MTNL shares hit multi-year high, stuck in upper circuit of 20%, here's why 

Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) hit upper circuit of 20% in the afternoon session on Thursday after the telco said the government deposited Rs 92 crore to clear immediate bond interest dues of the state-owned firm.
MTNL stock rose 20% to Rs 64.02 (a multiyear-high) on Thursday against the previous close of Rs 53.35 on BSE. Market cap of the telecom firm climbed to Rs 4,033 crore. 

"We would like to inform you that the funding of Designated ESCROW Account for Payment of 02nd Semi Annual Interest w.r.t. 7.59% MTNL Bond Series VIII-A (INE 153A08154) which is due on 20th July 2024 has been done on 17.07.2024," said MTNL in a communication to the bourses. 

The stock saw heavy volumes of 84.89 lakh shares leading to a turnover of Rs 51.04 crore on BSE. 

MTNL stock has a beta of 1.4, indicating very high volatility in a year.

In terms of technicals, the relative strength index (RSI) of the MTNL stock stands at 79.3, signaling it's trading in the overbought zone.

The stock is trading higher than the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 30 day, 50 day, 200 day and 100 day moving averages.  The MTNL stock fell to a 52 week low of Rs 19.27 on July 18, 2023. 

On July 11 this year, MTNL said that it was not able to fund the escrow account for the payment of semi-annual interest on the series VIII-A bonds due to insufficient funds.

"The 02nd Semi Annual Interest w.r.t. 7.59% MTNL Bond Series VIII-A {INE 153A08154} is due on 20th July 2024. As per the Structured Payment Mechanism of Tri Partite Agreement {TPA} signed among MTNL, Department of Telecommunications (DoT}, Ministry of Communications, Govt. of India and Beacon Trusteeship Limited, MTNL has to fund the semi-annual interest into the ESCROW Account with adequate amount 10 days before the due date. In view of above provisions of TPA, it is informed that due to insufficient funds MTNL could not fund the ESCROW Account with the adequate amount," the company had said. 

MTNL has local bonds worth Rs 4,810 crore or $576 million to service for the rest of 2024.