.
In the past two trading sessions, the market valuation of ONGC dipped by Rs 20,533 crore to Rs 2,88,277.24 crore.

The BSE oil and gas index ended 2.63 per cent lower at 9,800.05, taking the biggest hit among the 12 sectoral indices.
Losses in RIL, ONGC and Gail India weighed on benchmark indices where the Sensex settled 251.33 points lower at 27,350.68.
Oil price fell below the key USD 60/barrel mark for the first time since July 2009. A sustained drop in oil, which will hit margins of oil related firms, is being seen as a sign of weakness in the global economy, traders said.