BENGALURU, July 1 (Reuters) - Indian shares on Friday began
the second quarter on the back foot, hammered by heavy losses in
Reliance Industries and ONGC after the government introduced
export duties on oil products to boost domestic supplies.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.92% at 15,634.8 by
0631 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.89% to
52,549.35, 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, are set to close
the week marginally lower if losses hold.
India introduced export duties for gasoil, gasoline and jet
fuel and imposed a windfall tax on oil producers that have
benefited from higher global crude oil prices, sending energy
stocks into a spiral.
Oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries,
India's most valuable company, shed $19.35 billion in market
value as its stock plunged as much as 8.7%, marking its biggest
intraday slide since Nov. 2, 2020.
The Nifty Energy index fell 3.7% in its sharpest
drop since mid-May.
State-owned oil producer ONGC plummeted 12.3% -
its biggest slide since pandemic-wrecked March 23, 2020. Oil
India slid 9%, while Mangalore Refinery and
Petrochemical slumped 10%.
Meanwhile, jewellery makers Titan Company and
Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri slipped 6% and 4.1%,
respectively, after India raised basic import duty on gold to
12.5% from 7.5%.
The Nifty auto index slid 1.5%, ahead of
monthly sales data, while the Nifty Bank index fell
1%.
The rupee hit a fresh record low of 79.11 against
the dollar, versus Thursday's close of 78.97.
Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets got off to a shaky start on
Friday as growth fears mounted.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)