MUMBAI: Rising crude oil prices in the international markets took a heavy toll on most oil & gas, and paints stocks as these industries face the prospect of runaway raw material rates. At Monday’s close, among the leading stocks from these two sectors, BPCL was down 6.1%, HPCL 5.1%, GAIL 4.3% and Asian Paints 2.6%.On Monday morning, Brent crude prices had jumped to near the $120/barrel level, highest since early-June 2022, as supply lines in the Gulf region choked due to the ongoing war. But by evening it was trading just below the $100 mark.Among the oil & gas majors, however, Reliance Industries bucked the trend by a huge margin and closed 1.4% up. The refining major rallied on the back of news that gross refining margins in Singapore, the Asian benchmark for how much refineries earn on an average by refining crude oil, had jumped more than three-fold since the war started.Rising crude prices could impact Nifty also, a report by ICICI Securities noted. If crude oil prices remain above $100, that would be an indication that the severe oil supply disruption could continue for a longer period of time, the report said.
