Telecom stocks gain

Stocks hovered in a small range with positive bias in early afternoon trade. At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 144.67 points or 0.43% at 33,995.10. The Nifty 50 index was up 47.55 points or 0.47% at 10,194.35. Oil and gas stocks saw mixed trend. Telecom stocks gained.

The Sensex was currently trading below the psychological 34,000 level after moving above and below that level in intraday trade. Domestic bourses opened on firm note on bargain hunting after a prior four-day slide. Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade. Indices pared further gains in mid-morning trade as stocks came off day's high.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.4%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.35%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1234 shares rose and 1056 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Oil and gas stocks saw mixed trend. Among shares of oil exploration and production (E&P) companies, Reliance Industries (down 0.15%) and Oil India (down 0.67%) edged lower. ONGC (up 0.61%) rose.

Among PSU OMCs, HPCL (up 3.39%), BPCL (up 4.2%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 2.81%) gained.

Shares of state-run gas transmission and distribution firm GAIL (India) shed 0.88%.

Telecom stocks gained. Vodafone Idea (up 0.14%), MTNL (up 0.69%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.09%) rose. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.72%) fell.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.73%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Bharti Airtel rose 1.85%. Airtel Africa, a UK incorporated subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, announced that six leading global investors comprising Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group International and others have agreed to invest $1.25 billion through a primary equity issuance in the company at a post money equity value of ~$4.4 billion. The announcement was made before trading hours today, 24 October 2018.

The proceeds will be used to reduce Airtel Africa's existing debt of approximately $5 billion and for growth of its African operations. Airtel Africa subsequently intends an Initial Public Offering and use the proceeds primarily for further reduction of debt.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as Chinese shares reversed losses, helping offset concerns about the corporate earnings outlook in an environment of tightening financial conditions.

US stocks fell yesterday, 23 October 2018 as a big drop in the Chinese market revived fresh questions about the global economy. Sentiment remained fragile after Caterpillar repeated a warning from earlier this year about rising costs due to higher steel prices and US tariffs.

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