Refiners trade mixed on second day of fuel price hikes

Shares of state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited all traded mixed on Wednesday following a hike in fuel prices.

Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 80 paise per litre each for the second straight day in a row since ending a more than four months’ pause in rate revision.

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Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 97.01 per litre as against Rs 96.21 earlier while the diesel will cost Rs 88.27 per litre from Rs 87.47, according to a price notification by state fuel retailers.

Hindustan Petroleum shares continued to surge for the second day to an intraday high of Rs 288.40. The shares of the state-owned company were trading 1.7% higher at Rs 285.35 during morning trade on the NSE. In the past month, the stock has lost over 1.5% in comparison to the benchmark Nifty, which gained 1.5% during the period. Hindustan Petroleum shares closed 4.05 points or 1.45% higher at Rs 284.20.

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BPCL shares were trading with losses, halting gains of the previous session. The stock was down 0.58% at Rs 366.30 at the time of writing. However, in the past month, the stock has given a return of 3% to investors. BPCL closed 2.30 points or 0.62% down at Rs 366.10

Shares of IOC were trading 0.5% higher at Rs 121.30 on the NSE at 11:30 am, after rising 2% in intraday trade. In the past month, the stock has risen over 3.5% amid volatile prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. IOC shares closed 0.70% higher at Rs 121.50.

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Brokerage firms view the hike in fuel prices as positive for OMC stocks with HPCL being their top pick.

According to Citi, stocks should gradually reverse their recent underperformance since companies have finally raised prices after a hiatus of over four months. HPCL remains the preferred OMC pick for the brokerage firm.

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Morgan Stanley prefers HPCL and IOC and says that the domestic LPG cylinder price rise by Rs 50 is a positive surprise.

In the Nifty O&G pack, the shares of all other oil and gas companies, except Petronet LNG, rose between 0.2% and 3.7%.

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Brent crude futures jumped $1.77, or 1.53%, to $117.25 per barrel, after falling 14 cents in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $1.51 or 1.38% to $110.78 per barrel.