Shares of oil and gas producers such as Cairn India, ONGC, Oil India,
GAIL India and Reliance Industries rose sharply on Friday after global
crude prices posted their biggest single-day gain in six years.
On Thursday, US crude rose $3.96, or 10.3 per cent, to $42.56 per barrel
- its biggest one-day percentage gain since March 2009. The sharp gain
in crude prices was triggered by strong US economic data which eased
fears about global growth.
The US economy in the second quarter expanded at a 3.7 per cent annual pace, instead of earlier estimates of 2.3 per cent.
On Friday, crude in Asian trading extended their gains. Front-month
October Brent crude was up 44 cents, or nearly 1 per cent, at $48 per
barrel.
Analysts however remain skeptical about the rally in oil prices. "The
recovery in commodity prices looks fragile with concerns over China's
growth still weighing on market activity," ANZ said in a note.
Concerns about China's slowdown had driven global oil prices to multi-year lows earlier this week.
Cairn India was the top gainer among Nifty stocks, surging as much as 7
per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 149.70. State-run ONGC rallied 5.9
per cent to Rs 244.30, Oil India advanced 4 per cent to Rs 473.50, GAIL
India jumped 3.8 per cent to Rs 291.55 and Reliance Industries rose 1.5
per cent.