Shares of Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum gained on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) opened a special window to help meet the foreign-exchange requirements of state-owned oil refining companies.
Indian Oil shares gained 1.45 per cent to Rs 209.55 while Bharat Petroleum was up 0.45 per cent to Rs 270.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Hindustan Petroleum fell 0.31 per cent to Rs 163.35.
The three stocks had gained as much as 4 per cent in early trade. The BSE Sensex surged 404.89 points, or 2.25 per cent, to close at 18,401.04.
RBI had in a statement on Wednesday said the PSU oil companies could meet their entire daily dollar requirements through a special swap window effective immediately.
The three companies are the biggest buyers of dollars in the currency markets, requiring about $8.5 billion every month to import an average 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil.
Under the facility, the RBI had said, it will "sell/buy USD-INR forex swaps for fixed tenor with the oil marketing companies through a designated bank." The swap facility will remain in place until further notice.
"RBI's latest move to open forex swap window for oil marketing companies to support their daily dollar requirement helped the rupee to strengthen considerably today, which reflected on the equity front as well," said Jayant Manglik, president of retail distribution at Religare Securities.