Indian stock markets on Monday extended the recent selloff with Sensex falling over 1170 points to settle at 58,465 while Nifty ended at 17,416 levels, with heavyweight Reliance Industries taking a beating in the markets.
The downward movement of market indices continued from the last session on Thursday, taking cues from domestic developments such as withdrawal of farm bills announced on Friday. The markets, as expected began on a negative note and soon all the top shares started dwindling in value with the exception of Bharti Airtel.
The markets opened lower as Sensex fell 202.56 points to 59433.45 and the Nifty was down 56.30 points to 17708.50. At 12:26 IST, the Sensex was down 1098.77 points or 1.84% to 58,537.24 and the Nifty was down 338 points or 1.90% to 17,426.80.
Airtel shares ruge after 20-25% tariff hike
The only exception on Monday in the markets was the telecom operator Bharti Airtel, which announced 20-25% tariffs hikes for various prepaid recharges, which apply to voice plans, unlimited voice bundles, and data top ups.
Even the entry-level tariffed voice plan has been hiked by about 25%, the increase is about 20% for most unlimited voice bundles. In voice plans, the new rate is Rs. 99, against the current Rs.79 with 28 days validity and benefits like 50% more talktime worth Rs. 99, 200 MB data, 1p/sec voice tariff, said the company in a statement.
Rupee slips to 74.35 vs US dollar
Following the negative sentiment in the markets, the rupee fell 5 paise to 74.35 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade, though lower crude prices supported the local unit and restricted the fall.
On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 74.30 against the U.S. dollar and Forex markets were closed on Friday on the occasion of 'Guru Nanak Jayanti'.
Paytm down by 14% on Monday
Shares of newly-listed Paytm's shares were down again on Monday by 14%, after making a weak debut on Thursday last week. The stock plunged 13.66% to Rs. 1,350.35 on BSE and tumbled 13.39% to Rs. 1,351.75 on the NSE.
