Airtel and Reliance lose early market gains from Starlink partnership after IT stocks drag markets down

Shares of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries dipped into the red after rising earlier due to the overall market sentiment turning negative as the trading session for the day progressed.

At 11:30 am IST, Bharti Airtel shares were down 0.84% or by ₹13.90, trading at ₹1,647.30, while Reliance Industries shares were trading at ₹1,247.10, which is down 0.02% or by ₹0.30.

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In contrast, they had both hit their intraday highs of ₹1,717.25 (3.37% up from previous close) and ₹1,261.55 (1.13% up from previous close) respectively, due to the positive market sentiment surrounding both of their partnerships with Elon Musk's Starlink.

Airtel had announced its partnership with SpaceX to bring Starlink internet service to India on Tuesday, while Mukesh Ambani's Jio announced its partnership on Wednesday.

Mirroring the same trend, the general stock market which had opened in the green, also fell into the red as the day progressed.

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The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 334.07 points or 0.45%, reaching 73,768.25, while the NSE Nifty 50 fell by 116.20 points or 0.52%, reaching 22,381.70.

This drop was primarily driven by IT stocks. Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Infosys fell the most by 5.38%, trading at ₹1,571.20, followed by Tech Mahindra, which fell by 3.82%, trading at ₹1,422.70, and HCL Technologies, which fell 3.67%, trading at ₹1,510.60.

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Even among the Nifty sectoral indices, Nifty IT fell the most by 3.94%, reaching 35,928.05, while Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom fell 3.60%, reaching 8,573.65.