Sensex at closing
Telecom stocks such as Bharti Airtel were among the big decliners ahead of Thursday’s meeting by the telecom ministry to decide on a controversial proposal from a regulatory body to raise spectrum prices in an auction of mobile airwaves.
Traders expect more weakness ahead for Indian stocks, given the rupee has dropped more than 13% since its 2012 peak in February, underscoring an urgent need of major reforms to get investors believing again in the India story.
The rupee dropped to a record low of 56.225 to the dollar amid renewed global risk aversion. Indian stocks and the rupee tend to track each other’s directions.
“There is lot of uncertainty in the market partly because of European crises and partly because of inaction from of government and Reserve Bank of India,” said R.K Gupta, managing director at Taurus Mutual Fund
The main 30-share BSE index ended down 0.5% at 15,948.10 points, closing at its lowest since 9 January and adding to the 1% loss it had clocked in previous session.
The broader 50-share NSE index, also known as Nifty, fell 0.51% to 4,835.65 points, its lowest since 12 January.
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Gupta added market valuations are turning attractive and said he expected a recovery should the government address some of the investor concerns about its fiscal challenges, including about its spending.
Foreign flows to equities were slightly positive in May as of Tuesday’s close, but overseas investors were net sellers of around Rs 1,100 crore worth in April.
Telecom stocks were among the big decliners ahead of the key ruling on Thursday.
The 2G airwave auction must be completed by August after India’s top court ordered the cancellation of all cellular permits awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale process.
Idea Cellular fell 3.7%, while Reliance Communications ended 1.8% lower.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Idea Cellular to “neutral” from “buy” and Reliance Communications to “sell” from “neutral”, citing the regulatory overhang
Bharti Airtel dropped 4.4%, closing at its lowest since July 2010, hit as well by fears about the impact from a slumping rupee on its overseas debt exposure.
Among other decliners, Reliance Industries fell 0.6% after exploration partner Niko Resources said they have abandoned the D4 oil and gas block off India’s east coast, underlining the production problems in the region.
India’s auto shares fell on speculation the government could raise fuel prices, adding to worries about a sector facing uncertainty about future sales and rising raw material costs because of the falling rupee.
Tata Motors 1.4%, while two wheeler Bajaj Auto ended 1.3% lower.
India’s Tata Power shares dropped 2%, a day after the company posted a consolidated net loss of 6.3 billion rupees.
