Trading was halted by a day due to satellite failure. The result: Short-term players failed to unload ITC shares, bought at Rs 320 and above, even as the scrip plunged in Wednesdays trading session by around Rs 20.
The share opened even lower on Thursday, and those who sold at around Rs 290 lost between Rs 30 and Rs 40 per share.
The ITC scrip had closed at Rs 327 on the last trading session on Tuesday. But with $150 million Fera violation charges against the company coming to light, the prices nosedived to Rs 291, severely hitting NSE members who had taken long positions in the scrip.
With trading remaining closed yesterday, members of the National Stock Exchange failed to cover their positions in ITC, incurring massive losses, a broker said.
As the ITC scrip opened at Rs 291 during the day, NSE brokers were unable to offload their holdings, acquired at between Rs 320 and Rs 330 on Tuesday.
Perplexed by the movement of the share value, market analysts could not provide a rationale for the ITC share price which spurted to Rs 304 yesterday.
It seems that the market has discounted the enforcement directorates Fera violation charges of $100 million against the company and the interrogations of the company top brass.
While a section of brokers claimed short covering aided the upward movement of the scrip to Rs 304, top brokers of the Calcutta stock exchange said, the same syndicate who has been active on the counter appeared as buyers at the level of Rs 291 and Rs 292.
The syndicate, according to a senior committee member, has been consistently buying from the stock exchanges and has been at their manipulative best today.
Talking to Business Standard, a senior Calcutta broker said, the excise claims followed closely by the Chitalia controversy and the Fera violations does not augur well for the capital market as the counter is one of the most actively traded scrip all over the country.
According to him, small investors have turned as sellers in the market and are keen to unload their holdings at the earliest.
