ONGC Gains on Disinvestment Deferral Report

Shares in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) gained over 1.5 per cent on Monday after a newspaper report said disinvestment in the company can be deferred till January citing a senior government official.

Some short-covering is seen as ONGC's free float shares would not increase in the interim, said traders.

Government aims to sell 10 per cent stake in Coal India and 5 per cent in ONGC.

At their current market prices, these two could help the government raise two-thirds of its divestment target.

As of 10.06 a.m. shares in ONGC traded 1.6 per cent higher at Rs 342.5 apiece, outperforming the Nifty which was down 0.03 per cent.

Copyright: Thomson Reuters 2014