Mumbai: Most Indian stocks fell. Oil and Natural Gas Corp. declined on concern its profitability may be hurt after the government asked it to give subsidies to refiners. NTPC Ltd. gained.
ONGC, the nation's biggest energy explorer, slid 3 per cent, the most in five months. The government asked the company to give a subsidy of Rs34.97 billion (Dh2.8 billion) to state-run refiners for the three months ended December 31, Finance Director D.K. Sarraf said by telephone yesterday.
NTPC, the biggest power producer, advanced 0.8 per cent after announcing plans to spend Rs250 billion building generation plants to reduce blackouts.
"There is uncertainty among investors about what will be the subsidy burden," said Avinash Gupta, an analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd. in New Delhi. "At the same time, company assets aren't operating at peak levels, thus there is scope that earnings can go higher."
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 11.57, or 0.1 per cent, to 17,474.49. The gauge swung between gains and losses at least 11 times. Three stocks fell for every two that gained on the index.
The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 0.1 per cent to 5,221.70. The BSE 200 Index dropped 0.2 per cent to 2,211.33.
ONGC slipped 3 per cent to Rs1,161.15, the steepest decline since August 17. The subsidy is for losses incurred by the refiners from selling gasoline and diesel at below cost, Sarraf said.
