India's Reliance jumps on hopes of stronger refining margins amid Iran war

GAIL (India)

20/03/2026 05:51

** Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS will be a "beneficiary" of higher gross refining margins, if windfall tax on diesel or petrol is not reimposed, says Jefferies

** RELI' shares are up 3.25%, leading benchmarks Nifty 50 .NSEI and Sensex .BSESN about 1.3% higher each

** Damage to gas infrastructure in Iran and Qatar have pushed out the timeline for normalization of supply, lifting medium term LNG prices, says Jefferies

** In contrast to RELI, Jefferies expects oil marketing companies such as HPCL HPCL.NS, IOC IOC.NS and BPCL BPCL.NS to be adversely impacted by crude rally

** Jefferies projects earnings per share decline for ONGC ONGC.NS due to rising crude, due to its HPCL stake

** Brokerage says higher crude will be negative for Petronet LNG PLNG.NS, GAIL GAIL.NS and city gas distribution companies such as Indraprastha Gas IGAS.NS, Mahanagar Gas MGAS.NS and Gujarat Gas GGAS.NS

** Financial services and equities research firm Ambit Capital says RELI offers "an opportunity in adversity," as its oil-to-chemical segment is positioned for a near-term margin expansion driven by higher product cracks

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))