Oil stocks crack; ONGC biggest Sensex loser

Mumbai: Oil and gas stocks suffered heavy losses, declining by up to 6 per cent amid a massing  sell off in equity markets, as global oil prices fell below the USD 50-mark. Shares of ONGC tumbled 5.89 per cent, Oil India Ltd lost 4.78 per cent, Reliance Industries Ltd (4.67 per cent) and Petronet LNG (3.51 per cent) on the BSE. Among others, Cairn India fell by 3.47 per cent, Gail   (India) (3.20 per cent), Indian Oil Corporation (1.32 per cent) and BPCL (1.02 per cent).    

Led by the sharp fall in these stocks, the BSE oil and  gas index ended 4.17 per cent lower at 9,498.37, taking the  biggest hit among the sectoral indices. Shares of these companies fell as investors feared that  the fall in international crude oil prices may affect  revenues. Oil prices continued to drop, with the US benchmark contract briefly falling below USD 50 a barrel for the first     time in more than five years on concerns about ample global supplies and weakening economic growth.    

The BSE 30-scrip index, Sensex, today plummeted by 855  points in its worst crash in five and a half years as stock  markets globally went into a tailspin amid speculation about  probable exit of Greece from the Euro region and oil prices  cracking below the USD 50 per barrel mark on weakening  economic growth scenario