Oil PSU shares hog limelight as US crude prices drop most since April

Shares of government-controlled oil marketing companies outperformed the broad market sentiment, with BSE Oil & Gas index emerging as the best sectoral performer with gains of 1.3 percent. Investors goaded up on shares of oil PSUs in reaction to a sharp 2.5-4 percent drop in US crude prices on Wednesday, its biggest drop since April, on higher inventory levels. Falling crude prices always augur well for oil refining companies. [caption id=“attachment_2323014” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Further, foreign brokerage firm Nomura said oil retailers will continue to outshine as business outlook gets even better. At 11am, shares of IOC jumped nearly 5 percent to Rs 409.90, Hindustan Petro Corp rose around 4 percent to Rs 766.60, Bharat Petro Corp gained 1.4 percent to Rs 900.35. Other oil companies such as OIL India gained 1.2 percent to Rs 455.60, Reliance Industries rose nearly 1 percent to Rs 1,015.30 and Petronet LNG was up 0.8 percent at Rs 193.25. Shares of Cairn India, GAIL and Castrol India also traded in the green.