OMCs slip up to 5% after reports say govt may sell stake in BPCL to IOCL

If the deal goes through, an IOCL-BPCL merger will be the third mammoth amalgamation of state-owned companies, excluding banks.

Shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) slipped up to nearly 5 per cent in the morning trade on Tuesday after reports said the government may sell its entire stake worth a little more than Rs 40,000 crore in BPCL to IOCL. 

At 10:28 am, the stock of IOCL was trading over 4 per cent lower at Rs 117.45 apiece on the BSE. It hit a low of Rs 116.70, down 4.69 per cent earlier in the trade. BPCL was quoting 3 per cent lower at Rs