Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 223.23 points, or 2.37%, to 9,183.24.

On BSE, 84,464 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 10.74 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 170 and a low of Rs 162.85 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 342.50 on 21 May 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 88.15 on 27 October 2008.

The large-cap stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 9 January 2009, gaining 17.60% as compared to the Sensex's return of 2.66%. It had also outperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 1.84% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 16.97%.

The company's current equity is Rs 1896.67 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 164.90 discounts the company's Q3 September 2008 annualized EPS of Rs 1.72, by a PE multiple of 95.87.

The fall in crude oil prices would result in lower realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms. US light crude for February 2009 delivery fell 32 cents to $40.51 as a sharp rise in US unemployment created new worries about energy demand in the world's largest consumer. On Friday, 9 January 2009, US payrolls report for December 2008 showed more than half a million jobs were lost in the world's biggest economy. The data also showed unemployment rate in the US was highest since 1993.

Cairn India on 22 December 2008 said it had made an oil and gas discovery near its existing field in Rajasthan. The company said the well had a flow of 500 barrels of oil per day and 0.4 million standard cubic feet of gas a day during a testing phase.

In November 2008, India's cabinet rejected an oil ministry proposal to award a deepwater block off the west coast to Cairn India, as the company had not offered the government an attractive enough share of potential production, or profit petroleum.

Cairn India reported a net profit of Rs 81.44 crore in Q3 September 2008 as against net loss of Rs 8.40 crore in Q3 September 2007. Total income surged 1258.1% to Rs 107.83 crore in Q3 September 2008 over Q3 September 2007.

Cairn India explores and produces crude oil and natural gas in India.