Gitanjali Gems shares tank 20 pc, mcap erodes by 140 cr

Shares of Gitanjali Gems today settled with losses of 20 per cent after the company came under the scanner of various investigating agencies following Punjab National Bank's declaration of nearly Rs 11,400-crore fraud.
Following the downtrend in the counter, the market capitalisation of the company was eroded by Rs 139.69 crore to Rs 556 crore at the end of today's trading session.
During the day, the stock opened on a bearish note at Rs 48, then lost further ground to touch an intra-day low of Rs 46.90, down 20 per cent over its previous closing price, also its 52-week low level and got stuck there.

Today is the second straight session of decline for the stock. The shares of Gitanjali Gems have tanked 42.20 per cent in the last one month.
Meanwhile, some other jewellery stocks witnessed a similar fate with PC Jeweller ending the day at Rs 356.40, down 5.31 per cent, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ) at Rs 112.55 down 2.64 per cent, Thangamayil Jewellery at Rs 541.50, down 5 per cent and Rajesh Exports at Rs 802.50, down 2.10 per cent.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) yesterday disclosed that it has detected some fraudulent transactions with financial implication of USD 1.77 billion (about Rs 11,346 crore) and the matter has been referred to law enforcement agencies for the recovery.

"Four big jewellers -- Gitanjali, Ginni, Nakshatra and Nirav Modi -- are under scanner. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate are looking at their arrangements with various banks and end use of money," a senior official said yesterday.