BENGALURU, July 1 (Reuters) - Gains in consumer goods and
financial stocks helped India's blue-chip share indexes recover
sharply on Friday, after government export duties on oil
products triggered a plunge in energy majors Reliance Industries
and ONGC.
The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.18% lower at
15,752.05 on the first trading day of the second quarter and the
S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.21% to 52,907.93, after
falling up to 1.7% each earlier in the session.
The indexes, which on Thursday capped their worst quarter
since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, managed to close
the week marginally higher after last-hour buying in FMCG and
financial stocks.
India introduced export duties for gasoil, gasoline and jet
fuel to help maintain domestic supplies, and imposed a windfall
tax on oil producers that have benefited from higher global
crude oil prices, sending energy stocks into a spiral.
The measures "highlight the tightening energy market
outlook," Morgan Stanley wrote in a note, adding the
announcement was incrementally negative for sector valuations.
Morgan Stanley said ONGC would be most negatively impacted,
while Reliance could manage the changes better.
Reliance, India's most valuable company, shed
around $16 billion in market value as its stock plunged 7.2%,
marking its worst day since November 2020.
The Nifty Energy index fell 3.9%.
State-owned oil producer ONGC plummeted 13.5% -
its biggest slide since pandemic-wrecked March 23, 2020. Oil
India slid 15%, while Mangalore Refinery and
Petrochemical slumped 10%.
Meanwhile, the Nifty FMCG index jumped 2.8% on
its best day since mid-March, helped in part by a slump in palm
oil prices.
Non bank lenders Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv
climbed 4% and 3.6%, respectively, leading the
recovery in the Nifty.
The rupee hit a record closing low of 79.05 against
the dollar, versus Thursday's close of 78.97.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
and Krishna Chandra Eluri)