Reliance Industries shares fall 5%! Over Rs 1 lakh crore eroded from M-cap — What triggered the fall?

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) stock tumbled 5% on Tuesday, falling to an intraday low of Rs 1,497.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The share price plunged after RIL denied a Bloomberg report claiming that its Jamnagar refinery will be receiving three ships of Russian crude oil.On the BSE, the stock closed at 1507.70, shedding 69.75 points or 4.42%. On NSE the share fell to 1,508.90, down 69.20 points or 4.39%.Today’s session recorded the stock’s steepest intraday decline since June 4, 2024. RIL shares slipped below their 50-day moving average, wiping out more than Rs 1 lakh crore from the company’s market capitalisation. Reliance also emerged as the single biggest drag on the Nifty 50, pulling the benchmark index down by about 82 points.Responding to the Bloomberg report, Reliance clarified that its Jamnagar refinery has not received any Russian crude cargo over the past three weeks and is not expecting any such deliveries in January.Taking to X, the company wrote, “A news report in Bloomberg claiming “three vessels laden with Russian Oil are heading for Reliance Industries Limited’s Jamnagar refinery” is blatantly untrue. Reliance Industries’s Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approx. and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January.”The company further added, “We are deeply pained that those claiming to be at the forefront of fair journalism chose to ignore the denial by RIL of buying any Russian oil to be delivered in January and published a wrong report tarnishing our image.”The Bloomberg report, which cited data from Kpler, alleged that three vessels loaded with Russian crude were en route to the Jamnagar refinery. Reliance, which had earlier emerged as India’s largest buyer of discounted Russian oil following the Russia-Ukraine war, has paused the purchasing, ET reported.However, despite the company’s clarification, its shares continued to trade in red with heavy volumes reflecting investor reaction to the news and broader weakness in the market.India’s oil imports from Russia, according to a Reuters report, are expected to fall further in January after Reliance’s decision to halt intake of Russian crude. Moscow’s oil inflows to the country have already slowed amid tighter US and European Union sanctions, with imports dropping to a three-year low of around 1.2 million barrels per day in December, down about 40% from the peak of nearly 2 million barrels per day in June.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)