Sensex falls around 300 points; oil and gas stocks slump

REUTERS - The BSE Sensex and Nifty fell more than 1 percent, retreating from record highs hit earlier in the week. Oil and gas stocks fell as Brent crude surged to nine-month highs amid concerns that escalating violence in Iraq could disrupt oil supplies.

HPCL slumped 9.3 percent, IOC lost 8.9 percent and BPCL fell about 7 percent.

In the BSE realty index, DLF was down over 7 percent. The BSE IT index is 0.21 percent higher, with Infosys trading up 0.7 percent.

The new government got the best news on the economy in a year on Thursday, as industrial growth rebounded and retail inflation dropped to a three-month low, signs of an economic revival that could offset the threat of patchy summer rains.