BSE seeks clarification after Vodafone-Idea stocks zoom

At noon, its shares were trading at Rs 4.08 a share, higher by 35 per cent after surging nearly 50 per cent on Wednesday.

With the Centre mulling the possibility of invoking bank guarantees of the telcos to recover the statutory dues, Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Tuesday met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash after paying Rs 2,500 crore on Monday.

The company had urged the court that the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone Idea should not be encashed. Birla has maintained that without relief on the AGR payout, it may not be possible to continue as a going concern.

Taking note of the surprise surge in its stock price, exchanges sought a clarification from the company. “The exchange sought clarification from Vodafone Idea Ltd on February 19 with reference to significant movement in price, in order to ensure that investors have latest relevant information about the company and to inform the market so that the interest of the investors is safeguarded,” the company stated.

Shares of Tata Motors (TaMo) fell as much as 5 per cent on the BSE before closing 2 per cent lower on Wednesday following JLR boss Ralf Speth’s comment on the adverse impact on business due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Jaguar Land Rover CEO Speth reportedly said that the company does not have enough parts from China to maintain its British production post two weeks from now. Speth’s comments came after Apple on Monday revised down its target for iPhone sales due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We are safe for this week and we are safe for next week and in the third week we have ... parts missing,” Speth reportedly said.

The death toll due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in China rose to over 2,000 on Wednesday as 136 new deaths from the disease were reported.