Market Movers: IPOs hog limelight, telcos bleed; 315 stocks hit lower circuit

MUMBAI: In a session that saw Nifty forming a bearish candle with a long wick, similar to the one made in the previous session, telecom companies tumbled the most on Wednesday and benchmark equity indices fell for the fifth straight day.

Even as Nifty looked oversold, analysts ruled out any strong rebound.

Despite bears gripping the market, the primary market continued to enjoy high interest from investors as all three ongoing IPOs received strong responses. Benchmark Sensex dropped 66 points to close at 37,668 points, while peer Nifty shed 22 points to close at 11,132 points.

Among stock-specific moves, Route Mobile stole the show as it jumped 20 per cent. The stock is up 136 percent from its issue price.

Uncertainty is likely to rule the market for now, said analysts.

“The re-emergence of virus infections around the world has put doubts on the global economic recovery, and the positivity in the global markets was led by technology shares,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Tomorrow being an expiry day and with uncertainty ruling the markets, traders are advised to be cautious,” he added.

Here is a lowdown on what happened in Wednesday’s trade:

Telcos bleed:
A day after Reliance Jio rolled out postpaid tariff plans, making a concerted bid for the higher paying subscribers of India's older operators, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea shares logged sharp declines. The BSE Telecom index was the worst performer as it dropped 7.36 per cent.

Bharti Airtel dropped 7.89 per cent to Rs 433.90, while Vodafone Idea tumbled 10.05 per cent to Rs 9.22.

RIL gains traction:
Energy-to-telecom Reliance Industries (RIL) helped limit the losses for benchmark indices after the index heavyweight rose 0.83 per cent to Rs 2,229.55. Earlier in the day, RIL said private equity player KKR will invest Rs 5,550 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) for a 1.28 per cent stake. The stock also got a boost as it rolled out the postpaid tariff plans.

IPOs successfully tread choppy market:
IPOs of Chemcon Speciality Chemicals and Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) were subscribed 135.43 times and 44.30 times, respectively, so far on the last day of the offer, while Angel Broking’s IPO was filled in 1.19 times on the second day of the offer, according to data from NSE.

Route Mobile shares soar:
Shares of Route Mobile, which debuted on the bourses on Monday, jumped 19.16 per cent to Rs 825.55. It has logged 136 per cent gains from its issue price of Rs 350.

Promoter/Employee action: Mindtree, JM Financial:
Promoters Siddarth Krishna Kumar, Akila Krishnakumar, Krishnakumar N and N S Parthasarathy, along with designated person Balaji Krishnan Tarakadu Sundaram sold a total of 2,15,225 shares of Mindtree between September 18-22. The stock shed 1.15 per cent to Rs 1,293.95.

Employees and designated persons, including Sonia Dasgupta and Chaitanya Wagh, acquired a total of 2,93,741 shares of JM Financial at September 18. However, the stock dropped 5.17 per cent to Rs 76.15.

Stocks at 52-week high:
A total of 98 stocks scaled 52-week highs on the BSE. These included Infosys, Hexaware Technologies, Mindtree and Persistent Systems, among others.

Stocks that hit lower circuit:
As many as 315 stocks hit lower circuits on the BSE, more than double of those that hit the upper limit. These included GMM Pfaudler, Adani Green Energy, Future Lifestyle Fashions, Dish TV India and Ruchi Soya, among others.

Stocks that flash sell:
As many as 64 stocks flashed ‘sell’ signals on BSE, as they slipped below the signal line on the MACD indicator. These included Apollo Tyres, Biocon, Escorts, India Cements, Tejas Networks, Adani Green Energy and Quess Corp, among others.

Where is Nifty headed?
According to Sahaj Agrawal, head of research- derivatives at Kotak Securities, Nifty has broken a critical support level of 11,175, and is now expected to witness volatile moves in a small range before a positive setup matures.

“On the downside support is seen at 10,750-10,800 – these are long term support levels for the index. Value buying is suggested for long term investors while traders are expected to keep leveraged positions under check on account of the expected volatility,” said Agrawal.