Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd rose over 2 percent on Thursday following a series of transactions, including a possible stake sale to Saudi Aramco in the refining and petrochemicals businesses. The Mukesh Ambani-led company is also set to report its March-quarter earnings after markets hours today.

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RIL shares advanced as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 1,376 per share intraday on the NSE. At 9.30 AM, the stock price was trading at Rs 1,365.50 per share, up 1.62 percent from its previous close. The broader Nifty 50 traded 0.25 percent up at 11,816.55. The RIL stock was among the top five most traded stocks on the 50-share index.

So far in 2019, the stock has gained over 23 percent and hit a record high of Rs 1,406 on April 1.

> Reliance Industries Q4 results today: Key things to watch out for

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, is in talks to buy a stake in the refining and petrochemicals businesses of Reliance Industries, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Analysts see the possible deal as positive to the company.

HSBC said the possible deal could derisk RIL’s energy business in the long-term and could accelerate its deleveraging plans in the near term. The brokerage maintained a ‘Buy’ rating, with a target price of Rs 1,500 per share.

Morgan Stanley said the reported deal “highlights its focus on de-risking business, monetising seven years of investment and future-proofing the growth from new disruptive technology – a focus seen since 2017 with the BP partnership, hiving-off telco assets and sale of shipping asset in 2019.”

“Near term, however, the path to debt reduction after nearly seven years should help move the stock towards our bull case NAV (net asset value) (Rs1,626/share),” the brokerage added.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate is expected to report a fall in the Q4 revenue by about 4.4 percent to Rs 1.49 lakh crore from Rs 1.56 lakh crore from the December quarter, according to a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18.

In other news, Reliance Retail has been in discussion to buy the 259-year-old British toy retailer Hamleys, reported MoneyControl.

Japan-based shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd has agreed to acquire a strategic stake in six group companies, each owning a very large ethane carrier, of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd.