Equity markets trade flat as telecom stocks plunge after Jio announcement

Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) Following the big ticket announcement by Reliance Industries on Jio commercial launch, key Indian stock market indices were trading flat on Thursday afternoon. Most telecom stocks were trading lower.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading 11.55 points or 0.13 per cent up at 8,797.75 points.

The Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 28,459.09 points, was trading at 28,508.01 points in the afternoon session, up 55.84 points or 0.20 per cent from the previous day's close at 28,452.17 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,542.72 points and a low of 28,414.40 points in the trade so far.

Reliance Industries was trading at Rs 1,054 per share, down 0.38 per cent; Reliance Communications was at Rs 50.75 per share at 5.84 per cent down; Bharti Airtel was at Rs 310.80 per share down 6.34 per cent and Idea Cellular was at Rs 84.80 per share down 9.30 per cent in the BSE.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in telecom, technology, media and entertainment (TECK) and realty sectors, while good buying was observed in auto, metal and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors.

The S&P BSE telecom index plunged by 4.78 per cent, TECK index dropped by 0.90 per cent and realty index slipped by 0.89 per cent, while auto index went up by 0.81 per cent, metal index moved up by 0.60 per cent and FMCG index got augmented by 0.54 per cent.