Wednesday November 4, 03:53 AM

Source: Indian Express Finance

Sell-off, telecom meltdown continue

By Akash Joshi
The stock market saw the steepest fall after August on Tuesday as benchmark indices fell for the sixth straight trading session on huge sell-off in heavyweight stocks and weak cues from global markets. The pressure on telecom stocks continued as Reliance Communications (RCOM.NS : 169.2 +1.05) fell 5.7% to close at Rs 165.8, in it seventh straight day of losses. Though its rival Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 316.8 +3) closed on the positive zone, the pressure on telecom stocks persisted. In the current year, RComm slid by 27% and Bharti by 16% when the benchmark Sensex (^BSESN : 16029.07 -13.11) jumped 64%. Analysts like Arup Misra of Elara Captial said RComm could face more selling pressure if the first 3G auction is held only for the GSM players, which the company is not. This will delay its entry into the new field. The company on Saturday announced that its net profit slipped 52% in the September quarter. Credit Suisse Group AG has slashed its estimate for the stock by a further 17%, opening up the possibility that the earnings for the entire telecom sector is up for re-rating on concerns over their low-tariff revenue plans. In a highly volatile market, realty, metal and oil & gas stocks, too, fell sharply. Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS : 990.9 -2.35) lost Rs 110.60 or 5.73% to close the day at Rs 1,820.65 on reports that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has constituted a team to do a special audit of the company s books to ascertain its investment in the K-G D6 gas field. However, it was the metal major Hindalco (HINDALC0.NS : 142 0) which led the rout with a 10% erosion in price; closing at Rs 109, as its earnings were way off analysts estimates. The dollar s return to strength has again shoved some money out of emerging markets, while the absence of short-term triggers made the Indian markets under-perform. According to provisional figures, foreign institutional investors were net sellers at Rs 874.26 crore while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 751.95 crore on Tuesday. The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange was down by 491.34 points or 3.09% to end the day at 15,404.94 points. The broader S&P CNX Nifty (^NSEI : 4776.25 -16.4) of the National Stock Exchange lost 147.80 points or 3.14% and closed at 4,563.90 points. Analysts have now started to look for lower levels of support. Arun Kejriwal, of Kejriwal Research & Investment Services, said, Markets going down is largely due to the selling pressure. From the peak domestic markets have lost over 12%, which is substantially high and this is worrisome for the markets. In the coming days,too, markets are likely to remain weak. Dealers in the market are concerned over the lower turnover in the both the exchanges. It will be very difficult for the markets to hold on at these levels, if we see a further slide in the markets then there are chances that the Nifty might even touch the 4,400 levels in the coming days, said a senior analyst from the leading broking house. However, some analysts feel that a correction was overdue and this could be an opportunity to buy stocks. Motilal Oswal, chairman and MD of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, Indian markets are in a correction mode, we believe that this is the right opportunity to build a long-term portfolio by accumulating very fundamentally strong companies.