Why Reliance Industries shares fell 6% in intraday trade

Shares of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries tumbled nearly 6 per cent in intraday trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday as investors resorted to profit booking post the recent rally.The stock will turn ex-rights on May 13.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate has fixed May 14 as the record date for India's biggest rights issue of Rs 53,125 crore. On April 30, RIL announced to raise Rs 53,125 crore through a 1:15 rights issue, which is priced at Rs 1,257, a 20 per cent discount to the stock's closing price on May 11 of Rs 1,576.75.

Compared to the biggest Indian stock market crash in the season on March 23, RIL shares have outperformed the market by rallying 78 per cent, as against a 21.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex till Monday.

Weighed down by profit booking, Reliance Industries share price declined as much as 5.92 per cent to touch an intraday low of Rs 1,483.30 against previous closing price of Rs 1,576.75. The stock opened marginally higher at Rs 2,085.85 but soon slipped into negative terrain. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was trading at 31,293, down 268 points, or 0.85 per cent. 

Also Read: After Jio deals, RIL valued higher than BP, Sinopec, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Vodafone, Tesco

On the volume front, there was a spurt in volume trade as 24.60 lakh shares changed hands over the counter on the BSE as compared to two-week average of 10.04 lakh shares.

In a similar trend, shares of RIL were trading Rs 1,518.65, down 3.69 per cent, on the National Stock Exchange against the previous closing level of Rs 1,576.80. The stock hit an intraday low of Rs 1,483.50.

Also Read: Reliance Industries reclaims Rs 10 lakh crore market cap mark, stock closes shy of 52-week high

The market capitalisation (MCap) of RIL also slipped below the psychological level of Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 9.63 crore. Mukesh Ambani's firm had reclaimed Rs 10 lakh crore market cap mark on Monday on the back of strong buying in the previous session.

Despite the slump in the equity market followed by coronavirus spread and lockdown, RIL's share saw a surge in buying on account of the recent deals with Facebook, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners for selling a strategic stake in its telecom subsidiary Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL). The investor confidence shot up in RIL because of the back-to-back strategic investments in its telecom subsidiary in the last three weeks.