RIL plunges on Morgan Stanley downgrade, loses Rs 28,081 crore in m-cap

NEW DELHI: Shares of Reliance Industries declined 3.41 per cent to settle at Rs 1,255.15 after global brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from ‘overweight’ to ‘equal-weight’ with a price target of Rs 1,349. The stock has come off nearly 11 per cent after falling for four consecutive sessions, which eroded its market capitalisation by Rs 96,288 crore. On Thursday alone, the company lost Rs 28,081 crore in m-cap.

The global financial services company has attributed this downgrade to prospects for limited upside and headwinds for RIL's energy business.

Shares of RIL have been in the negative territory since last Monday, May 6. As of Wednesday's close, the stock has come off nearly 8 per cent since Monday.

The oil-to-telecom major has reported decent growth in consolidated profit for March quarter, backed by a strong show by retail and telecom divisions.

However, the company's standalone profit declined 1.60 per cent to Rs 8,556 crore on lower gross refining margin. The Q4FY19 revenues from refining and marketing segments fell 6.1 per cent YoY to Rs 87,844 crore while segment EBIT declined 25.5 per cent YoY to Rs 4,176 crore.

The segment performance was impacted by lower crude throughput due to planned maintenance. Also, weak light and middle distillate product crack impacted GRM.

RIL shares closed 3.41 per cent down at Rs 1,255.15 on BSE.