India’s sensex falls, erasing earlier gains, as telecoms weigh

Bloomberg

Indian stocks fall, with the benchmark gauge set for its longest string of losses in six months.
The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.3% to 37,611.34 as of 1:36 pm in Mumbai, erasing an earlier gain of as much as 1%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index lost 0.5% as both measures headed for a
fifth day of declines. A measure of telecommunication shares sink 5.6%, on course for its lowest close in five months.
Bharti Airtel Ltd. weighed on the gauge, with the stock sinking as much as 8% after industry leader Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. unveiled a competitive new tariff plan. Reliance Industries Ltd.,
the parent of unlisted Jio
Infocomm, added 0.9%.
“We see the offering having potential to drive at least some churn from incumbents,” said Bhupendra Tiwary, an analyst at Mumbai-based ICICI Securities Ltd.
Both the Sensex and Nifty are headed for their longest string of losses since March 2. Until this week’s declines, the measures had climbed by about 50% from coronavirus-triggered losses later that month. Cases of the infection have since surged to the second-highest in the world, and continue to climb.
“We have a large negative trigger at the back of our minds in terms of Covid and it’s implications,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities Ltd. in Mumbai.
Some equity funds may be diverted this week by a revival in initial public offerings. Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd.’s 22.4-billion rupee ($305 million) offering and Chemcon Specialty Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. 1.65-billion rupee sale both close on Wednesday, while stock broker Angel Broking Ltd.’s 3-billion rupee IPO closes on Thursday.
The yield on India’s benchmark 10-year bonds falls by two basis points to 5.99%, while the rupee was little changed at 73.56 per dollar.
While sixteen of the 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. fall, led by a gauge of telecom companies, sixteen of the Sensex constituents declined while 14 rise.