Telecom shares in focus; Vodafone Idea up 12%, Bharti Airtel gains 3%

Shares of telecom service providers were in focus at the bourses on Tuesday amid hopes of tariff hike in the forthcoming months. Among individual stocks, Vodafone Idea (Vi) rallied 12 per cent to Rs 10.20 in the early morning deal after media report suggested that Vi is considering increasing tariffs 15-20 per cent by the end of the year or early next year.

This is on the expected lines as the company is struggling with cash burn and aiming fund raise, according to analysts.

At 09:44 am, the stock was trading 7 per cent higher at Rs 9.74, as compared to 0.64 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter nearly doubled with a combined 370 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.