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

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 344.40 while HPCL was trading at Rs 252, down 3 per cent. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was trading over 1 per cent lower at 36,912 levels.