Market Wrap, Feb 14: Sensex falls 202 pts post AGR verdict

Equity market came under pressure on Friday after the Supreme Court (SC) rejected the telecom companies' plea seeking new schedule of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments and directed them to clear their dues to the government by March 17. 

The S&P BSE Sensex slid 202 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at 41,258, with IndusInd Bank (down 4 per cent) being the top loser and Bharti Airtel (up nearly 5 per cent) the biggest gainer. 

On the NSE, the benchmark Nifty50 index ended at 12,113, down 61 points or 0.5 per cent. 

Among telcos, Vodafone Idea tumbled over 23 per cent to Rs 3.44 apiece on the BSE post the AGR verdict. Bharti Infratel settled nearly 6 per cent lower at Rs 231. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel jumped 5 per cent to a fresh lifetime high of Rs 565 on the BSE as investors bet on a potential duopoly in the Indian telephony market after the Supreme Court today rejected the telcos' review plea on adjusted gross revenues (AGR) payments. The stock settled at Rs 564, up around 4.5 per cent. 

Financial and banking stocks, too, took a beating following the decision as, according to reports, they have high exposure to Vodafone Idea's debt. Nifty Bank tumbled 395 points or over 1 per cent to 30,835 points. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.8 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled 0.4 per cent lower at 14,683.

GLOBAL MARKETS

European shares touched record highs on Friday as investors digested whether China’s coronavirus outbreak would cause long-lasting damage to global economy. Earlier, Asian shares had earlier inched higher toward their second straight week of gains, helped by hopes governments will make provisions to soften the impact on their economies from the coronavirus epidemic.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked up 0.2 per cent for weekly gain of 1.8 per cent, while China's blue-chip CSI300 shares rose 0.7 per cent, having staged a stunning recovery to claw back 95 per cent of their losses made after the outbreak.

In commodities, oil edged higher and was on track for its first weekly gain in six weeks.