Sensitive Index Drops; Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel Lead Decline

India’s benchmark stock index fell, led by telecommunications companies as investors sold after recent gains.

Reliance Communications Ltd., the nation’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, dropped 3.5 percent, its biggest loss in more than two weeks. The stock surged more than 10 percent on Dec. 24 amid speculation Reliance Industries Ltd. will buy a stake. Bharti Airtel Ltd., the largest mobile-phone operator, slid 1.9 percent after gaining 4.7 percent in the last three trading sessions.

“Investors took money off the table following recent gains in some stocks, especially in the telecom sector,” said Ambareesh Baliga, a Mumbai-based vice president at Karvy Stock Broking Ltd. “The markets overall seem lackluster as there are no fresh triggers for investors to act on”

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s key Sensitive Index, or Sensex, lost 44.73, or 0.2 percent, to 20,028.93 at the 3:30 p.m. close in Mumbai. Companies on the measure are valued at an average 19 times estimated earnings, compared with a recent peak of 20.1 times on Nov. 5. The gauge rose 1.1 percent last week.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange slid 0.2 percent to 5,998.10, while the BSE 200 Index retreated 0.3 percent to 2,476.12.

Reliance Communications fell the most since Dec. 9 to 137 rupees. Speculation that Reliance Industries may buy a stake made the phone company the second-biggest gainer on the Sensex last week. Manoj Warrier, a spokesman for Reliance Industries, denied the country’s biggest company by market value had bought a stake in the wireless carrier.

Bharti Airtel slid the most in a week to 341.90 rupees.

Metal Producers

Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd., the biggest copper producer, snapped a four-day winning streak, pacing declines among metal producers. It lost 3.1 percent to 179.30 rupees.

Hindalco Industries Ltd., the aluminum producer that controls Atlanta-based Novelis Inc., slid 0.8 percent to 237.65 rupees. Tata Steel Ltd., the nation’s largest producer of the alloy, retreated 1.5 percent to 662.55 rupees.

Foreign funds sold a net 999 million rupees ($22.1 million) of Indian equities on Dec. 23, paring this year’s record flows in equities to 1.3 trillion rupees, according to data on the website of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.