Airtel, Vodafone Idea jump on price hikes announcement

Shares of Indian telecom operators Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd surged on Tuesday after the companies announced tariff hikes that will take effect next month.

Airtel’s shares closed up 7.37%, their highest since January last year, while Vodafone’s stock ended 35.96% higher and recorded its best one-day gain ever during the day’s trade.

Both stocks gained for a third straight session since hopes that the government would step in took effect.

Vodafone has gained 68.98 billion rupees ($960.06 million) in market cap, while Airtel added 237.52 billion rupees ($3.31 billion) to its market value since Friday’s close.