Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) was the second biggest gainer among the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex shares today on speculative buying.
The stock of the telecommunications service provider ended at Rs 155.40, up 8.48 per cent from its Wednesday's close.
It touched an intra-day low of Rs 139 and a intra-day high of Rs 157.55. More than 23.91 lakh shares changed hands at the counter on BSE.
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Analysts say the rise in the MTNL counter is purely on the euphoria generated by the VSNL sell-off. "The buying is purely speculative as nothing has changed fundamentally for the company," a dealer said. Speculation that MTNL will be the next telecom firm to be put on the block is running high. However, analysts say nothing concrete has taken place on MTNL's divestment so far.
In the last six sessions, the MTNL scrip has moved up more than 30 per cent -- to Rs 143.25 on February 6, 2002, from Rs 110.40 on January 30, 2002. With today's gain, the stock has surged about 40 per cent from its January 30 levels.
Volumes touched a recent high of 11.39 lakh shares on February 6, 2002, and a low of 3.72 lakh shares on February 4, 2002.
On January 31, 2002, MTNL unveiled its third quarter results. For the quarter ended 31 December 2001, the company registered a 31.2 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 328.01 crore, compared with Rs 476.69 crore in the corresponding period last year.
However, sales were 12.3 per cent higher at Rs 1,650.11 crore from Rs 1,468.65 crore in December quarter 2000.